Rachel Chung  //  8/28/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump issued a memorandum formally implementing his previously announced intent to bar openly transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military. President Trump pardoned former Maricopa County sheriff, Joe Arpaio, whose aggressive efforts to detain undocumented immigrants led a court to convict him of criminal contempt for ignoring an injunction barring racially discriminatory policing policies. While President Trump ran for office, the Trump Organization sought a deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.

SYMPOSIUM

Last week, Take Care hosted a symposium on Congress's Constitution—an important new book by Josh Chafetz. Contributors assessed Congress's role in the separation of powers, with a focus on developments thus far under President Trump.

• A roundup of the posts is here.
• The book is a masterpiece when viewed from the conventional conceptual lenses of political science and academic law, writes Mark Graber.
• Chafetz’s book adds original and entertaining commentary to a much-discussed subject, comments David Fontana.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

While President Trump ran for office, the Trump Organization sought a deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow (WaPo).

CIVIL RIGHTS

Even fans of the President’s norms-defying behavior struggled to defend his response to Charlottesville when it bucked the norm against overt racism, argue Helen Klein Murillo and Leah Litman at Take Care.

State laws like Virginia’s that block local authorities from removing monuments in their localities stifle local governments and violate the First Amendment, contend Ira C. Lupu and Robert W. Tuttle at Take Care.

President Trump issued a memorandum formally implementing his previously announced intent to bar openly transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military. (Politico)

• The full memorandum is here.
• Although candidate Trump purported to be pro-LGBT, the ban on transgender service members is just one of many anti-LGBT policies the President has enacted, argue Helen Klein Murillo and Leah Litman at Take Care.

DEMOCRACY

A ruling against President Trump for blocking Twitter users could also prohibit elected officials from tweeting Bible verses from their official accounts, writes Eugene Volokh at the Washington Post.

RULE OF LAW

President Trump pardoned former Maricopa County sheriff, Joe Arpaio, whose aggressive efforts to detain undocumented immigrants led a court to convict him of criminal contempt for ignoring an injunction barring racially discriminatory policing policies. (NYT, WaPo)

• The White House did not consult DOJ on the pardon (CNN, Buzzfeed).
• Michael Dorf contends the pardon undermines courts and threatens the rule of law at Take Care.
• The pardon is likely within the President’s enumerated powers but could still undermine the Constitution (ACS Blog).
• The Washington Post explores whether accepting a pardon is an admission of guilt.
• The New York Times argues the pardon follows, yet challenges the law.