Restore the Rule of Law

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The rule of law serves as a foundational pillar of our republic. For a civil society to exist, citizens must believe that our laws will be fairly applied and equally enforced. To uphold the rule of law, society must maintain a social contract between American communities and law enforcement. Citizens must respect the law, and law enforcement officers must act fairly and, when necessary, hold offenders accountable. A nation that has lost respect for the rule of law is subject to chaos.

In 2017, President Trump signed an executive order to establish the Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety. This action was taken to combat illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and violent crime throughout our country. He also established the Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice in late 2019, which reinforced his administration’s commitment to the rule of law.

Even after these strong actions, our Nation still has much work to do to restore the rule of law. Lawmakers in many parts of the Nation must go further to ensure the law is enforced. Rising crime rates and diminished support for law enforcement officers have contributed to a deterioration of our legal system and a lack of respect for the idea of enforcing laws fairly and consistently.

Sadly, many of our country’s largest cities responded negatively to the Trump Administration’s efforts to promote the administration of justice. Some local lawmakers vehemently resisted cooperating with these initiatives, even as violent criminals and gangs worked to jeopardize the safety of their own neighborhoods and their own law enforcement officers.

Some state and local officials also expressed a willingness to lessen punishment for crimes or look the other way as wrongdoing occurred. At the same time, their public lack of confidence in their own police officers contributed to growing unrest throughout major cities. Violent crimes and murder rates have since skyrocketed, demonstrating the consequences of downplaying the importance of law and justice. To solve these problems and maintain the important social contract between communities and law enforcement, we must restore the rule of law. Doing so requires a concerted effort to stop the decriminalization of crimes at the state and federal level and a willingness to aggressively enforce the laws on the books. Americans deserve to live in safe communities where the rule of law is promoted and respected.

THE FACTS

• 12 major U.S. cities broke annual homicide rates in 2021.
• In New York City, shootings increased by 104% from 2019 to 2021, car thefts rose by 91%, and murders climbed 52%.
• 6 major cities (Baltimore, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and New York City) are all on pace to break their 2021 levels of violent crime halfway through 2022.
• After previously cutting the Portland Police Bureau’s budget by $16 million, Mayor Ted Wheeler was forced to add millions back to the police budget and offer a $25,000 signing bonus to recruit new officers amid a rising crime wave.

THE AMERICA FIRST AGENDA

At the federal level, support policies that:

• Stop the decriminalization movement.
• Prioritize aggressive enforcement of existing criminal laws and strict interpretation of those laws.
• Declare Antifa a domestic terrorist organization because its goal is to destroy our constitutional government through violence.
• Carry out a nationwide crackdown on theft and violent crime through strong penalties and strong prosecution.
• Protect the victims of crime through victim’s assistance programs, such as local domestic violence shelters, child advocacy centers, rape crisis centers, homicide support groups, and elder abuse programs at the state and federal level.
• Adopt an “original meaning” interpretation of the Constitution.

At the state level, support policies that:

• Stop the decriminalization movement
• Prioritize aggressive enforcement of existing criminal laws and strict interpretation of those laws.

REFERENCES

‘Destroyed Our City’: Mayor London Breed Calls ‘Bullsh*t’ On Left-Wing Policies Like Defunding Police in Fight Against Rampant Crime, The Daily Caller (Dec. 2021).

Executive Order on the Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, Trump White House Archives (Oct. 2019).

Gov. Gavin Newsom Proposes Spending More Than $300 Million To Combat California Crime, The Los Angeles Times (Dec. 2021).

Six Major Cities on Pace to Pass Historic 2021 Violent Crime Totals Halfway Through 2022, Fox News (June 2022).

Supporting America’s Heroes Who Continue to Hold the Line – In Spite of It All by Pam Bondi and Matt Whitaker, America First Policy Institute (Dec. 2021).

No Law and No Order, the Policies of the Left by Troup Hemenway, America First Policy Institute (Dec. 2021).

True Equality is Enforcing Law and Order by Troup Hemenway, America First Policy Institute (Feb. 2022).