The U.S. Supreme Court has emerged as a significant election issue for the first time in more than fifty years. The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett has riveted the nation’s attention on the Court in a way that rarely if ever has occurred during a presidential campaign. [...]
Is Nancy Pelosi, as Speaker of the House of Representatives, properly and constitutionally second in line for the presidency? The question has urgent new relevance in light of President Donald Trump becoming sick with Coronavirus and the spread of COVID infections at the top levels of the administration. If a double vacancy occurred due to [...]
In the present confirmation hearings, I would like someone to ask Judge Barrett a question left unanswered by Justice Scalia, her mentor: 1. What influence does the fact that many of the founders and framers were slave owners have on your originalist views? And then I would like to ask a follow-up: 2. What is [...]
As the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan, in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Caucasus, slug it out over a decades-long dispute about a piece of ground, one is reminded that conflict, once again, has become dirty and lawless at many levels. Civilians have become targets, protective symbols of the Geneva Conventions, such as the [...]
“The goal is to dominate the street.” – US President Donald J. Trump, June 1, 2020 There are disturbing connections. Before openly embracing the “Proud Boys” during his first debate with Democrat opponent Joe Biden, Donald J. Trump praised the value of “good genes” in Minnesota. Though such a seemingly “positive” evocation might not normally [...]
The nation has watched aghast as, over and over again, police have killed or maimed unarmed persons of color. Each time, the police have acted with impunity under a quiescent criminal justice system. The charges filed against officers involved in the death of George Floyd are the exception, not the rule, and the charges just [...]
On March 13th, 2020, Louisville police officers used a battering ram to smash down the door to Breonna Taylor’s apartment. Their purpose was to execute a search warrant related to Taylor’s potentially dangerous ex-boyfriend. Taylor was in her apartment with her current boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, when they heard the banging at the door – they [...]
“Everything is very simple in war, but even the simplest thing is difficult.” – Karl von Clausewitz, On War There is palpable wisdom in Clausewitz’s classic observation about war. Where this wisdom is understood in terms of current United States national security challenges, one overarching extrapolation comes immediately to the fore: It would be trouble enough [...]
The wanton endangerment charges did not do justice for your murder. We all know that and, from beyond the grave, we know you and all the ancestors know that. Your death is considered by the state to be unworthy of state interest. This endemic dysfunctionalism is evidenced by both federal and state failure to respond [...]
The tumultuous controversy about whether President Trump and the Senate should try to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat before the upcoming election presents high stake political and constitutional risks for both Republicans and Democrats. It also presents risks for long-term public confidence in the integrity of the Supreme Court. Republicans can hardly [...]
