Guns Are a Threat to the Body Politic
America must regulate guns not only to protect life, but to protect its citizens’ equal freedoms to speak, assemble, worship, and vote without fear.
The Supreme Court Might Kill Voting Rights—Quietly
Conservative justices seem poised to use complex, technical doctrines that will likely sanction all manner of state voter-suppression measures.
The Supreme Court Is Giving Lower Courts a Subtle Hint to Rein In Police Misconduct
And those paying attention haven’t missed it.
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The 5 Trump Amendments to the Constitution
The 45th president profoundly altered our system of government.
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January 6 Was Just One Day in a Sustained Campaign
The impeachment trial offers a chance to show how Donald Trump tried to undermine the election’s legitimacy for months—not just on the day of the Capitol attack.
Freedom of Speech Doesn’t Mean What Trump’s Lawyers Want It to Mean
The First Amendment does not limit the removal and disqualification powers conferred on Congress by the Constitution.
How One Supreme Court Decision Increased Discrimination Against LGBTQ Couples
People may like to believe that the Court can accommodate conservative religious groups without causing much harm, but that does not seem to be the case.
Lots of People Are Disqualified From Becoming President
Prohibiting Trump from running again is no outlandish measure, but an expressly constitutional remedy.
To Try a President
Should Richard Nixon have faced criminal prosecution? A never-before-published article from 1974, written by a leading legal scholar, offers answers that speak to the present.
Employers’ Vaccine Mandates Are Representative of America’s Failed Approach to Public Health
We can’t rely on the private sector to protect the common good.
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The Great Free-Speech Reversal
Liberals once believed that private corporations have far too much power over the flow of ideas and information in today’s society. Now it’s conservatives who are worried.
The Senate Trial Will Test Whether Republicans Care Even About Themselves
The whole American government is premised on the idea that politicians will act in their own interests. A Senate that won’t protect itself from attack can’t protect the country.
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Don’t Move On Just Yet
Could a truth and reconciliation commission help the country heal?
America Desperately Needs a New Age of Moral Leadership
Following Trump’s intensely polarizing presidency, Biden’s message of decency, truth, constitutional integrity, and care for one another is more imperative than ever.
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How to Break the Demagogue Cycle
The Senate must convict Trump in order to disqualify him from ever holding public office again.
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The Other Tragedy of January 6
One hundred and forty-seven Republican members of Congress voted to sustain a delusion in the American mind.
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Don’t Be Scared of Prosecuting Trump
Republicans are arguing that going after him will do irreversible damage to American democracy. Don’t believe them.
The Gun-Rights Movement Fed America’s Insurrectionist Fever Dreams
The NRA and its allies have argued for years that citizens need to arm themselves for a fight against tyranny.
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The Entire Point of the 25th Amendment
There can be no confusion over who is president, even for a moment.
America Is Nearing the End of Law
Trump’s allies are not making good-faith arguments within America’s legal system. Rather, this is a challenge to the legal system.
We Can’t Let Our Elections Be This Vulnerable Again
No law can stop reckless people from trying to thwart the popular will, but we should still address the obvious weak spots in our system.
How Raphael Warnock Came to Be an Abortion-Rights Outlier
Religious, pro-abortion-rights voices were not always so rare.
Trump’s Pardon of Manafort Is the Realization of the Founders’ Fears
George Mason anticipated the president’s act more than 230 years ago.
Trump’s Pardons Make the Unimaginable Real
He may now attempt what no one thought a president would ever try.
Liberals Were Right to Fear the Supreme Court’s Election Intervention
The justices’ decision not to wade into a sloppy coup attempt is no victory for rule of law.
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The Trump Administration’s Double Standard of Justice
A federal judge will decide next month whether the U.S. legal system treats presidential allies differently from presidential antagonists.
What If We Wrote the Constitution Today?
Proposals from libertarian, conservative, and progressive scholars displayed a few striking differences—but also some profound similarities.
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Thank Goodness for the Independence of America’s Judiciary
The courts have refused to be made pawns in President Trump’s efforts to overturn the election.
Trump’s Election Litigation Will Have Lasting Effects
These lawsuits have upended courts’ role in interpreting voting laws.
Minority Rule Cannot Last in America
It never has.
There Aren’t Serious-Enough Consequences for Those Trying to Break American Democracy
What the president and his lawyers have been attempting to do deserves punishment that will likely never come.
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Biden Could Expand Abortion Access, Even Without the Senate
The path lies not in legislation but through the deregulation of mifepristone—the only drug the FDA has approved to safely and effectively terminate an early pregnancy.
The Flynn Pardon Is a Despicable Use of an Awesome Power
The president’s abuse of his clemency power is an assault on one of the few truly humane aspects of the American legal system.
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Republicans With Any Love of Country Must Acknowledge That Trump Has Lost
Each day, it becomes more urgent that Republicans and conservatives speak in defense of institutions and in defiance of the president’s posture.
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Congress Needs to End This, Now
The legislative branch is constitutionally charged with checking abuses in the executive branch—and it must act to ensure a smooth transition.
No Self-Respecting Lawyer Should Touch Trump’s Election-Fraud Claims
The president may not have to worry about keeping a job after January 20, 2021, but the attorneys doing his bidding at the moment certainly do.
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Trump Needs Three Consecutive Hail Mary Passes
The president’s litigation strategy is unlikely to succeed, but it’s doing great harm in the meantime.
The Fallout of a SCOTUS Health-Care Decision Could Be Quick, Devastating, and Irreversible
Millions of Americans could lose their insurance—and neither Joe Biden nor the states will be in a good position to do much about it.
Trump’s Lawsuits Are Politics Disguised as a Legal Strategy
His bald complaints are not viable legal claims—and the courts won’t save him.
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Nothing Changes at the Stroke of Midnight Tonight
Counting ballots takes time—and the process isn’t required to arbitrarily stop at the end of Election Day.
‘America Is a Republic, Not a Democracy’ Is a Dangerous—And Wrong—Argument
Enabling sustained minority rule at the national level is not a feature of our constitutional design, but a perversion of it.
How the Court Inverted Constitutional Protections Against Discrimination
What was once constitutionally prohibited is now constitutionally required.
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‘Religious Equality’ Is Transforming American Law
The idea that people of faith must be protected from discrimination—even when that means they themselves will discriminate against others—is gaining traction in the courts.
The Transition Is Already Happening (And It’s Going Fine So Far)
Even if Trump were resolved to thwart a smooth transition, much of the process lies entirely outside his control.
Amy Coney Barrett’s Judicial Philosophy Doesn’t Hold Up to Scrutiny
The Constitution should be the sturdy vessel of our ideals and aspirations, not a derelict sailing ship locked in the ice of a world far from our own.
Republicans Don’t Know What to Do With Their Bad-Faith ACA Case
The Court may well invalidate the law, but not without taking a considerable risk.
The Forgotten Third Amendment Could Give Pandemic-Struck America a Way Forward
An overlooked corner of the Constitution hints at a right to be protected from infection.
The Mess Congress Could Make
The Bush v. Gore fight has become the template of a disputed election, but many of the worst-case scenarios could end up before Congress, not the Court.
Life Without Parole for Kids Is Cruelty With No Benefit
The United States is the only country that allows this practice, and soon the Supreme Court could get rid of it.
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The Amy Coney Barrett Hearings Were a Failure
The multiday spectacle gave viewers little understanding of the most important issue the Court will rule on: how Americans vote and whether those votes matter.
Stephanie Wolkoff’s Revelations Are Exactly What the First Amendment Should Protect
And the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against her is a disgrace.
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The Secret Code of the Amy Coney Barrett Hearing
Pay attention to phrases such as settled law and stare decisis, and a whole other layer of meaning will come to the fore.
America’s Judiciary Doesn’t Look Like America
Those tasked with administering justice are overwhelmingly white and male, while the country is not.
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Senate Republicans Are Playing a Dangerous Game With the Court’s Legitimacy
The concept of precedent isn’t valuable just for the guidance it provides but also for the confidence it instills in political and legal systems. Republicans are treating it recklessly.
The Constitution Is On Pause in America’s Courtrooms
Seven months into the pandemic, courts around the country are beginning to restart their criminal dockets. But the practical obstacles are staggering.
What’s So Great About a Written Constitution?
Having one document that sets up a government does not result in better democratic outcomes than having a mix of statutes, norms, and precedents.
Courts Are Taking Away One of Americans’ Best Options for Fixing Voting
The Supreme Court told citizens to improve the country’s democracy by passing ballot initiatives. They tried.
The Man Who Wanted to Save the First Amendment by Inverting It
In the 1940s, the scholar William Ernest Hocking envisioned a theory under which the government actively facilitated free speech.
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A Warning From Michigan
The state previews how far Republican judges will go to obstruct Democrats in office.
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What Happens If a Presidential Candidate Becomes Incapacitated or Dies
Rules exist for what could come next, but they won’t prevent total chaos.