With 2024 upon us, we are confronted with a presidential election that carries historic import for American democracy, its constitutional values and the rule of law. Between the whitewashing of the Jan. 6 insurrection, the violent targeting of election and judicial systems and those working in them, and burgeoning misinformation campaigns and their receptive audiences, we appear to be approaching a precipice.

Leading this unrest is Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee whose supporters are deeply committed to him, many with little regard for democratic norms or the social compact. His path to election is strewn with consequential constitutional challenges, including his sweeping claims of presidential immunity to legal liability for his involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection and others’ efforts to disqualify him from office by virtue of the Insurrection Clause of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Both issues are before the Supreme Court and likely will be decided shortly.