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Fallout and Consequences, Part Two: Free Speech and Censorship

January 15, 2021

The fallout continues to mount from the January 6 attack on the Capitol. In previous blog posts, we offered a collection of resources and articles and explored the question of accountability for elected officials. In this post, we examine a thorny issue that is also emerging as institutions respond to riots: the power of private […]

Fallout and Consequences, Part One: Who is Accountable?

January 13, 2021

The events at the Capitol on January 6 are forcing voters and elected officials to face some challenging questions. In a previous blog post, we provided some resources to help you begin to address some of these questions; in an upcoming post, we will examine other questions related to free speech. In this post, we […]

Norms, Rules, and Tradition

December 15, 2020

As journalists, historians, and political commentators reflect on the administration of outgoing President Donald Trump, one word keeps coming up: norms. To his critics, this is cause for concern. But President Trump’s supporters sometimes see his norm-breaking actions as efforts to change the political culture of Washington. Here, we will offer definitions and examples of […]

Executive Privilege and the Supreme Court

May 18, 2020

Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in two cases involving President Donald Trump’s tax returns and financial records, Trump v. Mazars and Trump v. Deutsche Bank. During the 2016 election, then-candidate Trump broke with tradition and refused to release many of his financial records and tax returns. The president is suing his accountants and […]

Postponed Presidential Primaries and the Pandemic

April 07, 2020

With COVID-19 dominating both the headlines and the realities of everyday life in the United States, it can be hard to remember that we are in the midst of a presidential primary with a general election only seven months away. The State of the Race A little over a month ago, former Vice President Joe […]

How Would You Vote in the Senate Impeachment Trial?

January 17, 2020

Editor’s Note: This week, we created a longer post to provide some background on both the process and substance of President Donald Trump’s impeachment and Senate trial. This post includes more substantial teaching strategies, including a role-playing approach, that can be used to explore the issues at the heart of the impeachment and Senate trial. […]

Constitutional Issues Judicial Branch

The Death Penalty: A Just Punishment?

December 04, 2019

On November 15, 2019, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals suspended the execution of Rodney Reed and sent his case back to trial, due to new witness testimony that pointed to his innocence and raised concerns about how evidence was handled during the initial trial.1 Since 1977, at least 166 inmates have been released from death […]

How the Supreme Court Could Reshape Discrimination Lawsuits

November 15, 2019

On November 13, 2019, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Comcast Corp. v. National Association of African American-Owned Media.1 The Court’s decision will determine how difficult it will be to bring future cases regarding possible racial bias to trial.2 Facts of the Case Byron Allen, an African American, owns Entertainment Studios Networks (ESN), which operates […]

The Supreme Court Will Address DACA. What Will Follow?

October 30, 2019

On November 12, 2019, the Supreme Court will hear arguments about the Trump administration’s efforts to end the immigration policy known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The status of DACA recipients has been in limbo for over two years amidst administration actions and court injunctions. What Is DACA? After Congress failed in its […]

Understanding the Current Impeachment Inquiry

October 15, 2019

In late September 2019, it was revealed that an officer at the Central Intelligence Agency filed an official complaint with the intelligence community’s inspector general, alleging that President Trump had engaged in an inappropriate phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky on July 25. The whistleblower alleged that President Trump threatened to withhold approximately $400 million […]