Andrew Jackson often is associated with threatening to ignore the law, particularly regarding his conflict with the Justice system itself. The most famous instance involves his response to the 1832 case Worcester v. Georgia.
The U.S. Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, had ruled that the state of Georgia could not impose its laws on the Cherokee Nation and that the Cherokee people were entitled to their lands under federal protection. Sensible, I know.
However, the horribly corrupt and deceitful Jackson, who was a strong proponent of rushed barbaric deportations, reportedly responded to the ruling with the declaration he was above the law.
Although Jackson’s exact diatribe may not be definitively recorded, the essence of his position reflected his unwillingness to abide by a court ruling. Jackson was not inclined to allow a decision he unilaterally disagreed with.
Thus, his administration continued with forced removal of the Cherokee people, known as the Trail of Tears, despite the ruling to halt immediately. The Jackson deportation has since been recognized as mass armed arrest to push non-whites into concentration camps for ethnic cleansing.
…we will get clear of all Indians in Mississippi, and have a white population in their stead.
This incident is emblematic of the tension between Jackson and the judicial branch, where a President simply ignored the Court’s authority. His ignorance caused great suffering, foreshadowing today’s latest challenge in U.S. checks and balances.
Each president is allowed to select their preferred carpet and drapery colors, as well as statues and portraits. On Monday, President Donald Trump brought a portrait of Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, back to the Oval Office.
The White House has said, as if to invoke the racist, immoral ghost of Jackson, it will ignore the Justice system and maybe even try to impeach judges who disagree with Trump.
Chief Justice John Roberts pushed back on President Donald Trump’s escalating rhetoric against the federal judiciary on Tuesday in a highly unusual statement that appeared to be aimed at the president’s call to impeach judges who rule against him. […] Trump is attempting to invoke a 1798 law that allows the federal government to expedite deportations of citizens of a “hostile nation” in times of war or when an enemy attempts an “invasion or predatory incursion” into the United States. […] Roberts’ statement Tuesday was similar to a rebuke the chief justice issued in 2018, when he responded to Trump’s remarks by saying that, “we do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.”
The political impeachment threat to judges goes back even earlier to 1804, when Federalist judge Samuel Chase was accused of bias. The US Senate has in total considered only 15 judges for impeachment since the country’s founding. Of those, only eight were found guilty in a US Senate trial, as you can see here:
| Judge | Position | Year | Charges | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Pickering | District Judge (NH) | 1803 | Intoxication on the bench, misconduct | Convicted & Removed |
| Samuel Chase | Supreme Court Justice | 1804 | Political bias and arbitrary rulings | Acquitted |
| James H. Peck | District Judge (MO) | 1830 | Abuse of power | Acquitted |
| West H. Humphreys | District Judge (TN) | 1862 | Supporting the Confederacy | Convicted & Removed |
| Mark W. Delahay | District Judge (KS) | 1873 | Intoxication on the bench | Resigned before trial |
| Charles Swayne | District Judge (FL) | 1904 | Abuse of power, financial impropriety | Acquitted |
| Robert W. Archbald | Commerce Court | 1912 | Improper business relationships with litigants | Convicted & Removed |
| George W. English | District Judge (IL) | 1926 | Abuse of power | Resigned before trial |
| Harold Louderback | District Judge (CA) | 1932 | Favoritism in bankruptcy cases | Acquitted |
| Halsted L. Ritter | District Judge (FL) | 1936 | Financial impropriety, practicing law while a judge | Convicted & Removed |
| Harry E. Claiborne | District Judge (NV) | 1986 | Tax evasion | Convicted & Removed |
| Alcee Hastings | District Judge (FL) | 1988 | Perjury and bribery | Convicted & Removed |
| Walter Nixon | District Judge (MS) | 1989 | Perjury before a grand jury | Convicted & Removed |
| Samuel B. Kent | District Judge (TX) | 2009 | Sexual assault | Resigned before trial |
| G. Thomas Porteous | District Judge (LA) | 2010 | Corruption and perjury | Convicted & Removed |