The hottest Rule of Law Substack posts right now

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Top U.S. Politics Topics

Understanding the State of the Corrupt Supreme Court Today

Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality • 384 implied HN points • 27 Feb 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Rule of Law
  1. The Supreme Court is operating like a Trump‑era power machine, using textualist and originalist rhetoric to justify shadow‑docket emergency stays that let the executive act quickly and create facts on the ground.
  2. Justice Barrett often serves as the decisive swing vote and presents herself as a neutral originalist. In practice she frequently enables expansive presidential power in emergency decisions, letting policies take effect before courts resolve the merits.
  3. The justices divide into hardline authoritarians (Alito, Thomas), structural revolutionaries (Gorsuch), and technocratic enablers (Kavanaugh, Roberts) versus three principled liberal dissenters, and the net effect is weakened agencies, narrower protections for workers and marginalized groups, and outcomes that favor business and executive power.

Lies and Lawlessness

Thinking about... • 1479 implied HN points • 25 Jan 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Rule of Law
  1. People are dying in camps and on the streets, and those deaths show a political logic of lies and lawlessness that undermines the rule of law.
  2. Turning the whole country into a 'border' is a tactic to make the law stop applying; using border agencies to enforce political whims bypasses legal checks and enables tyranny.
  3. Propaganda and warped terms like 'law enforcement' or 'terrorist' are used to normalize violence, and repeating those lies makes people complicit, so naming the truth and holding officials accountable is essential.

Let the final battle begin

Robert Reich • 26612 implied HN points • 24 Jul 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Rule of Law
  1. Donald Trump is gearing up for a final battle against democracy and the rule of law.
  2. A potential indictment against Trump will shift focus to him in the 2024 election, making it a referendum on him rather than Biden.
  3. Defending democracy and the rule of law is crucial in the face of authoritarian impulses and the threat posed by Trump and his supporters.

The Next Big Lie

The Status Kuo • 10181 implied HN points • 16 Jun 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Rule of Law
  1. The narrative of politically-driven prosecutions against Trump is dangerous for democracy.
  2. Conspiracies rely on hard-to-disprove claims and weave disconnected facts.
  3. Supporters need to address whether Trump actually committed crimes, regardless of political implications.

Pardon the Corruption

Can We Still Govern? • 254 implied HN points • 02 Dec 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Rule of Law
  1. Pardons are being doled out for loyalty, money, and political favors instead of following normal DOJ criteria, with a partisan political appointee running the pardon office.
  2. The effect is a two-tier justice system where the rich and connected escape punishment, victims lose restitution, and prosecutions and investigations are weakened or dropped.
  3. This creates impunity and hypocrisy: the administration uses law enforcement aggressively against opponents while shielding allies, turning the law into a tool for corruption.
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Jack Smith, Donald Trump, and the Kobayashi Maru

The Popehat Report • 8456 implied HN points • 10 Jun 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Rule of Law
  1. The law is full of no-win scenarios that good lawyers navigate by preparing, advocating, and fighting for clients.
  2. Charging Trump despite political challenges shows adherence to the rule of law and the importance of justice.
  3. Prosecuting powerful individuals upholds equality before the law, prevents abuse of the legal system, and maintains societal integrity.

The Nazi Cult and the German Speech Police

eugyppius: a plague chronicle • 121 implied HN points • 28 Nov 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Rule of Law
  1. An American living in Berlin had his home raided by police after publishing a book with a swastika on the cover. This shows how seriously Germany deals with symbols associated with Nazism.
  2. The same individual was previously convicted for sharing the book's cover art on social media. This highlights the strict laws around hate speech and Nazi symbols in Germany.
  3. The situation raises questions about freedom of expression, especially when it conflicts with laws designed to prevent hate speech. It's a complex issue that many people are concerned about.

10 reasons to be optimistic about Greece

The Greek Analyst • 539 implied HN points • 17 Feb 23
🌍 World Politics Rule of Law
  1. Greece has seen improvements in democracy, with positive attitudes among citizens and a better Rule of Law index score since 2015.
  2. Perceived corruption in Greece has been decreasing, with the country reaching its best rating in the Corruption Perception Index in over a decade.
  3. Greece's human development, gender disparities, economic freedom, innovation levels, unemployment rate, trade openness, and foreign direct investment are all showing positive trends, indicating a promising future.

November 24, 2025

Letters from an American • 30 implied HN points • 25 Nov 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Rule of Law
  1. A federal judge threw out the Comey and Letitia James indictments because the president’s appointment of an interim U.S. attorney was unlawful, which invalidated the prosecutor’s actions.
  2. The episode shows an attempt to use the Justice Department to pursue political enemies by replacing a reluctant prosecutor with a loyal appointee, raising concerns about abuse of prosecutorial power and threats to the rule of law.
  3. After the court losses, the administration escalated by threatening military-style responses against lawmakers who urged troops to refuse unlawful orders and publicly targeted Senator Mark Kelly, prompting sharp pushback and concern about intimidation.

December 2, 2025

Letters from an American • 26 implied HN points • 03 Dec 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Rule of Law
  1. A reported order to "kill everybody" in a boat strike and a follow-up attack that hit survivors are being called unlawful and could amount to a war crime, prompting bipartisan outrage and investigations.
  2. The president and his Cabinet are defending hardline officials and pushing xenophobic immigration policies, including pauses on applications from many countries and targeted actions against Somali communities, while using dehumanizing rhetoric.
  3. There are growing concerns about competence and governance as the administration courts cronies, spreads false claims (like invalidating a predecessor's autopen actions), and faces criticism over economic inequality and weakened institutions such as the FBI.

The New Hereditarian Man

From the New World • 237 implied HN points • 19 Feb 24
📖 Philosophy Rule of Law
  1. The New Soviet Man concept was imaginary, as evident from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
  2. Egalitarian sentiment persists despite evidence of biological differences, leading to challenges in discussing individual disparities.
  3. Institutions like rule of law and free markets can serve as solutions to counteract egalitarian pathologies and promote rational behavior.