LWV of Sanibel hosts luncheon program
The League of Women Voters of Sanibel hosted its first luncheon program of the season, “The Presidency Unleashed — From Washington to Nixon to Trump,” on Dec. 5 at the Sundial Beach Resort & Spa on Sanibel. The keynote speaker was Sanibel resident Philip Allen Lacovara, a former deputy solicitor general of the United States for criminal and national security matters and a former counsel to the Watergate special prosecutor. His talk traced the framers of the Constitution’s expectations about the character of the presidency, both the personal qualities and constitutional mechanisms that would “check and balance” presidential power. Lacovara explored the ebbs and flows of presidential power as illustrated in several decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, including the Nixon Tapes case. He also discussed the evolution of the presidency to the present with the Court’s decision this year related to presidential immunity. After a history of how the Constitution and Supreme Court cases impact presidential powers, Lacovara concluded that a free citizenry in a democracy, ultimately, depends on four important criteria: active engagement in civil society, an informed citizenry, dedication to the “common good” and broad voter participation.