Poland’s rule-of-law crisis escalated after a group of Supreme Court judges—appointed during the former Law and Justice (PiS) government’s controversial judicial overhaul—issued a resolution rejecting the European Union’s right to regulate Poland’s justice system. They further claimed that no public authority may disregard their rulings, even when EU law is invoked. The session was marked …
Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal (TK) has struck down a government bill aimed at overhauling the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS), a central institution in Poland’s years-long rule-of-law crisis. The decision—expected due to the TK’s continued dominance by judges appointed under the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government—declares the reform unconstitutional. The Tusk government, which does …
This New Yorker article examines how major U.S. law firms responded to Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the broader implications for the legal profession. It argues that many elite firms, once seen as defenders of democratic norms, remained silent or complicit as lawyers within and outside government advanced baseless claims of …
This American Life #868 — “The Hand That Rocks the Gavel.” Reporters spend weeks inside New York’s immigration court, where ICE detains people in courthouse hallways as immigration judges describe unprecedented pressure from the DOJ to dismiss cases and defer to enforcement. The episode reveals policy memos, mass firings, and new precedents that narrow asylum …
Nearly five months after nine major U.S. law firms struck deals with former President Donald Trump—pledging a collective $940 million in free legal services—the impact remains unclear. Some firms continue to take cases opposing Trump’s agenda, with Milbank lawyers fighting administration tariffs and immigration policies. Paul Weiss, the first firm to sign a deal, has …
Ugandan opposition seeks to nullify law on military prosecution of civilians – The National Unity Platform (NUP), Uganda’s main opposition party, filed a constitutional court case to strike down a new law allowing military tribunals to try civilians, which President Yoweri Museveni signed earlier this year. Uganda’s Supreme Court had banned such military trials in …
Twelve pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong have appealed their convictions and prison sentences in the landmark “47 democrats” case, which has become a global symbol of Beijing’s crackdown on dissent under the National Security Law. The case stems from a 2020 unofficial primary election organized by opposition figures, which authorities labeled a subversive plot. Of …
A whistleblower complaint made public this week accuses Emil Bove, President Trump’s nominee to the federal appeals court, of suggesting the Justice Department should ignore court orders blocking the deportation of Venezuelan migrants. Former DOJ lawyer Erez Reuveni, who filed the complaint, claims Bove made the remark during a March meeting, allegedly urging the department …
A federal judge in Miami found Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in contempt of court after he defied an order blocking a controversial state immigration law. Despite a February ruling halting enforcement of the law criminalizing undocumented entry into Florida, Uthmeier instructed law enforcement to proceed with arrests, arguing the order lacked specific agency direction. …
In Persuasion, law professor Rebecca Roiphe argues that decades of critical legal theory have undermined the legal profession’s ability to defend against Trump’s authoritarian legal agenda. Rooted in 1970s-era legal academia, the idea that law is merely a tool of power has shaped generations of lawyers. Trump’s view of law—as something to weaponize for political …