Harvard Law & Policy Review

Archives for February 2017

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President Trump Overstepped his Authority on Sanctuary Cities

  By Eddie Nasser* In Executive Order No. 13768 issued January 25th, President Trump attempted to follow through on a major campaign promise to cut all federal funding from so-called “sanctuary cities.” Not only is the order bad policy, it also seems unlikely to withstand a challenge in court. Section 9(a) of the order mandates that jurisdictions “that fail to comply with applicable Federal law do not receive Federal funds, except as mandated by law.” It directs that “the Attorney …

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How elites profit from the myth of American bankruptcy

By Harry Stein* After years of hysterical warnings about a “looming fiscal crisis” from deficits under President Barack Obama, Republican leaders in Congress are suddenly willing to increase deficits for President Donald Trump. This deficit flip-flop is certainly hypocritical, but it also obscures the true nature of the threat posed by Trump. Trump is taking office at a time when America’s fiscal system is extremely strong. The primary threat is not that America will go broke; it is that …

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Executive Order 9066: #NeverForget

By Jessica Huey* It was the worst day of his life. That was all he would ever say about it. Looking at black and white photos of my great-grandfather, the stoicism etched in his expression is impossible to ignore. But to understand his story—that of a quiet, Japanese merchant who came to America with his wife to start a new life in the early 1900s—it becomes clear the extent to which living in America, filled with its golden grain and promises, also took its toll on him. Like millions …

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The Silencing of Senator Warren

By Charles Tiefer* The press coverage of Senator Elizabeth Warren’s silencing under Senate Rule XIX was colorful, but sadly shallow. Much more daunting than a one-cycle news bite or a catchy hashtag, the incident in fact revealed that today’s narrow Republican Senate majority is poised to use procedure to subjugate the minority Democrats to an extreme. In the news bite version of the story, the Warren silencing was simply a clash of personalities against a background of quaint Senate rules …

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Taking on Debt: Advancing the Discourse on America’s Bottom Line

  by Ryan Cohen and Shane Hebel, Harvard Law & Policy Review, Volume 11 Editors-in-Chief During this time, when our nation appears so divided, there is one thing that we all share, whether we are Democratic or Republican, teacher or coal miner, voter or U.S. President, from the coasts or from Appalachia. Debt. We may be a nation of red, white, and blue, but mostly, we are just in the red. Our students are in debt (as graduate students, we can attest to that from personal …

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“Make the VA Great Again”: Medical-Legal Partnerships for Veterans

By Rose Carmen Goldberg* Veterans have long suffered from the invisible wounds of war, such as PTSD. These injuries have become painfully apparent in the 20 veteran suicides committed every day. Some blame the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for failing to address this crisis. President Trump, for one, views the VA as “the most corrupt agency in the United States.” He is considering getting rid of it altogether by privatizing veterans’ healthcare. President Trump’s harsh words and …

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