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Why did POTUS direct Sessions to resign and appoint Whittaker? The answer is obvious, but still astounding: he switched the AG to limit a special counsel investigation in which he is a subject. Normally, this kind of behavior might itself end a presidency. 1/3
Who is Whittaker? Well, according to this Candidate Questionnaire he is – and I am not kidding – someone who literally thinks that Marbury v Madison was wrongly decided. Normally, this might make you a questionable candidate to serve as Acting AG. caffeinatedthoughts.com/2014/05/iowa-u…. 2/3
None of this is normal, all of it is dangerous. 3/3
For the non-lawyers, Marbury v Madison is the 1803 decision of the Supreme Court in which Chief Justice John Marshall famously said, “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.” 1/3
So, this is not about whether judges should interpret the constitution broadly or narrowly, to find more or fewer individual rights. This is about something more basic, which is whether judges get to interpret the constitution authoritatively at all. 2/3
It’s akin to what Andrew Jackson was purported to have said (may not actually have said) about an 1832 case from the Supreme Court: “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!” 3/3
