What Would Happen If The President Defies A Court Order?

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Publish Date:
February 3, 2017
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ATTN:
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Summary

With lawyers gearing up to challenge President Trump at every turn, and given Trump’s temperament and lack of conventionality, it seems possible he may try to defy court orders with which he disagrees.

During the initial battle over Trump’s executive order banning refugees and other immigrants over the weekend, reports came out that numerous border agents were defying a federal court order that said to let immigrants detained at multiple airports enter the country. The question becomes: What would happen if Mr. Trump decided to encourage federal employees to defy a court order?

“An officer who defies a court order is subject to contempt of court,” Michael McConnell, director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School, told ATTN:. That means the federal employee could face fines or jail time.

McConnell said presidents have tried to get around court orders in the past, but it hasn’t happened in a long time. He pointed to President Abraham Lincoln refusing to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court during the Civil War when it decided the president did not have the authority to order that a man accused of treason, Maryland state legislator and militia lieutenant John Merryman, be held without trial.

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