Court Orders in the Trump v 2.0 era still are enforced.

Dispelling the myths of "he's going to ignore the courts!"

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

I’ve seen a lot of people online (even in Disqus boards) saying that Trump and his admin will find someway to illegally side-step a court order. This actually is not true. If anything, Trump (in his more lucid times) has obeyed court orders. However, many would argue that he abuses the process to escape accountability. Here’s how it goes though…even he doesn’t want to go to jail over something stupid as to disobeying the courts order. Also keep in mind as per Doomsday Debunked, the SCOTUS is less likely to rule for him, and this is from history. Even with the lopsided 6-3 conservative courts, there are lines that even they don’t wanna cross. As for the lower levels…well, let’s explore.

The process of a court order.

Photo by Sebastian Pichler on Unsplash

The process of a court order…well, any court order has to start with an application for a hearing (or a brief). Here the complainant must express specifically what is going on, and the hardships they (or their clients) will face if this order is not granted. These are usually called Restraining orders, and comes in two flavors, an Temporary Restraining Order, and a permanent injunction. Here the courts must balance out exactly the harms to both parties in granting even a temporary order.

For example last week the courts ruled that DOGE (Elon Musk) would cause a major hardship and had to be locked out of the Treasury Department computers, and to destroy any information he has. While the DOJ is trying to appeal it, I don’t think the Judge will allow it to happen, or slow-walk it.

Now, should an order be given, it’s either granted, or denied. If it’s granted, then the opposing party may appeal, or follow it. If it’s denied, then this too comes with two flavors, with and without prejudice.

First if a case is dismissed without prejudice…it means it can be refiled again. That means that if a judge says exactly why he dismissed without prejudice…it would give the filing party a chance to zero in, and have evidence ready…and once that’s done and the refiling happens, then they can make their decisions.

On the other hand, with prejudice…that’s it. It can never be refiled for any reason. In fact this is the principal of the law called Res Judicata. This essentially means that You cannot keep bringing a lawsuit up after dismissal. This will cause the courts to call you vexatious litigant, and you will be sanctioned. The most serious is to have the court’s permission before filling any new cases.

So…the courts gave the injunction…now what?

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

Yes, I know you’re asking this…so they got an injunction…what now? As I stated, they have two choices…to appeal, and hope for the best. Else, they must follow it to the letter. Judges absolutely hate when their orders are not obeyed. While Trump is most likely to stay out of jail (since he ran for office to stay out of prison) his minions are not. In fact Musk is a non-elected person in a fake committee (DOGE) and has no security clearances. Also his “committee” members also are the same, with one person that was outed for being fired from his job for the same thing this “committee” is enjoined from accessing the treasury department computers.

Contrary to what JD Vance and others say…the courts are a check against the executive and the legislative branch. Also JD has no power of the the judge, and also they cannot impeach a judge who’s got wide discretion. So what would happen if Elon decided to not obey the order?

First and foremost, the judge will issue a warrant for his arrest, and he will be booked, and given a date to show up to a show cause hearing. Also Democratic states attorneys general will also charge him with state crimes that cannot be pardoned. From here, Musk shall give the judge a reason why he shouldn’t spend time in jail or pay a fine.

So…if the prosecutor is biased, or compromised what then?

Here’s the thing…the judge has wide discretion about nearly everything within reason. I say within reason because they too must obey the laws, and the cannons of ethics set down by the bar association. If a prosecutor is biased, or has conflict of interest…then they will be replaced by an uninterested party within that office who’s not biased, or has a conflict of interest.

However, if the entire office is compromised, and has a severe conflict of interest…the judge will find an attorney outside of the realm of prosecutors. This usually happens in criminal justice cases when it’s hopelessly compromised. They will bring in either a prosector from outside the jurisdiction, order a change of venue (which is hyper rare) or get a private attorney to become a special prosecutor.

The special prosecutor is briefly deputized by the court, and has the same powers/responsibility as the regular prosecutors. This includes subpoenas, gathering witness statements, grand jury time, and so on. They also will actually try the crimes, and they too are under the same burden of proof…beyond all reasonable doubt.

Should I be afraid if there are any appeals?

No you shouldn’t be afraid of any appeals. In fact, I’ll let you know of this…appeals are guaranteed under the constitution. However even then pointless appeals can get somebody sanctioned as vexatious. Don’t be afraid of appeals, but do pay attention to them, because they don’t introduce new evidence. This is a new trial to see if any procedure has been violated…and it’s up to the appellant to come up with cause to overturn any orders. Also these appeals can take months, or years.

The takeaway.

The takeaway is this. Court orders, can and will be enforced by any legal means possible. Also keep in mind that most of us know to obey court orders, or suffer the consequences. Nobody wants to be hemmed up in the legal system for any reason (myself for a monetary lawsuit against myself). However, it’s very important that people have a place to get court orders to stop something from happening, or to get the justice they deserve. Also there will be mechanisms in place because the courts want things to run smoothly.