Imagine if the inept attorney Dan Fielding played by John Larroquette on the 1980s TV show Night Court or the one played by Joe Pesci in the movie My Cousin Vinnie would have received a lifetime appointment to a seat on one of the most consequential appellate Federal Courts in the United States. The truth is that either of them would have been more qualified than Steven Menashi, the newest judge appointed to the 2nd Federal Court of Appeals Located in New York. At least those two attorneys had tried a case in court, unlike Mr. Menashi.
As a nominee Manashi was cited in the confirmation hearings by both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate for his writings that promoted anti-LBGTQ stances and a history of disparaging remarks demonstrating bias against women and minorities. It was reported in the New York Times that Mr. Menashi, as an attorney assigned by the Trump administration to the Department of Education, helped Betsy Devos illegally use Social Security data to deny loan forgiveness for those who attended failed for-profit colleges.
During the hearings he dodged the Judicial Committee member’s questions, didn’t seem to understand basic case law and was apparently unfamiliar with important decisions that a 2nd year law student would probably know. Given all this, he was still confirmed by Senate Republicans and the repercussions may be immediate as the court he now sits on will be hearing cases related to Donald Trump’s claim of the executive protections/powers provided to a President in his effort to block testimony in the current impeachment hearings. This court already has five Trump appointees and this flips the court to 7-6 in favor of conservatives judges. This looks like the fix may be In, the appearance of a judge who can be counted on to decide in favor of his benefactor. Were others nominated for their likely fealty? I suspect they were.
The tragedy for America is that the Senate continues to confirm unqualified judges that will be around, in some instances for the next 40 years. In a working democracy one of the most important tenets, if not the most important, is a fair and just legal system. The rule of law in America is what spares us the fate of those living in countries like Russia and other dictatorships. Without these protections the safeguards for the most vulnerable citizens and the common good can be circumvented by those whose personal and possibly nefarious interests to prevail in opposition to those that best serve those of of the country.
The dangers are real and with the DACA case now being litigated in the Supreme Court, a policy that benefits not just the young people who have their futures in the hands of a majority of idealogical judges, it is a benefit to the country to have these workers paying taxes and bringing their talents to the American work force. This case exists because of a capricious edict by a lawless President who has demonstrated racism and animas toward the class of people being harmed in this case. Should they decide to uphold this edict, to end DACA, we will have obvious proof that our federal judicial system has acquiesced in to the territory held by tin pot dictatorships.