Fitz File

On Wednesday, the 4 th of December, the House Judiciary Committee heard from a panel of historians and law professors on the history of impeachment and under what grounds can it be brought against a president. As a history nerd, I was delighted to see this hearing announced. But I also recognized the importance and political strategy by Chairman Nadler in having it.             There will be four professors attending this hearing, Noah Feldman from Harvard, Pamela Karlan from Stanford, Michael Gerhardt from UNC, and Jonathan Turley from GW. I have attended a talk with Mr. Feldman who is particularly skilled, though each come from fantastic schools and will shed an invaluable prospective on the current process. It will also be interesting to see the possible difference in opinions, Mr. Turley was invited to testify by the Republicans on the Committee, the rest were invited by the Democrats. While I am not sure of th...

            I have an unfortunate story that sometimes pops up in conversation. I am trying to reach a certain number of volunteer hours by the time I graduate law school, so I interact with a lot of lawyers who are getting in their pro bono hours. Every profession has its highs and lows, along with correspondingly good people and not-so-good people. During one of these activities I was paired with a lawyer who had the worst attitude I have ever seen, and what is worse: she took it out on her clients. With every question a client posed, she scoffed, rolled her eyes, and looked at me, as if to say, “can you believe how stupid this person is?” It did not happen once or twice, it was her reaction to every single question. As if, in her years of practice, she could not believe poor, vulnerable people do not understand the complexities of housing law and the surrounding mountain of forms. This experience truly encouraged me ...

There has been a slow drumbeat on the left to begin using similar hardball tactics to counter those used on the right. Republicans have changed voting rules, decreased an elected position’s power as they leave it for an incoming Democrat, and denied constitutional duties in order to win battles. This last tactic has led some to propose that Democrats should “pack” the United States Supreme Court in order to counter the two Justices that they consider illegitimate. I do not agree with this idea, but first, let’s look at how we got here. In the past three years, we have seen President Trump appoint and have confirmed two new Justices of the Supreme Court. These two appointments have been contentious to say the least. First, there was Neil Gorsuch who, under different circumstances, may have been a perfectly reasonable conservative choice for a Justice. However, it was the circumstances under which he was appointed that drove Democrats, myself included, up the wall. Justic...