Publications
My first publication, in 1993, was a short story called “The Power of Secrets,” (Writers Forum, the University of Colorado). My first book was a children’s novel called Rivka’s Way (Cricket Books, 2001). I’ve also written lots of articles, essays, legal and political analyses, children’s stories, and hundreds of appellate briefs.
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The Washington Post (Perspective / Analysis)
“John Eastman should have known his lawsuit was doomed,” March 29, 2022.
“Jan. 6 defendants are raising a creative defense. It isn’t working,” February 15, 2022.
“The First Amendment may not help Jan. 6 defendants as much as they think it will,” January 10, 2022.
“The former president’s latest court filing is full of bogus legal claims, October 19, 2021.
“The Eastman memo was alarming. Legally speaking, it was also nonsense,” September 23, 2021.
“Prosecutors aren’t targeting Trump’s company. They’re following the law,” July 1, 2021. (Coauthored with Mark Reichel)
“Republican rhetoric is getting more extreme because that’s what the base demands,” April 29, 2021.
“Trump’s Impeachment Argument: A Defeated President Can Do Whatever he Wants,” February 9, 2021.
“Trump Said I Could: One Possible Legal Defense for Accused Rioters,” January 11, 2021. (Coauthored with Mark Reichel)
“Lifetime Tenure Means Even Trump’s Supreme Court Picks Could Resist His Pressure,” December 11, 2020.
“Election rules, courts and everyday citizens are preventing the president from overturning the election results,” November 19, 2020.
“Trump Can’t Avoid A Transfer Of Power,” September 25, 2020.
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NBC News (Op-Ed / Analysis)
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Performance Art. April 26, 2022.
Could January 6 be the infamous Roger Stone’s political swan song? March 10, 2022.
“Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry’s response to the House’s Jan. 6 investigation constitutes an attack on the legitimacy of the January 6 select committee — and the government itself.” December 23, 2021.
“Trump election lie allies Stone, Eastman and Clark plead the Fifth.” December 11, 2021.
“Trump’s Capitol riot documents case faces steep federal court odds.” November 4, 2021.
“How the Trump-Biden executive privilege showdown could backfire.” October 12, 2021.
“Covid vaccine and mask mandate bans in Florida and elsewhere raise cynical questions,” September 25, 2021.
“California recall pits Newsom against Trump and GOP’s election lies: Republicans have been laying the groundwork to claim that the election was stolen for weeks,” September 14, 2021.
“What was Trump’s role during the Capitol riot? The House plans to find out,” August 27, 2021.
“Notes from a December phone call highlight the importance of key Republicans who withstood enormous pressure from Trump and his allies,” August 3, 2021.
“Rudy Giuliani’s New York suspension proves dangers of Trump’s lies” June 26, 2021.
“How Biden and Democrats should react to McConnell’s Supreme Court comments,” June 17, 2021.
“Mike Lindell and the August Conspiracy Theorists,” June 8, 2021.
“Georgia’s ‘Jim Crow’ voter suppression bill is now law. Here’s how Democrats can fight back,” March 28, 2021.
“Covid Stimulus Bill Passes as Republicans use Cancel Culture to hide their Obstruction,” March 11, 2021.
“Trump’s White House Lawyers are Trying to Stop A Last-Minute Impeachment Repeat,” December 18, 2020.
“Trump and Giuliani’s Georgia Election Fraud Farce Underscores Republican Party’s Civil War,” December 4, 2020.
“Trump Impeachment Inquiry Bombshells Imperil Republicans’ Circumstantial Evidence Defense,” November 21, 2019.
“Trump and Giuliani’s Impeachment Defense Pushes America Closer to a ‘Mafia State,’” November 5, 2019.
‘No quid pro quo?’ Why Trump’s Impeachment Defense Sounds a lot like his Mueller Defense,” October 19, 2019.
“Democrats Trump Impeachment Inquiry Should Revisit the Testimony of Michael Cohen“, October 10, 2019. (Co-authored with Glenn Kirschner.)
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CNN. Com
“Romney’s astonishing nonsense about Amash and Mueller,” May 21, 2019.
“The real reason Trump is pushing a free speech order on college campuses,” March 6, 2019.
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NBC-LX Television
Two Interviews with NBC-LX television. For links and transcripts, see this page.
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Slate Magazine
“Why Trump Supporters Will Believe Any Lie He Tells,” From Kavanaugh to Khashoggi, they are immune to the truth,” Oct. 19, 2018.
Why the Big Double Jeopardy Supreme Court Case Isn’t a Threat to the Mueller Probe,” Slate, October 4, 2018. (Co-authored with Jed Shugerman.)
“How to Prevent Future Family Separations: Prosecute Federal Officials,” Slate, July 3, 2018. (Co-authored with Jed Shugerman.)
“Trump’s Family Separations are Unconstitutional: The courts must award damages to families torn apart by the policy,” Slate, June 21, 2018. (Co-authored with Jed Shugerman.)
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University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy
“Strengthening our Democracy: How to Keep it Alive.”
Just Security, New York University School of Law
“Why a Trump Lawsuit to “Protect” Executive Privilege Could Backfire,“ August 30, 2021.
“Trump’s 2020 Election Reality Show,” November 7, 2020.
“Election Law Primer: What to Expect During and After the 2020 Election,” October 29, 2020. Republished by Just Security on November 3, 2020. (Co-authored with Steve Vladek)
“Don’t Believe Trump’s Latest Con: The Strongman,” September 29, 2020.
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Short Fiction
“The Mystery of Sound,” Cricket Magazine, Vol. 40, Number 7, April, 2013.
“The Other Natalia,” The MacGuffin, April 1997.
“Over the Hills and Far Away,” was a finalist in the 1997 Glimmer Train award for new writers.
“The Girl who Killed her Parents,” The American Literary Review, Fall 1996.
“Signing,” The Iowa Review, Vol. 25, No. 1, 1995.
“The Power of Secrets,” The Writers’ Forum (University of Colorado), Vol. 19, 1993.
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ESSAYS, 1995 – 2014
“The Girl from the Tarpaper School, Part II,” Cricket Magazine, Vol. 41, Number 6, March 2014 (Book excerpt)
“The Girl from the Tarpaper School, Part I,” Cricket Magazine, Vol. 41, Number 5, February 2014 (Book excerpt)
“Imagine This Was Your School,” Scope Magazine, February 2014.
“The Best Interests of the Child,” appeared in Reaching the Bar: Stories of Women at All Stages of Their Law Career, published in 2009 in this book:
“From Literature to Litigation,” The Recorder (San Francisco’s legal newspaper), August 8, 2001. Available as a pdf here.
“Buchenwald from the Train,” The Jewish Currents, April 1999.
“Lemmings,” Education Week, December 13, 1995.
“An American Jew Visits Dresden,” The Jewish Currents, December 1995.
“In Defense of the Romance,” Women’s Work, 1995.
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Book Reviews (1994)
Review of The Heart and Stomach of a King: Elizabeth I and the Politics of Sex and Power, by Carole Levin. Publisher’s Weekly, July 18, 1994.
Circle of Women: An Anthology of Contemporary Western Writers, edited by Kim Barnes and Mary Clearman Blew, Publisher’s Weekly, June 6, 1994
Review of Clare, by John McKenna, Publisher’s Weekly, May 2, 1994.
Other Children’s Books
I am the author of this Boxcar Children Series book:
The original author of the series, Gertrude Chandler Warner, died in 1992. The publisher hires freelance writers to continue the series. Authors are paid a flat fee. In other words, I get no royalties. After I wrote The Mystery of the Soccer Snitch, the editors of the Jake Maddox series asked me to write a soccer story for their series. I wrote this one:
I didn’t care for the editor’s style, so I asked to publish under a penname. I selected Rebecca Wright because Rebecca was the name I had selected for my son had he been a girl, and because I was just then writing the biography of Suzy Wright.
I took breaks from writing legal briefs (which isn’t fun) and wrote children’s stories (which are fun). For example:
Mattie, a girl from Los Angeles, learns how it feels to walk in the shoes of Mary Queen of Scots.
She discovers that being the pampered darling of the French court isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.While being kissed by a real prince has a certain appeal, and turning down the marriage proposal of a king can give a girl confidence, a young queen who does not learn to distinguish flattery from true friendship is bound to come to a tragic end.
Michael was the star of the soccer team, until a new star joined the team. Will their rivalry cause them to lose an important game?