Articles by Charlotte Greene

DOJ Opens Investigation Into E. Jean Carroll After Trump Civil Verdicts

The Justice Department has opened an investigation that involves writer E. Jean Carroll, who successfully sued Donald Trump for sexual abuse and defamation. The department has not disclosed the scope or purpose of the inquiry. An investigation is not proof of wrongdoing and does not necessarily...

GOP Worries Trump’s Late Runoff Messaging Could Backfire

In politics, endorsements are supposed to be clarifying moments. But when they are reiterated at the last minute, they can do the opposite. That was the worry some Texas Republicans and campaign strategists voiced publicly and, in some cases, privately after former President Donald Trump again...

Trump’s Iran Posts and the Constitution’s War Powers Line

Over Memorial Day weekend, President Donald Trump posted a series of rapid, sometimes conflicting messages about negotiations with Iran. At one moment, he suggested a peace deal was essentially in hand. Less than 24 hours later , he tempered that assessment. By the end of the holiday, he floated a...

Mojtaba Khamenei and the ‘Courier Deal’ Problem

When Americans picture diplomacy, we tend to imagine conference rooms, flags, and a leader stepping up to a microphone to say what they agreed to and why. The current U.S. talks with Iran are testing that mental picture in a very concrete way. Counterterrorism analysts say Iran’s supreme leader,...

Tulsi Gabbard Resigns as Director of National Intelligence

Tulsi Gabbard is resigning from her position as Director of National Intelligence, notifying President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office Friday that she needs to step away from government service to support her husband through a serious illness. Her last day at the Office of the...

Passport Photo Sizes

Passport photos are one of those small details that can slow down an application faster than people expect. The photo rules are not universal. Each country sets its own standard dimensions, cropping expectations, and technical requirements, and even a “close enough” print from a retail photo...

Passport Photo Sizes by Country (20 English-Official Nations)

Passport photos look simple, but they can still slow down an application if they do not meet the specs. In many systems, a non-compliant photo triggers a request to resubmit before processing can continue. The tricky part is that there is no single global standard. One country may want a 2 × 2...

Trump’s ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund: Constitutional Fix or New Problem?

A new Justice Department move is drawing intense criticism and, understandably, a lot of public confusion. The department has announced a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund meant to compensate people who say they are victims of “lawfare and weaponization” by the federal government....

Supreme Court Sends Two Voting Rights Act Cases Back Down

When people picture the Supreme Court at work, they often imagine a dramatic, final decision: a big ruling, a clear winner, and a clear loser. But some of the Court’s most consequential moves are quieter. This week, the justices issued brief orders in two Voting Rights Act cases that did not...

A DOJ Addendum That Would Block IRS Audits of Trump

There are plenty of ways a legal settlement can end a dispute. What is far harder to justify, in a system built on equal treatment, is a settlement term that appears to place one person and his businesses outside the reach of routine tax enforcement for years already on file. That is the concern...

Virginia’s Assault Firearm Ban and the Post-Bruen Court Test

Virginia’s new “assault firearm” law is now the subject of a federal constitutional challenge, and it arrives at a moment when Second Amendment litigation follows a very different roadmap than it did just a few years ago. In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), the...

Supreme Court Blocks Va. Democrats’ Bid to Restore Voter-Approved Maps

The Supreme Court issued a one-sentence emergency order that ends Virginia Democrats’ bid to revive voter-approved redistricting changes . The practical effect is straightforward: the 2021 congressional map stays in place , maintaining a narrow GOP edge. The justices offered no explanation and no...

When the Supreme Court Stops Deferring to Congress

One of the most important choices the Supreme Court makes is not just what the Constitution means, but how confident the Court must be before it invalidates a law passed by Congress. That choice has a name: judicial deference . Deference can sound like a dusty courtroom custom, but it is really a...

Evanston to Send $25,000 Reparations Payments to 44 Residents

Evanston, Illinois is preparing to send a new round of publicly funded reparations payments: $25,000 each to 44 residents. The city’s reparations committee has said the payments are meant to help cover housing expenses , and that additional recipients are lined up behind them as money becomes...

Why the ACLU Started Defending the Second Amendment

For decades, the American Civil Liberties Union was the organization many people associated with unpopular speech, controversial protests, and the principle that constitutional rights do not depend on whether the public approves of the speaker. So it has surprised some observers to see the ACLU...

Trump Attacks His Own Supreme Court Picks After Tariff Loss

When presidents pick Supreme Court justices, the political world often talks as if those seats come with a kind of long-term loyalty. This week offered a useful reminder that the Constitution does not work that way. After the Supreme Court struck down most of President Donald Trump’s sweeping...

NJ Donor Disclosure Fight Shows the Power of Impact Litigation

Constitutional law does not always arrive with a sweeping statute or a landmark opinion that everyone recognizes on sight. Sometimes it starts with something smaller and more procedural: a demand for records. That is the posture of a dispute now unfolding in New Jersey. The state attorney general...

New Jersey ruling draws a line on off-duty cannabis use for police

For many Americans, cannabis policy is no longer an abstract debate. It shows up in workplace handbooks, union negotiations, disciplinary hearings, and a simple but important question: what can an employer control once an employee clocks out ? A recent decision from the Superior Court of New...

Trump Dangles GOP Support if Fetterman Switches Parties

Party labels are supposed to be shorthand, not shackles. But in a polarized moment, even small acts of independence can trigger a loyalty test. That is the backdrop to a remarkable offer now floating around Washington: President Donald Trump wants Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania to switch...

Trump Promises ‘Project Freedom’ to Move Ships Out of the Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States will begin an operation on Monday to “help free up” ships stuck in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow and strategic waterway now at the center of overlapping blockades in the Gulf. Trump described the effort as a “humanitarian gesture”...