Tag

#rule of law

The principle that all persons and institutions, including the government, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced, and independently adjudicated. Covers attacks on legal institutions, defiance of court orders, and arbitrary governance.

7 incidents

Rule of Law
Serious Rights Violation Ongoing

Immigration Judiciary Purge: 113 Judges Fired Without Due Process, Including Retaliation Against Judges Who Protected Free Speech

Over 113 immigration judges have been fired without due process since January 2025 — more firings in one year than in the entire prior history of the immigration court system. The April 2026 firing of two judges specifically because they dismissed deportation cases against pro-Palestinian activists represents direct judicial retaliation: punishing judges for ruling against the administration, fundamentally corrupting the independence of courts adjudicating life-and-death immigration cases.

Sources
6
immigration judgesjudicial independencedue processRümeysa ÖztürkMohsen Mahdawi
Updated March 26, 2026 Rule of Law
Serious Rights Violation Ongoing

ICC Immunity Demands: Ultimatum to Amend Rome Statute and Exempt Americans from War Crimes Prosecution

A systematic campaign to destroy the International Criminal Court's ability to hold Americans accountable for war crimes, combining unprecedented sanctions on judges with demands to rewrite the Rome Statute itself. The campaign goes far beyond any previous US opposition to the ICC, seeking not merely non-cooperation but the permanent restructuring of international criminal justice.

Sources
15
ICCRome Statutesanctionsimmunitywar crimes
Updated March 25, 2026 Rule of Law
Serious Rights Violation Ongoing

Weaponization of the Department of Justice: Retaliatory Investigations and Prosecutions

Systematic weaponization of the DOJ through a retaliatory investigations unit, indictments of political opponents that were dismissed as brought by an unlawfully appointed prosecutor, mass departure of career prosecutors, and dismantlement of the Civil Rights Division and Public Integrity Section.

Sources
7
DOJ weaponizationretaliatory prosecutionLetitia JamesJames ComeyCivil Rights Division
Updated March 25, 2026 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power Ongoing

Systematic Pardons of Political Allies and Financial Criminals — $1.3 Billion in Victim Restitution Erased

A systematic pattern of pardons benefiting political allies, donors, and financial criminals. Over half of 88 clemency grants went to white-collar offenders, erasing $1.3 billion in victim restitution. Twenty corrupt politicians were pardoned. The DOJ's Public Integrity Section — responsible for investigating corruption — has been largely dismantled, and the head of the Pardon Attorney's office was fired and replaced with a political loyalist.

Sources
8
pardonscorruptionwhite-collar crimepolitical alliesdonor access