Response to: Leadership Lab with Mike Luttig and Lewis Powell III “When Morals Breach Party Lines”

Judge John Micheal (Mike) Luttig is a Washington and Lee alum (class of ‘76) and graduated from University of Virginia Law School in 1981. After an exemplar legal career, in 1991, former President George H. W. Bush nominated him to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and he did until he retired in 2006. This fall Judge Luttig returned to his alma mater to discuss the convoluted relationship between legal institutions, political power, and accountability within the United States system of governance.

Judge Luttig’s talk was centered around the role he played in the events of January 6th, 2021, when he had to tell then Vice President Mike Pence that he had no legal authority to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Judge Luttig said that he had been preparing for that moment for 65 years given that he has spent his career protecting democracy and upholding American ideal. He was not about to let those ideals get uprooted by President Trump’s hubris. Judge Luttig also discussed the importance of the rule of law, saying that the United States has been an example for others given its traditional respect for the rule of law. Until last year, that is, when the new administration came into power. He condemned the current elected representatives in the U.S government for savaging the Constitution and the rule of law, reminding the audience that we the people give our representatives their power and that only we are the ones who can stop the current undermining of the rule of law.

Currently, politics in the United States is extremely polarized. We are living in a time where party interests and loyalty seem to matter more than the interests of the American people. Our representatives will ensure the failure of a piece of legislation simply because they do not want the opposing party to have a win in their books, regardless of the effect it will have on the American people. Our representatives will also shame other representatives for not being a “good Republican” or a “good Democrat” because they prioritize their own party’s ideology over reaching across the aisle. This current political environment puts immense pressure on our representatives to not go against their party. And this environment has paralyzed American politics and undermined the aims of our democracy. It is now rare to see a political representative speak against their party, and it is especially rare to see this from a member of the party in power.

For me, seeing Judge Luttig, a conservative judge, denounce the actions of members of his own party on the stage at his alma mater was a testament to the fact that there is still hope for politics in America. Judge Luttig spent quite a bit of the talk criticizing the current administration, at one point mentioning how someone could say that he is a hypocrite for criticizing the current administration when he is also Republican. In response, Judge Luttig mentioned that he has recently disaffiliated from the Republican Party because the direction of that party no longer aligns with his personal beliefs. Even when he was a registered Republican, Judge Luttig did not let party lines define his morals or legal decision making. He had no reservations in condemning President Trump in 2020 when he attempted to overturn the election results. And Judge Luttig did not regret these actions even after he was criticized by fellow party members—even after receiving sent death threats from members of the public.

Judge Luttig’s actions are exemplary of how one should live a political life with integrity. He helped me see that political parties should not define us—and that what truly matters is whether one sticks to their morals and obligations to their fellow citizens. We need more people like Judge Luttig in our government. We need more people are willing to prioritize the American people over short-term political interests or party loyalty. Judge Luttig shows us that, when we act with integrity, there is hope for American politics yet.