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WE THE PEOPLE
Column by Dr. David Adler
Funded by the 'Why It Matters: Civic and Electoral Participation' initiative, administered by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The Premise of Judicial Finality Requires Presidential Compliance with Judicial Rulings
President Trump’s continued defiance of a federal court order, embraced by the U.S. Supreme Court, to “facilitate” the return of Kilmar...
HumanitiesND
6 days ago3 min read
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When Presidential Claims Collide with the Court, Due Process and the Rule of Law
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court instructed the Trump Administration to “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from an infamous...
HumanitiesND
Apr 163 min read
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Indiscriminate DOGE Cuts Harm the States, Humanities, History and Culture
DOGE is not what it purports to be. The indiscriminate, arbitrary cuts across dozens of federal agencies reflect neither its...
HumanitiesND
Apr 93 min read
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To Defuse the Presidency, Revive Congress and Checks and Balances
The overwhelming, mushrooming growth of presidential power in both foreign and domestic affairs, marked by executive aggrandizement and...
HumanitiesND
Apr 23 min read
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The Rule of Law: ‘Leave to Live by No Man’s Leave'
In the spring of 1952, President Harry Truman faced a nationwide strike that he feared would undermine the production of steel and thus...
HumanitiesND
Mar 263 min read
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President Trump and the Historic and Constitutional Origins of the Legislative Power of the Purse
It took many centuries of advances, threats, retreats and a Civil War, before the English Constitution secured for Parliament the...
HumanitiesND
Feb 263 min read
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In Response to Violations of the Constitution: ‘Legal history still has its claims.
The Trump Administration’s encirclement of the Constitution, laid bare in federal court findings that President Trump has usurped the...
HumanitiesND
Feb 263 min read
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May President Trump Ban News Organizations Whose Reporting He dislikes
The question of whether the president may ban news organizations from attending official events in various places-- the Oval Office,...
HumanitiesND
Feb 263 min read
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Summoning Whitman, Yeats and Holmes to Revive America’s Democratic Spirit
The preservation of our constitutional system rests on three foundational predicates: government has only that power granted to it by...
HumanitiesND
Feb 263 min read
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Trump’s Assertion of Presidential Power: Beyond the Limits of Law
“He who saves his Country,” President Donald Trump wrote on social media, “does not violate any Law.” Does the Constitution, in...
HumanitiesND
Feb 193 min read
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Trump Defies Judicial Orders: Which Branch Has Authority to Say What the Law Is?
A U.S. federal judge in Rhode Island has declared President Donald Trump in violation of his order to release billions of dollars in...
HumanitiesND
Feb 123 min read
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Reassessing Presidential Power and Constitutional Limits in Trump 2.0
The Framers’ conception of the American Presidency--its central functions, powers and limits--has faded across the decades as presidents...
HumanitiesND
Feb 53 min read
40 views
Time to Amend the Constitution: Corral the Presidential Pardon Power
At its best, the presidential pardon power is a tool of mercy, an instrument to correct abuses of power and miscarriages of justice. At...
HumanitiesND
Jan 293 min read
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Trump’s Inauguration Day Ignites Historic Legal and Constitutional Controversies
President Donald Trump’s Second Inaugural Address ignored the path of reconciliation, magnanimity and unity that distinguished the...
HumanitiesND
Jan 223 min read
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A Governmental Duty to Protect the Pursuit of Happiness
Election victories teem with opportunities for a new administration to renew and reform governmental institutions, revise vital areas of...
HumanitiesND
Jan 153 min read
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