Tag Archives: Legal history

Revoking the Code Noir

Posted on May 28, 2026 by briansandberg

Representatives of the French Republic are preparing to repeal the infamous Code Noir, a law which governed the system of slavery in the French empire during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Code Noir was originally issued as a royal … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic World, Contemporary France, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, Empires and Imperialism, French Empire, French History, History of Race and Racism, Museums and Historical Memory, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On Historical Advocacy and the Supreme Court

Posted on August 7, 2025 by briansandberg

“As the Supreme Court’s decisions increasingly turn on their understanding of the distant past, the number of supporting briefs from historians has exploded and their influence has grown,” according to Adam Liptak, who has published an article in The New … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Civil Rights Issues, History in the Media, Legal history, Political History of the United States, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Academic Presses Making Deals with AI Companies

Posted on July 30, 2025 by briansandberg

I am alarmed to discover that Johns Hopkins University Press, one of the leading academic presses in the world is making deals with AI companies to license their titles to “train” LLMs. Here is an urgent question for friends who … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Academic Publishing, Civil Rights Issues, Digital Humanities, Higher Education, History of the Book, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Information Management, Legal history, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On the Occupation of the U.S. Institute of Peace

Posted on March 24, 2025 by briansandberg

Elon Musk’s so-called DOGE unit has occupied the U.S. Institute of Peace, an independent research institute established by the United States Congress. The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) is one of the leading non-profit research institutes for peace studies in … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Civil Rights Issues, Higher Education, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Peacemaking Processes, Political History of the United States, Public History, Security Studies, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Challenging Trump’s Use of Unitary Executive Theory

Posted on February 27, 2025 by briansandberg

“In his opening weeks back in office, President Trump is asserting power in a way that pushes hard on, and sometimes past, the boundaries of executive authority,” according to Cass R. Sunstein, Professor of Law (Harvard University). “One of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Rights Issues, Democracy, Human Rights, Legal history, Political History of the United States, Political Theory, Republicanism, State Development Theory, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

DOGE itself is Unconstitutional

Posted on February 21, 2025 by briansandberg

A former Associate White House Counsel and legal scholar asserts that the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is not a legitimate department at all, and as such is completely unconstitutional. Alan Charles Raul, former Associate White House Counsel and … Continue reading →

Posted in Authoritarianism, Democracy, History in the Media, Information Management, Political Culture, Political History of the United States, Political Theory, Public History, State Development Theory, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A “Naked Power Grab”

Posted on February 12, 2025 by briansandberg

The unlawful and unconstitutional actions of Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency constitute a “Naked Power Grab,” according to the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, Representative Rosa DeLauro (D – Connecticut). “The Constitution is clear … Continue reading →

Posted in Empires and Imperialism, Humanities Education, Information Management, Public History, State Development Theory, United States History and Society, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Developing Constitutional Crisis

Posted on February 11, 2025 by briansandberg

The United States has entered into the maelstrom of a constitutional crisis. Constitutional lawyers and legal historians seem to agree that Elon Musk’s actions and the Trump administration’s broader attempts to disrupt federal agencies have created an unprecedented constitutional crisis … Continue reading →

Posted in Information Management, Political Culture, Political Theory, State Development Theory, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On the Rule of Law and Government Spending

Posted on February 10, 2025 by briansandberg

Five former U.S. Secretaries of the Treasury are raising alarm about the unprecedented and unlawful changes made by the Trump administration and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to the system of payments for the entire federal government of … Continue reading →

Posted in History in the Media, Information Management, Legal history, Political Theory, State Development Theory, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Proposed Gaza Removal Plan: a Crime Against Humanity

Posted on February 5, 2025 by briansandberg

President Trump’s outrageous suggestion that the United States annex Gaza and remove the Palestinian people from the territory would be blatantly illegal, constituting a crime against humanity. President Trump yesterday proposed seizing Gaza, leveling its remaining buildings, clearing debris, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Atrocities, Civil Conflict, Civilians and Refugees in War, Current Research, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, Empires and Imperialism, Genocides, History of Race and Racism, History of Violence, Human Rights, Legal history, Political Culture, Political Theory, Religious Politics, Religious Violence, United States History and Society, War and Society, War, Culture, and Society, Warfare in the Early Modern World, World History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment