The Independence of the Judiciary in the Trump era

Abstract

Abstract. L’indipendenza della magistratura nell’era di Trump. – The assumption of this paper is that the effects of a given presidency on the solidity of democracy can be evaluated by analyzing the relationship between the Chief Executive and the Federal Courts. Thus the research aimed at evaluating the relationship between Trump and the judiciary under the dual perspective of Trump as the Executive in Chief and of Trump as the addressee of judicial investigations and/or actor in litigations. The results show that on the latter track, the judiciary proved to be still rather independent while the high rate of life appointments to the judiciary has shaped an ultra conservative body that will haunt many generations to come.