Tim Mannello

Williamsport

The legislative branch, the executive branch and the judicial branch are three co-equal branches of government. One of the functions of the judicial branch is to check the unconstitutional and illegal actions of the executive and legislative branches. The Republican controlled House and Senate are already a presidential rubber stamp.

Judges play a crucial role in protecting our democracy. They are the final safeguards who can stop laws or government actions that might break the rules of the Constitution. When they issue a “stay,” it means those actions are paused until the courts can review them before they are implemented. This helps prevent misuse of power and makes sure the law is followed fairly.

Throughout history, authoritarian wannabes have often undermined or stripped power from judges, because independent courts are one of the strongest checks on executive overreach.

That’s what autocrats like Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Viktor Orban of Hungary have done to institute one-man rule. And that is what the Trump administration is trying to do: make Donald Trump’s orders the first and the last word on everything.

Todd Blanche, the Justice Department’s number two, recently told a room of young conservative lawyers to gear up for “war” against the federal judiciary. He urged them to take the fight directly to what he branded as “activist judges.”

That action is a dangerous warning sign to those of us who prize our freedoms. When the judiciary is attacked, the rule of law crumbles. Democracy becomes exposed to unchecked power. Judges’ safety and their very lives are put at risk, and the people lose faith in fair justice. What follows isn’t balance, it’s chaos. Dictatorship is the silence after freedom’s last breath.