Trump’s Personal, Racially Tinged Attacks on Federal Judge Alarm Legal Experts
Donald Trump’s attacks on a federal judge overseeing a pair of lawsuits against him have set off a wave of alarm among legal experts, who worry that the Republican presidential candidate’s vendetta signals a remarkable disregard for judicial independence, reports The Washington Post.
say that attitude, many argue, could carry constitutional implications if Trump becomes president.
U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is handling two class-action lawsuits against Trump University in San Diego, has been a Trump target since the judge ordered the release of embarrassing internal documents detailing predatory marketing practices at the for-profit educational venture; that case is set to go to trial after the November election.
“Having a presidential candidate embroiled in litigation totally unrelated to the political system . . . that is what is so novel about this. And then you add to this the personal criticism,” Arthur Hellman, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh, told the Post. “It’s personal all the way, and that’s what makes this different.