DEMOCRACY WATCHThe Last Bulwark | The Nightmarish Problem: Trying to Make Trump Obey Court Orders | Vance’s Junk History, and more

After 100 Days, Trump’s Presidency Feels Like a Vengeful Monarchy  (Andrew Sullivan, The Times)
The conservative thinker Andrew Sullivan backs Trump’s sentiment on immigration and diversity but says his second term is already challenging the very essence of American democracy

Justice Department Lawyers Work for Justice and the Constitution – Not the White House  (Cassandra Burke Robertson, The Conversation)
In the 1970s, President Richard Nixon tried to fire the Department of Justice prosecutor leading an investigation into the president’s involvement in wiretapping the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters.
Since then, the DOJ has generally been run as an impartial law enforcement agency, separated from the executive office and partisan politics.
Those guardrails are now being severely tested under the Trump administration.

Trump’s Aggressive Actions Against Free Speech Speak a Lot Louder Than His Words Defending It  (Daniel Hall, The Conversation)
But what is important is free speech reality, not rhetoric. Three months into his second term, where does Trump stand?
The many interconnected orders, letters, statements and actions of Trump’s White House make an assessment of any positive effects difficult. On the other hand, the Trump administration has clearly violated and chilled free speech on many occasions.
On March 4, 2025, Trump declared in a speech before a joint session of Congress that he “stopped all government censorship and brought free speech back to America.”
The record doesn’t support this claim.

The Nightmarish Problem with Trying to Make Trump Obey Court Orders  (Ian Millhiser, Vox)
How can you punish Trump officials for violating the law, when federal law enforcement is controlled by Trump?

2-Year-Old U.S. Citizen Deported ‘With No Meaningful Process,’ Judge Suspects  (Alan Feuer, New York Times)
A federal judge in Louisiana said the deportation of the child to Honduras with her mother, even though her father had filed an emergency petition, appeared to be “illegal and unconstitutional.”

A Reporter’s Notes of the April 23 Perkins Coie Hearing  (Roger Parloff, Lawfare)
Judge Howell appeared likely to permanently enjoin implementation of President Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm.

The Last Bulwark  (Noah Feldman, New York Review of Books)
The fate of our democracy today depends on the judiciary’s commitments to liberty, constitutionalism, and legality.

Vance’s Junk History  (Sean Wilentz, New York Review of Books)
J. D. Vance has cited Andrew Jackson to justify the idea that a president can disobey the federal judiciary’s rulings. The historical record says no such thing.