250 Years of Chasing the American Dream
Ups and downs in our courts and in our history: Publisher’s Roundup 74
I’ve been a lawyer for 35 years, but I have never before had two landmark decisions in my cases (with an assist on a third) come down in the last 24 hours of the Supreme Court’s term — a time traditionally reserved for its most important matters. Despite the horror the court brought in other decisions and the obvious need to reform that institution, we helped a lot of people — thanks to your paid subscriptions.
On Monday, we won the Lisa Cook case. The Supreme Court, with a 5-4 majority, blocked Trump’s attempt to fire the first Black woman to serve as a Federal Reserve governor. Democracy Defenders Fund was counsel of record alongside Lowell & Associates, Cooley LLP, and Clement & Murphy PLLC. As Abbe Lowell and I said in our joint statement, Trump’s firing of Cook was always “a manufactured pretext to bend the Fed to his political will,” and the court didn’t buy it.
Also on Monday, we supported the win in Watson v. RNC — a victory for voters and a rejection of the Republican National Committee’s effort to throw out ballots postmarked by Election Day but received after. DDF filed an amicus brief in this case on behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), our frequent partner; no voter should ever lose his or her voice because a political party wants to change the rules.
We followed that up 24 hours later with the birthright citizenship case — a win two years in the making for us and our great co-counsel, clients, and partners. We started planning for Donald Trump’s illegal overreach nearly two years ago, when Project 2025 flagged birthright citizenship as a target. Because of that preparation, we were able to file the original case that ultimately resulted in this victory with our partners on day one of the Trump administration. Our role included something I am especially proud of: working with our colleagues at LULAC to connect with brave expectant mothers who served as plaintiffs, taking necessary precautions to protect their identities while allowing them to share what this moment meant to them. My colleague Lica Porcile was on TV with one of our clients, translating her emotional reaction to a truly landmark day. It is worth a watch.
I also explained the meaning of this ruling on MSNow right after it came down. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote that the men who drafted the 14th Amendment “extended that promise to every free-born person in this land.” Trump tried to rewrite who counted as an American, and the court said no.
Our win rate at the Supreme Court was about 80% this term — a striking figure given the court was so often bereft of law and logic. That was on display in Monday’s ruling in another case that was brought by friends of ours, Trump v. Slaughter. It gives Trump sweeping new power to fire members of independent federal agencies — a decision he immediately celebrated. The court also upheld state bans on transgender athletes and lifted Watergate-era caps on coordinated spending between political parties and their candidates, which will pump more dirty, dark, and corporate money into politics — the exact opposite of what we need.
Those decisions and many others demonstrate that the court is irreversibly broken. So do the bare 5-4 majorities in all three of our wins. (Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh concurred in the judgment with the five in the majority in birthright but on such different and wrong grounds that he cannot fully be counted; I agree with eminent constitutionalist Larry Tribe that it should essentially be viewed as a 5-4 decision.)
Demand is building for court reform, and I agree. That should start with serious consideration of term limits for justices. That would allow a more reasonable rotation of judicial appointments that would more closely track presidential terms and the will of the American people — a welcome infusion of democracy into the institution.
One more abuse of the courts broke while I was writing this column. My client, the Olympic canoeist Davey Hearn, was charged with a felony for touching the Reflecting Pool. We at Democracy Defenders Fund are proud to represent him with Mary Dohrmann at the Washington Litigation Group. As Mary and I said on Thursday when the charge was announced, Davey is innocent. These charges are outrageous and should be alarming to every American. This indictment reflects the administration’s effort to shift blame for its own failures. As our nation celebrates Independence Day, Americans should be deeply concerned about the misuse of government power against an ordinary citizen based on a concocted narrative. The justice system exists to determine facts, not to provide political cover. We look forward to our day in court and to allowing the same court system that is being misused to vindicate itself — and Davey.
My mixed feelings about those court highs and lows are appropriate as we celebrate America’s 250th. Despite my American pride and patriotism, some ambivalence is in order this semiquincentennial. The mighty ideals of 1776 and the founding generation have inspired Americans and people around the world. But they have never been completely fulfilled. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said: “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” That promissory note has never been fully honored, and in fact we have gone deeper into debt on it in the past 17 months.
Still, what could be more patriotic than fighting to turn that around — that is, fighting for the American idea? We will keep on doing that with the help of your paid subscriptions. It is the most unique bargain in American journalism. You not only support cases like birthright and Cook, but also our great coverage of how our democracy is doing. See for yourself in this week’s roundup, featuring the best of our coverage, including some truly brilliant essays about America’s 250th birthday.
The Promise of America by Maria Cardona
Yes, the country has changed, hardened. But if anger is the spark, hope must be the fuel.
The Moral Test of a Republic by John F. Terzano
“Thank You For Your Service” is not enough.
Who Will Stand the Next Watch? By Brian O’Neill
Our republic still needs people willing to tell power what it needs to know, not what it wants to hear.
How Much Democracy Does America Really Have? By Ben Sheehan
Quite a bit, but it expands and contracts. How it does so depends on us.
Backsliding Toward 250: The Hijacking of Religion at the Semiquincentennial by Robert P. Jones
At 250, it’s time to celebrate the pluralistic nation we have organically become instead of a mythical white Christian nation we have allegedly lost.
The South Shows America How to Fight to Expand Democracy for All By Stacey Abrams and Genny Castillo
Democracy has never been more necessary or more at risk, but giving up on the South would doom us all.
America 250: Our Progress. Our Peril. Our Path Forward. By Tim Dickinson
To counter a MAGA “revolution,” we may need a new (OK, old) refresh of the bill of rights.
No One is Stealing My Fourth by Jamie Riley
Donald Trump destroys everything he touches, but he can’t touch our patriotism.
What Patriotism and Loving My Country Means This July 4th by Laleh Ispahani
250 years on, America’s promise lives in our actions toward bettering our country and supporting one another.
How Lincoln Changed Our Understanding of the Declaration by Ted Widmer
He believed we could make the Declaration whole by living up to its better sentences and refusing to give in to those who will try to weaken them.
Country Over Corporation: Reclaiming American Freedom
Professor Eddie Glaude, in conversation with April Ryan, reminds us of July Fourth’s true meaning and why Americans must fight back for freedom.
Not Dead Yet by Meghan Houser
America’s 250th is a day for celebrating the defiant pulse of the living.
We Need a Re-Founding by Janai Nelson
250 years into the American experiment, it’s time for the radical hope to imagine better.
Your Revolutionary Summer Reading List by Meredith Blake and contributors
From our Culture Columnist and other Contrarians, recommended fiction and nonfiction that illuminates where we are — and how we got here.
Limited Edition Screen Prints!
Celebrate America 250 with The Art of Resistance
This limited-edition collection of screen prints is created to honor the American tradition of leveraging creative expression to inspire change.
Thank you for all you have accomplished with your partners. Where would we be without you!
Thanks to you and all who engage in preserving and striving for the words "justice for all"
Have a happy and safe 4th of July!