Posted on Tuesday, April 1, 2025

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by Shane Harris

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Left-wing lawfare has gone global. Following the campaign to slander, impoverish, and imprison President Donald Trump last year, conservative leaders throughout the Western world are facing a shocking crusade of liberal judicial activism that threatens to stifle democracy.

The latest outrageous miscarriage of justice came in France, where a court on Monday ruled that Marine Le Pen, the leader of the conservative National Rally, had misused European Union funds. Le Pen received a four-year prison sentence, half of which was suspended. Judges said she could serve the remaining two years on house arrest.

More importantly, Le Pen is barred from seeking public office for the next five years – meaning that she won’t be eligible for France’s 2027 presidential election. After Le Pen came in second in the last two contests to incumbent Emmanuel Macron (who is now term limited), a March 29 poll showed her as the clear front-runner in the race, with 37 percent support.

The trial itself reeked of political corruption and was rife with procedural shortcuts. Thanks to a bit of bureaucratic maneuvering, the case was adjudicated entirely by judges, denying Le Pen the basic right to face a jury of her peers.

Prime Minister François Bayrou of the opposing European Democratic Movement was reportedly “troubled” by the verdict, while France’s current justice minister, Gérald Darmanin, said last November that it would be “deeply shocking” if Le Pen were barred from running in 2027. Le Pen must be defeated “at the ballot box, not elsewhere,” the Macron ally said.

The timing of the conviction couldn’t be more convenient for liberals and the European Union establishment as right-wing populist movements continue to surge in France, Germany, Italy, and elsewhere. With French liberals facing a reckoning over their failed policies, unelected judges have now effectively denied French voters the chance to choose their next president.

All of this will no doubt sound familiar to American readers who just witnessed a left-wing effort to pull off a similar stunt against Trump in the United States. Just as Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg invented a ridiculous “novel legal theory” to turn misdemeanor charges into felony charges, the French court slapped absurdly high penalties on Le Pen for what are known in French law as “délit,” or “lesser” crimes.

But France is hardly the only nation where the left has weaponized the judiciary to undermine democracy.

Across the continent in Romania, the country’s liberal-controlled constitutional court has been on a rampage, ginning up one absurd ruling after another to keep conservatives out of power. Last December, citing “Russian interference” (sound familiar?) the court canceled an entire presidential election just two days before the final round of voting.

Up until that moment, the court had insisted that the elections would proceed. But after conservative candidate Cǎlin Georgescu emerged as the favorite after the first round of voting, the judges suddenly reversed course, tossing the country into chaos. The court has now booted both Georgescu and fellow right-wing contender Diana Şoşoacǎ from the ballot for May’s rescheduled election.

In Brazil, populist conservative Jair Bolsonaro is already barred from running for office again until 2030 thanks to a 2023 court ruling stemming from Bolsonaro’s criticism of the country’s electronic voting machines. In yet another striking similarity to the American left’s targeting of Trump over his concerns about election integrity, the Brazilian left has effectively disenfranchised Bolsonaro’s voters for demanding greater transparency and accountability in election infrastructure.

But even ending the 68-year-old Bolsonaro’s political career has apparently not been enough for the left-wing government of Lula da Silva, which now has just a 24 percent approval rating. In February, Brazil’s top prosecutor also charged Bolsonaro with plotting a coup. A conviction by the country’s liberal Supreme Court (7 of the 11 justices were appointed by left-wing leaders, including 4 by Lula himself) could land Bolsonaro in prison for supposedly leading a “criminal organization” aimed at overthrowing the government.

That case yet again echoes the American left’s claims that Trump incited an “insurrection” on January 6, 2021, forming the basis of Democrats’ second impeachment effort and multiple attempts to kick him off the ballot last year.

America has long been a beacon of democracy, inspiring nations to embrace free and fair elections. But that influence works both ways. The American left, in its relentless pursuit of power, has signaled to the world that it is acceptable to weaponize the courts against the political opponents of those in power.

That message has been received – and imitated – by liberal elites abroad, who now see judicial activism as a shortcut to dismantling democracy under the guise of “justice.” By barring opposition leaders from elections through dubious legal maneuvers, the left isn’t just attacking individual candidates; it’s undermining the very foundation of representative government.

When political battles are no longer fought at the ballot box but in courtrooms controlled by unelected judges, the people lose their voice. If America continues down this path, it will no longer be a model for republican self-government, but a cautionary tale of how easily it can be lost.

Shane Harris is the Editor in Chief of AMAC Newsline. You can follow him on X @shaneharris513.