The Trump administration has started an unconstitutional and unauthorized war with Iran — and children are paying the price.
05.03.2026 15:54
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The Trump administration has started an unconstitutional and unauthorized war with Iran — and children are paying the price.
I hope that this moment will prompt legal elites from across the political spectrum to reassess the decades-long project of relegating courts to the role of bit player in nat sec matters. If it doesn’t, I fear the slide documented in this piece will only continue—with horrifying consequences. (4/4)
Yes, Congress can and must do its job. But (as this piece notes) party loyalty reigns supreme, and Congress has, for years, allowed itself to be drained of the resources and expertise it needs to be a meaningful counterweight. (3/n)
When it comes to other outrageous and heinous abuses of executive power, we don’t simply throw our hands up in the air and pray that “politics” will save us. This is especially so given that we are living through an Art. I crisis and the lower federal courts have served as a vital check. (2/n)
A bleak report that should serve as a wake up call. But with respect to Prof. Goldsmith, it’s not that the courts *can’t* constrain unlawful executive branch uses of force, it’s that they *haven’t* through a series of made up doctrines (e.g., political question, state secrets). (1/n)
The U.S. military is not any president’s plaything. The Constitution puts the responsibility on Congress alone to decide whether and when to take on the profound costs of war.
Only Congress has the constitutional power to authorize war.
Yet, the Trump administration is once again taking unilateral and reckless military action against Iran, putting both servicemembers and civilians in danger. This is unconstitutional.
We're suing on behalf of two families whose loved ones were killed when our government bombed their civilian boats in the Caribbean.
The Trump administration had no right to kill Chad Joseph, Rishi Samaroo, or anyone else caught up in these illegal extrajudicial killings.
TONIGHT: ACLU attorney Jeffrey Stein talks to @lawrenceodonnell.bsky.social on The #LastWord at 10pm ET.
The Trump administration's strikes on civilian boats at sea are illegal and immoral, and those responsible must be held accountable.
Extrajudicial killings have become the norm for this Administration.
From shooting our own citizens in Minneapolis to these lawless killings in international waters.
We must make sure that Hegseth & those who ordered these murders are held accountable.
Yesterday, the Trump administration bombed another boat at sea, bringing the death toll of these lethal strikes to at least 128 people.
This is murder. Our leaders must demand answers and bring an end to this illegal military campaign.
BREAKING: We’re suing the Trump administration on behalf of the family members of 2 Trinidadian men killed by a U.S. missile strike while traveling home from Venezuela by boat.
The government must be held accountable.
Trinidadian Families File Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Boat Strike by U.S. Military
The case tests the Trump administration’s argument that its extrajudicial killings of people suspected of smuggling drugs at sea have been lawful.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/u...
Today, my colleagues and I @aclu.org filed a case on behalf of family members of two victims of an illegal US military boat strike, Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo. The lawsuit makes clear that, as both a legal and moral matter, Chad and Rishi’s families are entitled to justice in US courts.
"Eating less meat remains one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest ways to cut emissions. It requires no new technology, no congressional approval, no subsidies or tax credits."
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/o...
Our new poll makes it clear: The American people want answers on President Trump's illegal boat strikes.
According to a new poll, an overwhelming majority of voters agree that the public deserves to see the Trump administration’s purported legal justification for carrying out murders on the high seas.
In the coming months, we’ll be fighting for this transparency in court.
www.aclu.org/press-releas...
The president doesn't have the authority to act as judge, jury, and executioner.
Congress must stop these illegal and immoral strikes, and officials who carried them out must be held accountable.
You may also dig this post by Ethan Iverson (which analyzes Lil Hardin’s solo chorus as part of a larger argument about the role of blues in jazz music): ethaniverson.com/lil-hardin-t...
Her stone cold classic “In the Freud Archives” also yielded an incredible legal dispute about quotations and defamation law that made it all the way to the Supreme Court (supreme.justia.com/cases/federa...)
I couldn’t help but think of the great Janet Malcolm while reading this fascinating thread, who I think agreed about the need for fidelity in quotations while also insisting on “translating” tape-recorded quotes into the written word, and doubting whether stories would or could ring true to subjects
For too long, presidents of both parties have claimed the authority to carry about extrajudicial killings under the guise of "national security" without any meaningful oversight from Congress or the courts.
Our leaders must chart a different course and stop President Trump's illegal boat strikes.
The president doesn’t have the power to create a secret legal universe where cold-blooded murder of civilians can be recast as lawful policy.
That’s why we @aclu.org are suing. Read more here:
www.aclu.org/news/nationa...
Last night, President Trump bombed another civilian boat in international waters, killing 4 more people and bringing the death toll of his illegal boat strikes to 99.
These murders violate U.S. and international law and must be stopped.
“The law of armed conflict does not apply to these strikes. They are premeditated killings outside of the context of armed conflict, and we have a legal concept for that conduct. It’s murder.”
www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
The president doesn’t have the authority to act as judge, jury, and executioner.
Killing civilians is a crime under both domestic and international law. That's why we and our partners are suing the Trump administration to demand they release their legal justifications for these unlawful strikes.
BREAKING: We’re suing the Trump administration to demand they release the secret memo they claim justifies their illegal strikes on civilians at sea.
Transparency must come immediately — while there’s still an opportunity to stop this cruel and unconstitutional bombing campaign.
