The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is hosting the webinar Constitutional Crisis: What Is It and Are We in One? on Friday, March 14.
Introduced by Laurie L. Patton, President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the panelists were Judge Thomas B. Griffith, Non-Resident Constitutional Government Fellow, Wheatly Institute at Brigham Young University; Vanita Gupta, Adjunct Professor of Law, Distinguished Scholar in Residence, New York University; Goodwin Liu, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of California; Janet A. Napolitano, Professor of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley; and Eric Posner, Kirkland & Ellis Distinguished Service Professor of Law, Arthur and Esther Kane Research Chair, University of Chicago Law School.
Program Description: What does it mean to be in a constitutional crisis, and are we in one now? How far can presidents act in the context of congressional inaction? What is the role of courts in evaluating the legality of executive action? To what extent can courts in this context declare the law and meaningfully constrain the president? The conversation will include perspectives on how these questions have been addressed throughout American history when courts have confronted forceful assertions of executive power.