The Supreme Court Needs Real Oversight
Without an effective system in place, problems like leaks and conflicts will not be adequately addressed, and public confidence in the Court will continue to plummet.
The Battle for the Constitution
A special project on the constitutional debates in American life, in partnership with the National Constitution Center
Support for this project was provided by the Madison Initiative of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Info
This work was commissioned, produced, and edited by The Atlantic's editorial staff. Support for this work was provided in part by the organizations listed here.
The Supreme Court Is Not Supposed to Have This Much Power
And Congress should claw it back.
Court Reform Is Dead! Long Live Court Reform!
The Commission on the Supreme Court’s findings may end up helping to set reform in motion, rather than stopping it in its tracks.
Justice Kavanaugh’s Empty Democratic Promise
Returning abortion to the states doesn’t put power into the hands of voters in much of the country.
No, Really, the Right to an Abortion Is Supported by the Text and History of the Constitution
If the Supreme Court overturns Roe, it will betray the Fourteenth Amendment’s promise of bodily autonomy.
The Anti-abortion Movement Will Win Even If It Loses
The Supreme Court seemed skeptical of Texas’s new law, but that doesn’t mean Roe will stand.
The Second Amendment Has Become a Threat to the First
Firearms are having a documented chilling effect on free speech.
The Framers Would Have Wanted Us to Change the Constitution
They would have been clear-eyed about the role of the Court and the dangers of too much fidelity to their original designs.
Biden Has More Power Over the Filibuster Than He’s Been Willing to Use
The president has a historical model he can follow to try to save his agenda from the Senate.
The Messy Post-Roe Legal Future Awaiting America
There’s no clean end to this story.
The Justices Are Telling Us What They Think About Roe v. Wade
A majority on the Supreme Court appears ready to strike down the landmark decision—but they’re not prepared for the ensuing havoc.
This Court Has Abandoned the Most Essential Element in American Democracy: Voters
Two recent decisions capture perfectly just how distorted the Court’s approach is.
The Court’s Voting-Rights Decision Was Worse Than People Think
The conservative majority’s opinion has declared that voter fraud, not racial discrimination, is a threat to the American system of representation.
Hate-Crime Laws Don’t Work as Their Supporters Intended
Prosecutors aren’t charging suspects with hate crimes, even in clear-cut cases.
The Next Major Challenge to the Affordable Care Act
The law’s opponents have a good chance of winning their next showdown, though it won’t threaten the law as a whole.
America’s ‘Great Chief Justice’ Was an Unrepentant Slaveholder
John Marshall not only owned people; he owned many of them, and aggressively bought them when he could.
The Question of Who Counts
When courts consider the prospect of excluding noncitizens from representation, they should bear in mind the country’s past.
Originalism, Divided
The theory has not provided the clarity some of its early proponents had hoped it would.
The Abortion Fight Has Never Been About Just Roe v. Wade
Anti-abortion-rights activists have turned their arguments away from protecting democracy and toward maximizing protection for fetal life.
The Country Is On the Cusp of a New Era
America is inching closer to a possibility it has never seen before: the indictment and trial of a former president.
How to Actually Prosecute the Financial Crimes of the Very Rich
I quit the DOJ because I no longer wanted to participate in a system this permissive.
The War on Trans Kids Is Totally Unconstitutional
States do not have a defensible reason for denying children recommended medical care.
The Man Who Should Be Merrick Garland’s Role Model
The new attorney general has inherited a department plagued by scandal, just as Edward Levi did in 1975.
Ban Him Forever
To send the right message, Donald Trump’s removal from Facebook must be permanent.
Don’t Fall for the D.C. Retrocession ‘Okey-Doke’
Retrocession is being used to derail what Washingtonians actually want: statehood.
The Year That Changed Everything
Criticizing the Founders is in vogue these days, but what they did was extraordinary.
The Chauvin Trial’s Jury Wasn’t Like Other Juries
Its guilty verdict resulted not just from the strength of the evidence, but from a jury-selection process that departed from American norms.
The Two Memos With Enormous Constitutional Consequences
What’s astonishing is that presidential criminal immunity has no grounding in actual law. It’s not in the Constitution or any federal statute, regulation, or judicial decision. It is not law at all.
How to Stop the Minority-Rule Doom Loop
The next two years might be America’s last chance to protect the basic democratic principle of majority rule.
Trump’s Power Won’t Peak for Another 20 Years
By the early 2040s, Trump-appointed chief judges will simultaneously sit atop nearly every appeals court in the country.
The Simple Principle That Can Fix American Law
What if a coherent legal philosophy could exist between the poles of living constitutionalism and originalism?
Party Primaries Must Go
Partisan primaries motivate legislators to keep in lockstep with a narrow and extreme slice of the electorate rather than govern in the public interest.
The Whole Point Was to Avoid Mob Violence
The Founders would have been appalled by the attack on the Capitol but not surprised.
Defend the Public Defenders
Their ability to hold on to their job should not depend on the same people they challenge in court.
The Supreme Court Needs to Show Its Work
For an institution whose legitimacy depends largely on the public’s perception of its integrity, the growth of unseen, unsigned, and unexplained decisions can only be a bad thing.
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.
The 5 Trump Amendments to the Constitution
The 45th president profoundly altered our system of government.