SBM Raises Flag On Unprecedented Threats To Rule of Law and Democracy

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 03/24/2025) The State Bar of Michigan's (SBM) officers recently sent a seven-paragraph statement to its thousands of Bar members in which it expresses concerns about "any and all threats to the judiciary, the Constitution and American democracy."

Without mentioning the name Donald Trump, the statement clearly referenced the President's current attacks on judges and the judicial system, including calling for the impeachment of one federal jurist.

The five officers of the SBM wrote, "We are concerned by any and all threats to the judiciary, the Constitution and American democracy" and those concerns include "outside pressures to undermine judicial independence, threats to judicial security, calls for removal based on case outcomes or actions that erode the public's trust in the courts … "

In the face of these "unprecedented threats," the officers reaffirm the group's "respect for our courts of justice and judicial officers and to never reject the cause of the defenseless or oppressed."

Trump in recent days called for the removal of the judge, James Boasberg, who is handling the deportation case of so-called Venezuelan gang members.

Signed by Bar President Joseph McGill and President-Elect Lisa Hamomeh and three other officers, the statement "reaffirm (our) commitment to supporting the fair and impartial administration of justice in the courts (and) the ability of lawyers to advocate for clients even if their cause may be difficult or controversial."