What America’s ‘Separation of Powers’ Is All About

 

He said Trump¹ should not have criticized federal Judge James Robart for temporarily blocking his executive order on immigration.

Under the U.S. system of separation of powers, a president should accept his loss silently and not attack the judge who ruled against him, He wrote.

What is the separation of powers?

The U.S. Constitution set up three separate but equal branches of government: the legislative² branch, or Congress, makes the law; the executive, led by the president, executes the law; and the judicial³, or courts, interprets the law.

The idea is to divide power so each branch of government has its own powers and limits. But fights over how to apply these divisions of power have been frequent, up to and including Trump’s travel ban.

On January 27, President Trump signed an executive order to temporarily stop travel to the U.S. from seven Muslim majority nations.

After Judge Robart blocked his order, Trump went on Twitter to call Judge Robart a "so-called judge.” He said Robart’s decision was "ridiculous,” and opened the United States to possible terror attack.

On Tuesday, the federal appeals court in San Francisco heard arguments on whether Judge Robart’s order against Trump’s travel ban should be overturned. The court is expected to rule this week on the appeal from the Trump administration.

Josh Chafetz is a professor of law at Cornell University in New York. He said Trump’s criticism was unusual, coming so early in his presidency⁴. By calling Robart a “so-called judge,” Trump seems to be questioning his standing⁵ as a judge, Chafetz said.

Randy Barnett, a law professor of Georgetown University, sees Trump’s criticism of the judge as “mildly disrespectful.”

But he said it does not compare to President Barack Obama’s criticism of the Supreme⁶ Court during a 2010 speech before Congress. Obama was criticizing a Supreme Court decision that permitted unlimited⁷ donations to political campaigns.

Barnett said that the judges were in the audience as Obama criticized them. The Democrats⁸ in the audience stood and cheered.

Battles over separation of powers

There have been many battles among the three branches of government over separation of powers in U.S. history.

The Supreme Court’s first decision about “separation of powers” came in 1803. The court ruled it had the power to reject a law passed by Congress if it found the law unconstitutional.

In 1832, President Andrew Jackson did not like a decision by the Supreme Court, led by Justice John Marshall. The decision ended states’ law on land that belonged to Native American tribes.

Jackson reportedly said, “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.”

Nearly 100 years later, President Franklin Roosevelt proposed to increase the number of justices on the Supreme Court from nine to 15. His critics accused him of trying to “pack the court.” They said he wanted to appoint justices supportive of his policies to get around opposition⁹ from the sitting justices. The proposal failed to pass in Congress.

Among the court’s other important rulings was a 1974 decision ordering President Richard Nixon to release tape recordings¹⁰ in what was known as the Watergate scandal. The scandal led to Nixon’s resignation.

Some legal experts have questioned whether Trump will comply with court orders. Barnett, the Georgetown professor, said it is a good sign that the Trump administration stopped the travel ban after Judge Robart’s ruling.

But Trump has argued that he feels strongly his immigration ban is needed. This is what he tweeted Wednesday morning:

“If the U.S. does not win this case as it so obviously should, we can never have the security and safety to which we are entitled. Politics!”

Words in This Story

executive - adj. matters of policy directed by the president

branch - n. a division of government

ridiculous - adj. silly, crazy

mildly - adv. not very strong

scandal - n. an occurrence in which people are shocked and upset because of behavior that is morally or legally wrong

comply - v. to along with a ruling or decision

pack - v. to choose people who agree with you and put them on a court or in other positions

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

3 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

4 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

7 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐