This book documents the legal and political battles against Trump and his supporters’ autocratic actions, analyzing lawsuits, prosecutions, and broader resistance efforts in defense of American democracy.
Evidence of Lawyers’ Resistance
Morris (2020), Legal Sabotage: Ernst Fraenkel in Hitler’s Germany
This biography traces Ernst Fraenkel’s legal resistance to the Nazi regime, highlighting his defense of political dissidents and underground activism that shaped his seminal work.
Schaaf (2021), Litigating the Authoritarian State: Lawful Resistance and Judicial Politics in the Middle East
An examination of how citizens in Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine use law to resist authoritarianism, revealing that courts can serve as tools of accountability even under repressive regimes.
Mann (2024), Defending Legal Freedoms in Indonesia: The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation and Cause Lawyering in an Age of Democratic Decline
This book explores how Indonesia’s leading legal aid organization, YLBHI, has used cause lawyering to resist authoritarianism, navigate democratic setbacks, and defend legal freedoms amid growing threats to democracy.
McEvoy, Mallinder, and Bryson (2022), Lawyers in Conflict and Transition
This book examines how lawyers in post-conflict and authoritarian states navigate repressive legal systems, weighing ethical obligations and risks as they choose to challenge or comply with injustice.
Halliday (1987), Beyond Monopoly: Lawyers, State Crises, and Professional Empowerment
Halliday argues that lawyers use their legal expertise to shape state responses to crises, stabilizing democratic institutions and adapting to political, legal, and fiscal challenges.
Glušac (2020), “Strengthening Ombudspersons in Central and Eastern Europe”
YUCOM used international review to challenge Serbia’s ombudsperson for lacking independence and competence.
Krishnan and Ajagbe (2018), “Legal Activism in the Face of Political Challenges: The Nigerian Case”
Rights-based lawyering in post-authoritarian democracies like Nigeria often builds on the foundations of legal activism developed under past authoritarian regimes, highlighting the continuity of legal resistance across political transitions.
Dixon and Isaacharoff (2016), “Living to Fight Another Day: Judicial Deferral in Defense of Democracy”
Lawyers play a crucial role in upholding judicial independence, as shown in Pakistan’s 2007 movement, where their collective action helped restore a removed chief justice and reinforced the judiciary’s power against executive overreach.
Rosen (2006), “Lessons on Lawyers, Democracy, and Professional Responsibility”
The article argues that lawyers have a professional responsibility to understand and support democracy, not because it is perfect, but because their role is essential to improving and sustaining it.