Attention to the Unseen

Heidi Przybyla writes: The Supreme Court’s decision in the 2010 Citizens United case transformed the world of politics. It loosened restrictions on campaign spending and unleashed a flow of anonymous donor money to nonprofit groups run by political activists. In the months before the ruling dropped in January of that year, a group of conservative activists came together to create just such an organization. Its mission would be to, at the time, block then-President Barack Obama’s pet initiatives. The activists…

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Donald Ayer writes: Several distinguished individuals have recently expressed grave reservations about the prosecutions of former President Donald Trump. Notably, they appear to have no dispute about the seriousness of his wrongdoing. Rather, their main concern is that “terrible consequences” may result, because the prosecutions “may come to be seen as political trials … and play directly into the hands of Trump and his allies.” Although many Trump supporters will view the situation in just this way, any suggestion that…

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Dennis Aftergut and Austin Sarat write: MAGA Republicans in Wisconsin are gearing up to impeach newly elected state Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz, just five weeks after she took her seat on the court and before she has cast her first vote. They want to stop her from doing what the majority of Wisconsin voters elected her to do. Their plan is nothing less than a coup attempt, an effort to sideline a duly elected judge not because she has…

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Shirin Ali writes: A battle that’s long been brewing in Texas is finally coming to a head as the state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, undergoes an impeachment trial for allegations of corruption, bribery, and abuse of power. It all started after Paxton demanded that $3.3 million in taxpayer money be used to settle a lawsuit against him. (Paxton has maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty this week in his first hearing.) Paxton is a polarizing political figure, even beyond…

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CNN reports: A federal appeals court on Friday said the Biden administration likely violated the First Amendment in some of its communications with social media companies, but also narrowed a lower court judge’s order on the matter. The US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that certain administration officials – namely in the White House, the surgeon general, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation – likely “coerced or significantly encouraged social media…

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