Remarks to Legal Forum, Governor Mills Urges Americans to Defend the Constitution and Rule of Law

Governor Janet Mills tonight called on Americans to stand firm to defend democracy and the Rule of Law, warning that the Trump Administration's ongoing assault on democratic institutions is a threat to the Constitutional Order of the United States.

In remarks to Maine Lawyers for the Rule of Law's Public Forum, "Standing up for the Rule of Law: How do we save it?," the Governor urged attendees from across the state to stand up--as the Governor did after being confronted by the President at the White House in February--to protect the Rule of Law.

Maine Lawyers for the Rule of Law is a nonpartisan organization of attorneys, judges, and civic leaders concerned about the current attacks on the Rule of Law. The Governor's remarks were followed by a keynote address by Harvard Law Professor Noah Feldman, and a panel featuring Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey. The Forum was held at the University of Southern Maine.

"Lawyers for the Rule of Law" -- Really, that should be considered a redundancy. I am proud to bear Maine Bar Number 1677. I took an oath, as you did, to uphold the Constitution. Embodied in that sacred document is the idea that our country is not governed by a king or any single individual but by that great equalizer, the rule of law.

A few decades ago, that principle was in great danger. Our nation watched as the moral compass of the law was diverted from its North Star by the pranks and practices, the crimes and cover-ups, of those who valued political loyalty over their duty to the court and their duty to the Constitution. The President of the United States, for the first time ever, was forced to resign. Prominent lawyers lost their license to practice law, their livelihood; and the Attorney General of the United States went to prison, all because of the national scandal we refer to very simply as "Watergate" -- a piece of history that seems so long ago but that carries some currency today.

Lawyers and law firms are again under tremendous pressure to bow to the demands and financial threats from political powers in D.C.

Earlier this year the acting U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, Republican Danielle Sassoon, stood up for the rule of law when she resigned her position instead of bending to the Trump administration's demand that she dismiss criminal charges against the sitting mayor of New York City, Eric Adams.

Ms. Sassoon said that resigning didn't feel "brave" to her; rather, that she had "simply honored [her] duties as a prosecutor, by serving the public without regard for the political or personal implications."

In line with its attack on the rule of law, the Trump Administration also issued executive orders that targeted various law firms by name.

Those executive orders suspended security clearances for employees of the firms, barred access to government buildings and contact with government officials (what happened to the right to petition our government?), and terminated government contracts with those firms.

The orders generally began by accusing the firms of "dishonest and dangerous activity" all because they once represented clients with whom the president disagreed. The orders often declared that the firms' practice of hiring women and minorities created a "security threat."

Nine law firms swiftly cut deals with the president to be spared these acts of retaliation, agreeing to perform nearly $1 billion in 'pro bono' legal work for causes he championed.

That includes firms whose lawyers are now working with the Commerce Department to negotiate tariffs and financial deals on behalf of the administration to acquire equity in private U.S. companies like Intel.

That's a far cry from what you and I would consider "pro bono."

Meanwhile, four law firms who have chosen to fight the president's executive orders have won decisive victories in court.

Federal judges, who were appointed by Republican and Democratic presidents alike, have struck down the president's orders as a violation of the firms' First and Fifth amendment rights and as an assault on the American legal system.

And the Administration continues to attack the court itself when it fails to get its way, using name-calling and accusing individual judges of "Hating America" and of suffering from a "Sick Ideology."

In April, in a case involving deportation and due process, Reagan appointee, Fourth Circuit Appellate Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III described the assault on the legal system with some eloquent but disturbing words:

"Now the branches come too close to grinding irrevocably against one another in a conflict that promises to diminish both," he wrote. "...The Executive may succeed for a time in weakening the courts, but over time, history will script the tragic gap between what was and all that might have been, and law in time will sign its epitaph."

Some law firms are helping write that epitaph, but others, like Danielle Sassoon, have shown courage in speaking truth to power.

Like many of you Maine lawyers, I was raised to stand up to bullies. My father told me, "You can't let bullies have their way; they never stop." And so, when the president unexpectedly confronted me at the White House earlier this year, when he threatened to cut off all federal funds for our small state unless I agreed with him -- I responded as simply as I could. I said, "I'm complying with state and federal laws."

And when he declared, "I'm, er, we are the federal law," I said the only thing I knew to say, what I believed any Maine lawyer and what any of you would say -- "See you in court."

The president's demand, the impermissible threat in his words, the attempt to govern by intimidation -- this is not what the founders meant when they wrote the Constitution; it is, in fact, the very thing they most feared when they divided power among three co-equal branches of government. As each of you knows, the Chief Executive may not create a law, amend a law, or repeal a law by tweet, executive order or press release. His job is simply to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed."

Since that February day, there have been many other threats across the country, more bullying towards businesses, colleges, scientists, researchers; towards unions, veterans, women; threats to social security; threats to health care, medical research and education, threats towards states and countries large and small; threats to the judiciary imperiling the safety of individual judges; threats towards highly decorated members of the military whose patriotism is unquestioned.

But we know that the law is neither red nor blue, it is not owned by any political party, and it is not the tool of the chief executive. The law, very simply, is the greatest achievement of our society, it is the thing that protects all of us, especially the weak and the vulnerable, those who cannot stand up for themselves.

If we stop believing in that great equalizer, the Constitution, if we give up, if we lose faith, then we lose the very thing that protects every one of us, at a time when we need it most.

Now more than ever before, this country needs capable lawyers with morals and conviction.

People who do true "pro bono" work: people who take tough cases upholding the free speech rights of protesters with whom they disagree; people representing causes large and small in state and federal courts, with or without fanfare or compensation; people who will protect the habeas corpus rights of those fleeing persecution and seeking freedom in this country but now facing deportation.

This cause is both grassroots and toproots; for the rule of law must blossom at every level, in every court, in every town hall, in every place where rights are questioned, where a door is slammed, where people are left out and others are let in because of political connection or wealth.

We have to be vigilant to preserve the Constitution of the United States and of this state. Will you act before history scripts "the tragic gap between what was and all that might have been?" I know you will stand up for the rule of law.

Whenever and however you do stand up, believe me, you will count for more than you think. Our country will stand taller. Our country will be stronger. The rule of law will thrive.

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