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Richard K. Sherwin

Richard K. Sherwin

10 commentaries

Richard K. Sherwin, Professor Emeritus of Law at New York Law School, is the author of When Law Goes Pop: The Vanishing Line between Law and Popular Culture (University of Chicago Press, 2000).

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  1. What Fundamentalist Christians See in Trump
    sherwin10_Joe RaedleGetty Images_christianstrump Joe Raedle/Getty Images

    What Fundamentalist Christians See in Trump

    Mar 7, 2024 Richard K. Sherwin explains how a key voting bloc can be so enthusiastic about so un-Christian a candidate.

  2. Will Trump Be on the Ballot?
    sherwin9_ED JONESAFP via Getty Images_trump Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

    Will Trump Be on the Ballot?

    Dec 22, 2023 Richard K. Sherwin explains what is at issue in ongoing legal cases seeking to prohibit the former president from running again.

  3. Trump’s Hollow Free-Speech Defense
    sherwin8_Spencer PlattGetty Images_trumpindictment Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    Trump’s Hollow Free-Speech Defense

    Aug 14, 2023 Richard K. Sherwin explains why the US Constitution's First Amendment does not shield behavior intended to undermine an election.

  4. Patriots in Name Only
    sherwin7_Spencer PlattGetty Images_jimjordanstopthesteal Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    Patriots in Name Only

    Jan 25, 2023 Richard K. Sherwin considers the implications of the Republican Party's challenge to the state's power to make and enforce law.

  5. Elon Musk’s Covert War on Free Speech
    sherwin6_ Dimitrios KambourisGetty Images for The Met MuseumVogue_elon musk Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

    Elon Musk’s Covert War on Free Speech

    Oct 13, 2022 Richard K. Sherwin shows why the billionaire’s professed rationale for buying Twitter is fundamentally bogus.

  1. stiglitz331_serggnGetty Images_techregulation serggn/Getty Images

    A Big Defeat for Big Tech

    Joseph E. Stiglitz

    Tech companies know that if there is an open, democratic debate about data security, consumers’ concerns about digital safeguards will win out. And while the industry's lobbyists tried to ensure that no such debate could ever occur, one of their more cynical moves has now been exposed and thwarted.

    details how the industry tried to slip extraordinary protections against regulation into US trade agreements.
  2. zizek27_Giles ClarkeGetty Images_jimmycherizier Giles Clarke/Getty Images

    Haiti’s Proud Boys

    Slavoj Žižek

    If we measure a failed state by the cracks in the edifice of its power, reflected in brewing ideological civil wars, deadlocked assemblies, and increasingly insecure public spaces, we must recognize that the United States is not so unlike Haiti. Both have given rise to violent gangs with political ambitions.

    warns that rich Western democracies are not immune to politically motivated gang violence.
  3. hedegaard11_y Dursun AydemirAnadolu via Getty Images_parliament elections Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images

    Unity Is Europe’s Greatest Asset

    Connie Hedegaard emphasizes the importance of stability amid persistent economic and geopolitical crises.
  4. qian34_PEDRO PARDOAFP via Getty Images_immigration PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images

    The Truth About US Immigration

    Nancy Qian warns that overheated campaign-season rhetoric is dangerously polarizing and ultimately self-defeating.
  5. mueller51_ David McNewGetty Images_gop trump David McNew/Getty Images

    The Zombification of Political Parties

    Jan-Werner Mueller argues that Donald Trump’s capture of the GOP’s organizational machinery recalls authoritarian tactics elsewhere.
  6. basu100_David Dee DelgadoGetty Images_newyork David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

    The Economic Consequences of Legal Behavior

    Kaushik Basu highlights the potential benefits of emphasizing adherence to the spirit of laws, if not their letter.
  7. brown106_KOLA SULAIMONAFP via Getty Images_nigeriaschool Kola Sulaimon/AFP via Getty Images

    For Nigeria’s Schools, Safety Must Come First

    Gordon Brown writes that the latest mass abduction of students underscores the dilemma facing parents throughout the country.
  8. owoo1_disabled iStock / Getty Images Plus

    Give Women with Disabilities a Chance

    Nkechi S. Owoo explains what is needed to protect and empower one of the world’s most vulnerable demographic groups.
  9. op_mkurz3_Spencer PlattGetty Images_rustbelt Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    How Capitalism Became a Threat to Democracy

    Mordecai Kurz examines the economic policies and market dynamics that have ushered in America's Second Gilded Age.

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