Retired Boston judges applaud longtime Boston federal judge Mark Wolf for resigning to publicly admonish President Donald Trump.
Wolf resigned last week in protest of the Trump administration’s actions against the rule of law. Wolf had served as a member of the United States Court for the District of Massachusetts for more than 40 years since he was appointed by President Ronald Reagan; before that, he was a prosecutor under the U.S. attorney of Massachusetts.
The former federal judge called Trump an “existential threat to democracy” in an essay published in The Atlantic Sunday. Wolf accused the president of using the law to target his opponents while sparing friends and donors and condemned the dismantling of public offices that investigate government corruption.
“As I watched in dismay and disgust from my position on the bench, I came to feel deeply uncomfortable operating under the necessary ethical rules that muzzle judges’ public statements and restrict their activities,” he said. “Day after day, I observed in silence as President Trump, his aides, and his allies dismantled so much of what I dedicated my life to.”
Judge Christopher Muse, a retired associate justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court, said retired judges have a unique and important role to play.
“In a way, you’re straitjacketed as a judge,” Muse said.
Sitting judges are ethically bound from speaking their opinions outside of the courtroom. But once a judge steps away from the bench, Muse argued, there is enormous freedom — and even a moral obligation — to speak out.
“[We] have a greater sense of outrage because [we] know what’s expected. You know, we regularly read and re-read the Constitution,” Muse said. “I know it’s not a hot edition for most of the citizenry, but that’s what we did for livelihood.”
“It really is extraordinary,” said retired Judge Nancy Gertner. “This is someone who loved being a judge. He [Wolf] would have been the last person I would have expected to resign from the bench. So it took a lot to get to this moment.”
Gertner, who was a federal judge alongside Wolf and worked closely with him on the bench, retired in 2011 and now teaches at Harvard Law School. Prior to Wolf becoming a judge, Gertner found herself on the opposite side of the court room when she was defending Boston mayoral aide Ted Anzalone from Wolf on the prosecutorial side.
She is a paid contributor to GBH’s Boston Public Radio and has been vocally critical of the Trump administration — like Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s recent reference to “rogue activist judges.” Gertner said there are no rogue judges, only a rogue president.
“I’m sad that [Wolf] was leaving the job he absolutely loved,” she said. “And, on the other hand, I’m thrilled that he’s joining the chorus of judges who are appalled by what’s going on.”
Within the world of legal circles, Muse said Wolf’s actions are consequential. He said the Trump administration’s actions have been “shocking.”
“The more voices, the louder the messaging,” Muse said. “And the courts are the last barrier for what’s going on.”
Retired judges speaking out, he said, will help maintain the rule of law — especially during times when courts are making consequential rulings on issues like immigration and federal SNAP funding.
“What the courts are doing right now, and what the judges are saying right now, are really the last bulwark for the systemic destruction of our constitutional and ethical principles,” Muse said.
Wolf is 78 years old and had senior status on the court, a semi-retired status that he took in 2014 to take on a smaller caseload. His seat at the time was filled by Judge Indira Talwani, meaning his resignation in protest won’t create a vacancy that Trump could fill.
Other former colleagues complimented Wolf’s steadfast commitment to the rule of law.
Chief Judge Denise J. Casper, who leads the District Court of Massachusetts, noted that Wolf’s “many opinions on complex issues of law in notable cases have had a great impact on jurisprudence.”
Wolf will now join a boutique law firm in Boston, Todd & Weld LLP. He vowed in his Atlantic essay to “speak out, support litigation, and work with other individuals and organizations dedicated to protecting the rule of law and American democracy.”
