Essay on Lawlessness Coming Tomorrow; Video from Feb. 4 Q&A; Special Guest this Friday

Welcome back to Lucid, and hello to all new subscribers. This week my essay will publish on Thursday. It looks at what happens when the rule of law collapses, the law becomes an aid to repression, and lawlessness is institutionalized.

Our next Q&A will take place on Friday, Feb. 9, 1-2pmET. Given all the legal developments this week, and tomorrow’s Supreme Court hearing on whether Trump’s actions relating to the Jan. 6 coup attempt should disqualify him from being president, I’m pleased to announce that our guest will be Ryan Goodman.

He is Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Professor of Law and Faculty Co-Director, Reiss Center on Law and Security, at New York University. He is also co-Editor-In-Chief of Just Security. As a former Special Counsel to the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense, Professor Goodman is well placed to answer our questions about Donald Trump’s legal affairs and their national security implications.

Paying subscribers will receive a link to register for the Zoom gathering on Friday morning. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone. If you’d like to join us, you can sign up as a paid subscriber or upgrade your subscription to paid here:

For MSNBC viewers, I am scheduled to be on Ari Melber’s show tomorrow (Thursday) in the 6:00ET hour to discuss the importance of prosecuting authoritarians and holding them accountable. As always with television, this could change, but that’s the plan right now.

Here is the video of the first half of Sunday’s gathering. I talk about why Trump is telling people there will be a terrorist attack in America, the role civilian armies and paramilitaries play in authoritarianism, and more.

This week we had the momentous decision of a federal appeals court to deny former president Donald Trump immunity from prosecution. “Donald Trump is not immune from criminal prosecution,” writes Joyce Vance in Civil Discourse. “Neither he nor Joe Biden can order SEAL Team Six to execute a political rival with impunity. They cannot prevent the smooth transfer of power by abusing the power of the presidency. So says the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.”

It’s a critically important event from the point of view of democracy protection. It punctures Trump’s strongman personality cult by refuting his claim that he is above the law. It sends a message to MAGA acolytes and operatives who are working overtime to “continue the coup,” subverting the rule of law and showing scorn in Congress and the courts for democratic models of justice based on equality before the law and accountability.

Until tomorrow, stay well and stay lucid.

Ruth