James C. Phillips, Constitutional Government Initiative Director, publishes in Deseret News.
James Phillips, Wheatley Constitutional Government Director, wrote a series of articles in Deseret News outlining the constitutional questions surrounding the upcoming election.
We, the people, still run America. So it’s up to us what happens next (Jan 14, 2024)
To read all the hand-wringing political news, one could be forgiven for thinking American citizens are passively awaiting fate to decide between competing all-powerful authorities to run the country.
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Could Donald Trump be constitutionally barred from becoming president again? (Jan 31, 2024)
What to expect in next week’s oral arguments in Trump v. Anderson about the former president’s eligibility to run for office.
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Here’s the question most likely to decide this week’s Supreme Court case over Trump’s ballot eligibility (Feb 6, 2024)
The Supreme Court will probably decide the Trump eligibility case based not upon what everyone is debating — the meaning of ‘insurrection’ — but instead, upon a less interesting technical question.
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Here is former President Trump’s main argument against ballot disqualification (Feb 7, 2024)
Does the disqualification language in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment apply to the office of the U.S. president? It’s not so easy to tell, which is why legal scholars have focused so much attention on this — and why the former president’s legal team is making it their lead argument.
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The most controversial question before the Supreme Court — insurrection (Feb 7, 2024)
Although unlikely to be the issue the Supreme Court decides the case on, it’s still possible the justices will weigh in on how insurrection is defined, and whether it applies to the former president’s actions on Jan.6.
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What direction is the Supreme Court leaning in its case on keeping former President Trump off ballots? (Feb 8, 2024)
Over 2 hours of oral arguments Thursday morning between the 9 justices about Trump v. Anderson confirm that the most likely outcome is that the court will rule in favor of Trump, probably by a wide margin.
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Would a Trump-DeSantis ticket be constitutional? (March 18, 2024)
Here’s a quick explainer on the different legal issues that would have to be navigated if this took place.
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