To the Editor:
Re “A Warning From Justice Souter: Too Much Ignorance Will Imperil Democracy,” by Adam Liptak (Sidebar column, May 13):
Justice David Souter was prescient in raising the alarm in 2012, long before the Trump presidency. Like Justice Souter, the founding fathers were instructed by the fall of the Roman Republic and fashioned our separation of powers to avoid its pitfalls.
Now President Trump is attempting to sweep aside constitutional restraints on executive power and establish “presidential government,” with the legislative and judicial branches diminished and compliant.
Mr. Trump’s authoritarianism is built on his cult of personality. Will his corruption of American constitutionalism become so structurally embedded that any successors could rule without the cult? That is the unresolved question.
Steven Berkowitz
New York
To the Editor:
David Souter, the former Supreme Court justice who died last week, once stated, “I don’t believe there is any problem of American politics and American public life which is more significant today than the pervasive civic ignorance of the Constitution of the United States and the structure of government.”
A course on our Constitution — what it says and what it means — should be required for high school students at every school, public and private, in the country.
Leonard Malkin
Detroit
To the Editor:
Re “For Trump, the Constitution Is a Hindrance as He Pushes for Deportations” (White House Memo, nytimes.com, May 5):
I have a suggestion for responding to President Trump’s stated ignorance of his obligation to defend the U.S. Constitution despite swearing an oath of office less than four months ago to do just that.
In my introductory courses, students are required to take a quiz on the syllabus before they can get access to course readings or homework assignments. The quiz is open book, and students can take it as many times as they want, but they must score 100 percent before they are permitted to get to the course content. This quiz is an effective way to avoid situations in which students do not follow course rules because they do not know what they are.
Evidently President Trump needs a syllabus quiz on the Constitution before being granted access to the U.S. legal system. If Chief Justice John Roberts is busy, any first-year law student could devise and administer such a quiz.
Deborah Beck
Austin, Texas
The writer teaches mythology, Latin and ancient Greek at the University of Texas at Austin.
The Catholic Church Sexual Abuse Crisis
To the Editor:
Re “Leo XIV May Prove Frustrating for Catholics in the U.S.,” by Sam Sawyer (Opinion guest essay, May 13):
Father Sawyer, a Jesuit priest and the editor in chief of the Catholic magazine America, offers a compelling view of what conservative or liberal American Catholics might hope for in Pope Leo. One topic not mentioned: the sexual abuse crisis.
Across the global church, including close to home in Leo’s native city, Chicago, as well as in Peru and Italy during his priestly ministry, this scourge has brought piercing trauma to victims. I know. As a clerical abuse survivor, I pray that Leo will continue the healing his predecessor Francis embraced.
Abuse is neither conservative nor liberal. All brothers and sisters in and out of the pews are affected, regardless of political party or doctrinal persuasion.
Mark Joseph Williams
Basking Ridge, N.J.
The writer is a special adviser to the Archdiocese of Newark and the author of “Torrent of Grace: A Catholic Survivor’s Healing Journey After Clergy Abuse.”
To the Editor:
Re “Elon Musk Fed His Reputation Into the Wood Chipper,” by David Nasaw (Opinion guest essay, May 12):
The devastation wrought by Elon Musk, the “unelected co-president,” really points to the people in our government who have abetted his actions or adopted the stance of willfully heedless cowards.
Our leaders clumsily wield power at the expense of workers, families and our global reputation. That’s what is in the wood chipper.
Ann Kloter
Essex, Conn.
