I’ve watched with mounting concern as religious freedom has been challenged at the highest levels of American government.
At the center of this religious fight is a presidential executive order that banned most travel to America from seven majority Muslim countries. Several judges, including US District Court Judge James Robart, have issued rulings that temporarily stopped the order’s implementation.
That has led to a showdown between the executive and judicial branches that will either undergird the system of checks and balances, or set us up for the kind of autonomous rule our founders fought against.
In one corner are judges who believe Constitutional challenges to the travel ban are likely to succeed. In the other is an executive branch that claims banning people traveling from seven Muslim countries will protect American citizens from acts of terror.
After a judge and an appeals court temporarily halted the travel ban, the Justice Department appealed, saying, “(The court ruling) contravenes the considered judgment of Congress that the President should have the unreviewable authority to suspend the admission of any class of aliens.”
In my view, unreviewable authority is dangerous, and it’s not what America is built upon.
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Photo: We the People – America Resists. President Trump suffered another set back at the hands of the U.S. Courts. Geoff Livingston/ Flickr Creative Commons
Solomon Jones is an Essence bestselling author and award-winning columnist. He is the creator and editor of Solomonjones.com and morning host on 900 am WURD radio. Click here to learn more about Solomon.
