Charles Bird '73 evokes 1930s Germany in Trump v. Hawaii amicus brief

San Diego attorney Charles Bird ’73 has filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in Trump v. Hawaii, the case likely to determine the legality of President Donald Trump’s travel ban restricting entry by nationals from eight, mostly majority-Muslim countries.

The brief, signed by Charity Kenyon ’77, argues that every public statement by President Trump on the subject of the travel ban - including his tweets - should be considered alongside his executive order for the ban.

“When a President as a sole state actor would abridge civil rights or the rights of a minority in the name of enhancing security or prosperity, the Court uniquely owes the people a duty to scrutinize the abridgement with full attention to whether its true motive is repression,” the brief reads. “As a matter of judicial process, that means considering all verifiable evidence of the president’s motives.”

The brief notes that the judiciary in Germany - “another rule-of-law nation” – failed to “see clearly and question deeply when facing a would-be totalitarian” in 1933.

“Germany’s catastrophic experience is pertinent to the United States today.”