The Special Counsel Challenges Trump’s Immunity Claim
Last week, I reviewed Donald Trump’s Supreme Court brief for presidential immunity. It came after the Supreme Court had framed the issue this way: “Whether and if so to what extent does a former...
View ArticleColumbia’s Once and Future Folx
As I write, Columbia University remains closed to the public, a couple of hours after the NYPD came in at the request of the president, Nemat (“Minouche”) Shafik, and arrested busloads of anti-Israel...
View ArticleThe Use and Abuse of the Defense Production Act
President Biden on Monday, October 30th issued a whopping 100-page “Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.” As White House Deputy Chief of...
View ArticleA Fear Creeps In
Antisemitism in America? It’s hard to believe, especially for me. America has always prided itself as a refuge for those who needed one: “the wretched refuse of your teeming shore,” said poet Emma...
View ArticleThe Errors of the Colorado Trial Court in Trump’s Case
Thanksgiving weekend and the news from Israel last week turned the media’s attention away from Donald Trump’s eligibility under the 14th Amendment to run for president. It might be worthwhile,...
View ArticleBiden: Loser or Statesman?
Presidents either win wars or lose them. But not winning a war is also often seen by the American public as losing it. Whatever credit President Biden has gotten and deserves for helping Ukraine...
View ArticleThe Colorado Court Decision on Trump Was Correct
The Colorado Supreme Court has now held 4–3 that Donald Trump is ineligible to run for president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The case will now very likely go to the US Supreme Court, not...
View Article“Democracy” and Protecting the Constitution Are Not Always the Same Thing
When the Colorado Supreme Court decided that Donald Trump should be removed from the Colorado ballot, the opposition from politicos and other commentators—even those who did not favor Trump—was...
View ArticleA Note on Presidential Immunity
When asked by a Federal Appeals Court judge on Tuesday whether a president who ordered SEAL Team 6 “to assassinate a political rival” would be subject to criminal prosecution,” Donald Trump’s attorney...
View ArticleDemocracy v. the Constitution in the Trump Case
The Supreme Court has now decided to hear Donald Trump’s appeal: whether, under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, he is eligible to become President of the United States again. This will be one of the...
View ArticleThe Supreme Court’s Decision on Trump Is Not as Easy as Many Think
Immediately after the Colorado Supreme Court held that Donald Trump was not eligible to become president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, many wise political commentators dismissed the...
View ArticleTrump Has His Day Before the Supreme Court
The case was called Anderson v. Trump. Anderson, the lead plaintiff, is a 91-year-old lifelong Republican who—together with three other Republicans and two Independents—were arguing that Donald Trump...
View ArticleThe Goal of the Trump Election Interference Trial Should Be to Inform the Public
Lawyers always remind us that the rights of a defendant in a criminal trial are an important societal objective. That is certainly true, of course, in a nation of laws. That no one should be rushed to...
View ArticleUkraine and an American Return
It’s sad and ironic that, just as we were beginning to see a possible decline of Russia and China–the last two aggressive dictatorships that threatened the world—the United States has lost its way....
View ArticleOn Trump’s Immunity, the Court of Appeals Failed to Ask the Right Question
The Supreme Court’s decision to take Donald Trump’s immunity case, with a briefing in April and a decision presumably in June, has drawn heavy criticism because of the delays it will cause in getting...
View ArticleContinuity of Government and the Congressional Quorum
Recently, a federal judge ruled that the 2022 budget passed by Congress was unconstitutional because it had been passed without a physical quorum (i.e., some of the votes were cast virtually by proxy...
View ArticlePresidential Immunity and the Electoral Count
The Supreme Court found its “off-ramp” to avoid a decision on Colorado’s effort to exclude Donald Trump from its presidential ballot. Nine Justices agreed that the states did not have the authority to...
View ArticleTrump’s Trial Luck Holds
Now, slightly more than eight months before the next election, it seems unlikely that any trial of Donald Trump will be completed before the voting occurs. Trump’s delay strategy seems to be working....
View ArticleThe Supreme Court Tees up Trump’s Immunity Claim
Although it has been widely assumed that any president, after they leave office, has some kind of legal immunity from criminal charges based on actions he takes as president, the Supreme Court has...
View ArticleAEIOU
Vowels are fundamental to speech. Emerging from your mouth with little obstruction, they constitute the core of a given language’s syllables. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they are also the sounds humans...
View ArticleTrump’s Supreme Court Brief Reveals a Motive Other Than His Immunity
Shortly after the DC Court of Appeals announced its February decision on presidential immunity, the Supreme Court issued an unusual statement granting the Special Prosecutor’s request for a hearing on...
View ArticleTrump’s Ukraine Sellout
The news this weekend was this: When Congress returns, Speaker Mike Johnson is likely to have sketched out a path to get arms to Ukraine. Ordinarily, this should not be difficult; the Democrats...
View ArticleContinuing Chaos at Columbia
When a university president does something bold and very public—for example, authorizing the NYPD to enter campus and arrest the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” trespassers—she has two straightforward...
View ArticleWhat Are the “Official Acts” of a President?
There has been a lot of confusion about Donald Trump’s request for immunity from the Supreme Court for what he did on January 6, 2021. That was the culminating day for his attempt to change the valid...
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