Talk about leading by example. I’m sure this is the first of many court orders we can look forward to Trump administration officials defying since rules do not apply to them. If you don’t like it sue them, then whatever the judge tells them to do they will probably ignore it and do what they want anyway.
Who can actually enforce court orders President* Trump opposes, President* Trump?
From the Project on Government Oversight:
Affidavit: Trump Justice Nominee Backed Defiance of Court Orders
A pair of little-noticed sworn affidavits from 2003 highlight the apparent support of Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), President-elect Trump’s attorney general nominee, for defying federal and state court orders in key areas of law. The statements describe two separate meetings, one attended by Sessions and the other by William Pryor, currently a federal appeals court judge whose name appears on President-elect Trump’s short-list for nomination to the US Supreme Court. Both Sessions and Pryor have long been controversial figures because of their statements on race and other issues….
The meeting with Sessions occurred in late 1996 in the office of Alabama’s then-governor Forrest H. “Fob” James Jr. and included James’ son and advisor, Forrest H. “Fob” James III. The purpose of the meeting was for Governor James to get advice from Sessions—who had been Alabama’s state attorney general until he was elected to the US Senate—about whether or not to appoint Pryor to replace Sessions….
Sessions: Speaking “With Great Emphasis”
“I raised the issue with Governor James and Senator Sessions,” the son testified, “about whether Pryor would support Governor James in contempt-of-court situations if the Governor, as he had stated in his campaign and on many occasions to me personally, refused to enforce or prevented enforcement of certain federal and state court orders, especially in the church-state arena ….”
The son’s affidavit is very clear about Sessions’ reply. “In response to my questions about defying courts orders and contempt-of-court citations,” the affidavit reads, “Senator Sessions, with great emphasis, said words to the effect that the Governor could find no one who would stand with him more strongly in such situations than Bill Pryor.”
From Jeff Sessions own Senate web site:
Many of my colleagues are aware Judge Roy Moore, circuit court judge in Gadsden, AL, has been ordered to take down a two-plaque replica of the Ten Commandments displayed in his courtroom.
The irrationality of the action is highlighted by the fact that the judge's display is consistent with other displays involving religious symbols and art in our public property. In fact, a door to the U.S. Supreme Court bears two tablets numbered one to ten, which we interpret to represent the Ten Commandments. And yet a judge in a small Alabama town cannot hang a simple display of the Ten Commandments on the wall without being sued?
...The Ten Commandments represent a key part of the foundation of western civilization of our legal system in America. To exclude a display of the Ten Commandments because it suggests an establishment of religion is not consistent with our national history, let alone common sense itself. This Nation was founded on religious traditions that are an integral part of the fabric of American cultural, political, and societal life.
Mr. President, it is time for common sense. No member of this body, on either side of the aisle, should oppose the simple display of documents that are important to our law, to our Nation, and to our culture.
More from Sessions own Senate web site:
(Washington, D.C.) Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) introduced a Senate resolution yesterday affirming the right to display the Ten Commandments in public places, including government offices and courthouses. There will be a Senate roll call vote on Senator Sessions’ resolution later today.
The House of Representatives passed a similar resolution by a vote of 295-125 on March 5, 1997. Yesterday, Senator Sessions moved to attach his resolution directly to the 1999 Budget Resolution, bypassing the committee structure. The controversy regarding display of the Ten Commandments originated in Gadsden, Alabama over a display in the courtroom of Etowah County Circuit Judge Roy Moore.
“We’ve got to end the hostility toward the display of the Ten Commandments in public places,” Sessions said. “There is nothing in the Constitution that prohibits a display like Judge Roy Moore’s in Etowah County, Alabama. The founding of our great nation was based on the principles in the Ten Commandments. We must embrace these ideals as a way to restore our country’s greatness.”
* — http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/7/1617938/-President-Trump