Skip Navigation
Author

Simon Lazarus

Simon Lazarus served as associate director of President Jimmy Carter’s White House Domestic Policy Staff, and since then with private and public-interest law firms in Washington, D.C.  

All Articles
October 15, 2024
Simon Lazarus
The Democrats Are the Only True Defenders of the Constitution
Now that the right has abandoned the Founders, the Harris-Walz campaign has the chance to flaunt this winning rebrand. They should take it.
March 29, 2024
Simon Lazarus
Conservatives Don’t Have a Monopoly on Originalism
The text and historical context of the Constitution provide liberals with ample opportunities to advance their own vision of America.
February 14, 2024
Simon Lazarus
The Supreme Court Could Permanently Break the Government
The administrative state is squarely in the high court’s crosshairs. But public pressure has successfully kept the justices from going over the brink before—and it might work again.
November 30, 2023
Simon Lazarus
Liberals Are Wrong to Trash the Supreme Court’s New Code of Ethics
The high court’s new guidelines have come in for a lot of criticism, but they’re the perfect platform for reformers to keep applying pressure.
October 2, 2023
Simon Lazarus
The Case for Optimism on the Supreme Court’s Next Term
Liberal pressure contributed to an unexpected tempering of the conservative justices’ extremes last time out. We’ll know soon if that will endure.
August 16, 2023
Simon Lazarus
The Liberal Case for Celebrating the Supreme Court’s Last Term
Instead of greeting the most recent set of decisions from the Roberts Court with downcast disses, critics should recognize—and celebrate—the way they influenced the results.
April 21, 2023
Simon Lazarus
The Democrats’ Appalling Failure to Confront the Rogue, Right-Wing Supreme Court
The party needs to take its cue from America’s most celebrated leaders, who had no fear of talking directly to the public about the Constitution.
March 16, 2023
Simon Lazarus
Sorry, Clarence Thomas, but Supreme Court Ethics Reform Is on the Table
A plan to save the high court from its own excesses—with bipartisan buy-in—is gathering steam. Here are the next steps to build on the unexpected momentum.
January 26, 2023
Simon Lazarus
Bipartisan Supreme Court Reform Is Not a Pipe Dream
By backing the implementation of ethics reforms already practiced in the lower courts instead of more radical solutions, liberals can make a case with which conservatives might agree.
November 24, 2022
Simon Lazarus
How the Supreme Court Plans to Undermine Future Elections
The clock is ticking for the anti-democracy “independent state legislature” takeover.
September 27, 2022
Simon Lazarus
How to Rein in the Supreme Court’s Radical Conservatives
Right-wing judicial hegemony presents a daunting challenge for liberal leaders—but not an insurmountable one.
July 3, 2022
Simon Lazarus
The Supreme Court Appoints Itself to Be America’s Regulatory Czar
The high court cast aside the people’s elected representatives to enact the climate-denial agenda of the megadonors who funded its nominations. It won’t stop there.
June 20, 2022
Simon Lazarus
Liberals Need to Beat Samuel Alito at His Own Game
To win the war over the Constitution, the justice’s hollow originalist pretenses must be unmasked—and countered with new and forceful legal arguments.
January 19, 2022
Simon Lazarus
Biden Misread the Supreme Court’s Ruling Against the OSHA Vaccine Rule
The court did not foreclose robust new workplace vaccination standards, nor bless the radical right’s blueprint for annihilating the “administrative state.”
July 8, 2021
Simon Lazarus, Robert Litan
The Supreme Court’s Total War on Congress
In little-heralded decisions, the Roberts court has moved to entrench judicial supremacy and destroy the legislative branch.
May 6, 2021
Simon Lazarus, Robert Litan
The Democrats Are Doing Court Reform Backward
They’ve responded to Trump’s makeover of the courts with legislative nonstarters and shortsighted proposals. But the party first needs to sell the public on its vision for a liberal judiciary.
March 29, 2021
Simon Lazarus, Robert Litan
The Republican Legal Assault on Biden’s Covid Relief Plan Could Be Devastating for Democrats
Sloppy language might imperil the president’s landmark law—and future legislative and administrative reforms, too.
November 16, 2020
Simon Lazarus, Robert Litan
The Supreme Court’s Obamacare Bait and Switch
The high court’s rescue of the Affordable Care Act might end up imperiling Biden’s entire executive agenda.
October 16, 2020
Simon Lazarus
The Dishonesty of Amy Coney Barrett’s “Textualist” Pose
If Democrats don’t shred her pretexts for overturning the Affordable Care Act, they will live to regret it.
April 12, 2016
Simon Lazarus
Even Conservatives Agree on Obama’s Immigration Powers. Will the Supreme Court?

Our Writers

Kate AronoffClimate & Energy
Matt FordLaw & The Courts
Melissa Gira GrantLGBTQ Rights
Jason LinkinsPower & Plutocracy
Timothy NoahPolitics & Economy
Ellie Quinlan HoughtalingBreaking News
Edith OlmstedBreaking News
Hafiz RashidBreaking News
Greg SargentPolitics & Democracy
Grace SegersCongress & Elections
Alex ShephardPolitics & Media
Heather Souvaine HornClimate Change
Michael TomaskyPolitics & Ideas
About The New Republic’s history