Articles by Eleanor Stratton

What Happens at an Arraignment

For many people, “arraignment” is a word they only hear on TV, usually shouted right before a dramatic plea. In real life, an arraignment is less theatrical and more structural. It is the court’s way of putting the case on the record: who you are, what you are charged with, what your rights are,...

Clarence Thomas’ Record and the Court’s Balance of Power

There is a particular kind of Supreme Court power that does not show up in oral argument transcripts or in the tally at the bottom of an opinion. It is the power of simply being there, term after term, long enough for your “dissent” to become the next generation’s baseline. Last week, Justice...

Virginia Supreme Court Voids Democrats’ House Map

Virginia voters said “yes” to a new set of U.S. House districts. The Virginia Supreme Court said that “yes” no longer counts. In a 4-3 decision, the court held that the General Assembly did not follow the Virginia Constitution’s required sequence for putting a redistricting amendment on the ballot....

When ICE Arrests the Wrong Person

It is easy to talk about “due process” like it is a courtroom concept. A judge. A lawyer. A formal charge. A tidy timeline. But due process often fails earlier, in the messy place where armed authority meets an ordinary morning. George Retes, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen, Army veteran, and father,...

A New SCOTUS Line on Gerrymanders

Gerrymandering is one of those political practices Americans love to hate, until it helps their side win. But the Constitution does not treat every kind of gerrymander the same. After a recent Supreme Court decision involving Louisiana’s congressional map, that difference just got sharper in a way...

What Is Dark Money?

Dark money is political money with an identity problem. You can see the ad. You can hear the message. You can sometimes even guess who benefits. But the public cannot reliably see who paid for it , because the true donors are routed through organizations that are not required to disclose them. That...

What Is RICO?

“RICO” gets used like a synonym for “big crime.” But the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act is not a vibe. It is a specific federal statute, passed in 1970, that lets prosecutors and civil plaintiffs treat a long-running scheme as the main event. Most criminal law is built to punish...

RICO Case Meaning

People throw around the phrase “RICO case” like it is shorthand for big scandal . Someone gets indicted with a stack of charges, the headline says “RICO,” and the public takeaway is basically: this must be serious . It often is. But the meaning of a RICO case is more specific and more technical...

USPS and Handguns: A Major Rule Change in Motion

For most Americans, “mailing a handgun” sounds like something that is obviously illegal, like putting fireworks in a box and hoping nobody notices. But the law has never been that simple. It has been a layered system of federal statutes, postal regulations, and the background reality that the...

DOJ vs. Colorado Magazine Ban

Colorado has limited ammunition magazines to 15 rounds since 2013. Now the U.S. Department of Justice is in court arguing that Colorado’s “large-capacity magazine” law is not just bad policy, but unconstitutional. That lawsuit tees up a question that sounds simple until you touch the Constitution:...

11 Supreme Court Cases to Watch This Term

The Supreme Court’s term does not end with oral argument. It ends with consequences. The Court is now in the final stretch of its 2025–2026 term. Oral arguments are over and the merits docket is fully submitted. What remains is the work that actually settles the law: drafting, finalizing, and...

Visa Overstay and Unlawful Presence Explained

Most people use the phrase “overstayed my visa” like it is self-explanatory. It sounds like a single mistake with a single punishment. Immigration law does not work that cleanly. In everyday speech, “overstay” often means you stayed longer than you were supposed to. But the legally operative...

National Security Letters Explained

National Security Letters sound like something a judge signs in a hurry, under dim lights, with a national crisis ticking in the background. They are not that. A National Security Letter, or NSL, is an administrative demand issued by the FBI that compels a company to hand over certain categories of...

Removing Federal Judges: The Good Behavior Clause

You will sometimes hear it said that federal judges “can’t be fired.” That is true in the way a bank vault is “unopenable.” It does not open like an ordinary door, but the Constitution includes a mechanism. It is just intentionally difficult. The key phrase is in Article III : judges “shall hold...

Batson Challenges and Peremptory Strikes

Jury selection is one of the few moments in American law where vibes can look like doctrine. In theory, a juror is removed for a clear reason: bias, a conflict of interest, an inability to follow the law. In practice, lawyers also get a limited number of “peremptory strikes,” which allow them to...

The Anti-Commandeering Doctrine

Federal law is “the supreme Law of the Land.” That line from the Supremacy Clause gets quoted like it settles every federalism fight on the spot. But supremacy has a boundary that shows up again and again in modern constitutional law: Congress can regulate private actors, but it cannot commandeer...

Jury Nullification Explained

Jury nullification is the legal system’s open secret: a jury can agree the government proved its case, and still refuse to convict. It is not a magic button. It is not a right you can demand. It is a power that shows up as a byproduct of two things the Constitution protects with unusual...

Open Primaries vs. Closed Primaries

Most Americans learn the basics of elections in one sentence: we vote, someone wins, democracy happens. But nominations are where modern elections are often decided. In a district that reliably leans red or blue, the tightest, most consequential contest is frequently the primary, not the November...

Presidential Immunity for Official Acts Explained

“The president is immune.” Three words that sound absolute, monarchical, and a little bit like the end of the rule of law. Except the real doctrine is narrower and more technical than the slogans. The Constitution does not contain a sentence that says the president cannot be sued or the president...

Diversity Jurisdiction in Federal Court

Most people assume federal courts exist to decide federal questions. Constitutional rights. Federal statutes. Disputes with the United States. But Article III quietly authorizes something else: federal courts can also hear everyday state-law fights when the parties are citizens of different states....