The Census: Back at the Supreme Court

Can non-citizens be excluded from the census count, which serves as a basis of apportionment and allocates seats in the House of Representatives? Janai Nelson of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and John Eastman of Chapman University debate this question at the heart of Trump v. New York, the 2020 census case that the Supreme Court heard on November 30. Jeffrey Rosen moderates.

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Shakespeare and the Making of America

Echoes of Shakespeare can be heard in some of the most fundamental documents in American history, including the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Three of America’s leading authorities on Shakespeare and America's founders—Barry Edelstein, Kevin Hayes, and Lucas Morel—joined Jeffrey Rosen for a look at how Shakespeare has shaped American values.

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The Role of a 1992 Census Case and John Roberts Jr. in a 2020 Census Challenge by Marcia Coyle

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Happy Birthday to the Founders’ Painter, Gilbert Stuart by NCC staff

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Tuesday, December 8 is the Electoral College "safe harbor" deadline; if a state chooses its electors and certifies its results by that date, it receives some protections against challenges to them. The electors then cast their votes “the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December,” which, this year, is December 14. Federal law requires the states to send in their electoral votes to Congress by December 23. Those votes are then counted in a joint session at 1 p.m. ET on January 6, 2021, and, per the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, the previous terms of office for president and vice president end on January 20 at noon.

Learn more about this process, and broader debates about the Electoral College, in our resources linked below.

From the National Constitution Center:

Does the Constitution Allow for a Delayed Presidential Election? Constitution Daily blog post explaining the Electoral College timeline
Why Does the Electoral College Exist? episode of Live at the National Constitution Center

The 20th Amendment

"The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January..."

Read Interpretations on the Interactive Constitution >

Read > A roundup of this week's articles from The Battle for the Constitution—a partnership with The Atlantic that explores constitutional debates in American life.

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