Constitutional Law,
Government
May 14, 2019
A constitutional crisis?
Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi recently used that phrase and it is constantly uttered by commentators. Yet, I have resisted that terminology.
Erwin Chemerinsky
Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law
UC Berkeley School of Law
Erwin's most recent book is "Worse Than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism." He is also the author of "Closing the Courthouse," (Yale University Press 2017).
I am constantly asked, "are we in a constitutional crisis?" Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi recently used that phrase and it is constantly uttered by commentators. Yet, I have resisted that terminology. I worried that if we use it now, what will we call it if President Donald Trump chooses to defy a judicial order or, as Michael Cohen and Nancy Pelosi have speculated, Trump refuses to leave office even if he loses his reelection bid in 2020?
For only $95 a month (the price of 2 article purchases)
Receive unlimited article access and full access to our archives,
Daily Appellate Report, award winning columns, and our
Verdicts and Settlements.
Or
$795 for an entire year!
Or access this article for $45
(Purchase provides 7-day access to this article. Printing, posting or downloading is not allowed.)
Already a subscriber?
Sign In