Voices

When politics gets in the way of prosecutions, the best way to ensure future justice is to build evidentiary cases now. That has proven true in lawless situations around the world. It is needed in the United States today.

Kenneth RothSenior Fellow, Yale University.
Former Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.

As someone who served nearly two decades as judge and president of UN war crimes tribunals, my lodestar was the Rule of Law, the core principle of justice and accountability in both national and international law. I wish the very best to projects aimed at strengthening and enforcing that vital Rule.

Theodor Meron CMGVisiting Professor, Oxford law faculty, and honorary fellow, Trinity College.
Past Judge and President of UN war crimes tribunals.

Having worked for years in the former Soviet Union fighting corruption and ensuring that the powerful are held accountable, I find it extremely distressing to realize that certain officials in my own government are now acting with criminal impunity and in plain disregard for their legal and ethical obligations. The United States spent decades ensuring that the rule of law was followed around the world and now, sadly, we must focus our attention at home and remind our own government that no one is above the law.

Frank HespeChief of Party for Rule of Law programs, American Bar Association.
Former Dean of the Monterey College of Law.

The United States has seen severe erosion of democratic norms, and grave intrusions on the value of legality since January 2025. This raises serious questions about how we are to restore our previous commitments to the Constitution and the general principle that officials, even in the nation’s highest office, operate under the law, as opposed to being able to defy it for personal or partisan gain. But how are we to do so? Mark Blumberg and his team are leading a thoughtful and conscientious effort to get that difficult project started—and their work will benefit us all.

Aziz HuqFrank and Bernice J. Greenberg Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School.

In my global work fostering accountability for grave international crimes around the world, I’ve witnessed firsthand the important contributions that civil society actors can make in documenting criminal activity and imagining pathways to justice. These public-private partnerships have enabled groundbreaking cases in courts around the world. This same model can promote accountability here, at home. The rule of law is precious and impunity is corrosive. We must all do our part to counter those who would undermine the rule of law for their own private benefit.

Beth Van SchaackDistinguished Fellow at Stanford University.
Former Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice (GCJ) in the U.S. State Department.