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It’s hard to keep track of the various mounting legal woes facing former president Donald Trump.
News broke last night that Trump is now the first former or sitting president to face federal criminal charges, stemming from allegedly withholding classified documents after he left the White House. He is also facing criminal charges in New York and is the subject of another criminal investigation in Georgia.
So which case gets priority and moves forward before the others?
There’s no precedent for a legal maze like the one presently unfolding, writes University of Virginia criminal law scholar Darryl K. Brown.
“Nothing in the U.S. Constitution or federal law dictates that, say, federal criminal cases get priority over state cases, or that prosecutions proceed in the order in which indictments are issued,” he explains.
But in some other high-profile cases, federal charges have taken precedence over ones issued at the state level. And in Trump’s case, the federal charges are likely to carry longer potential sentences than the state offenses.
Also today:
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Amy Lieberman
Politics + Society Editor
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Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in New Hampshire on April 27, 2023.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Darryl K. Brown, University of Virginia
If a person – in this case, the former president of the United States – is charged by federal and state prosecutors, or prosecutors in different states, at the same time, which case goes first?
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Politics + Society
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Rodney Coates, Miami University
At a time when state legislatures are enacting laws that restrict who, when and where people can vote, the US Supreme Court ruled to protect voting rights.
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Mark Satta, Wayne State University
The law passed by Tennessee legislators that banned many drag performances violated the First Amendment. A legal scholar explains the judge’s decision in the case.
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Ritika Prasad, University of North Carolina – Charlotte
A deadly crash in India that claimed the lives of around 300 people has refocused international attention on the importance of railways in the country.
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Science + Technology
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Heather McIlvaine-Newsad, Western Illinois University
An anthropology course explores how peoples and cultures around the world use nature-based medicines to heal.
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Arts + Culture
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Beth Saunders, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
While Lewis Hine’s early-20th century photographs of working children compelled Congress to limit or ban child labor, the US Department of Labor is now under fire for failing to enforce these laws.
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Environment + Energy
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Bob Leamon, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The official forecast calls for a strong El Niño by winter, but other models suggest it might dip in and out. An atmospheric scientist explains.
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Economy + Business
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Naomi Cahn, University of Virginia; Bridget J. Crawford, Pace University ; Emily Gold Waldman, Pace University
Three scholars who are writing a book about menopause and the law suggest ways to protect women experiencing it.
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Health + Medicine
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Marlaine Figueroa Gray, University of Washington
Art, music and poetry therapy can help patients feel more optimistic and less isolated as well as to embrace the uncertainty that comes with illness.
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Ethics + Religion
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Yasmin Moll, University of Michigan
The way many Americans think about racial identity today is hard to map onto the complex history of ancient Egypt and ancient Nubia.
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Kalpana Jain, The Conversation
Pat Robertson, founder of the global Christian Broadcasting Network, blended religion into American politics and played an important role in the Republican Party.
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Podcast 🎙️
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Nehal El-Hadi, The Conversation; Daniel Merino, The Conversation
Being beautiful can improve a person’s quality of life and emotional wellbeing. But sometimes, there is a risk of harm — from exposure to cancer-causing UV light, to cheap cosmetic procedures.
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From our international editions
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The Conversation Quiz 🧠 |
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Here’s the first question of this week’s edition:
The breach of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine has raised the risk for safe operation of which nuclear plant, Europe's largest?
- A. Zharrudigorby
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- D. Zapruderfilm
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