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The Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is certainly in the news with the Trump Administration claiming it can send certain aliens to a notorious El Salvadoran prison without due process. Even the conservative Supreme Court (without dissent) smacked down this outrageous argument. To their everlasting shame, however, several conservative politicos have doubled down…
There are lots of reasons to be very concerned by the Trump Administration's war on Harvard and other elite universities. If nothing else, it is disturbing the the Trump Administrations wants to use federal power to force governance changes and curriculum changes on the universities. Yes, antisemitism is a problem, but Harvard already took significant steps to address this issue and the requested…
In my blog post yesterday, I explained why institutions need to stop collaborating in response to the Trump Administration's illegal orders. As I summarized, " Fighting is hard. Fighting is risky. But the lesson of history is that not fighting authoritarians, in the end, never ends well." I was therefore pleased to see today that my law school alma mater, Harvard, has decided to fight. I urge you…
In my experience practicing law for nearly 40 years, I have learned that American institutions--corporations, individuals and non-profit alike--are very pragmatic when it comes to resolving disputes. Clients may initially claim that they must stand on principle, but in the end will most often swallow principle to put a problem behind them. This is especially the case when the potential downside to…
For anyone with a 401(k) account, the last week has been a roller coaster. Stocks plummeted after Trump announced the largest tariff increase in American history, only to have the market see huge gains after the tariffs were paused. Apparently, the fact that this was just a pause and still applies to our largest trading partner--and thus the Trump tariff chaos will continue--has resulted in yet…
The Associated Press made an editorial decision to continue to call the Gulf of Mexico by the name it has historically had (and that is used by all Nations save One). In response the Trump White House Press operation barred the AP from Oval Office events and East Room events to which the press is otherwise invited. Seems like a clear cut violation of the First Amendment to me. The law is clear…
Yesterday in a 5-4 decision , the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the order of the district court in D.C. stopping deportation and transfer of Venezuelans to El Salvador pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act. The Trump Administration immediately declared this a huge win. As the Washington Post reports , " Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling in a social media…
With all the attention to the harm that the Tariffs will cause the US and Global economies, there has been little discussion on an important question: is Trump even authorized to impose such massive tariffs? There is actually a strong legal case that the tariffs are not authorized, and there is already one legal challenge to the initial round of tariffs on Canada, Mexico and the U.S. There is a…
Source: USITC and Yale Budget Lab This charts says it all. The Trump tariffs announced yesterday have resulted in an average US tariff rate higher than the infamous Hoover Administration era Smoot-Hawley Tariffs that caused our economy to go into a tailspin. And the folks who know the US economy better than anyone--the folks that buy and sell stocks--have given their view of the tariffs: as I…
