Battle for the Constitution: Week of April 20th, 2020 Roundup 

Below is a round-up of the latest from the Battle for the Constitution: a special project on the constitutional debates in American life, in partnership with The Atlantic.

Hamilton Would Not Have Stood for Trump’s New Constitutional Theory

By Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center

Jeffrey Rosen says that even Alexander Hamilton—the most pro-executive power of the Founders—would not have accepted Donald Trump’s claim that the president possesses “total authority.”

The Coronavirus is Testing America’s Commitment to People’s Constitutional Rights

By Joshua Matz, Attorney and Author

Joshua Matz writes that the federal government cannot forego constitutional rights for prisoners in the midst of the pandemic, and instead must take specific steps to save the lives of detainees at risk of getting COVID-19.

The Important First Amendment Principle Now at Risk

By Garrett Epps, Professor or Law, University of Baltimore School of Law

Garrett Epps argues that the Supreme Court must summarily reverse Doe v. McKesson—a case coming out of the Fifth Circuit about civil liability for protest organizers—because to not do so would greatly stifle the protestors’ expression and threaten one of our core free speech principles.