(Virtual) CLE: "Separation of Powers at a Constitutional Crossroads: The Prospect of an Imperial Presidency" with Burt Neuborne
Burt Neuborne, Norman Dorsen Professor of Civil Liberties Emeritus is one of the nation’s foremost civil liberties lawyers, teachers, and scholars. He is the founding legal director of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. Neuborne has served as national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, special counsel to the National Organization for Women Legal Defense and Education Fund, and member of the New York City Human Rights Commission.
This class will discuss President Trump’s effort to return the Executive branch to its pre-FDR status which has generated at least 150 lawsuits and raises crucial questions about the allocation of government power between and among the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches of the federal government. The American tradition of checks and balances and the very idea of constitutional separation of powers argues strongly against vesting a single official– the President - with vast, unilateral power. James Madison wrote in Federalist 47: “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands…may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”
We’ll consider the following issues raised in the pending lawsuits:
- Can the President Unilaterally Abolish Executive Agencies Created by Congress?
- Can the President Refuse to Spend Funds Appropriated by Congress?
- Can the President Decline to Enforce a Congressional Statute?
- Can the President Remove High-Ranking Government Officials Without Cause?
- Can the President Engage in Mass Firing of Lower-Level Federal Employees?
- Must the President Abide by the Decisions of the (Lower/Supreme) Courts?
This virtual event has been approved to offer one New York State CLE credit in the category of Areas of Professional Practice. The credit is both transitional and non-transitional; it is appropriate for both experienced and newly appointed attorneys.