Less than two weeks into Donald Trump’s presidency, the United States has witnessed unprecedented protests. The day after the inauguration, millions joined in women’s marches across the country and around the globe. This past weekend, thousands gathered at several American airports to condemn the president’s executive order targeting citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries.

Meanwhile, the president has fired the acting attorney general for refusing to defend the executive order, and his press secretary has encouraged dissenting career diplomats to exit the State Department.  Against this tumultuous background, the president has announced his nominee for the Supreme Court, and the Democrats may filibuster.

Are we facing a constitutional crisis?  Is the president’s conduct trumping core democratic values, such as freedom of religion, rule of law, and equality?  Or is the president simply exercising the robust power of his position, which was conferred by the people? Are fundamental democratic commitments being sacrificed, or is the left simply overreacting because they are sore losers who disagree with Trump’s policy agenda?  Is Trump’s exercise of executive power nothing more than the manifestation of the basic proposition that elections have consequences?

A special CrossCheck Live event, “Trumping Democracy?,“ will be held Thursday, Feb. 2, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the UCLA School of Law, room 1347. The third installment of CrossCheck Live, a panel of UCLA law faculty will engage the foregoing themes. Structured as a roundtable, the discussion will be interactive, nimble, fast-paced, interesting and challenging.

The session will be moderated by Jerry Kang, vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion, and Devon Carbado, the Honorable Harry Pregerson Professor of Law at UCLA and associate vice chancellor of BruinX for equity, diversity and inclusion.

Speakers from the UCLA School of Law will include: