“Inauguration reflections: why Winner-Take-All is making us all losers”
Steven Hill, with the subhead: “The nation has become bitterly divided into opposing camps of winners and losers. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
All posts by Rick Hasen
“Kobach files lawsuit to stop census from counting illegal aliens”
KZRG:
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and attorneys general from Louisiana, Ohio, and West Virginia filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration in Louisiana District Court to stop the U.S. Census Bureau from counting illegal aliens for reapportionment purposes in… Continue reading
“Biden issues preemptive pardons for Fauci, Milley, Jan. 6 Committee and others”
Politico:
President Joe Biden on Monday issued preemptive pardons to a slew of high-profile targets of President-elect Donald Trump — a striking last-minute effort to shield them from prosecution just hours before Trump, who has promised to punish his… Continue reading
“Trump Barely Won the Popular Vote. Why Doesn’t It Feel That Way?”
Ezra Klein NYT column:
In 2024, Donald Trump won the popular vote by 1.5 points. Trump and Democrats alike treated this result as an overwhelming repudiation of the left and a broad mandate for the MAGA movement. But by any… Continue reading
“Trump Says He Will Sign Executive Order to Stall TikTok Ban”
NYT:
President-elect Donald J. Trump said on Sunday that he would issue an executive order to stall a federal ban of TikTok, just hours after major app stores removed the popular social media site and it stopped operating for U.S.… Continue reading
“For Those Deemed Trump’s Enemies, a Time of Anxiety and Fear”
NYT:
As Donald J. Trump returns to office, the critics, prosecutors and perceived enemies who sought to hold him accountable and banish him from American political life are now facing, with considerable trepidation, a president who is assuming power having … Continue reading
“Minnesota Supreme Court voids House Jan. 28 special election, rules Gov. Walz called it too soon”
CBS News:
he Minnesota Supreme Court on Friday canceled the special election for a metro House race later this month, finding Gov. Tim Walz set the date before state law requires.
The election was scheduled for Jan. 28 for House… Continue reading
“Trump launches meme coin, apparently makes more than $25 billion overnight”
Axios:
President-elect Trump launched his own cryptocurrency overnight and swiftly appeared to make more than $25 billion on paper for himself and his companies.
Why it matters: The stunning launch of $TRUMP caught the entire industry off-guard, and speaks to both… Continue reading
“Is it finally time to end the ‘blessed’ super PAC?; Last year, Democrats funneled nearly all of their resources into one billion dollar entity. Why did they put all of their eggs in one basket?”
Pennsylvania Supreme Court to (Finally) Decide Constitutionality of Rule Barring the Counting of Undated or Misdated but Timely Mail-In Ballots
The PA Supreme Court repeatedly refused to consider this issue during the runup to the 2024 elections (which was probably wise, given the uncertainty that such a ruling, going up to SCOTUS, likely would have engendered).
It has now agreed … Continue reading
“On Voting Rights, Eight Legal Battles to Watch in 2025”
“‘Hopefully, I’ll run into a few friendly faces’: US Capitol rioters return to DC to celebrate Trump inauguration”
Marshall Cohen for CNN:
Some rioters charged or convicted in the 2021 attack on the US Capitol are returning to Washington, DC, for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, according to court filings in a dozen cases and multiple sources familiar with… Continue reading
Supreme Court, Applying Intermediate Scrutiny, Upholds TikTok Ban Against First Amendment Challenge on Grounds That It Allows a Foreign Adversary to Spy on Americans
The result was unanimous, in a per curiam opinion and two concurrences (by Sotomayor and Gorsuch).
The nub, as Justice Gorsuch put it at the end of his concurrence, was this: “Speaking with and in favor of a foreign adversary… Continue reading
“Biden says the Equal Rights Amendment is law. What happens next is unclear”
NPR:
President Biden on Friday declared that he considers the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution is “the law of the land,” a surprising declaration that does not have any formal force of effect, but that is being celebrated by… Continue reading