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Lawyers are ‘endangered’ in Trump’s America, international group warns
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Date: January 19th, 2026 10:59 PM Author: AZNgirl asking ICE Officer to Shoot in her Mouth See what u have done trumpkins, u have hurt the lolyers
Lawyers are ‘endangered’ in Trump’s America, international group warns Citation places US alongside Belarus, Iran and Afghanistan as places that have threatened the rule of law
An international coalition of lawyers claimed the independence of the justice system has come under attack by the Trump administration © Mark Waugh/Alamy
The Day of the Endangered Lawyer, an annual event to raise awareness of risks to members of the profession, has in recent years picked Belarus, Iran and Afghanistan as its subject. For 2026, it has chosen the US. An international coalition of lawyers’ groups, backed by the UN’s special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, made the decision because of what they describe as a “series of escalating attacks against lawyers” during President Donald Trump’s second term. That includes targeting law firms with executive orders, criticising judges, firing prosecutors and announcing sanctions on the International Criminal Court. “It’s a remarkable choice,” Margaret Satterthwaite, the UN special rapporteur, told the FT. “If you look at the countries that preceded it most recently . . . These are all places where any person on the street would recognise lawyers probably have a pretty delicate role in that setting.” The event takes place on January 24 and aims to draw attention to lawyers facing harassment and intimidation from their governments, sometimes taking personal risks in order to do their jobs. It was founded to mark the Atocha Massacre, when four human rights lawyers and a colleague were murdered in their Madrid office in 1977. In the US “the decline has been so quick”, Satterthwaite said. “[In] other countries that have gone through an autocratisation process, that has tended to take years. The kind of attacks we’re seeing on lawyers in one year are the kind you might see over a series of years.” “The Biden Administration repeatedly weaponized the Department of Justice against their political enemies, including using Department of Justice to spy on GOP lawmakers — all while the media looked the other way. The Trump Administration is restoring integrity to our justice system and holding criminals accountable,” said Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson. Subjects of the ‘endangered lawyer’ day 2026 United States of America 2025 Belarus 2024 Iran 2023 Afghanistan 2022 Colombia 2021 Azerbaijan 2020 Pakistan 2019 Turkey 2018 Egypt 2017 China 2016 Honduras 2015 The Philippines 2014 Colombia 2013 Basque Country / Spain 2012 Turkey 2011 Turkey 2010 Iran The US did not respond to a letter from Satterthwaite in which she wrote that there appeared to be “an organised, deliberate effort to harass” people involved in the legal system. In contrast, Belarus and Iran had replied in previous years, she told the FT. Since returning to power a year ago, Trump has attacked lawyers and judges who have worked on cases against him or issued rulings he does not support, including calling judge James Boasberg “crooked” and a “Radical Left Lunatic” who should be “impeached” after he ordered a halt to deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. The law was last invoked in the second world war to intern non-US citizens of Italian, German and Japanese descent. In the early days of his second term, Trump issued executive orders against several law firms suspending their security clearances and government contracts. Some successfully fought back in court, while others struck deals with the administration in an attempt to avoid being targeted. The DoJ has fired prosecutors who handled cases stemming from the January 6 2021 attack on the Capitol and who worked on cases targeting Trump. The biggest US law firms have tended not to publicly criticise the Trump administration. But the coalition of 37 lawyers’ groups supporting the choice of the US includes the European Criminal Bar Association, the Law Society of England and Wales and lawyers’ organisations based in South Africa, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Turkey as well as the US. Vânia Costa Ramos, chair of the ECBA, which proposed the US as the focus for 2026, told the FT that the country had been chosen over a handful of other candidates and that she hoped it would show US-based lawyers that their international peers stood in “solidarity” with them. “The fact that this is happening in a country that is democratic and known to be a champion of the rule of law is even more concerning because it shows . . . backsliding on the rule of law can happen anywhere,” she said. |