Happy Friday from Brad and Avalon here at Law.com’s Bench Report. It’s another balmy week in D.C., and we’ve got some summertime reading on the judiciary. This week, we’re taking a look at the increasing diversity of the bench under President Biden, thanks to data in a new report from the American Bar Association. But even as the face of the courts changes, there’s one thing that seems constant: The high number of federal judges with degrees from Harvard and Yale. Plus, take a closer look at the political questions doctrine.

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Political Questions Doctrine Alive and Well in the Lower Courts

Whether, or when, a court should weigh in on political issues has long been the subject of debate. Known as the political questions doctrine, PQD, the framework suggests that some issues are too political in nature for the courts to decide.

University of Chicago Law School Professor Curtis Bradley has been on the forefront of the doctrine’s use; his work in foreign relations and international law has seen the political questions doctrine come up in numerous cases involving the president’s powers overseas.

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