Author: TheConversation

By Steven Gerencser, Professor of Political Science, Indiana University The battle between The Walt Disney Company and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over LGBTQ rights and whether those rights should be acknowledged or taught in schools has spurred an unlikely alliance between progressives and one of the world’s biggest entertainment companies. Progressive groups such as The Human Rights Campaign have welcomed Disney to their cause, while progressive columnists at The Daily Beast and MSNBC have cheered Disney’s recent lawsuit against DeSantis. The suit, filed in April 2023, alleges that DeSantis violated the company’s free speech rights by retaliating against Disney...

By Stefanie Lindquist, Foundation Professor of Law and Political Science, Arizona State University For the past 50 years, Republican policymakers and judges have sought to bolster federalism in the United States. Since Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural address in 1981, Republicans have been calling for policymakers to rein in the federal government in favor of devolving more power to the states. Contrary to what it sounds like, “federalism” does not mean a strong central government. Instead, it refers to a system of government in which the people may be regulated by both the federal and state governments. Reagan succinctly expressed...

By Bev-Freda Jackson, Adjunct Professorial Lecturer, American University School of Public Affairs On the day he was indicted on financial fraud charges in a New York City courtroom, former U.S. President Donald Trump launched an attack against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. One of the handful of Black female prosecutors in the country, Willis has led a criminal investigation into Trump’s alleged campaign interference in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. “In the wings, they’ve got a local racist Democrat district attorney in Atlanta who is doing everything in her power to indict me over an absolutely perfect...

By Rochelle Anne Davis, Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Georgetown University; and Eileen Kane, Professor of History, Connecticut College A Florida law that took effect on July 1, 2023, restricts how educators in the state’s public colleges and universities can teach about the racial oppression that African Americans have faced in the United States. Specifically, SB 266 forbids professors to teach that systemic racism is “inherent in the institutions of the United States.” Similarly, they cannot teach that it was designed “to maintain social, political and economic inequities.” We are professors who teach the modern history of the Middle East...

By Joseph Patrick Kelly, Professor of Literature and Director of Irish and Irish American Studies, College of Charleston In the indictment against former President Donald Trump and his role in the January 6 violent attack against the U.S. Capitol, special prosecutor Jack Smith charged the former president with violating four different federal laws. Trump pleaded not guilty to each one of them on August 3, 2023. Three of the charges in United States of America v. Donald J. Trump are fairly easy to understand. They require a jury to determine whether Trump tried to overturn the lawful results of...

By Christopher Robertson, Professor of Law, Boston University; and Russell M. Gold, Associate Professor of Law, University of Alabama Former President Donald Trump often complains that he is being treated unfairly by the prosecutors charging him with crimes. Trump is now the subject of three federal and state criminal cases – and it is true that he is being treated unlike other criminal defendants. The prosecutors are treating Trump a lot better than the average criminal defendant. We are law scholars who have defended clients in criminal and civil cases, and we wish that our clients received the advantages...