A new council of historians will work to promote accurate understandings of our past. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
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Brennan Center for Justice
 
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In recent years, the Supreme Court has misused and mischaracterized history to justify decisions that roll back Americans’ rights. Now we’re aiming to set the record straight. The new Historians Council on the Constitution, made up of 18 renowned historians from leading institutions nationwide, will work to separate historical fact from fiction and encourage the legal world to adopt more responsible approaches to history in the courts.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a pair of major cases that could curb the power of federal agencies. But the lawsuits, which claim that strong court oversight of agencies was once the norm, are based on a fictional version of American history. Three members of the newly formed Historians Council wrote a friend-of-the-court brief illuminating the true history between federal agencies and federal courts, as well as challenging the notion that the justices should be relying on history at all to decide the critical questions before them.
Donald Trump’s decisive victory in the Iowa Republican caucus offers several lessons. Among them are the strategic failure of refusing to challenge his election denial claims and the fact that the caucus process caters to the most extreme voters. Given how unrepresentative this sliver of the electorate is of the rest of the party, let alone the country, it’s little wonder that Democrats abandoned the Iowa caucus this cycle. Republicans should do the same for 2028.
This year brings the first presidential contest since lies about the 2020 election prompted a wave of laws that restrict voting access and make elections more vulnerable to interference. In the coming general election, voters in 18 states will face new voting restrictions, and 5 states will have new election interference laws in place. The latest edition of our Voting Laws Roundup highlights commonalities among all of these laws, and it also notes trends in pre-filed bills to watch for in 2024.
In addition to trying to change voting and elections rules, state lawmakers attempted to attack the power and independence of state courts, which were at the center of many of the country’s most polarizing debates last year. A new Brennan Center resource outlines the ways in which legislators targeted the state judicial branches in 2023 — and the assaults state courts are likely to face this year as they’re called on to decide major questions ranging from abortion rights to climate change regulation.
The FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and police departments nationwide have long reviewed and analyzed people’s online activity. But the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence tools is poised to make social media monitoring easier and more pervasive than ever, exacerbating risks to individuals’ privacy and First Amendment rights. The Biden administration must act swiftly and expand its rules to protect the public from the harms of AI-powered surveillance.
Last week, Donald Trump argued in federal court that he can’t be prosecuted for any of his actions as president because he wasn’t first impeached and convicted by Congress. This defective theory would dangerously undermine the rule of law, giving senators representing a tiny minority of the population the power to shield a president from prosecution. It also flies in the face of a cornerstone of our legal system: citizen jurors, not politicians, decide a defendant’s guilt or innocence.

 
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From policing to education, local governments have immense influence over our daily lives. But in too many places, communities of color are significantly underrepresented on county commissions and school boards. Find out just how bad the problem is in Georgia and what’s behind it >>
 

 
Virtual Events
 
Sen. Jeff Merkley on How to Fix the Filibuster
Wednesday, January 24, 3–4 p.m. ET
Join us for a live virtual event featuring the authors of the new book, Filibustered! How to Fix the Broken Senate and Save America, in which Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and his former chief of staff Mike Zamore make the case that Congress’s decline began 50 years ago with the introduction of the “no-talk” filibuster. They argue that returning this tool of legislative debate to its original, rarely used form would do much to restore order to the legislature. With moderator Kimberly Atkins Stohr of the Boston Globe, they will discuss the obstacles facing a cohesive, functioning Congress, as well as the surprisingly simple fix that could stem the disorder and restore faith in this vital governing body. RSVP today.
 

 
 
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
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