Garrett Epps

It’s Clarence Thomas’s Court—and Lower Courts Are Saluting Him

One February morning eight years ago, I was half-drowsing through a Supreme Court oral argument when I (and others in the Court chamber) had an out-of-body experience. The low-profile case the Court heard that day, Voisine v. United States, was a…

The Washington Monthly Way

Skip to content Last summer, while I was contemplating the coming Supreme Court term, it occurred to me that there is a story in how the Court, and, indeed, the very idea of courts in general, was transformed during the Trump years. It would explain…

A Rare Inside Look at Our Corrupt Supreme Court

I suspect that every member of the National Press Club may at one time have met the Reverend Rob Schenck. This indefatigable evangelical pastor has used the club many times—to thank the kingdom of Morocco for its cooperation with Christian…

Biden Can Raise the Debt Ceiling Without Congress

In 2013, the Republican House majority announced that it would block an increase in the statutory limit on the national debt unless the Democratically controlled Senate and President Barack Obama agreed to steep spending cuts of the House GOP’s…

The Court’s Third Great Crisis

Twice before in history, the Supreme Court has allowed itself to become an arm of one political party, with catastrophic results. Only the voters can save us from the same fate today. This February, the U.S. Supreme Court will celebrate its 233rd…

“I’ve Lost My Name”

“Be glad it’s 2020,” an anonymous caller told the Georgia election worker Shaye Moss, “and not 1920.” The phrase “my blood ran cold” is sometimes figurative language. But not Tuesday afternoon, as Moss, an African American woman whose only offense…

Giuliani’s Intoxication, Trump’s Big Rip-Off, and Other Tales From the January 6 Committee Hearing

Let the record reflect that Monday marked the day Rudolph W. L. Giuliani completed his historical metamorphosis from “America’s Mayor” to Otis, the town drunk. Giuliani (who did not appear at yesterday’s hearing) became furring at this second public…

The January 6 Committee’s Fatal Connections

Congressional hearings tend to leave sounds and images lingering in the mind. I will never forget the methodical drone of John Dean’s voice explaining that he had told Richard Nixon there was a cancer on his presidency, or the bland sangfroid of…

The Supreme Court and the Originalist Fallacy

Even as Texas families mourn their dead, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if the Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Tuesday tells us that what America needs is more guns on the streets and highways. If they do—and though I hate to make Court…

Alito’s Arrogance and the End of Roe

This may be just me, but one paragraph in Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization stands out for its thoroughgoing mix of hypocrisy and dishonesty. Advocates of legalized abortion, Alito writes, argue that…

The Supreme Court’s Callous Blow to Puerto Ricans

Puerto Rico, Justice Brett Kavanaugh blandly explained in a recent opinion, “became a U.S. Territory in 1898 in the wake of the Spanish-American War.” From his tone, the island might be a kitten that wandered in from the cold and nestled happily…

Ketanji Brown Jackson Was a Public Defender. Here’s Why That’s a Great Thing.

About a quarter century ago, when I was a newly minted, untenured assistant law professor in Oregon, the state’s new governor nominated me to join the newly created Criminal Justice Commission. I had worked for the governor’s campaign, drafting…

The Supreme Court Considers a Family Divided

Solomon, the greatest judge of all time, may have been savvy on appellate matters—the record isn’t clear—but he was a lousy family court judge. Brandishing a sword in the courtroom and threatening to chop children in half to extract confessions from…

Walter Dellinger’s House of Mirth

One spring night thirty-some years ago—I am fairly certain it was Monday, April 2, 1990—Walter Dellinger, then a law professor at Duke University, had a dream. Daylight Savings time had begun the previous Sunday, and in his dream, Walter was visited…

Donald Trump Promised He Wouldn’t Nominate a Black Woman to the Supreme Court

Running for reelection in 2020, Donald Trump’s slogan was “Promises Made. Promises Kept.” He certainly kept one promise. On May 18, 2016—and again in September of that year—Trump promised his supporters explicitly that, if elected, he would not…

The Practical Erudition of Stephen Breyer

Stephen Breyer, for better or worse, will apparently soon be gone from the United States Supreme Court. NBC’s legendary court correspondent Pete Williams reported Wednesday that Breyer will soon announce his retirement. The report brought back…

How to Fix the Senate by Essentially—Though Not Quite—Abolishing It

A few weeks ago, the New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie assessed the flaws of the U.S. Constitution. His column included this complaint: “The final clause of Article 5 of the Constitution—‘no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its…

The Washington Monthly’s Indispensable Chutzpah

In February 1979, I wrote an article for The Washington Post’s Metro section on what I regarded as a near miracle: The Washington Monthly, under the leadership of Charlie Peters, had lasted a full decade, during which time “many better-funded,…

Nicholas Kristof Wants to Be a Governor. Why Won’t He Talk to National Media?

I have some questions for Nicholas Kristof. But I can’t ask them—and I need someone to ask them for me. As most newspaper readers have probably heard, the former New York Times columnist is running for governor of my home state, Oregon. He announced…

The Supreme Court’s Biggest Concern About Overturning Roe? What That Will Mean for Itself.

Justice Samuel Alito has to be the most annoying interrogator since Lawrence Olivier, in the 1976 film Marathon Man, stuck a dentist’s drill into Dustin Hoffman’s mouth and screamed, “IS IT SAFE?” Alito’s questions usually amount to nothing more…