WCL Raskin Book

The Savior of Democracy By Elliott S. Milstein, Emeritus Professor of Law

Jamie has become America’s hero and his articulation of the values embedded in the constitution, laws, and traditions of this country will endure. His persuasive, passionate, and lyrical arguments turned the impeachment hearing into a tremendous victory for democracy, for truth, and for justice. He and his colleagues turned a strange and unfamiliar tribunal into a place/setting where they could give a detailed and coherent narrative of the damage done by Trumpism. Thanks to them, both history and the voters will adjudge the Senators who supported Trump for who they are. Jamie’s focus on weaving together the whole story led to a moral conviction. Thanks to his strategy, the continuum of evil that characterized the last four years was exposed to the American Public. Whenever Jamie spoke, people listened. They got a deep lesson in the content and meaning of the Constitution and the duties and constraints that emanate from it. It was as important a civics lesson as most people have ever had. Jamie adapted to a trial without witnesses or questions and yet managed to present overwhelming and irrefutable evidence of responsibility. If it had been a courtroom trial, nearly all the senators who voted “No” would

have been disqualified as jurors for myriad reasons. For some of them to vote to convict would have been to convict themselves. So, by telling the story and making the arguments about history, the team convicted them along with Trump. Here, if the decision maker is the American People, they succeeded beyond measure. Many of Jamie’s arguments have become the stuff of legends and will live on as historic articulations of the meaning of the constitution. They will be read, studied, and enshrined among the greatest speeches about the meaning of America ever delivered. I am so proud that Jamie Raskin is known as Professor of Constitutional Law fromtheWashingtonCollege of Law. I am even prouder that he is my beloved friend. And I am grateful to him for the great service did for the country. He will be long known as the Savior of Democracy.