As American as Due Process

THE U.S. IS a nation of symbols: the bald eagle, the Statue of Liberty, baseball, apple pie. One symbol, however, has taken a beating lately, though it represents the core of the American project.

- Billy Binion

Lady Justice predates the founding, but her likeness—blindfolded, holding scales and a sword—stands for the principles that the Founders insisted should rule the American legal system. While her spirit pervades the Constitution, it is most prominently featured in the Fifth Amendment's promise of due process: the principle that those accused of wrongdoing have the right to challenge the evidence against them before the government takes away their liberty.

But not everyone who swore to uphold the Constitution is keeping that promise. “If you violated the law, you are not entitled to due process,” Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) said in a March town hall. In April, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) posted an image on X that encouraged travel to Canada. “We won't throw you into an El Salvadorian [sic] gulag without due process!” the image read. “[The U.S.] absolutely will,” Lee responded. Tom Homan, Trump's border czar, was asked on ABC if people sent to El Salvador had any due process. “Where was Laken Riley’s due process?” he replied, referring to the Georgia nursing student who was murdered by Jose Ibarra, an immigrant who was in the country illegally and was convicted and sentenced to life without parole for the murder.