Excellent review of Jill Lepore’s We the People by @garrettepps.bsky.social in @washingtonmonthly.com. The closing lines are especially powerful:

Thanks for reposting this article @ldodd.bsky.social! Section 2 of the 19th authorizes Congress to enforce the 19th. While legislation was introduced in 1920, it was never enacted. It’s time for Dems to introduce such legislation as a defensive move. @alsobrooks.senate.gov @vanhollen.senate.gov

A new report released by @aaup.org and @mesa1966.bsky.social offers the first systematic empirical study of government investigations and private lawsuits against US colleges and universities alleging antisemitism under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

ICYMI: The Nov. 2025 Harvard Law Rev. Forum includes a thoughtful & timely analysis of Title VI by leading antidiscrimination law scholars, @beidelson.bsky.social & @hellmandeborah.bsky.social, "Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, & Title VI: A Guide for the Perplexed." harvardlawreview.org/forum/vol-13...

Young women voters under the age of 29 logged soaring support for Democrats in races across the country, cementing them as the most Democratic voting group in the country by age and gender. https://bit.ly/3LAHNcN

Important and very troubling overview about moves within the conservative movement that should be taken seriously. ⤵️

As federal immigration enforcement agents carry out widespread immigration raids throughout the country, their actions are increasingly facing scrutiny. @bgodar.bsky.social evaluates whether federal officials who violate state criminal law are immune from state prosecution.

The Illinois legislature had passed the “Illinois Bivens Act,” allowing people to sue ICE agents in state court. Just waiting for Pritzker’s signature. dailynorthwestern.com/2025/11/03/c...

@ldodd.bsky.social #ScholarSpotlight #PLAW #LawatPrinceton

#NoKings Day in Princeton! ❌👑 Enormous, peaceful crowd. Great signs and energy. And I loved that George Washington was looking down over us. bsky.app/profile/mg-m...

SCOTUS spent Wednesday morning trying to figure out a way to legalize racial gerrymandering. trib.al/7sBZKUS The justices appeared to single out Section 2, which (if gutted) would largely wipe out Black congressional representation in the South—at a scale unseen since the end of Reconstruction.

Early Signs from Oral Argument in Callais Suggest that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is in Real Trouble electionlawblog.org?p=152536

In this morning’s oral argument in Callais, #SCOTUS ’s conservative Justices turned a blind eye to a core part of the Fifteenth Amendment’s text and history. Read more from @davidhgans.bsky.social: www.theusconstitution.org/news/cac-rel...

How W. E. B. Du Bois responded to government policing of "anti-American" sentiment during the 1910s: "I took great satisfaction in being able to sit back in my chair and answer blandly, 'We are seeking to have the Constitution of the United States thoroughly and completely enforced.' ”

My SCOTUS term preview for the Guardian - it focuses on the case challenging what remains of the Voting Rights Act (Callais), how that's part of a centuries-old campaign against Reconstruction, & how that's representative of several issues on the Court's docket. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

So heartwarming and encouraging to see Amanda's conversation with Justice Sotomayor! These chances for connection, gratitude, and inspiration are what it's *all* about. 🧡🖤

"There are cases that aren't being brought at a time when civil rights abuses are maybe at the highest they've been in modern times ... Even if there's a big case and we feel really confident about it, we'll just have to pass on it."

I've covered race for two decades. I knew the 2nd Trump Admin would be dangerous for civil rights. Yet the collapse of the federal civil rights architecture and national will to address racial inequality and work on integration is stunning. Here's my latest. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/m...

One of our earliest civil rights statutes was designed to protect us against masked gangs who violate our constitutional rights. This particular history makes the masked ICE gangs uniquely repugnant. open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...

NEWS: Senate Parliamentarian says GOP scheme to limit federal court preliminary injunctions by requiring plaintiffs challenging government actions to post large bonds cannot be part of reconciliation bill. A victory for Democrats, rule of law and the courts and a defeat for Trump and the GOP.

“So far, the most energetic opposition has come not from civic leaders but from everyday citizens, showing up at Congressional town hall meetings or participating in Hands Off rallies across the country. “Our leaders must follow their example.” Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/o...

"Donald Trump’s debasement of the DOJ is far more than the mere degradation of a governmental agency; it is an assault on the rule of law." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

📣 "Show me what democracy looks like!" 🙌 Protesting out in the pouring rain today in Princeton, NJ!

"It’s easy to take the good work government does for granted. It’s only when we begin to lose it that we understand how essential it is." joycevance.substack.com/publish/post...

Love seeing the rally in Princeton, NJ here in this nationwide recap! 💙 #HandsOff

Here in Princeton, NJ, a town of about 30,000 people, the crowd at the #HandsOff protest. Appeared to be about 1300-1500 people, as high as 5% of the population. It's the largest event I have seen in this public space.

A huge crowd for the #HandsOff rally in Princeton, NJ - with Indivisible Princeton and Indivisible Cranbury!

So proud of @debpearlstein.bsky.social for this clear-eyed assessment and call to law firms. They have power - if they stand together. 👇

"If you don’t like what is happening to this country, you don’t need to wait for someone to come along and save it: You need each other." www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/o...

Incredibly proud of our President Chris Eisgruber for his defense of universities against the administration's wave of attacks. Eisgruber, a former NYU law professor and First Amendment scholar, has so far been unerring in protecting academic freedom against attacks from left and right.

"[SCOTUS] has long held that 'a pardon cannot stop' courts from punishing cases of civil contempt. And while the marshals have traditionally enforced civil contempt orders, the courts have the power to deputize others to step in if they refuse to do so." www.democracydocket.com/opinion/if-t...

“We are now at the place, only eight weeks into this presidency, at which judges must decide if they will take the necessary steps to enforce their decisions, including sanctions and contempt, or if they will agree to be made irrelevant. Those are the remaining options.”

What Authoritarianism Means   Even critical observers underestimated the speed and scope of the Trumpist assault, they overestimated democratic resilience. What is America now, and what comes next?   New piece:

"What the Trump administration is doing is far more than just bad behavior; it’s a direct threat to the rule of law—almost as much as defying court orders would be." Via "One First," me on the White House's intimidation campaign against lawyers and law firms: www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-126-...

Over 1,000 political scientists warn that the second Trump administration is taking actions that threaten the foundations of American democracy, politicizing law enforcement, and ignoring constitutional limits on executive power. drive.google.com/file/d/1lGk2...

The AAUP holds that in order for colleges and universities to fulfill their public mission, they must endeavor not only to eliminate discrimination but to redress the persistent inequalities created by both past & present discriminatory practices and systems. 6/

“Leaders in civil society shouldn’t be ‘demure’ in the face of authoritarian attempts to align all power w/ a president’s agenda, civil society be damned...leaders should weigh in when they see the missions of their institutions — not to speak of the health of their country — compromised.”

New in PN: Trump's weaponized Department of Education "The administration is already using the DOE to attack trans kids while shuttering nearly every civil rights investigation. It’s an abdication of the govt's role in protecting students from discrimination and a grim example of weaponization."

"[For the Right], D.E.I...is the mere presence of a woman or nonwhite person or disabled or transgender person in any high-skilled, high-status position. And their alternative isn’t some heretofore unknown standard of merit; it is the reintroduction of something like segregation." (gift link)

Horrific. Don't look away.

Officially, the Trump administration has turned the Title IX dial back to 2020 regulations. But the White House's practical interpretation of Title IX doesn't stop there. www.chalkbeat.org/2025/01/31/t... #edusky

THIS. “For those worried about the fate of our democracy, it would be foolish to rely on the rule of law alone. But it would also be wrong to simply write it off as a meaningless check on presidential authority. That kind of pessimism becomes our self-fulfilling fate.” By @debpearlstein.bsky.social

With @stevevladeck.bsky.social trying to predict what the Supreme Court will do with all the lawlessness slate.com/news-and-pol...

Trump fired the EEOC General Counsel AND at least two Democratic commissioners last night. This is unprecedented—presidents do not fire commissioners as a rule. He’s really crossing the Rubicon here. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/28/b...

Trump wants to turn back the civil rights revolution, and is taking the key step here. This was always what all the anti-DEI and anti-wokism nonsense was all about

Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde to Trump: "I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender people in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives ... and the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals"

From @tribelaw.bsky.social and Kathleen Sullivan: The Equal Rights Amendment at Long Last open.substack.com/pub/contrari...

ICYMI - @dahlialithwick.bsky.social and @mjsdc.bsky.social on the ERA debate: slate.com/news-and-pol...

Biden says the ERA is the law of the land. But...it's not at all clear what comes next. www.npr.org/2025/01/17/n...