GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP – The pillars that define the rule of law are being eroded due to the executive overreach of the Trump Administration, a constitutional expert said in her speech for Constitution Day at Stockton University on the evening of Monday, September 29.

Mary McCord, a law professor from the Georgetown University Law Center, spoke about how the rule of law is a concept many Americans are unfamiliar with, and how executive overreach from the Trump administration is concerning both legal experts and American citizens alike.

To a crowded audience in Stockton’s Campus Center, McCord cited attempts of the administration to deport Venezuelan immigrants by invoking the Alien Enemies Act as an example of executive overreach.

The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 allows the president to deport immigrants from countries that are at war or invading the United States. In a rare move, all nine justices agreed that the deportees were entitled due process before being deported, McCord said. 

McCord defined the rule of law with four pillars: a system of laws in which the governed and the government agree to abide, transparency in the enactment and enforcement of the law so we have predictability and stability, a fair legal system in which rights and responsibilities are evenly adjudicated, and diverse, competent, and independent lawyers and judges.

McCord said that the rule of law is being eroded by the Executive Branch infringing on the responsibilities of the Legislative Branch. She also said that the Judicial Branch’s favoring of the current administration’s executive orders are giving more power to the executive branch of the government.

“If we fail at preserving the rule of law, then due process is a nicety that will no longer be accessible,” she said.

Constitution Day marks the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, and Stockton University hosts a speaker every year due to a federal law that requires federally funded schools to provide programming about the Constitution. McCord was this year’s speaker, as she has previous experience working in the federal Justice Department and U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. for nearly 20 years.

Her speech began after opening remarks by Alyssa Maurice from the William J. Hughes Center and Stockton’s President Joseph Bertolino.

The Executive Branch has been overstepping responsibilities that are defined by the Constitution to be carried out by Congress, McCord said. She cited cases of executive orders attempting to reinterpret constitutional amendments and withholding funding already approved by Congress as examples of executive overreach.

McCord cited the targeting and persecution of political enemies of Trump and the dismantling of government agencies that only Congress can approve as reasons that the rule of law is being threatened.

McCord is the executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, which is an organization that files lawsuits on constitutional grounds against the government. She said that despite her organization being successful in suing the current administration for unconstitutional acts, many of the cases have been brought up to the Supreme Court, which often sides with the executive branch.

The Supreme Court’s rulings in Trump’s favor “has arguably emboldened this president to be even more aggressive,” McCord said in relation to the judicial branch allowing for the executive branch to overreach.

Before her speech, McCord held a discussion with political science students of several classes to discuss some of the topics featured in her speech. One student asked her about the ramifications of changing the 14^th Amendment that grants birthright citizenship and due process to children with immigrant parents.

McCord mentioned this question in her speech and cited the question as an example of the effects that executive overreach can have on American citizens.

During the Q&A at the end of the speech, McCord was asked about how Americans can stay hopeful in times of deep political division. McCord then reflected on her students who are studying law and grappling cases with major political implications. She said that her students were more motivated due to being involved in these cases. The students felt that “‘Rather than sitting by the sideline and reading the paper about what’s happening, I felt like I was doing something,’” McCord said.

McCord ended her speech by encouraging the public to mobilize, vote, make their voices heard, and run for office.