Everyone is still taking everyone to court. Everyone is still winning cases. And yet, it sometimes feels like nobody is actually enforcing anything.
So why are we still dancing?
What is going on?
I’m not asking whether Trump is crazy, asleep, or anything else. I don’t know, and frankly, I don’t need to know.
I’m asking a much simpler question:
How far can you push the system before somebody actually stops you?
Look at the ICE shootings earlier this year. An American woman was shot through the window of her vehicle in Minneapolis. Another man was shot during an ICE operation there.
And before someone jumps in with, “Well, we have an immigration problem,” I’m not talking about immigration.
I’m talking about what happens when an American citizen is shot by the government.
Then this week we have an ICE detainee who reportedly complained repeatedly about not receiving his insulin before he died in custody. ICE says he received appropriate medical care. The circumstances and cause of death are still being investigated.
So we have courts issuing orders, lawyers filing challenges, investigations taking place, and government agencies continuing to do what they are doing while all of this winds its way through the system.
And that’s where I keep getting stuck.
What good is the Rule of Law if the law isn’t enforced?
Take the Blanche and Epstein mess.
A federal judge ordered the Justice Department to begin reviewing and producing foreign-language documents covered by the law. The Justice Department argued that doing that wasn’t practical for its initial reviewers. The judge rejected that explanation and warned that contempt could become appropriate if the order wasn’t followed.
Okay.
So what happens next?
Another hearing?
Another order?
Another appeal?
Another few months?
At some point, winning in court isn’t the same thing as enforcing the law.
And that should concern all of us.
I don’t know if any of this is some grand plan to see how far the government can push the boundaries.
But I do know that if you repeatedly test the boundaries and discover that the consequences are slow, uncertain, or nonexistent, eventually someone is going to test them again.
Maybe that’s the plan.
Maybe it isn’t.
But shouldn’t we at least be asking the question?
Because the Rule of Law isn’t simply having laws.
It isn’t simply having judges.
It isn’t simply winning cases.
The Rule of Law means that when a court makes a lawful decision, somebody has the authority — and the willingness — to make sure that decision actually means something.
And here’s the part that bothers me most:
A lot of Americans don’t even know this is happening.
I found that out in a store a couple of days ago. I mentioned the ICE shootings and got the immediate response:
“Well, we have an immigration problem.”
I said, “I’m not talking about immigrants. I’m talking about American citizens who were shot.”
He looked at me like I had just landed from Mars.
He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t MAGA. He wasn’t defending anybody.
He simply didn’t know.
And maybe that’s the biggest problem of all.
Because while we’re busy arguing about Republicans and Democrats, red and blue, left and right, the machinery of government keeps moving.
So I’m asking a very simple question:
Are we paying attention?
Because the law may be on our side.
But only if somebody enforces it.
And if we wait until we finally realize it matters, it may already be too late.
