Below is my column in USA Today on the continuing controversy over President Trump’s attack on judges who have ruled against his executive orders. I have been critical of Trump’s attacks on the media and the courts, which undermine not just those critical institutions but the White House itself. As discussed below, presidents have learned that attacking the courts tend to diminish their own credibility over time. Having said that, Trump is not as much as a departure from other presidents as some have made out. Indeed, public discord between the executive and judicial branches has a long history in our country. Of course that is no license to continue a bad practice and most modern presidents have avoided direct personal attacks on judges and justices. Most importantly, the criticism of the judges in the Ninth Circuit in my view are unwarranted and unhelpful. The executive order on immigration was, as I have previously stated, poorly drafted, poorly executed and poorly defended. The law favored the President and still does. Yet, through remarkably causal drafting, the Administration gave judges a target rich environment in the first executive order. While I disagree with fundamental parts of these opinions, the result had more to do with the sloppy drafting of the order than any bias of the judges.
Here is the column.
Continue reading “Trump and The Courts: Presidential Attacks On The Courts Have A Long History”
Students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have demanded that African-American students be given free tuition and housing because blacks were denied access to college educations for much of our history. They also
It appears that the problem with the Internet in Palau resulted in the deletion of the original post on the decision in Virginia. I did not want to delete any discussion so I am keeping this post. I am in Guam now with better Internet access. Virginia federal district court Judge Leonie Brinkema granted a preliminary injunction which requires a higher showing for the challengers. In that sense, this is an obvious victory but it could also be an opportunity for the Trump Administration. I believe that the Brinkema decision might be the better option for the Administration to appeal given its focus on religious discrimination and its reliance on campaign statements and the bizarre statements of Rudy Giuliani.
84 Lumber is a building materials supply company that is the latest to trigger a Superbowl advertisement controversy over an ad. We have 