The Travel Ban's Non-Urgency, In Pictures

6/7/17  //  Commentary

The Administration's unhurried pace in defending its revised travel ban belies its representations of urgency to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Amir Ali

Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center

The Basic Error In Texas’s Amicus Brief In The Travel Ban Case (aka Youngstown Zone Zero Redux)

6/7/17  //  Commentary

Texas’s Amicus Brief Makes An Argument That Is So Obviously Wrong Some People Thought It Was Not Worth Responding To

Leah Litman

Michigan Law School

Ian Samuel

Harvard Law School

Ten Questions for a New FBI Director

6/6/17  //  Commentary

By Allison Murphy: Given President Trump’s documented and acknowledged efforts to interfere with the independence of the FBI, the Senate should presume that could continue under a new FBI Director. It is therefore incumbent upon Senators to ensure that any Trump nominee for FBI Director commits to certain baseline aspects of independence and impartiality before any new nominee is confirmed. Here are 10 questions that require answers.

Take Care

Mootness and Munsingwear in the Travel Ban Litigation

6/6/17  //  Commentary

A Munsingwear vacatur could be an intriguing compromise in the travel ban case that just might generate consensus on the Supreme Court. It would let the Justices avoid wading into treacherous constitutional waters. But it would also avoid giving the impression that the Court approved of a nationwide injunction about which the conservative Justices will, I suspect, have serious concerns.

Daniel Epps

Washington University Law School

Waivers of Executive Privilege Can Be Informal

6/6/17  //  Commentary

Even Had He Wanted to Assert Executive Privilege, Trump May Have Waived Any Such Claim Over His Conversations With Jim Comey By Blabbing and Tweeting About Them

Leah Litman

Michigan Law School

Laurence H. Tribe

Harvard Law School

Trump Is Not Playing Ten-Dimensional Chess; He's Not Even Playing Checkers; He's Barely Playing Peekaboo

6/6/17  //  Commentary

Let's explore the hypothesis that Trump is deliberately sabotaging the already weak case for sustaining the travel ban. This is extremely unlikely. As they say in medical school, when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras. The most obvious explanation--Trump is an ignorant racist with no impulse control--should dominate more intricate theories.

Michael C. Dorf

Cornell Law School

Tweetstorm Round Deux

6/5/17  //  Commentary

The President's latest statements on Twitter undermine DOJ's defense of the entry ban, and continue the President's efforts to blame everyone (including DOJ and the courts) but himself.

Leah Litman

Michigan Law School

The Muslim Ban and Trump's Latest Tweets

6/5/17  //  Quick Reactions

Thanks in part to the President's own recent tweets and public comments, the case for concluding that his revised travel ban is unconstitutional has now become overwhelming.

Corey Brettschneider

Brown University

The President's Statements On The London Attacks

6/5/17  //  Commentary

The President's statements on the London attacks reveal how the President thinks about his entry ban, and also what he might do if there is ever an attack on the United States.

Leah Litman

Michigan Law School

Helen Klein Murillo

Harvard Law School '17

Trump’s Meaningless Paris Announcement is a Win for His Opponents

6/5/17  //  Commentary

President Donald Trump’s announcement that he will withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement may have dramatic consequences for his administration—but not in the ways he might imagine.

Ann Carlson

UCLA School of Law

Moral Convictions And The Contraception Exemptions

6/5/17  //  Commentary

Yet another major flaw in the draft contraception rule, which would not only allow employers to drop contraception coverage for *religious* reasons, but would also (without any lawful basis) allow employers who have *moral* objections to do the same.

Nick Bagley

University of Michigan Law School

Trump and Pence Invoke Conscience to Block Contraception, Contrary to Our Religious Liberty Tradition

6/4/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Regulatory changes that the Trump-Pence Administration reportedly plans to implement extend well beyond our religious liberty traditions (and beyond accommodations authorized by the Supreme Court)

Douglas NeJaime

Yale Law School

Reva Siegel

Yale Law School

A Response to Will Baude on Mootness in the Entry Ban Case

6/3/17  //  Commentary

I've argued that the Supreme Court shouldn't grant review of the travel ban case because 33 hours after the Respondents file their response to the petition for certiorari on June 12, the entry ban will no longer be operative. Here I respond to two purportedly “plausible” alternative interpretations of the executive order offered by William Baude.

Marty Lederman

Georgetown Law

Trump’s Latest Affront To Women, and to the Constitution

6/2/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

A draft of the Trump Administration's revised contraception mandate has been leaked. If implemented, this policy would weaken civil rights for women. Moreover, the plan could violate the Establishment Clause by providing a religious accommodation for some private citizens only by shifting costs to others who may not share their beliefs.

Nelson Tebbe

Brooklyn Law School

Micah Schwartzman

University of Virginia School of Law

Richard C. Schragger

UVA School of Law