Maundy Thurdsay, 2025
And what the US government should realise about a cavalier approach to obligations
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At the beginning of the current constitutional crisis in the United States there was a word, and that word was “Oopsie”.
This was a word in the social media post of the El Salvador president when the first deportations…
14th April 2025
What courts can and cannot order – and what those injuncted can and should do
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In the United States the constitutional crisis seems to have intensified overnight, with the US government appearing to flout an injunctive order of the federal court to facilitate a deportee’s return – an order which has…
10th April 2025
A good way to commentate is to start with a puzzle: something that does not make sense – or at least does not make sense at first glance.
And one puzzle about the tariff policy of Donald Trump is why he as president is devising general United States trade policy himself, by…
7th April 2025
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And why it depends on what a particular contract says
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This morning we said “Hello!” to Force Majeure.
As as the second Trump presidency runs out of constitutional law topics for legal pundits, it now moves onto contract law.
(Soon it will be, no doubt, moving onto insolvency law and civil emergency law.)…
2nd April 2025
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Another setback for the illiberals in a skirmish
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Overnight came the news that one candidate for the supreme court of Wisconsin won in an election instead of another.
In normal times, few would know about such things outside of Wisconsin, and even fewer would care. Other than thinking something about…
31st March 2025
What constitutional commentary can do and what constitutional commentary cannot do
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There are many who are anxious and alarmed at what is unfolding in the United States.
And they are right to be anxious and alarmed – indeed, any other overall response would be strange given what is happening.
There is…
27th March 2025
The US presidency is not getting its own way – even with Republican-nominated appeals judges
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Overnight the judgment for the federal court of appeal in the deportations case was handed down – and it was a 2-1 defeat for the Trump presidency.
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The issue decided in this appeal was whether…
25th March 2025
What the case tell us about the law and policy of the United States government
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The case has a mundane name: J.G.G. et al v. Trump et al.
(The “et al” means “and others”.)
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J.G.G. is one of the five initial Venezuelan plaintiffs in this case, the others known as J.G.O., G.F.F., W.G.H.…
19th March 2025
Two public statements about the impeachment of judges – and why the Roberts one is highly significant
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We are in strange constitutional times.
Yesterday there were two public statements, from the heads of their respective branches of the United States constitutional system.
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The first was from the president of the…
18th March 2025
And how government lawyers found out one cannot play “Oopsie” with Equity.
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On the face of it, the lawyers for the United States federal government in the deportations case had an uncomfortable time in court yesterday.
(Legal commentators following the hearing.)
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Indeed, it seemed that the government lawyers were desperate…
