California U.S. Senator Adam Schiff told a crowd of legal advocates last week that he sees trial lawyers and judges as the last defense from President Donald Trump’s “attacks on the rule of law.”
“The only safeguard that has really worked during this [129 days] of madness — the only check that has really been successful is all of you. All of you are practicing law and all of you who sit on the bench… you have been the only successful check,” Schiff said at the New York State Trial Lawyers Association’s (NYSTLA) annual Law Day celebration on May 28.
The event, which was organized by the public service attorney advocacy group, honored Schiff and New York State Chief Judge Rowan Wilson, who both argued that it will take an organized legal effort to stop what they deem to be abuses of federal power.
“If the moral arc of the universe always bends towards justice, it does not bend of its own accord. It requires all of us to be pulling and bending that arc of justice,” Schiff said.
The group honored both Wilson and Schiff with its Champion of Justice award for their dedication to civil justice and the rule of law. Schiff took office in the senate in December after serving 23 years in the house; where he became one of Trump’s most outspoken critics and the leader of his first impeachment trial in 2020.
NYSTLA’s President Victoria Wickman said that the group honored Schiff for his high-profile congressional investigations and his legal advocacy. The group chose Wilson for his emphasis on equal access to justice. Past recipients of the award include former President Bill Clinton and Joe Biden, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“Let’s be clear, presently the rule of law is under attack. It’s under attack by those who would strip away the fundamental constitutional right, the right of a trial by jury, by those who seek to cap damages, limit coverage, and leave injured victims without recourse,” Wickman said.
In his remarks, Wilson reiterated Schiff’s sentiment that the rule of law is not a given in American democracy. The reason it’s important to use the legal system to fight for the rule of law, he said, is to avoid the devolution into anarchy and violence” that the country experienced during the “national carnage of the Civil War.”
“The continued fight for the rule of law is essential to the preservation of our democracy, but also essential so that sacrifices of those true champions of justice who have perished in its defense over the many years our republic has existed, will not have been wasted,” Wilson said. “If it falls to California and to New York and to all of you, lead the way. We’re ready.”
Schiff tied the law association’s advocacy against corporate power in the legal system to his efforts against what he described as the Trump administration’s expansion of federal powers. Schiff also warned about the danger of the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling that President Trump is immune from criminal liability for his official acts in connection with his use of the Justice Department.
“Whether it is a $400 million aircraft from Qatar or a meme coin or a stable coin or any other form of emolument or aggrandizement, presidential gifts, this group feels immune from repercussions, immune from the law itself,” Schiff said. “Are we still a nation of laws?”
