09 November 2020
What Happens Next?
Despite the length of time it took to determine the result, this is not a close election. Everyone who has felt that the last four years brought American democracy perilously close to collapse should now feel relieved.  Biden’s margin of victory in the decisive states is too large to be overturned by typical recounts or by the usual toolbox of legal challenges. As I will explain in this post, however, we’re not completely out of danger yet. Continue reading >>
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06 November 2020
Die große Illusion
Über den Wahlverlierer Trump, Spannungsbögen und den Unterschied zwischen einem Punkt und einem Strich Continue reading >>06 November 2020
The Grand Illusion
On the loser Donald Trump, several arcs of suspense and the difference between a dot and a dash Continue reading >>05 November 2020
Corona Constitutional, Folge #50: Warum Trump klagt
Die Wahl in den USA ist gelaufen, und es sieht doch eigentlich nicht schlecht aus für Joe Biden und seine Chancen, Donald Trump aus dem Weißen Haus zu vertreiben. Sollte man meinen. Aber neben diesem Wahlauszählungs-Spektakel läuft parallel noch eine ganz andere Partie, von der man nicht so viel mitbekommt, eine juristische nämlich, und die könnte es sein, die am Ende über Sieg und Niederlage entscheidet. Worum es in diesen Gerichtsverfahren geht, welche Strategie dahintersteckt und was das alles für die demokratische Verfassung im ältesten und größten demokratischen Verfassungsstaat bedeutet, darüber rede ich heute mit der Anwältin ANJA VON ROSENSTIEL, die in Boston lebt und in den letzten Monaten im Wahlkampfteam von Joe Biden mitgearbeitet hat und dieses juristische Spiel, das die Republikaner im Augenblick treiben, aus der Nähe verfolgt. Continue reading >>
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05 November 2020
What Just Happened? Â
The American electorate seems to have spoken and it seems to have rejected President Trump. But the there is still the possibility of mischief if Trump succeeds in using the law to thwart the election results. The US constitutional system with its strange and unique system for selecting a president is just rickety enough to make it possible for Trump to litigate his way out of an election loss. Continue reading >>03 November 2020
Stabilizing the US Judiciary by Threatening to Pack It
Reforming the judicial appointment process in the US will take a constitutional amendment. Without it, reform attempts are likely to fail. For conservatives especially, altering the courts now, after securing a very conservative majority unprecedented in recent history, will seem unappealing. They may (perhaps correctly) conclude that, given their systematic advantages in the Senate and therefore electoral college, endless escalation is a game they may be able to win. This blog post proposes a simple mechanism that aims to force a stabilizing constitutional amendment forward while preserving the option to escalate if they cannot secure cooperation from the Republican party. Continue reading >>
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01 November 2020
The U.S. Supreme Court and the 2020 Election
As Election Day looms, Americans are heading to the polls, and they are also heading to the courts. In the past two weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued rulings in five challenges to election-related practices in different states, and there are surely more to come. The litigation has exposed disagreements on the high court, and on lower courts as well, about where responsibility lies for ensuring elections play out fairly and in accordance with law. Of all of the opinions flying around, the one to get the most attention is perhaps a concurrence from Justice Kavanaugh that invokes Bush v. Gore, in which the Court stopped a recount in Florida and thereby decided the outcome of the 2000 presidential election. Continue reading >>
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15 October 2020
Mitch McConnell, The Supreme Court, and The Specter of Politicization
There is no doubt that the Senate Majority Leader is a hypocrite. His bad faith, however, may have a cathartic effect on judicial appointments. Continue reading >>
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28 September 2020
What did Amy Coney Barrett say?
Very soon Trump’s new pick for the US Supreme Court will be grilled by Democratic senators about her conservative views on abortion and the Affordable Care Act. They are rightly worried that her appointment will put in place a 6-3 majority of rightwing judges on the Court, especially in the wake of Trump’s explicit disappointment at the fact that even his picks have on a couple of occasions voted against positions he favoured. What assurance does he think he has that this pick will be more compliant, a ‘loyal’ ‘Trump judge’? In February, Justice Barrett gave a comment at an event in London. It would be a great pity in the hearings if the senators did not ask what she said. Continue reading >>28 September 2020
Justice Unlimited
The passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her replacement by Judge Amy Coney Barrett has led to a spike in interest in imposing term limits for Supreme Court justices. The proposals now on the table are for doing so by statute because amending the U.S. Constitution is so difficult. They face constitutional and political obstacles, which in combination make their adoption unlikely. Continue reading >>
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