New York, New York, Jan. 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The New York County Lawyers Association (NYCLA) officers today issued the following statement:
The New York County Lawyers Association calls on President-elect Donald Trump to desist from making baseless verbal attacks on judges and court decisions. These attacks by an elected official seriously threaten judicial independence and the rule of law and have no place in our society. NYCLA also calls on lawyers to refrain from baselessly attacking judges and court decisions in violation of lawyers’ ethical obligations not to knowingly advance frivolous claims or contentions or to engage in conduct that is intended to disrupt the tribunal.
On New Year’s Eve, Chief Justice John Roberts issued his 2024 Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary, in which he warned against several kinds of threat to judicial independence, including “intimidation.” He noted that intimidation can take the form of baseless verbal attacks by politicians on judges and their decisions:
Public officials . . . regrettably have engaged in recent attempts to intimidate judges—for example, suggesting political bias in the judge’s adverse rulings without a credible basis for such allegations. . . . Attempts to intimidate judges for their rulings in cases are inappropriate and should be vigorously opposed. Public officials certainly have a right to criticize the work of the judiciary, but they should be mindful that intemperance in their statements when it comes to judges may prompt dangerous reactions by others.
Just three days later, Acting Justice Juan Merchan of New York State Supreme Court issued a carefully reasoned decision denying President-elect Donald Trump’s request that he dismiss the charges in the criminal case for which a jury previously convicted Mr. Trump of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Justice Merchan’s decision also scheduled sentencing for these convictions before Mr. Trump’s inauguration but stated that the Court will not impose any prison sentence.
Justice Merchan also noted that some of Mr. Trump’s lawyers’ arguments crossed the line separating zealous advocacy from the kind of improper intimidation that Justice Roberts warned against:
[Defendant’s] counsel has resorted to language, indeed rhetoric, that has no place in legal pleadings. For example, countless times in their Motion to Dismiss, counsel accuses the prosecution and this Court of engaging in “unlawful” and “unconstitutional” conduct. . . . Those words, by definition, mean “criminally punishable.” . . . Viewed in full context and mindful of the parties to this action, such arguments, in the broader picture, have the potential to create a chilling effect on the Third Branch of government.After quoting Chief Justice Roberts’ warning against intimidation of the courts that undermines judicial independence and the rule of law, Justice Merchan wrote that he “is in complete agreement with Chief Justice Roberts’ views on this subject. Dangerous rhetoric is not a welcome form of argument and will have no impact on how the Court renders this or any other Decision.”
Justice Merchan also addressed President-elect Trump’s repeated baseless attacks on courts as a factor relevant to whether his character supported his request that the jury verdict be vacated:
Defendant’s disdain for the Third Branch of government, whether state or federal, in New York or elsewhere, is a matter of public record. Indeed, Defendant has gone to great lengths to broadcast on social media and other forums his lack of respect for judges, juries, grand juries and the justice system as a whole. . . . In the case at bar, despite repeated admonitions, this Court was left with no choice but to find the Defendant guilty of 10 counts of Contempt for his repeated violations of this Court’s Order Restricting Extrajudicial Statements . . . , findings which by definition mean that Defendant willingly ignored the lawful mandates of this Court. An Order which Defendant continues to attack as “unlawful” and “unconstitutional,” despite the fact that it has been challenged and upheld by the Appellate Division First Department and the New York Court of Appeals, no less than eight times. Indeed, as Defendant must surely know, the same Order was left undisturbed by the United States Supreme Court on December 9, 2024. . . . Yet Defendant continues to undermine its legitimacy, in posts to his millions of followers. . . . Defendant’s character and history vis-a-vis the Rule of Law and the Third Branch of government must be analyzed under this factor [i.e., character] in direct relation to the result he seeks, and in that vein, it does not weigh in his favor.
Finally, Justice Merchan addressed Mr. Trump’s renewed attack on his alleged “conflict of interest,” which had already been rejected three times by the Appellate Division:
Defendant continues to mount the same baseless attacks in each succeeding motion, albeit with increasing ire. The frequency of the claims and escalating rhetoric in each subsequent motion – does not render the claims true or valid. They are not and it is irresponsible and deeply concerning for counsel to insist on advancing these claims.
Yet despite Chief Justice Roberts’ admonition to “public officials,” and Justice Merchan’s admonition to Mr. Trump in particular, to refrain from baseless verbal attacks on the courts, Mr. Trump responded to Justice Merchan’s decision by repeating the same kind of baseless attacks in his social-media posts:
This illegitimate political attack is nothing but a Rigged Charade. “Acting” Justice Merchan, who is a radical partisan, just issued another order that is knowingly unlawful, goes against our Constitution and, if allowed to stand, would be the end of the Presidency as we know it. Merchan has so little respect for the Constitution that he is keeping in place an illegal gag order on me, your President and President Elect, just so I cannot expose his and his family’s disqualifying and illegal conflicts. I am the only Political Opponent in American History not allowed to defend myself – A despicable First Amendment Violation! . . . Merchan, who is far worse and even more corrupt than [Special Prosecutor Jack] Smith in his fight for my hopeless Political Opponents, just cannot let go of this charade. Is it because of his conflicts and relations that he keeps breaking the Law?
Thus, President-elect Trump repeated precisely the kinds of baseless attacks on the New York State Court that Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Merchan warned against. NYCLA calls on Mr. Trump and all public officials to refrain from baseless statements like this that undermine judicial independence and the rule of law.
About the New York County Lawyers Association
The New York County Lawyers Association (www.nycla.org) was founded in 1908 as one of the first major bar associations in the country that admitted members without regard to race, ethnicity, religion or gender, and has a long history of supporting the rights of LGBTQ+ people. Since its inception, NYCLA has pioneered some of the most far-reaching and tangible reforms in American jurisprudence. For more information on NYCLA please visit nycla.org.
CONTACT: Azelia Cutts New York County Lawyers Association 212 267 6646 ext 212 acutts@nycla.org
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