judiciary

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  2/2/2021
  

  We Need a Second Season of ‘Mrs. America.’ Here’s Why

  by Magdalene Zier

  After the defeat of the ERA, Phyllis Schlafly's activist career entered a second act, pushing the federal judiciary in conservative directions.

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• SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Education
  3/1/2021
  

  Originalism’s Original Sin

  by Adam Shapiro

  Liberal critics should understand the ways that Constitutional originalism's practices of reading and resolving conflicts in the text owes a great deal to biblical literalism. Historians of religion can help understand what's at stake. 

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• 2/28/2021
  

  The Politicization of the American Judiciary

  by James D. Zirin

  Judicial elections are the latest target of GOP gerrymandering, spurred by the rejection of Team Trump's election lawsuits. 

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• SOURCE: USA Today
  2/8/2021
  

  Biden Can Advance Racial Justice, but Only if Democratic Senators Ditch an Old Tradition

  The Senate's "blue slip" rule allows senators to privately exercise a veto over judicial nominations for their state. Like the filibuster, it has been used to derail the nominations of liberal judges as well as women and judges of color. A liberal judicial advocate argues that it should be scrapped. 

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  12/11/2020
  

  Lifetime Tenure Meant Even Trump’s Supreme Court Picks Could Resist His Pressure

  by Teri Kanefield

  Alexander Hamilton's arguments for a independent judiciary in the Federalist Papers were borne out by the Supreme Court's dismissal of the pro-Trump suit brought by Texas's attorney general. 

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• SOURCE: Boston Review
  10/26/2020
  

  Our Undemocratic Constitution

  by Julie C. Suk

  "We should not misconstrue the success of the midcentury Court: the few bright moments of inclusive constitutionalism, from Brown to Roe, did not make our Constitution inclusive and democratic."

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• SOURCE: Made by History at The Washington Post
  10/26/2020
  

  Amy Coney Barrett’s Philosophy Has Far Worse Roots Than Most Americans Know

  by Simon Gilhooley

  At the core of originalism is a fundamentally conservative effort to limit the possibilities of our constitutional order to the imagination of historical figures from the 18th century, which included racial hierarchy and support for chattel slavery.

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• SOURCE: New York Magazine
  10/22/2020
  

  Burn it All Down: A Growing Number of Liberal Laywers Want More than Court Packing

  Liberals in the legal profession and legal academia have begun to grapple with the idea that the courts serve power as much as justice, and norms of collegiality are part of the problem. Are they prepared to embrace a more confrontational and openly political idea of the law? 

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• SOURCE: New York Review of Books
  10/21/2020
  

  The Gonzo Constitutionalism of the American Right

  by Corey Robin

  "Conservatism has ceased to be a political project capable of creating hegemony through majoritarian means."

• 
• SOURCE: The New Republic
  4/7/2020
  

  How the Republican Party Took Over the Supreme Court

  by John Fabian Witt

  We are now at least one decade into a nearly unprecedented experiment in partisan judging at the highest court in the land. Our legal and political systems have barely begun to process what that means.
 

• 
• 1/16/19
  

  William Barr Needs a History Lesson

  by Derek Litvak

  When conservatives claim birthright citizenship is not a part of the Constitution, they are ignoring America’s long history of slavery, discrimination, and segregation. 

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  12-5-17
  

  Would Trump Consider a Court-Packing Scheme?

  by Jeff Shesol

  McConnell’s strategy of shutting down the judicial-appointments process during Barack Obama’s last two years in office gave Trump, at the time of his Inauguration, a hundred and three vacancies to fill—more than twice as many as Obama had in 2009.