{"id":3880,"date":"2025-03-06T10:52:31","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T10:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/aer\/?p=3880"},"modified":"2025-03-06T10:52:31","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T10:52:31","slug":"j-d-vance-fails-constitutional-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/aer\/2025\/03\/06\/j-d-vance-fails-constitutional-law\/","title":{"rendered":"J D Vance Fails Constitutional Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a law school class, one way to assess a student\u2019s performance (and professionalism) is with Three Cs \u2013 consistency, clarity, and correctness.\u00a0 Considering the Vice President\u2019s recent attack on federal judges for reviewing the constitutionality of various Trump policies, by the standards that would be used to assess a law student\u2019s competence (and fitness for the profession) he fails.<\/p>\n

What did he say?\u00a0 In a message on X, he wrote<\/p>\n

If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal.<\/p>\n

If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that’s also illegal.<\/p>\n

Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/x.com\/jdvance\/status\/1888607143030391287?s=43&t=yvJsmV0mu2913uNCsjBAcQ&mx=2<\/a> (last visited February 15, 2025).\u00a0 Lest there be any doubt about his disregard of the judiciary, Vance\u2019s earlier statements give context.\u00a0 As he said in 2021, \u201cwhen the courts stop you, stand before the country like Andrew Jackson did and say: \u2018The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0And as he added in 2023\/2024, \u201cIf the elected president says, \u2018I get to control the staff of my own government<\/em>,\u2019 and the Supreme Court steps in and says, \u2018You\u2019re not allowed to do that<\/em>\u2019 \u2014 like, that is the constitutional crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

The assessment of Vance as constitutional law student starts with consistency.\u00a0 Mr. Vance never protested when federal courts enjoined then-President Biden, such as when he sought to impose a COVID vaccination requirement for federal employees.\u00a0 The Constitution operates without regard to the political affiliation of the incumbent; Mr. Vance can\u2019t have a Trump-constitution.\u00a0 Inconsistency in stances is the first ground for a failing grade.<\/p>\n

Clarity is at least as great a problem for Vance as student.\u00a0 In his X communique, Vance puts the cart before the horse, excluding the judiciary from \u201ccontrol[ling] the executive\u2019s legitimate power.\u201d\u00a0 By failing to define \u201clegitimate\u201d Vance fails to state a defensible proposition.\u00a0 And there is a second failure in terms of clarity \u2013 by limiting his admonition to the courts to \u201clegitimate\u201d presidential actions Vance defaults to Trumpian linguistics.\u00a0 His words become whatever his followers wish them to be while giving the Vice President plausible deniability if challenged on the law.\u00a0 In other words, Vance can one day retreat and say \u201cof course courts have power to address illegitimate acts.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0But\u00a0 in the law school classroom he has failed to explain what he means.<\/p>\n

Finally, there is correctness. There is no \u201clegitimate\u201d power to set aside the clear words of the Constitution, as Mr. Trump tried when seeking to redefine birthright citizenship.\u00a0 There would be no \u201clegitimate\u201d power if a President sought to bar African Americans or woman from federal civil service positions.\u00a0 A President may not declare war on their own or appoint Supreme Court justices without Senate approval. The Constitution sets limits, and as Chief Justice John Marshall declared in Marbury v. <\/em>Madison (required reading in law school), courts determine what they are.<\/p>\n

Although not one of the Three Cs, there is a fourth component to educating lawyers-to-be and assessing their performance. Professional responsibility. \u00a0Challenging the judiciary with the \u201cnow let him enforce it\u201d in your face response is the antithesis of the lawyer\u2019s oath administered in this Commonwealth to \u201csupport, obey and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this Commonwealth and\u2026I will discharge the duties of my office with fidelity, as well to the court as to the client\u2026\u201d\u00a0 At least here in Pennsylvania, Mr. Vance would not get a passing grade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a law school class, one way to assess a student\u2019s performance (and professionalism) is with Three Cs \u2013 consistency, clarity, and correctness.\u00a0 Considering the Vice President\u2019s recent attack on federal judges for reviewing the constitutionality of various Trump policies, by the standards that would be used to assess a law student\u2019s competence (and fitness<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"coauthors":[330],"class_list":["post-3880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advocacy-and-evidence-blog"],"yoast_head":"\nJ D Vance Fails Constitutional Law - Advocacy and Evidence Resources<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/aer\/2025\/03\/06\/j-d-vance-fails-constitutional-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"J D Vance Fails Constitutional Law - 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