Article

An Essay on Constructive Outrage: Law School in the Times of the MAGA Supreme Court and Trump 2.0

Author: Stephen A. Rosenbaum (University of California, Berkeley)

Abstract

Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, the rule of law and democracy has endured an onslaught, with the Supreme Court of the United States orchestrating the crumbling of the Rule of Law. In response, the legal community has researched, analyzed, and reflected these vast abuses of power, providing their students with little more than meager hope that midterm elections can undo the expansion and enablement of this presidency. American law schools must commit to more than articles and niche course offerings to inspire in our students the power and activism needed to change the path this country is embarking on.

This Essay proposes an intensive course for first-year law students, one that highlights the dichotomy of the Constitution as it has been taught and understood for generations, and its active manipulation by the Supreme Court and the Trump presidential administration. This course will serve students with clinical or skills-based opportunities to turn the law they learn in the classroom into protest, policy advocacy, litigation, and constructive research. Beyond this course, this Essay encourages law schools to connect students with lawyers and non-lawyers, all committed to a restoration of the Rule of Law. With a framework of activities, discussion points, case studies, and research questions, this Essay transforms traditional schemas in legal education into the tools needed to equip students to mobilize and slow America’s slide into authoritarianism.

Keywords: #LegalEducationReform, #RuleOfLaw, #SupremeCourtCrisis, #DemocraticBacksliding, #ClinicalActivism

How to Cite: Rosenbaum, S. A. (2026) “ An Essay on Constructive Outrage: Law School in the Times of the MAGA Supreme Court and Trump 2.0 ”, Washington University Journal of Law and Policy. 80(1).