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Readers’ Questions Reveal Concerns, Doubts, Myths About the Electoral College
Civic engagement, what the nation’s founders hoped would be a distinguishing feature of the young and energetic republic, can be...
Brenna Gerhardt
Oct 9, 20243 min read


Readers Rightly Question Use of the Electoral College to Elect the President
Two previous columns on the origins of the Electoral College have sparked questions from discerning readers across the state who wonder...
Brenna Gerhardt
Oct 2, 20243 min read


The Framers’ Embrace of the Electoral College Not Based on Disdain for Democracy
The Framers of the Constitution seriously considered adoption of a direct popular vote for the election of the president until objections...
Brenna Gerhardt
Sep 25, 20243 min read


Origins of the Electoral College: A Compromise for Electing the President
With less than 50 days remaining in the 2024 presidential election, citizens are turning their attention to the “Electoral College Map,”...
Brenna Gerhardt
Sep 18, 20243 min read


Term Limits for Justices: Regularizing Appointments and Lowering the Political Temperature
Advocates of term limits for Supreme Court Justices, mindful of the overgrown, transformative power of the Court and the ethical lapses...
Brenna Gerhardt
Sep 11, 20243 min read


Compelling Reasons to Impose Term Limits on US Supreme Court Justices
Plummeting public approval of the U.S. Supreme Court, now at record lows, reflects in part deep-seated concerns about recent rulings that...
Brenna Gerhardt
Sep 5, 20243 min read


Judicial Accountability When Congress is Reluctant to Use Impeachment Power
The doctrine of checks and balances, central to the success of American Constitutionalism, is designed to curb abuse of power and promote...
Brenna Gerhardt
Aug 28, 20243 min read


Does the Impeachment Clause Deter the Supreme Court from Misbehavior?
Is the threat of impeachment sufficient to deter Supreme Court Justices from abusing power or engaging in other acts of misbehavior that...
Brenna Gerhardt
Aug 21, 20243 min read


The Founders’ Dilemma: When the Court Has the Last Word, Who Limits the Court?
In the Constitutional Convention of 1787, delegates debated the merits and virtues of vesting in federal courts the awesome power of...
Brenna Gerhardt
Aug 14, 20243 min read


A Constitutional Amendment to Restore the Rule of Law in the United States
President Joe Biden’s proposed constitutional amendment--“The No One is Above the Law Amendment” -- seeks to restore the cornerstone...
Brenna Gerhardt
Aug 7, 20243 min read


Biden’s Calls for Constitutional Restraints on the Presidency and Supreme Court Steeped in Irony
President Joe Biden’s sweeping proposals to reform the US Supreme Court and the American Presidency are steeped in irony. It is not lost...
Brenna Gerhardt
Jul 31, 20243 min read


Biden’s Withdrawal: Presidential Character in Action
The possibilities of the Office of the Presidency, the Framers of the Constitution knew, would depend in large measure on the character...
Brenna Gerhardt
Jul 25, 20243 min read


Presidential Assassinations, the Dark Side of American Politics, Can Destroy Democracy
The use of force, including assassination and other forms of lethal political violence, as a means of altering governmental regimes and...
Brenna Gerhardt
Jul 17, 20243 min read


Presidential Campaigns Against the Supreme Court: Familiar and Effective Strategies
President Joe Biden, seeking a second term, is running against the U.S. Supreme Court. Keenly aware of the Court’s declining approval...
Brenna Gerhardt
Jul 11, 20243 min read


The Supreme Court Defies its Platform in Service of an Imperial Presidency
For years to come, constitutional scholars and historians will long note the irony of the Supreme Court’s defiance of its own...
Brenna Gerhardt
Jul 3, 20243 min read


The Declaration of Independence: Celebrating and Redeeming its Solemn Promises
The Declaration of Independence, which Abraham Lincoln referred to as the “sheet anchor of the Republic,” set forth the proposition, as...
Brenna Gerhardt
Jun 26, 20243 min read


D-Day Reminder: Constitutional Principles Went to War Abroad to Preserve them at Home
The 80th anniversary of D-Day, justly commemorated as history’s greatest military invasion, reminds us of the fact that World War II was...
Brenna Gerhardt
Jun 19, 20243 min read


Management Of The Image of the Supreme Court Must Be a Priority for the Justices
The defining characteristic of the American experience is the premise of law as a check on governmental power. Challenged throughout our...
Brenna Gerhardt
Jun 12, 20243 min read


Under a Historic Spotlight and Demands for Recusal, the Supreme Court Should Embrace Transparency
Rising concerns about the U.S. Supreme Court’s lack of impartiality amid increasing calls for judicial recusals, reforms and...
Brenna Gerhardt
Jun 5, 20243 min read


The Historic Trump Trial and Early Importance of the Right to a Jury Trial
On May 29, 2024, at 11:28 EST, a New York jury of seven men and give women filed out of a Manhattan courtroom to begin deliberations on...
Brenna Gerhardt
May 30, 20243 min read
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