State and local governments have constitutional and legal powers to challenge repressive federal actions and to advance freedom and equality.
The following essays, like the chapters in the book from which they are drawn, Fight Back: How States Can Counter Authoritarianism (New Press, forthcoming 2027), suggest why this situation is not irreversible. They demonstrate that state and local governments have constitutional and legal powers that can be harnessed as a force to challenge repressive federal actions and to advance a more substantive and meaningful kind of freedom and equality — terms that can be understood, and conditions that can be enjoyed by conservatives and liberals alike.
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