American Democracy and the Rule of Law: In the Shadow of the 2024 Presidential Election

The 2024 US presidential election has been unorthodox in many ways. The party's primaries and the selection of the candidates involved unprecedented maneuvers. The candidates themselves are unexpected and unconventional. But maybe the most startling and challenging novelty this time around has been the role played by the law. Republican candidate Donald Trump has been found liable in a sex-assault civil case, and he's been found guilty of dozens of felonies relating to his payment of hush-money to cover-up an affair. Three other criminal cases continue to bedevil him and his campaign. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an historic ruling in which it outlined the extent of immunity from criminal prosecution a president is owed under the constitution. Democrats have responded to all of this by making a comprehensive reform of the Supreme Court a major plank in their election program. More than ever before, the 2024 election may be a referendum on the rule of law in America. Join U.S. Law Professor Russell Miller for this pre-election conversation on the state of American democracy and the rule of law. Prof. Miller's years of experience studying and working in Germany gives him the unique ability to contrast these American developments with developments in Germany and Europe.

Russell Miller is the J.B. Stombock Professor of Law at Washington & Lee University (Virginia). His teaching and research focus on public law and comparative law. He is an active scholar of German law and legal culture from a comparative perspective and recently published the book An Introduction to German Law and Legal Culture with Cambridge University Press. He served as a Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter at the Bundesverfassungsgericht, earned a LL.M. from the University of Frankfurt, and has enjoyed lengthy research visits at a number of German law faculties and foundations. From 2020-2022 he was the Head of the Max Planck Law Network. Prof. Miller is the co-founder and co-editor-in-chief of the German Law Journal. In 2021, on the nomination of the Muenster Law Faculty, Prof. Miller was awarded a Humboldt Research Prize.
 

Eckdaten:
Datum: 17.10.2024
Uhrzeit: 18 Uhr s.t.
Ort: Hörsaal J4, Juridicum, Universitätsstraße 14-16