Contempt for Court
An old legal anecdote—attributed to such legal notables as Mae West and the Earl of Birkenhead—depicts a frustrated judge asking an obstreperous lawyer, “Are you displaying contempt of court?”
“No, your honor,” the advocate responds. “I am trying to conceal it.”
I sometimes think simple politeness—a willingness to conceal contempt for other parties, judges, and even law itself—is all that differentiates true lawyers from thugs in contrast-collar shirts. But like other areas of public etiquette, this habitual courtesy is showing strain in the era of Donald Trump.
Trump likes to denounce and threaten courts that thwart his will. But the political threat to courts did not begin with Trump and will not end when he is gone. It is part of a civic rot that is eating at the vitals of our democracy, and it is
