Jeannie Suk Gersen

Cambridge

Contributing Writer at The New Yorker

Law professor @Harvard_Law. Contributing writer to @NewYorker. Teacher, lawyer, mediator.

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Articles

Trump Could Really Hurt Harvard

1 week ago | newyorker.com | Jeannie Suk Gersen

Harvard held its commencement today. Meanwhile, across the Charles River, in Boston, a federal judge moved to block Donald Trump’s attempt to ban the university from enrolling international students. A dispatch from an emotional day on campus. Plus:• The Supreme Court undercuts yet another check on executive power• At last, a new non-opioid painkiller• Is this Wes Anderson’s most emotional film?
Justice David Souter Was the Antithesis of the Present

3 weeks ago | newyorker.com | Jeannie Suk Gersen

My clerkship interview with David Souter was in the winter of 2002. In his chambers, amid piles of hardbound books, we could have been in the nineteenth century. I came girded for questions on legal doctrine. Instead, he directed my attention to some woodcut prints that had just been framed and were waiting to be hung. Sometime between that disarming detour and a disquisition on Baudelaire, I nearly forgot it was an interview to work for a Supreme Court Justice.
Why Harvard Decided to Challenge Donald Trump

1 month ago | newyorker.com | Jeannie Suk Gersen

When I was a law student at Harvard, during the Clinton and Bush Administrations, “don’t ask, don’t tell” was the U.S. military’s policy on gay service members. Many students wanted the school to protest by ending military recruitment on campus, but a federal law conditioned the receipt of funding on military access. Jeopardizing the university’s federal funding was a non-starter.
The Strategy Behind Trump’s Defiance of the Law

Feb 13, 2025 | newyorker.com | Jeannie Suk Gersen

In an essay from 1897 that has been read by generations of law students, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., describes the law simply as “the prophecies of what the courts will do in fact, and nothing more pretentious.” In other words, a lawyer tries to accurately predict what a court will decide and advises a person on how to avoid a loss.
How Much Power Does President Trump Have?

Jan 24, 2025 | rsn.org | Jeannie Suk Gersen

In his executive orders, Trump repeatedly asserted that he can make and interpret law, alongside Congress and the courts. To many Americans, it is foundational that the power to make law lies exclusively with Congress and the power to interpret law ultimately rests with the Supreme Court. The most striking over-all message of Donald Trump’s executive orders, issued on the first day of his second term, is not merely in the register of controversial policies on immigration or the environment.
How Much Power Does President Trump Have?

Jan 22, 2025 | newyorker.com | Jeannie Suk Gersen

To many Americans, it is foundational that the power to make law lies exclusively with Congress and the power to interpret law ultimately rests with the Supreme Court. The most striking over-all message of Donald Trump’s executive orders, issued on the first day of his second term, is not merely in the register of controversial policies on immigration or the environment.
How Much of the Government Can Donald Trump Dismantle?

Jan 16, 2025 | businessandamerica.com | Jeannie Suk Gersen

The administrative state comprises more than two thousand federal executive agencies created by Congress and is staffed by more than two million people. Several thousand political appointees turn over with each Presidential Administration, but the rest are civil-service or career employees, most of whom cannot be fired at will.
How Much of the Government Can Donald Trump Dismantle?

Jan 16, 2025 | newyorker.com | Jeannie Suk Gersen

In the weeks before a President’s Inauguration, it’s common to see a rush of policy activity from the outgoing President, especially when the incoming one belongs to a different political party. John Adams famously appointed a bunch of judges on the eve of his replacement by Thomas Jefferson. The Carter Administration issued more than a hundred and seventy “midnight” regulations just before Ronald Reagan took office.
The Demise and Afterlife of Donald Trump’s Criminal Cases

Dec 6, 2024 | rsn.org | Jeannie Suk Gersen

The President-elect is on the verge of beating most, if not all, of the criminal charges against him. What will be the consequences of having brought them in the first place? A year before Donald Trump became the first former President to be criminally indicted, I expressed my hope, on The New Yorker Radio Hour, that prosecutors would exercise discretion not to pursue indictments against him.
The Demise and Afterlife of Donald Trump’s Criminal Cases

Dec 6, 2024 | newyorker.com | Jeannie Suk Gersen

A year before Donald Trump became the first former President to be criminally indicted, I expressed my hope, on The New Yorker Radio Hour, that prosecutors would exercise discretion not to pursue indictments against him. That take wasn’t too popular with listeners; he had to be held accountable for wrongdoing, and no person is above the law. Plus, it was crucial that he not become President again.