President Donald Trump recently scored a victory with the Supreme Court: The justices agreed to hear his case that his former role as president grants him immunity in the face of federal charges. Among the central questions in this criminal case: What does it mean for the president to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,” as the Constitution requires?

Trump and his lawyers have argued that this constitutional clause grants him near-total immunity from judicial oversight, as opposed to being an accountability measure meant to hold the president responsible for enforcing the laws. While commentators on both sides have focused on what it means to “faithfully execute” the laws, few consider as closely the clause’s other phrase: the exhortation to “take care.”

A common reading of that phrase by legal scholars is that it simply means to “ensure,” as in to “ensure that the Laws be faithfully executed.” But that reading shortchanges centuries of political thought about a question that hangs over Trump’s prosecution, and the outcome of this year’s election: What does it mean for public officials to have a duty of care?

The public trust

That question was taken seriously in ancient Athens, where a 403 BC decree instructed one of the traditional governing councils, known as the Council of the Areopagus, to “Take caring charge of the laws, so that the office holders may employ the laws that have been passed.” The similarity to what’s in the Constitution is striking: Both speak of caring and link it to the laws’ execution.

Yet the Athenian instruction more explicitly references “caring” in the sense of being a caretaker or guardian. This suggests that the officials’ duty is not simply to ensure the laws are executed, but also to safeguard their spirit. To execute without caring, indifferent to the fate of the overall democratic system, is to fail to execute properly at all.

In the 18th century American context, such ideas also had resonance, as shown in debates over the Constitution’s ratification. Commentators in the government and media spoke of federal officeholders’ “public trust,” their role as “servants” or “confidential guardians” of the people, and of the president as the “supreme conservator of the laws.” Even the president’s constitutionally mandated oath to”preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” invokes a notion of guardianship, an idea of rule that goes well beyond the idea that the president is merely the nation’s chief executive (or faithful executor).

‘Keep watch over the laws’

To safeguard the spirit of the laws, one has to know the laws’ purpose (in Greek, their telos ). That telos is broadly understood in ancient Greek texts to be the good of the people. Accordingly, officials were described as stewards and guardians — in the poetry of Pindar, the comedies of Aristophanes and the oratory of Isocrates, among the works of other authors. These portrayals related to the roles of household stewards and legal guardians of children. As with legal guardians today, officials’ duty was to exercise their powers to care for the good of others.

The ancient Athenian philosopher Plato identified caring as a fundamental dimension of statecraft in his text “Statesman.” He argued in “Laws” that a good constitution requires a body similar to the Council of the Areopagus that can “keep watch over the laws.” Even in his dialogue “Republic,” rather than arguing for untrammeled rule by philosophers as many have thought, he proposed that a group of senior guardians should educate, select and supervise officeholders (and that the guardians should themselves be tested and selected by their predecessors).

This is constitutional rule, as suggested by the dialogue’s title in Greek ( Politeia, literally meaning “Constitution”), in which no individual official is immune to scrutiny as to whether they are taking proper care.

The good of the people

What might the U.S. learn from these ancient ideas? For starters, we might recognize that our own founding documents suggest that the telos of our democracy is, as it was for the Greeks, the good of the people.

Imagine, then, if we established our own group of senior guardians to weigh in on the suitability of presidential candidates to perform the role’s essential caring function. The group could include living past presidents, who know from experience what the role requires, and, if necessary to make up a quorum, other qualified retired public officials.

Just as the American Bar Association rates federal judicial nominees as “well qualified,” “qualified” or “not qualified,” this body could rate major party presidential candidates on the basis of transparent, preselected and nonpartisan criteria. Although such a council would have no official role in the electoral process, its rating would signal the deliberative judgment of a uniquely expert group of individuals.

Moreover, in screening potential members for its own ranks, a council of ex-presidents could send further messages about the conduct of past executives. Just as Plato’s guardians were tested and selected by other guardians, so too could this group self-police, determining membership based on factors including performance before, in and after office in terms of exhibiting appropriate care — or a lack thereof — for the health of the democratic process and constitutional system. Exclusion from membership might bear on the National Archives’ support for a presidential library and other honors conventionally bestowed on past presidents.

Fundamental to ruling

To be sure, such a council would be subject to the full range of human foibles and moral failures — at least a dozen U.S. presidents, after all, were or had been slaveholders — and voters may well disregard their judgments. And it perhaps sounds like a flight of fancy to propose a new functional cooperative body in this fractious era of American governance.

On the other hand, the collective experience of prior officeholders may be exactly what we need to safeguard the president’s constitutional duty to take due care. Their ratings would remind all Americans of a lesson that the ancient Greeks recognized: that caring is fundamental to ruling.

Jane Manners is an assistant professor at the Beasley School of Law of Temple University. Melissa Lane is a professor of politics at Princeton and author of the book “Of Rule and Office: Plato’s Ideas of the Political.” They wrote this column for the Los Angeles Times.

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For just the fifth time in its franchise history, the Timberwolves are a 50-win team.

Minnesota reached the milestone Wednesday at Target Center, downing the 12-win Pistons 106-91. It wasn’t impressive nor dominant, as Minnesota slept-walked through the first 2½ quarters.

Still, the Wolves got the win. And doing that 50-plus times over the course of an 82-game NBA season is a mark of true consistency. And Wednesday was another reminder of where that consistency stems from.

It was a night where the Wolves were sluggish at times and the offense stalled on occasion. For instance, Detroit went on an 11-0 run that allowed the Pistons to gain the lead in a second quarter in which the Wolves hit just four of their first 15 shots.

The offense was never truly great. Minnesota shot just 31% from beyond the arc. But the remedy for a poor shooting night can be as simple as hitting the glass. Minnesota did that relentlessly.

Or, more accurately, Rudy Gobert did that relentlessly.

The big man grabbed five offensive rebounds that directly resulted in 13 second-chance points. Minnesota finished with 19 second-chance points to Detroit’s two, which proved to be the difference.

Because even when Minnesota struggles, Gobert’s size and physicality on the interior gives the Wolves a high baseline that prevents disasters from occurring.

It didn’t matter that Anthony Edwards scored just nine points on 4-for-11 shooting, or that Detroit guard Cade Cunningham went off for 32 points. Gobert is an eraser of many issues.

He was again dominant defensively, serving as the primary reason Detroit shot just 40% from the field, including just 17 for 33 in the paint.

Gobert finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds, while going 5 for 5 from the field.

Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels provided additional offensive support. McDaniels continued his recent scoring resurgence with 20 points on the strength of three 3-pointers, while Reid had 21 points and 10 rebounds as he continues to shine in his starting role.

Kyle Anderson added 14 points and five assists in just 23 minutes off the bench.

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St. Paul Fire Capt. Brittney Baker is most comfortable when she’s teaching students who are becoming EMTs, and when out in the community to talk about fire prevention and health. She’s never wanted to be in the limelight and it hasn’t been easy, but she sees the greater good in telling her story.

Baker recently made history as the first African-American woman in the St. Paul Fire Department to reach the rank of captain, and the St. Paul City Council honored her Wednesday.

People have been approaching Baker, telling her she’s made them realize they could also be firefighters.

A girl she didn’t know came up to Baker at a coffee shop asking, “Are you the captain?” Baker replied, “I’m a captain.” The girl told Baker she had seen her story online and said, “Oh my gosh, congratulations!”

Baker also has seen comments people have left on news stories along the lines of, “Who cares? She’s just a diversity, equity and inclusion hire.” Friends tell her not to let it bother her, but she wonders how she can when people aren’t considering she earned the promotion because of her experience, leadership skills and civil service testing.

“It’s a lot of weight,” she said this week. “There’s a lot of positivity that comes with it and there’s a lot of negativity that we still have to deal with. I just want to do the job, and work hard because I’ve always worked hard.”

From student to teacher

Baker grew up in St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood and graduated from Central High School in 2006. She worked at a temp agency, “finding other people jobs,” and was attending Century College. She wanted to become a pediatric oncology nurse.

Baker’s sister, Naajidah, died at age 3 from acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Baker was 8 and the kindness of the medical staff who cared for Naajidah stuck with her.

“Taking care of people, especially kids — they’re the most innocent thing that we have,” she said of what drives her. “Not just trying to fix their illness, but care for them as a whole. Understanding that you’re not just treating the illness, you have to treat the person, too.”

When a friend told Baker about the St. Paul Fire Department’s EMS Academy, she applied in 2012 and was accepted. In its current form, the academy is a tuition-free emergency medical technician certification program for St. Paul or Ramsey County residents. “It’s designed to have the department better reflect our community,” said firefighter/paramedic Kayla Sanchez, one of the lead instructors with Baker.

About three weeks into the academy, Baker’s father was shot. He survived, and seeing the work of EMTs and paramedics also confirmed to her that “this is where I belonged.”

She hadn’t considered becoming a firefighter before the EMS Academy.

“I saw men that looked like me, I didn’t see any women that looked like me,” Baker said. “To be truthful, I didn’t see a whole lot of women to begin with.” But during her first ride-along with a fire crew when she was in the EMS Academy, she was paired with three women firefighters and that started opening her eyes.

Newly promoted St. Paul Fire Captain Brittney Baker gets a hug from her mom, Shantell Hutchinson, after a presentation recognizing her promotion in the St. Paul City Council Chambers on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. Capt. Baker is the first African-American woman to earn the rank of captain with the St. Paul Fire Department. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

After graduating from the EMS Academy, Baker was hired in 2012 as an EMT for the fire department’s Basic Life Support (BLS) division, which responds to less serious medical emergencies than the fire department’s paramedics, among other duties. The St. Paul Fire Department handles all emergency medical calls in the city.

The BLS division was part-time work at that point (its EMTs are now full-time employees), and along the way Baker worked for Regions Hospital EMS, Mercy Hospital’s emergency room, radiology at Regions Hospital and hyperbaric oxygen therapy at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. She still teaches EMT, medic and fire medic courses at Century College.

Baker became a paramedic in 2015 and was accepted to the St. Paul Fire Department academy in 2018, becoming a firefighter/paramedic that year.

She continued taking apprenticeship courses and written exams that are required before a St. Paul firefighter can seek a promotion, and she earned the rank of fire equipment operator.

After six months of studying and preparation, she took the test to become a captain.

There’s a written portion and practical simulations, during which potential captains are evaluated on being in charge of fire scenes. At the St. Paul Fire Department, a captain is assigned to each fire rig to supervise its staff on each shift.

Chief Butch Inks called Baker in February to tell her he was promoting her to captain. She and three other people took on the new rank just over a month ago.

Sixteen graduates of St. Paul’s EMS Academy, which started in 2009, have gone on to become St. Paul firefighters. Baker is the first graduate of the academy to reach the rank of captain in the St. Paul department.

‘Serves selflessly’

Baker will be assigned again to a fire station in May, but the department’s kept her busy with teaching lately. She doesn’t spend much time at her desk at the fire department’s headquarters, which is decorated with thank-you cards from children, photos and more.

There’s also a large chess piece — the queen — she keeps on her desk. It was a gift from Sanchez, who graduated the EMS Academy a year after Baker, worked with her in the BLS division and became a firefighter alongside Baker.

Sanchez said she saw a quote from Karim Ellis: “A king may be the most important piece on the chess board, however, the queen is the most powerful as she performs more moves than any other token.”

“I wanted to give her a chess piece to remind her that she is the most valuable piece on the board,” Sanchez said. “We support each other.”

Also on her desk is a photograph of Baker with three other St. Paul Fire Department employees who are women and EMS Academy graduates, and who were among a group of six women who went to Kenya in November to teach EMS and fire-suppression courses to Kenyan firefighters for two weeks.

Baker began teaching at the fire department’s EMS Academy in 2013, the year after she graduated. She’s now the EMS Academy’s coordinator and one of three lead instructors.

Baker has three children of her own, though “we have always said, our students aren’t students, they become our kids when they are in the class,” Sanchez wrote previously about Baker. “We do whatever it takes to make sure our students overcome any barrier in front of them to be successful. Brittney takes this motto into every part of her life. She serves selflessly and does whatever it takes to ensure the success of others.”

This is the inaugural year for St. Paul Public Schools to have an EMS class; students who pass a national exam will be certified as EMTs and they earn nine college credits in the process.

Baker’s getting ready for the next EMS Academy, which will be for 18- to 24-year-olds. Applications will open in April.

Baker is also a student herself. She’s working on a degree in emergency management/homeland security.

She hopes to use what she’s learning to help sex-trafficking victims because studies have found a high percentage received medical care while being trafficked. Baker said she wants to work on training for EMTs, “so we can try to spot some of that.”

Brittney Baker Day

Surrounded by family, friends, and colleagues, newly promoted St. Paul Fire Captain Brittney Baker addresses the St. Paul City Council in chambers at City Hall on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. Capt. Baker is the first African-American woman to earn the rank of captain with the St. Paul Fire Department. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

During Wednesday’s city council meeting, Baker’s oldest child, 15-year-old Naaziah, read a portion of the council resolution recognizing Baker, including a part that said: “She is passionate about ‘Not just opening the door, but making sure the door never closes again,’ through teaching and instruction.”

City council member Cheniqua Johnson continued reading from the resolution: “During Women’s History Month, we acknowledge trailblazers and pioneers such as Brittney Baker.”

“The historic all-woman, majority women of color St. Paul City Council congratulates Capt. Brittney Baker as she makes local history as the first Black woman captain in the St. Paul Fire Department,” Johnson concluded, and announced it was Brittney Baker Day in the city. Firefighters, Baker’s family and friends, and community members erupted in applause.

Chief Inks suggested to council members that if they plan a meeting with Baker and it’s in public, “I encourage you to make it longer than the allotted time.” He said when he’s out and about, most people want to say “hi” or ask him questions, “except when I’m with Brittney. They all want to talk to Brittney because she’s so well-connected in the community and so devoted to giving back.”

First women joined SPFD 30-plus years ago

The first women became St. Paul firefighters in 1992 and Sue Jacobson made history in 2005 when she became deputy chief. She’s now retired and Deputy Chief Stacy Hohertz is currently the highest-ranked woman in the department. Five women hold the title of captain or higher, according to Hohertz.

“Brittney’s a natural leader,” Hohertz said. “She is committed to making the community a safe place for everyone.”

The first African-American woman to be a firefighter in the St. Paul department’s history was Toni Terry, who retired as a fire equipment operator. Baker was the second African-American woman firefighter in St. Paul. She’s now president of Firefighters United, the St. Paul chapter of the International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters.

There are currently 30 women firefighters, of which five are people of color, and eight women in the BLS division, of which four are people of color, according to Hohertz.

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Timberwolves coach Chris Finch revealed to the entire team after shootaround Wednesday that Minnesota had signed forward T.J. Warren through the rest of the season.

The gym erupted.

Warren — who was with Minnesota for the past 20 days on a pair of 10-day contracts — has been a solid bench option for the Wolves. Heading into Wednesday’s bout with Detroit, Minnesota had outscored opponents by 31 points in Warren’s 98 minutes. In his seven games, Warren touted only one game with a negative point differential when he was on the floor.

The 30-year-old likely won’t be a part of Minnesota’s playoff rotation unless several injuries occur, but he offers length and experience, can get his own bucket off the bounce and appears to be well-liked around the team.

Just ask Kyle Anderson.

“I’ve played against him since we were about 10 or 11 years old. It’s a very special moment to have him on the team for me. It means a lot to me,” Anderson said. “We’ve always competed against each other, so I think this is the first time we’ve been able to be teammates, and it’s special. That’s a dear friend to me. Since we were 10 years old, we’ve always kept in touch over the years. Now to be on the same team is really cool.”

The Warren signing puts Minnesota’s full-time roster at 14 filled spots, leaving one open space that may not be filled.

REST FOR THE WEST?

Minnesota is engaged in a tight battle with Oklahoma City and Denver for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. The Timberwolves — down Karl-Anthony Towns — appear to be “going for it,” as Minnesota has stuck true to form and played all healthy players throughout the season.

Denver has been a little more strategic with its availability. In recent games against cellar-dwellers Portland and Memphis, the Nuggets have found days off for Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon, and still earned a pair of wins.

Thunder star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed Oklahoma City’s bout with Houston on Wednesday with a quad injury.

Minnesota has cut back on its volume of practices of late.

WELCOME BACK, TROY

Troy Brown Jr. made his return to Minnesota on Wednesday after he was dealt mid-season to Detroit as part of the move that brought Monte Morris to the Wolves.

Brown has struggled in Detroit, shooting just 38 percent from the field. He has seen more run of late given the Pistons’ slew of injuries.