In 2025, over 200 Department of Justice (DOJ) employees were fired, with thousands more resigning or being pushed out amid a politically charged environment. Many of the dismissals, including that of immigration attorney Erez Reuveni, …
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US sanctions Brazil’s Supreme Court justice overseeing case against Bolsonaro
On July 30, 2025, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, citing human rights abuses and political persecution in the case against former President Jair Bolsonaro. De Moraes, who is overseeing …
Lawyers File Amicus Brief Defending Federal Judiciary in DOJ Lawsuit
On July 28, 2025, Lawyers Defending American Democracy (LDAD), its Maryland chapter (MD-LDAD), the Lawyers Society for the Rule of Law Institute (SRLI), and retired Judge J. Michael Luttig filed an amicus curiae brief in …
Justice Department files formal complaint against Judge Boasberg
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a formal complaint against District Judge James Boasberg, accusing him of misconduct and demanding his removal from a key deportation case. The complaint stems from Boasberg’s reported private remarks …
India: Call for Transparent Judicial Removal Mechanisms
In a lecture at NALSAR University, Senior Advocate Raju Ramachandran emphasized the need for a transparent and constitutionally grounded mechanism for removing judges in India to ensure a balance between judicial independence and accountability. Drawing …
Kagan Urges Caution in Supreme Court Use of ‘Shadow Docket’
In a speech at the Ninth Circuit’s judicial conference, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan expressed strong concerns about the Court’s increasing reliance on the “shadow docket” — emergency rulings issued without full briefing, oral …
Crouch (2023), “Judicial Loyalty to the Military in Authoritarian Regimes: How the Courts Are Militarized in Myanmar.”
Melissa Crouch, “Judicial Loyalty to the Military in Authoritarian Regimes: How the Courts Are Militarized in Myanmar.” Law & Social Inquiry, vol. 48, no. 2 (2023): 632–59. Summary: While scholars have considered the role of …
Landau, Dixon (2020), “Abusive Judicial Review: Courts Against Democracy.”
David Landau and Rosalind Dixon, “Abusive Judicial Review: Courts Against Democracy.” UC Davis Law Review, vol. 53, no. 3 (2020): 1313-1387. Summary: Both in the United States and around the world, courts are generally conceptualized …
Liu, Su, Su, Wang (2024), “The Law or the Career? Autocratic Judiciaries, Strategic Sentencing, and Political Repression.”
Howard Liu., Su, Ching-Hsuan Su., & Yi-Ting Wang, “The Law or the Career? Autocratic Judiciaries, Strategic Sentencing, and Political Repression.” Comparative Political Studies, https://doi.org/10.1177/00104140241290212, (2024) Summary: Why do judges sometimes act against autocrats’ will, even …
Graver (2018), “Judicial Independence Under Authoritarian Rule: An Institutional Approach to the Legal Tradition of the West.”
Hans Petter Graver, “Judicial Independence Under Authoritarian Rule: An Institutional Approach to the Legal Tradition of the West.” Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, vol. 10, no. 2 (2018): 317-339. Summary: The autonomy of …