Edley Center News

“If court orders can be defied, then the president can violate the Constitution and any law with impunity knowing that there are unlikely to be any meaningful consequences,” writes Dean Erwin Chemerinsky. “That means the president could then do anything — including locking up critics — knowing that the courts are powerless to stop it.”

Professors Jacobs and Farber filed a comment opposing an Administration proposal to strip thousands of experienced, expert government workers of civil service protections.

Lhamon, who chaired the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights for five years, describes the center’s mission as protecting American democracy “against any and every onslaught.”

Professors Daniel A. Farber and Jonathan S. Gould — experts on presidential power, constitutional law, and the U.S. Congress, and co-faculty directors of the Edley Center on Law & Democracy — discuss the implications of some of Trump’s first actions.

Professor Dan Farber discuss the complexities of executive authority in the U.S. government, from emergency powers initially crafted for crisis management to the potential overreach encouraged by figures such as Mitch McConnell and Mike Johnson.

Professor Dan Farber discusses the implications of Trump’s cabinet picks for his plans to use executive power.

The five-part series addressed the state of American democracy and its nexus with the press and social media, elections and the courts, presidential power, and judicial power.

With faith in America’s democratic institutions waning, the center — named after former dean Christopher Edley Jr. — will probe underlying problems and train students to become effective guardians of our political system. 

Edley led the school from 2004 to 2013 and spearheaded a significant expansion of its faculty, research centers, student public interest grants, and physical space.