Legal experts believe the rule of law in the United States has fallen to its lowest point in at least a decade during President Donald Trump’s second term, according to a new survey released Wednesday by researchers at UCLA School of Law and Dartmouth College.
The survey, conducted by Bright Line Watch and UCLA Law’s Safeguarding Democracy Project, found that experts cited concerns over politicized law enforcement, executive branch overreach and weakening checks and balances within the federal government.
Researchers surveyed federal judges, elite lawyers, law professors, political scientists and members of the public between Feb. 19 and March 6.
“Democracy cannot function unless the government fairly applies legal rules without favoritism or retribution,” Rick Hasen, director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA Law, said in a statement. “Experts see that these values, and therefore our democracy, are under serious stress.”
According to the survey, 94% of legal experts said Trump’s second term poses a greater threat to the rule of law than his first term, while 91% said it is more threatening than the presidency of former President Joe Biden.
Researchers found that only 30% of legal experts expressed confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court would make impartial decisions involving the Trump administration.
The report also found widespread concern over political retaliation, with nearly half of surveyed federal judges saying they feared harassment if they ruled against the government.
About one in five elite lawyers said fear of government retaliation had affected decisions made by their law firms during Trump’s second term, according to the survey.
The survey can be found at brightlinewatch.org/erosion-of-the-rule-of-law-in-trumps-second-term/.