10/16/17  //  Commentary

There are two ways to look at one of the recent lawsuits against the organizers of the Charlottesville rally, the easy way and the right way.

10/12/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Especially in light of Trump's recent remarks, we must better protect media companies from targeted, life-threatening defamation suits

10/2/17  //  Daily Update

The Trump Administration is working hard to reauthorize FISA. The VA is trying to repeal an ethics rule preventing its employees from owning stakes in for-profit colleges receiving hundreds of millions in G.I. Bill funds. Health and Human Services Director Tom Price has resigned over the chartered flights scandal. The Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee has turned its attention to whether then-FBI Director James Comey ended his investigation into Hillary Clinton too soon.

9/21/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

There's reason to be wary of the argument that Congress has to “unambiguously” state funding conditions in the text of statutes.

9/8/17  //  Commentary

Republicans may not be advancing their agenda through legislation, but they're getting it done in other ways.

8/31/17  //  Daily Update

A federal judge blocks Texas’ ban on ‘sanctuary cities.’ The Ninth Circuit calls Coast Guard’s racial profiling of Latino man an egregious Fourth Amendment violation. An amicus filed in Wisconsin gerrymandering case advocates for partisan symmetry standard. Redrawn North Carolina redistricting maps head to judges for approval.

8/30/17  //  Daily Update

Reaction to the President's pardon of former sheriff Joe Arpaio continues. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson notifies Congress that he plans to eliminate or downgrade as many as three dozen State Department special envoy positions. And the Illinois AG sues the City of Chicago over policing practices, because the Trump DOJ has not done so.

8/29/17  //  Daily Update

The Ninth Circuit heard oral argument about which portions of the travel ban the Administration can enforce while the Supreme Court’s ultimate decision in the case is pending. U.S. Immigration and Customs Service (ICE) has requested approval for a plan to begin routinely destroying records related to its detention operations, including those related to sexual assaults, solitary confinement, and deaths in custody. The ACLU and Lambda Legal filed lawsuits arguing that the President’s ban on transgender troops is unconstitutional and discriminatory. President Trump signed an executive order allowing local police departments to receive surplus military equipment, reversing an Obama-era policy barring such transfers. Trump pardons Joe Arpaio, the former Maricopa County sheriff convicted of criminal contempt for defying a court order to stop unconstitutional racial profiling.

8/29/17  //  Commentary

Like so much of what Trump has done, the Arpaio pardon raises multiple challenges to our constitutional system.

8/1/17  //  Daily Update

Controversial ex-Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio has been convicted of criminal contempt for refusing to follow court’s orders to stop detaining people he thought were undocumented. After 10 days, Anthony Scaramucci is out as director of communications. Meanwhile, President Trump says there’s no chaos at the White House and continues to threaten to cut funding for lawmakers’ health care.

7/24/17  //  Daily Update

Commentators continue to criticize the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. The Department of Justice will prosecute an al-Qaeda suspect in Philadelphia. The White House will likely accept Congress’ Russia sanctions bill. President Trump has targeted the Robert Mueller investigation and has considered pardoning himself and those in his immediate circle.

7/14/17  //  Daily Update

The latest version of the Senate Republican health care bill has been released, along with numerous analyses of it. Numerous analyses of the relationship between the Donald Trump Jr. meeting and campaign finance laws have been published. Hawaii and other travel ban challengers have filed a brief arguing that the Administration is denying entry to foreign nationals and refugees who are legally eligible to enter the United States. DOJ released a heavily redacted version of Attorney General Jeff Session’s security clearance form.

7/10/17  //  Daily Update

The Ninth Circuit weighed in on Hawaii’s most recent challenge to President Trump’s revised travel ban. Hawaii then filed a new motion before Judge Watson. Criticism continues of the Pence-Kobach “Election Integrity” commission. EPA has asked the D.C. Circuit to stay its ruling requiring the agency to enforce an Obama-era rule on methane emissions. It has been reported that, during the campaign, Donald Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort met with a lawyer linked to the Russian government who promised to provide negative information on Hillary Clinton.

7/7/17  //  Daily Update

Judge Watson has rejected Hawaii's request to clarify the scope of the preliminary injunction against President Trump's revised travel ban. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit ruled that undocumented children detained by federal authorities are entitled to hearings to determine whether they should remain confined. Walter Shaub, director of the independent Office of Government Ethics, announced that he will resign before his term is scheduled to end. Eighteen states and D.C. have challenged Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ delay of regulations targeting predatory for-profit schools.