On Oaths & Outlaws

Note: These are my personal thoughts and do not in anyway represent the opinions of my employer, the Minnesota State, Hennepin County, and Ramsey County Bar Associations.

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May 1, 2025 was National Law Day of Action. Events to mark the day were held throughout the nation, with 1,500-2,000 attending in New York City. Organizers encouraged attorneys to retake their oath as part of the planned events in order to reaffirm their commitment to the rule of law.

In Minnesota, over 600 people attended the National Law Day of Action organized by the Minnesota State, Hennepin County, and Ramsey County Bar Associations in the plaza at the Hennepin County Government Center.

HCBA President m boulette and MSBA President Samuel Edmunds gave remarks about the importance of upholding the rule of law and what it means for justice. Following this, retired Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Margaret Chutich led the lawyers in attendance in restating their attorney oath.

It was very moving to see everyone holding up their right hand and reciting their oath.

I have been thinking about oaths lately, specifically the oaths our government officials and federal employees take prior to their service.

My youngest child served in the Navy, and he mentioned to me some years ago that his oath was to the U.S. Constitution first and foremost. Here is the oath for enlisted members of the military:

“I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.” (https://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/swearing-in-for-military-service.html) 

I got curious to see the oaths the Supreme Court, members of Congress, the President, and federal workers are required to take.

Turns out, most of them take the same oath, which is stated in 5 U.S. Code § 3331 – Oath of Office:

“I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.” (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/3331)

The one exception is the President, who gets this oath:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” (https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/article-2/section-1/clause-8/oath-of-office-for-the-presidency-generally)

Why does the President get a special oath? Because it is included in Article II of the Constitution. According to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School, “Because Article II provides a verbatim presidential oath, misadministration of the oath might elicit questions as to the President’s legitimacy.”

Oaths are a big deal.

They arose out of religious traditions, where breaking an oath could bring punishment from God, or humans acting in place of God. (See: The Conversation – The history of oath ceremonies and why they matter when taking office.)

An oath is your word that you will do what you have promised. In court, when you take an oath to tell the truth, if you are found to have lied, you can be charged with perjury.

If you go back on your oath, you are considered dishonest and untrustworthy. It’s a reputation breaker. In past societies, it could get you outlawed.

Today, we often think of outlaws as those who stick their thumb in the eye of the law, running around purposely breaking the law and evading justice. Jesse James comes to mind as an outlaw with a connection to Northfield, Minnesota, where several of his gang members were killed or captured during a bank robbery.

But, there’s another definition of outlaw. It means putting someone outside the protection of the law, where they have no rights and become social outcasts.

Eldest son told me about this version of being outlawed in relation to old Norse or Viking societies. If you were outlawed for breaking an oath or other laws, you’d be sent to live on your own, outside of society, where you could be killed with impunity.

Wikipedia provides a good overview of the concept of being an outlaw, including our current popular definition.

What’s interesting about the two definitions is how they are both at play with the Trump administration.

Donald Trump has made no secret about his lifelong disdain for following the law. While he took an oath to uphold the Constitution, he has repeatedly issued executive orders that have been deemed unconstitutional. He is threatening to defy judges’ orders. He is an outlaw in the popular definition of the term.

However, he is also attempting to make other people, most notably immigrants, outlaws by having them detained and deported by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents without due process. He is purposely removing them from U.S. society and the protection of the law.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who the Trump administration admits to wrongfully sending to a notorious prison in El Salvador, has been outlawed. So have three children who are U.S. citizens when the Trump administration had them deported to Honduras.

Trump, of course, is not acting alone when he engages in these acts. Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and the Homeland Security Advisor, and Tom Homan, White House Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations, are calling the shots behind the scenes when it comes to these deportations that put people outside the law. So are ICE agents, who are dressing so they can’t be identified when they kidnap people in order to quickly deport them and giving them no chance to contact a lawyer.

Presumably, all of these people, in their roles as employees of the federal government, took oaths to defend the Constitution, but they are making themselves outlaws by choosing to break that oath. It’s a sad and maddening state of affairs for the United States.

Which is why watching hundreds of Minnesota attorneys retake their oath committing to the rule of law on National Law Day of Action was so poignant.

Oaths still mean something.

People want to live inside the law.