Lawfare: What Would Harry Callahan Do?

A half-century ago, moviegoers flocked to see Inspector Harry Callahan (Dirty Harry) and Paul Kersey (Death Wish) fight wrongdoing in a world where sclerotic legal processes were worse than useless. The system had become unduly solicitous to the rights of villains who had nothing but contempt for the rights of others and for the system itself.

Like some smug, obviously guilty killer going free on some evidentiary or procedural issue in the first 30 minutes of a Death Wish or Dirty Harry movie, the current crop of plaintiffs defending waste, fraud, abuse, grift, gangsterism and/or terrorism supporters are strolling out of well-selected federal courthouses with an injunction or order in hand and a big smile on their faces.

The left has utter contempt for taxpayers and has lawlessly separated billions of dollars from both the will of Congress and the control of the president. But if accountability raises its ugly head suddenly, the Administrative Procedures Act or some lesser regulations supposedly trump both constitutional authority and public welfare.

The current immigration crisis was created as Biden and Secretary Mayorkis betrayed the law, backstabbed line officers, lied to Congress and knowingly admitted millions of illegals, including known criminals. However unlawful those actions, we are told by our betters that undoing that criminal handiwork is constrained by their newfound, entirely disingenuous love of regular order and due process.

Aside from the likelihood of appellate victories for Trump in most of these lawfare battles, there is a likely political benefit. Federal judges should meditate on the fact that there were seven sequels for Death Wish and four for Dirty Harry. People like seeing wrongs righted, especially when they feel our social order is threatened. It diminishes respect for the law when partisan judges actively inhibit just and necessary outcomes. A few, well-crafted executive Dirty Harry maneuvers in the face of establishment intransigence (like depositing undesirables in Salvadoran jails) will be rewarded at the ballot box, and maybe restore some balance and good order.