The Edley Center has had a busy and productive fall semester, with a slew of public events and new white papers addressing urgent threats to U.S. democracy. We achieved all this activity within six months of hiring our first staff member. And we plan much more for the future, with your support.

Events and White Papers. This Fall, we have already held five public events, sharing research and expertise on topics ranging from:

• Protecting democracy through and in a time of increased artificial intelligence, to

• Highlighting the value and importance of organizing for social justice, to

• Discussing voting rights related to Proposition 50 in California and nationwide redistricting, and

• Detailing the scope of presidential power under President Trump, and

• Explaining the democracy impacts of decimating a nonpartisan civil service. 

We will hold our last–sixth–event of the semester on Friday, December 5, in a major conference we cosponsor with the Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment, focused on science, democracy, and the environment. 

In addition, we published four timely white papers, discussing the law of tariffs in American democracy, lawful equity-focused activities notwithstanding the Trump Administration attacks on DEI, executive power, and legal restraints on withholding federal funds from colleges and universities. We have been pleased to see these white papers cited and used to make meaning of, and to combat, democracy denigration now. 

Expanding our capabilities. We are expanding our capacity with the addition of high-powered senior fellows. This Fall, we’ve brought on to our team five talented senior fellows, including two who have just joined us this month, who bring their broad and varied democracy expertise to advancing democracy protection with the Edley Center. 

Our newest two senior fellows address the critical issue of corruption and its threat to democracy: Molly Gaston and J.P. Cooney were, before January, senior litigators in the public corruption section of the United States Department of Justice and in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team, where they both led high-profile prosecutions.  Senior fellows Gaston and Cooney bring their decades of federal anti-corruption prosecutorial experience to the Edley Center, with plans to promote public understanding of the democracy dangers of unchecked corruption and to advance practical investigative and litigation work to combat corruption even when the federal government has vastly diminished its capacity and will in this crucial area. 

In addition to Senior Fellows Gaston and Cooney, the Edley Center has been pleased to benefit already this year from the varied expertise of Senior Fellows Seth Galanter, Katy Joseph, and Melissa Hooper. They come to us with extensive experience and a fierce commitment to democracy. 

Outreach. Ultimately, democracy depends on an informed and engaged public. Accordingly, public outreach is a key part of our mission. Augmenting Edley Center events and white papers, the Edley Center Executive Director spoke at 22 conferences and events here on the Berkeley campus, in California, and in four other states, addressing democratic backsliding, voting rights, public corruption, the role of courts and attorneys in upholding democracy, and the invaluable role of rights protection in a healthy democracy.

We also updated our webpage to include news clips featuring faculty, advisors, fellows, and staff connected with the Edley Center, to aggregate our democracy focused messaging. 

We look forward to further robust programming in the spring semester of the law school year and beyond. So much more remains to be done in defense of democracy. Thank you for growing this new Center with us and for your work to expand and disseminate the democracy protective work the Edley Center shares. As always, we welcome your support to continue to shore up the democracy this nation promises and deserves. Together, we can make a difference.

Onward!

Catherine E. Lhamon

Executive Director