Trump’s Upcoming Refusal to Leave Office: The Very Bad News

NEIL H. BUCHANAN

In this second of a two-part series of columns considering the likelihood that President Trump will refuse to leave the White House even if he loses the election, UF Levin College of Law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan describes the bad news that Trump and his supporters seem likely to use violence to keep him in office.

Read More

Latest Twist in the Flynn Case Highlights the Danger of Judicial Deference to Trump’s Administration

AUSTIN SARAT

Austin Sarat—Associate Provost, Associate Dean of the Faculty, and William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College—comments on a decision by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit holding that U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan exceeded his power by refusing to grant the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss the case against Michael Flynn, President Trump’s former national security advisor. Sarat explains the relationship between the judiciary and prosecutors and points out that that judicial deference toward prosecutorial decisions can only be reconciled with constitutional governance if prosecutors respect, and are guided by, canons of integrity and professionalism. Sarat argues that the current leadership of the Justice Department shows utter disdain for such canons.

Read More

Gulzar v. State

Docket: 19S-XP-673

Opinion Date: June 24, 2020

Judge: Loretta H. Rush

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court denying Appellant's petition to expunge a minor felony conviction that had been converted to a misdemeanor, holding that the amended statute, which took effect while Appellant's appeal was pending, should apply retroactively to Appellant. At the time Appellant filed his petition the relevant statute required him to wait five years before seeking expungement but wasn't clear on when the waiting period began. Believing the five year period hadn't elapsed, the trial court denied the petition. While Appellant's appeal was pending, the legislature amended the statute to clarify when the five-year waiting period would begin. Both parties acknowledged that, under the amended statute, Appellant would be entitled to expungement. The Supreme Court held that, under the circumstances, the amended statute should apply retroactively to Appellant.