Friday January 17, 2020
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Dampeer Room
Kelvin Smith Library*
Case Western Reserve University
Dear Colleagues:
President Trump’s impeachment is just one of many events during his term that raise questions about how his presidency fits with the Constitution.
We should realize there are two problems with such a question. First, the Constitution says little about what presidents can and should do. Second, expectations about legitimate behavior have developed over time, with a wide range of disagreement.
Nevertheless, there have been a series of major conflicts during President Trump’s term, and as the election approaches and the Senate begins some form of trial, there is plenty to discuss and try to illuminate. For example:
* How do the stated grounds for impeachment fit with either common understandings when the constitution was adopted or the logical purposes of impeachment?
* How does the president’s use of military force fit with how the war powers have developed?
* Is the declaration of an emergency to shift funds to the “wall” an especially egregious violation of Congress’ power of the purse?
* To what extent have the courts blocked questionable executive orders?
Perhaps the broadest questions are the extent to which other branches have allowed the president to claim power, and whether there are norms that are as important as anything in the constitution.
Join us for what should be a wide-ranging discussion.
All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies
About Our Guests
Jonathan Entin has taught Constitutional Law; Administrative Law; Courts, Public Policy and Social Change; and a Supreme Court Seminar. Before joining the faculty in 1984, he clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (when she was on the U.S. Court of Appeals) and practiced in Washington with Steptoe & Johnson. The recipient of several teaching awards and a former co-editor of the Journal of Legal Education, he is at work on a book about equal protection.
Joe White joined the CWRU faculty in 2000, serving as Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy in the Department of Political Science. As director of the Center for Policy Studies, he also organizes the Public Affairs Discussion Group. He previously was Associate Professor in the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and before that Research Associate and then Senior Fellow in Governmental Studies at the Brookings Institution. He teaches a series of courses on public policy and U.S. politics, and his research involves both health care policy and federal budgeting. Dr. White is currently teaching The American Presidency, and he has published extensively about budget politics between President and Congress. .
Where We Meet
The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convenes each Friday when classes are in session, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Our programs are open to all and no registration is required. We usually meet in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library.
* Kelvin Smith Library requires all entrants to show identification when entering the building, unless they have a university i.d. that they can magnetically scan. We are sorry if that seems like a hassle, but it has been Library policy for a while in response to security concerns. Please do not complain to the library staff at the entrance, who are just doing their jobs.
Parking Possibilities
The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates – just to the right if you were driving out – there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you’ll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.
Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:
January 24: Public Health Approaches to Gun Violence. With Jane Timmons-Mitchell Ph.D., Senior Researcher, Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education.
January 31: The Internet of Things. With Kenneth A. Loparo, Ph.D., Arthur L. Parker Professor, Department of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering, and Faculty Director, Institute for Smart, Secure, and Connected Systems.
February 7: Ohio in the 2020 Presidential Election. With Thomas C. Sutton, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science and Director, Community Research Institute, Baldwin Wallace University.
February 14: What to Do About Vaping??? With Erika Trapl, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences and Associate Director, Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods.
February 21: Are Nano-Particles the New Asbestos? With Katharine Van Tassell, J.D., Visiting Professor of Law.
February 28: China’s Belt and Road Initiative and China’s Record in Foreign Development. With Julia C. Strauss, Ph.D., Professor of Chinese Politics, University of London School of Oriental and African Studies.
March 6: The Racial Geography of Cleveland Heights. With Jessica A. Kelley, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology.
March 13: Spring Break
March 20: Taking Away the Car Keys (from seniors). With Weidi Qin, MSW, MPH, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.
March 27: Tibet: An Update. With Melvyn C. Goldstein, Ph.D., John Reynolds Harkness Professor in Anthropology and Co-Director, Center for Research on Tibet.
April 3: What’s the Beef? The Controversy Over Health Effects of Red Meat. With Hope Barkoukis, Ph.D., Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Professor in Wellness and Preventive Care and Chair, Department of Nutrition.
April 10: TBA
April 17: Targeted Assassinations, and Other Red or Not-So-Red Lines. With Shannon French, Ph.D., Inamori Professor of Ethics and Director, Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence.
April 24: Regulating Content of Online Platforms. With Raymond Ku, J.D., Professor and Laura B. Chisholm Distinguished Research Scholar, CWRU School of Law. |
