The United States has been named the focus of the 2026 International Day of the Endangered Lawyer, marking it as a country where the rule of law is under threat due to political intimidation of …
United States
Trump’s Second-Term Challenges to the Judiciary – Interview with law professor Steve Vladeck
A PBS NewsHour segment examines how President Trump’s second-term policies are placing unprecedented strain on the U.S. judicial system. Constitutional law professor Steve Vladeck argues that recent executive actions—especially on immigration enforcement, including proposed warrantless …
Renewing the Commitment of Big Firm Lawyers?
This piece examines how large U.S. law firms have responded to political pressure from the Trump administration, especially efforts to punish firms representing government critics. While some firms settled or retreated from controversial litigation, others …
Levesque et al. (2023). “Crimmigrating Narratives: Examining Third-Party Observations of US Detained Immigration Court.”
Levesque, C., DeWaard, J., Chan, L., McKenzie, M. G., Tsuchiya, K., Toles, O., … Boyle, E. H. (2023). Crimmigrating Narratives: Examining Third-Party Observations of US Detained Immigration Court. Law & Social Inquiry, 48(2), 407–436. doi:10.1017/lsi.2022.16 Crimmigrating Narratives: …
Don’t ‘Kill the Lawyers’ in 2026—They’re Fighting for Justice
In this Bloomberg Law commentary (Jan. 5, 2026), attorney Abbe David Lowell argues that authoritarian-leaning leaders often target lawyers first because lawyers are essential to protecting rights and checking executive power. He reframes Shakespeare’s “let’s …
Trump’s Battle With Big Law Firms Heads Into 2026: What to Know
In early 2026, the legal fight over President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting major U.S. law firms is moving into a new phase. The orders sought to restrict lawyers’ security clearances and encouraged federal …
Landau & Dixon. (2019). “Abusive judicial review: courts against democracy”.
Landau, D., & Dixon, R. (2019). Abusive judicial review: courts against democracy. UC Davis L. Rev., 53, 1313. Both in the United States and around the world, courts are generally conceptualized as the last line of defense …
How a Scholar Nudged the Supreme Court Toward Its Troop Deployment Ruling
In a significant ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deploying National Guard troops to the Chicago area, delivering one of its first major setbacks to Trump’s expansive claims of executive …
Congressional Letter on DOJ Ethics and Conflicts of Interest
In December 2025, a bipartisan group of Members of Congress sent a formal letter to Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche raising serious concerns about potential conflicts of interest and ethical …
Bridge, Nichols (2016), “Congressional Attacks on the Supreme Court: A Mechanism to Maintain, Build, and Consolidate.”
Dave Bridge, Curt Nichols, “Congressional Attacks on the Supreme Court: A Mechanism to Maintain, Build, and Consolidate.” Law & Social Inquiry, vol. 41, no. 1 (2016): 100–125. Summary: Reexamination and reinterpretation of the “mature” (1955–1984) New …