Our democracy is in trouble — where are the conservative voices?

They are silent My conservative friends and colleagues who believe in our system of cabinet have gone silent So too have our conservative politicians and neighborhood and business leaders Although the federal regime has failed to follow the strictures of statutes and decisions of our courts our conservative leaders have been largely silent in response to frontal attacks on our democratic institutions by the current administration Multiple on the left have decried the president s unlawful conduct in reducing or refusing to fund programs which Congress authorized and funded But where on the right among our conservatives have similar voices been raised in opposition to this affront to the rule of law The Impoundment Control Act of prohibits the president from reducing or refusing to fund programs which Congress has approved In Train v New York a unanimous Supreme Court held that the President doesn t have the authority to withhold funds from programs that Congress has authorized Where I wonder are the voices of our conservative leaders in endorsement of Congress legislative authority What would they say if a Democratic president ignored Congress and funneled funds wherever the president yearned ruling by presidential fiat I m not talking about disagreements on matters of protocol We reasonably expect that conservatives and liberals will disagree on protocol considerations I m talking instead about the basic precepts that undergird our democratic form of governing body Whether we are conservative or liberal we should all insist that changes to the law follow established procedures or legislative action To do otherwise is a danger to American democracy We ve observed similar silence by conservatives on issues regarding the constitutional right to due process Though due process is under attack by our cabinet conservatives have largely failed to come to its defense How can that be The constitutional right to due process is a bedrock of our democratic system The requirement of due process protects all of us all of the time It s the constitutional right to due process upon which the Supreme Court in Knick v Township of Scott held that the regime may not take property without just compensation It s the right to due process that led the Supreme Court in Miranda v Arizona to require that those accused be informed they have a right to remain silent and their rights to an attorney And it s the constitutional right to due process that in recent weeks led a conservative Supreme Court in Trump v J G G to hold that people subject to detention and removal under the Alien Enemies Act are entitled to judicial review regarding whether or not they are in fact alien enemies as well as the constitutionality of the act itself This isn t the action of a liberal Supreme Court but rather one dominated by conservative voices several appointed by President Trump Yet of late the authorities failed to respect the Supreme Court s mandate We may not like to confront it but President Trump has created a constitutional emergency The court ordered the executive to facilitate the return to the U S of a man the cabinet admitted had been mistakenly removed to an El Salvadoran maximum shield prison The Trump administration has failed to do so The laws that guide our nation and the Constitution that undergirds our democratic system deserve respect When we disagree with the laws there are legislative changes to the laws that may be pursued When we disagree with a decision of the Supreme Court we may lament it even as we comply with its substance But when the executive turns a blind eye to the requirements of our system of justice people of all stripes conservatives and liberals alike need to come to the defense of the rule of law and our democratic institutions Judge Mel Dickstein Respect for our laws and democratic institutions doesn t depend on whether we agree or disagree with procedures initiatives by the current administration People can agree with framework initiatives but insist that they be pursued in a manner consistent with our statutory and constitutional requirements Failing to do so risks our descent from a democracy to an autocracy In times of political turmoil the voices of reason and adherence to democratic principles are often drowned out by partisan rhetoric The issue at hand is not merely one of guidelines disagreement but of fundamental democratic principles that demand unwavering commitment from all sides of the political spectrum I respect my conservative colleagues and friends and others similarly thoughtful I know they feel a patriotic responsibility to our democracy and the rule of law But they re still silent and I m still waiting for them to speak up our democracy depends on it Mel Dickstein is a retired judge in Hennepin County District Court The post Our democracy is in trouble where are the conservative voices appeared first on MinnPost