Facts, Pretexts, and Judicial Scrutiny of Executive Power
April 1 @ 1:10 pm - 2:25 pm
Event Details:
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
1:10–2:25 p.m.
Webinar Registration
This event has been approved to offer one New York State CLE credit in the category of Areas of Professional Practice
Historically, federal courts have deferred significantly to the factual determinations and decision-making processes of the executive branch, especially in the national security context. But as the current administration invokes an expanding set of emergency or extraordinary powers—in efforts to deploy military forces for domestic purposes, to levy tariffs, to deport individuals, to undertake military operations abroad—many of the factual claims supporting these exercises of power have increasingly been contested. Given this trend, how are courts now evaluating contested facts and traditional deference? How should they be? Should judges distinguish between different administrations in their approach? To the extent that judicial skepticism of the executive’s facts and decision-making is increasing, what broader implications might that have for government lawyers advising their policy clients or handling civil and criminal cases? What, if anything, is the role for Congress?
Please join us for a discussion with leading experts on this pressing and underexplored set of questions that touch at the heart of national security, executive power, and the relationship among the branches of government.
This Forum is cosponsored by the Reiss Center on Law and Security.
Speakers
Christopher Fonzone, Former Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, US Department of Justice; Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Reiss Center on Law and Security, NYU School of Law
Thomas B. Griffith, Lecturer, Harvard Law School; Special Counsel, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP; Judge, US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 2005-2020
Rebecca Ingber, Professor, Cardozo Law School; Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Reiss Center on Law and Security, NYU School of Law; Former Counselor on International Law, Office of the Legal Adviser, US Department of State
Ryan Goodman (Moderator), Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Professor of Law and Faculty Co-Director, Reiss Center on Law and Security, NYU School of Law; Founding Co-Editor-in-Chief, Just Security
CLE Readings
Ryan Goodman et al., The “Presumption of Regularity” in Trump Administration Litigation (4th edition), Just Security (March 19, 2026), https://www.justsecurity.org/120547/presumption-regularity-trump-administration-litigation/.
David Bier, The Administration Misleads & Ignores Courts Most Often in Immigration Cases, CATO Institute (January 27, 2026), https://www.cato.org/blog/admin-misleads-ignores-courts-most-often-immigration-cases.
Susan Monyak, DOJ Lawyers’ Courtroom Lies Challenge Judiciary, Ex-Judges Say, Bloomberg Law (October 22, 2025), https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/judiciary-navigates-doj-lawyers-courtroom-lies-ex-judges-say.
Mary McCord, When Deference is No Longer Due, Just Security (October 14, 2025), https://www.justsecurity.org/122485/when-deference-is-no-longer-due/.
Rebecca Ingber, Judicial Deference and Presidential Power Under the Alien Enemies Act, Just Security (May 20, 2025), https://www.justsecurity.org/113589/political-question-alien-enemies-act/.