Menu
Idea

precedent

210
Filter by:

Filter by published date

Viewing 121–150 of 210 results. Go to first page
Multiple pieces of faces from different faces that come together to form one face

The 200-Year Legal Struggle That Led to Citizens United

How businesses campaigned to win constitutional rights and expand their political reach.
by Kim Phillips-Fein via The New Republic on March 29, 2018

The History Test

How should the courts use history?
by Jill Lepore via The New Yorker on March 27, 2017

History and Its Limits Under Trump

A warning about the ways we compare Donald Trump to atrocities in history.
by Cameron Blevins via Cameron Blevins on February 2, 2017

John Brown: The First American to Hang for Treason

The militant abolitionist's execution set a precedent for armed resistance against the federal government with implications for those who had condemned him.
by Heather Cox Richardson via We're History on December 2, 2014
Southern Pacific Railroad engine met by a crowd of people in wagons.
partner

The Birth of Corporate Personhood

How a legal footnote in a Santa Clara County railroad case and the judges who built on it created modern models of corporate personhood.
via BackStory on June 20, 2014

The Debate Over War Powers

Two legal scholars make the case that President Bush must seek congressional authorization before initiating a preemptive military strike on Iraq.
by Mark R. Shulman, Lawrence J. Lee via American Bar Association on January 1, 2003
Donald Trump; Alexander Hamilton.

Trump Is Hamiltonian, Not Jacksonian

He believes in Federalist 70’s “Energy in the Executive.”
by Francis P. Sempa via Modern Age on July 10, 2025

A Supreme Court Justice Wrote the Greatest “No Kings” Essay in History

This opinion is a milestone in the rule of law and is regularly cited by conservative and liberal justices alike.
by Gerard Magliocca via Slate on July 10, 2025
National Archives building.
partner

Scratching the Record

On the long history of governments attempting to restrict access to documents about their inner workings.
by Asheesh Kapur Siddique via HNN on July 8, 2025
Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Kristi Noem, look at rows of bunk beds behind chain link fence in a detention center.

Don’t Call it ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’ Call it a Concentration Camp.

This facility’s purpose fits the classic model, and its existence points to serious dangers ahead for the country.
by Andrea Pitzer via MSNBC on July 5, 2025
Scroll and quill pen

Brutality and Opacity

Birthright citizenship under attack.
by Elisa Gonzalez via The Drift on May 29, 2025

Lincoln's Habeas Corpus Precedent

Ultimately, only a civic culture alert to and upset by abuses of power can safeguard sound republican government.
by Gary Schmitt via Law & Liberty on May 19, 2025
A group of men in a bar watching Oliver North testify before Congress.
partner

How the Iran-Contra Scandal Impacts American Politics Today

The Iran-Contra affair exposed how government officials can ignore democratic norms and practices.
by Alan McPherson via Made By History on May 14, 2025
A political cartoon of Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland emptying the U.S. treasury.

Radical Tariffs Aren’t New, But They Have Been Disastrous

An American story.
by Scott Reynolds Nelson via Perspectives on History on April 14, 2025
Richard Nixon scowling.
partner

The Alarming Effort To Rewrite the History of Watergate

For decades, politicians distanced themselves from Nixon's Watergate legacy. Now, some are advancing a new history.
by Michael Koncewicz via Made By History on March 24, 2025
Donald Trump at a formal event.

Trump’s Imperial Fantasy: To Be Polk, McKinley, and Putin—All at Once

Trampling rights, imposing tariffs, gobbling up others’ territories. Trump is imitating his role models to a T.
by Thom Hartmann via The New Republic on March 17, 2025
Mary Beth Tinker and her mother.
partner

How Tinker v. Des Moines Established Students’ Free Speech Rights

“The lesson of the Tinker case is: Speak up. Stand up,” Mary Beth Tinker told us.
via Retro Report on March 13, 2025
A statue of Andrew Jackson riding a horse outside of the White House.

Before Trump, This President ‘Paralyzed’ Washington with Cuts

Andrew Jackson set the standard for the most tumultuous presidential term ever — at least until now.
by Ronald G. Shafer via Retropolis on February 28, 2025
"Rip Van Winkle Awaking from His Long Sleep," painting by Henry Inman (1823).

Bewilderment as a Way of Understanding America’s Present – and Past

Circumstances in which people are feeling extreme disorientation are potent breeding grounds for people who are willing to exploit it in moments of crisis.
by Robert G. Parkinson via Commonplace on February 18, 2025
Supreme Court sign proclaims "equal justice under law."

What Happens If Trump Defies the Courts

Do judges have the power to enforce their rulings if the executive branch refuses to comply?
by Isaac Chotiner, Cristina Rodriguez via The New Yorker on February 11, 2025
A propaganda poster of an American flag on fire and white American citizens struggling against Communist officials, with the caption: "Is this tomorrow? America under Communism!"

What Happened the Last Time a President Purged the Bureaucracy

The impact can linger not just for years but decades.
by Clay Risen via Politico Magazine on February 6, 2025
A collage of the United States Constitution, seal, and a hand holding two small American flags.

The Attack on Birthright Citizenship Is a Big Test for the Constitution

Does the text mean what it plainly says?
by Adam Serwer via The Atlantic on January 22, 2025
Portrait of Morris Hillquit.

When Socialists Run for NYC Mayor, Good Things Can Happen

Socialist legislator Zohran Mamdani is running for New York City mayor against a corrupt, unpopular mayor. Morris Hillquit did the same thing a century ago.
by Charlie Dulik via Jacobin on December 19, 2024
Three Border Patrol agents detaining migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump Wants to Use the Alien Enemies Act to Deport Immigrants – but the Law is Meant for War Time

The Alien Enemies Act, first approved in the late 1700s, was last used during World War II to identify particular foreign nationals living in the US.
by Daniel Tichenor via The Conversation on December 11, 2024
Parade of cars with Donald Trump flags and American flags.

The “Fascist” With a Popular Majority

Donald Trump’s victory will inevitably reopen the “fascism debate.” But does a populist whose appeal cuts across diverse groups truly fit the fascist profile?
by Tristan Hughes via Jacobin on November 19, 2024
Drawing of George Washington watching over a group of enslaved people working in a field at Mount Vernon.
partner

Even George Washington Was a Tyrant

We don't need to find heroes in our past presidents. We need to try to understand that tyranny has always been part of American freedom.
by Karin Wulf via Made By History on November 18, 2024

Congress’s Power to Investigate Crime Is More Important Than Ever

A new historical study finds that Congress’s authority to investigate crime is “indispensable” to the system of checks and balances.
by Dave Rapallo via Lawfare on November 1, 2024
Illustration of the Constitution, with the hand of a Founder writing with a feather, and the other side a 21st century hand writing with a pen.

The Supreme Court’s Originalists Are Fundamentally Wrong About History

The Founders didn’t believe the Constitution had a fixed meaning. So why do so many of the justices?
by Andrew Lanham via The New Republic on October 7, 2024
A collage of newspaper articles discussing the possibility of Absaroka becoming the 49th state.

How the Depression Fueled a Movement to Create a New State Called Absaroka

In the 1930s, disillusioned farmers and ranchers fought to carve a 49th state out of northern Wyoming, southeastern Montana and western South Dakota.
by Eli Wizevich via Smithsonian on August 14, 2024
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris standing behind President Joe Biden, who is giving a speech at podium.
partner

How Democrats Gave Away Their Ability to Pick a New Nominee

Until the late 1960s, the Democratic Party could have simply anointed a replacement for President Biden. Now it's not so easy.
by Lawrence R. Jacobs via Made By History on July 22, 2024
View More
30 of
210

Filter Results:

Suggested Filters:

Idea

Person

brought to you by
© Bunk History