Dear Editor,

Many of us await that momentous (or fateful) day, November 8, 2028—hoping that our judiciary continues its role in reminding all of us that our Constitution is what defines our democracy. Hoping, because it is being tested every day by this administration. 

We have already seen this movement right here in Colorado, when the Supreme Court ruled that states cannot enforce the 14th Amendment, leaving that responsibility exclusively to the federal courts. 

I’ve written before about how, in my opinion, this Court has significantly diminished Constitutional rights. The most egregious thus far is the ruling that the President has absolute criminal immunity for "core" official acts, and presumptive immunity for other official acts. These rulings, in my opinion, have significantly eroded or eliminated rights of every American.

There are countless cases that have been brought against this administration in just a few months. There are too many to mention here, but one can be heartened by the pattern of rulings of District and Appellate Courts. We are also starting to see signs of how the Supreme Court may begin to reign in this administration, which continues to ignore constitutional, statutory, and regulatory laws.

A friend reminded me that the weight of the cumulative legal cases against Trump and his administration will eventually collapse this Presidency. This may be true—a collective sigh of relief for many of us. But that still leaves us with decades of work to restore the proper and intended workings of our governmental institutions, destroyed or discarded by this administration. 

Then there is the issue of accountability (or retribution, as pronounced by this President). In a civilized, democratic society, we hold to account those who violated our laws. That is what we will all (almost all) expect after this administration is gone. We quickly hit the proverbial brick wall, however: presidential pardon authority. 

We have plenty of empirical knowledge about what this President intends to do on his way out the door, using the broadest swath of his pardon authority. He will pardon himself and all of those folks who assisted him attempting to reduce our Constitution to a mound of ashes.

Bondi, Hegseth, Rubio, Bessent, Miller, and others will never face their accusers. Their pardons will allow them to ride into the sunset, their departure obvious only by the weight of treasures stolen from the American people.

Accountability, it seems, may be thwarted by the very Constitution we’re desperately trying to save, which allows the President to pardon anyone he wishes. The Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, long since disbanded by this President, will hasten the President’s efforts, who has until noon, January 20, 2029, to pardon anyone he wishes.

We will have lots to be thankful for once this President is gone, but we may never have the opportunity to ask Rubio or Bondi or Miller about their cognitive process whereby they (and others) decided that the greatest democracy in the history of the world must fall at their hands.

Our democracy has been wounded. Our Constitution has been tested, but we will have survived. We have no choice.

Rudy V. Garcia

Dory Lakes