Lawrence Goldstone’s latest book, "On Account of Race," won the 2021 Lillian Smith Book Award. Find out more at www.lawrencegoldstone.com.
News
The current term of the Supreme Court promises to be one of the most pivotal in decades. Although abortion has received most of the attention, with both the new Texas bounty law and a direct attack on Roe v. Wade by Mississippi on the docket, the justices will rule on
Opinion
The mood among Democrats these days seems to oscillate between panic and despair. The Biden administration, which billed itself as restoring competence and order to the political process, not only grievously botched the Afghanistan withdrawal and the removal of Haitian immigrants in Texas, but cannot even attain a semblance of
Opinion
On September 6, 2021, Alan Braid, a seventy-six-year-old OBGYN in San Antonio, Texas, performed an abortion on a woman in her first trimester. A few years ago, this procedure would have attracted little attention. This time, however, Dr. Braid became a national headline. In an op-ed for the Washington Post,
Opinion
On September 1, the United States Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, refused to prevent new, draconian Texas abortion legislation from taking effect. The Court’s tentative acceptance of that law, which among other provisions, only allowed a woman to seek an abortion before she likely knew she was pregnant,
Opinion
Two of the most frequently used words in right-wing America, “freedom” and “Constitution,” are also among the most misused. Many American conservatives believe the “Constitution” gives them the “freedom” to do just about anything they like. They are free to own guns and carry them openly, free to refuse to
Election Reform
Thanks to the Constitutionally-mandated periodic census, the House of Representatives will look a lot different for the 2022 midterm elections, with some states gaining seats, some losing them, and partisan gerrymanders sprouting across the nation like sunflowers. As a result, Republicans, it seems certain, will be in a far better
Opinion
On July 22, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch made national news by filing a brief with the Supreme Court asking the justices to overturn Roe v. Wade, claiming the 1973 decision and the subsequent 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey were “egregiously wrong” as “both recognize a right that
Opinion
In June 1776, a group of American colonists met in Philadelphia to declare their independence from Great Britain and the end of George III’s dominion over what would become the United States. Almost all agreed that being ruled by a self-perpetuating monarch who had no qualifications beyond being born
Opinion
It has become popular on the Left to ascribe Republicans’ recent attempts to change voting laws as anti-democratic, even potentially criminal. There are those, such as Paul Waldman at the Washington Post, who have gone so far as to suggest that the Right has descended into madness. One common thread
Opinion
On February 22, the Washington Post reported, “A spate of high-profile assaults on Asian Americans has renewed long-standing criticism from Democrats and civil rights groups that the U.S. government is vastly undercounting hate crimes, a problem that they say has grown more acute amid rising white nationalism and deepening
Opinion
Joe Biden, if he wins the presidency, has promised to create a bipartisan commission to recommend changes to the “out of whack” American court system. The commission’s prime focus will almost certainly be the Supreme Court, which to Democrats is about as out of whack as it can get.
Opinion
Judicial review does not appear in the Constitution. As former Justice Antonin Scalia admitted, “The Constitution of the United States nowhere says that the Supreme Court shall be the last word on what the Constitution means…"