Law and democracy

Previously, I served for a decade as the Legal Director at Free Speech For People, and before that at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"Ron Fein, you are literally on the front lines of saving our democracy" - MSNBC (Jason Johnson)

"His knowledge of case law seemed encyclopedic" - The New Yorker (Sue Halpern)

"Communist...scumbag lawyer" - Marjorie Taylor Greene

In the news

The 'Chilling' Trump Plan That Could Pave The Way For Authoritarianism - Huffington Post, June 11, 2024

How much does it cost DeSantis to travel from one place to another? Florida won't tell you - USA Today, May 20, 2024

Removing Trump - MSNBC (appearance on All in with Chris Hayes, guest host Jason Johnson), Dec. 27, 2023

A High-Risk Legal Effort to Keep Trump Off the Ballot - New Yorker, Nov. 9, 2023

Minnesota trial to remove Trump from 2024 election ballot begins - NBC News, Nov. 2, 2023

Appellate argument in constitutional challenge to candidacy of Donald Trump (courtroom video) - Nov. 2, 2023

Effort to disqualify Trump from WH gains traction - MSNBC (appearance on Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace), Aug. 31, 2023

14th Amendment, Section 3: A new legal battle against Trump takes shape - ABC News, Aug. 25, 2023

This issue could knock Trump off ballots nationwide. Get ready for it to dominate primary season - L.A. Times, Aug. 18, 2023

1870s racism echoes through Trump and Colorado cases - Colorado Newsline, Aug. 3, 2023

Trump team prepares to fight efforts to block him from ballots over Jan. 6 - Washington Post, Apr. 18, 2023

Limits on super PACs stump top Massachusetts court - Courthouse News Service, Feb. 6, 2023

A Long-Shot Push to Bar Trump in 2024 as an “Insurrectionist” - N.Y. Times, Sept. 7, 2022

Opening argument in constitutional challenge to candidacy of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (courtroom video) - C-SPAN, Apr. 22, 2022

What Marjorie Taylor Greene will be asked when she testifies under oath - MSNBC (appearance on All In with Chris Hayes, guest host Ayman Mohyeldin), Apr. 20, 2022

Ron Fein: Madison Cawthorn is Disqualified for Future Public Office - CNN (appearance on New Day with Brianna Keilar), Feb. 10, 2022

New legal case may threaten Rep. Cawthorn’s reelection bid - CNN (appearance on Erin Burnett Out Front), Jan. 27, 2022

Cawthorn Challenge Raises the Question: Who is an “Insurrectionist”? - N.Y. Times, Jan. 25, 2022

How Jan. 6 Gave the 14th Amendment New Life - N.Y. Times, Jan. 19, 2022

The Case for Barring Madison Cawthorn from the Ballot - CNN (appearance on CNN Newsroom with Victor Blackwell & Alisyn Camerota), Jan. 14, 2022

Op-eds

Merrick Garland Has Abandoned Prosecuting Trump’s Pre-2020 Crimes - JURIST, Jan. 6, 2023 (with John Bonifaz & Ben Clements)

Voting Rights Under Threat - BillMoyers.com, Mar. 18, 2021 (with John Bonifaz & Ben Clements)

Impeachment or not, the Justice Department must investigate Trump - L.A. Times, Jan. 13, 2021 (with Sarah Chayes & Ben Clements)

Impeach Trump again—and bar him from future office - Boston Globe, Jan. 5, 2021 (with John Bonifaz & Ben Clements)

The public has a right to hear Stormy Daniels, Mr. President - Wash. Post, Mar. 23, 2018 (with Laurence Tribe)

Equifax deserves the corporate death penalty - WIRED, Oct. 20, 2017

Donald Trump Abused Pardon Power When He Freed Joe Arpaio - TIME, Oct. 3, 2017 (with John Dean)

Books and book chapters

Fixing the Supreme Court’s Mistake: The Case for the Twenty-Eighth Amendment - in Democracy by the People: Reforming Campaign Finance in America (Eugene Mazo & Timothy Kuhner, eds., Cambridge Univ. Press 2019)

The Constitution Demands It: The Case for the Impeachment of Donald Trump (with John Bonifaz & Ben Clements) (Melville House Publishing 2018)