Are Biased Judges Abusing Their Authority?

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are taught that the Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ was written for our day. Therefore, it may be a promising idea to look to the Book of Mormon for guidance as we near the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

The book of Helaman in the Book of Mormon tells of a situation happening about 20-25 years prior to the birth of Jesus Christ. Helaman 8 tells us that the judges were members of the secret combination who had gained control of the government. It also tells us that the judges sought to destroy the authority of church leaders. Helaman 9 tells us that one judge sought power so much that he killed another judge.

This background takes us to the situation currently in the United States – explained by Hans von Spakovsky, a Constitution expert at The Heritage Foundation. A duly elected President of the United States is seeking “to make major changes in government policies and root out the pervasive waste, fraud, and diversity, equity, and inclusion [DEI] poisoning our government and its programs.” Yet, he is being “hampered by a handful of biased judges who abused their authority to keep him from implementing the policies the American people voted for.” The author continued with his explanation as follows: 

Jurisdiction is limited to the federal districts where the hundreds of district court judges reside. However, some of these judges arrogantly assert that they can override the president in areas of core executive branch competency and issue sweeping injunctions that affect the entire nation. They even claim they can act on behalf of people who aren’t parties in the cases before them.

These judicial tyrants seem to believe that the Constitution gives them more power than the president to make decisions on the size of the federal government, how it spends its money, and whom it can hire and fire. They say they have a right to overrule the president’s national security judgment on issues that affect our relations with foreign governments, our military readiness, and the safety of the public from unchecked illegal immigration.

The Constitution does not give that authority to the judiciary. Perhaps these judges would like to rewrite President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address to say we must preserve “government of the judges, by the judges, for the judges.”

Make no mistake: These judges are acting far outside their authority, and their actions are unprecedented.

Last year, the Harvard Law Review noted that of the 127 nationwide injunctions issued since 1963, 64 were against the first Trump administration. Similarly, Justice Clarence Thomas noted in Trump v. Hawaii (2018) that district courts had issued such injunctions in recent years “without considering their authority to grant such sweeping relief.”

Thomas said these injunctions “did not emerge until a century and a half after the founding” and are “inconsistent with long-standing limits on the equitable relief and the power of Article III courts.” …

Over the past 100 days, we have again witnessed numerous injunctions against actions well within Trump’s constitutional authority as the chief executive and commander in chief….

The lawfare against the administration is undoubtedly frustrating, but we’ll see what happens when these cases reach the Supreme Court.

In Trump v. Hawaii, Thomas said that if the “popularity” of nationwide injunctions continues, “this Court must address their legality.”

Let’s hope the justices do that soon.

If the Supreme Court doesn’t take steps to do that, Congress may remove it from the court’s hands and deal with the problem itself.

Rogue judges in our day are acting outside the boundaries of their authority – just like the judges in Helaman. The U.S. Constitution was written in 1787, ratified in 1788, and in operation since 1789. Constitution Day 2025 will celebrate 236 years of operating under the U.S. Constitution. However, the United States will be damaged if judges continue to usurp authority from the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch of the federal government.