Season 2, Episode 14 (Show 66): Graham Crock-er
April 5, 2022
The Senators and the Judge took the stage in the Jackson Confirmation Hearings; we listen to them and dissect their statements and performances with a “constitutional eye.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee hearings have concluded, as has the committee vote. We put the Senators, and the Judge, back on the stage. We listen to them and comment. What do we know now about the Judge, and about the Senators, in terms of their view of their respective constitutional roles, and their constitutional views? Their own words are replayed, and then Akhil and Senate expert Vik Amar critique them – and educate us. Oh, and Lindsay Graham had something to say.
Show Notes:
Season 2, Episode 13 (Show 65): The Hearings According To Durbin – Special Guest Vikram D. Amar
April 2, 2022
Dean Vik Amar is back with more on the SCOTUS Confirmation Hearings – this time, only hours after a lengthy session he spent with Senator Dick Durbin, the Chairman of those very hearings! The insights thus gained are surprising, provocative – and only available here.
We’re a little late this week, but it’s worth it, as we are able to report on a lengthy conversation that our guest, Dean Vik Amar of the University of Illinois School of Law, had with the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, just hours before our podcast taping. He offered Vik and his students a truly inside look at the Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings just conducted, as well as his perspective on confirmations in general, and some truly surprising perspectives and possible ideas for reform – and now, our listeners have this early access to them.
Show Notes:
Season 2, Episode 12 (Show 64): Confirmation Correction – Special Guest Vikram D. Amar
March 23, 2022
As the confirmation hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson begin, we are joined by a leading expert on the Senate in general and Confirmations in particular – Vik Amar, Dean of the Illinois College of Law, and yes, that Amar family. The “brothers-in-law” give you a preview at a level of constitutional sophistication available nowhere else.
Ketanji Brown Jackson prepares to testify at Senate confirmation hearings, and the air is filled with confirmation bromides. It is said that a judicial nominee cannot speak about past cases. Or about cases that might come up. Or about legal theories. Is this true? Some say that all that matters is that the nominee be qualified and admirable. Can the Senate inquire further? How far can a nominee go in committing themselves on anything? Fortunately, we have a leading Senate expert, law school Dean, public intellectual – and, an “Amar” on “Amarica’s Constitution.” No, not Akhil, but Vik Amar, Dean of the Illinois College of Law and the first American of Indian descent to clerk for a Supreme Court Justice, to be a major Law School Dean. Listen to the “brothers-in-law” as they prepare you for the hearings. And – even more important – hear about their forthcoming law review article that may do nothing less than save the country. No kidding.
Show Notes:
Season 2, Episode 11 (Show 63): Lawyer of the Century
March 16, 2022
Our “role models” series concludes with a truly remarkable individual: Telford Taylor. From Nuremberg to Vietnam; from McCarthy to Calley, he put the law into the service of America during a long and amazing career. Along the way, he inspired Professor Amar’s scholarship and admiration.
Walter Dellinger and Charles Black are hard acts to follow, but our concluding role model is up to the task. Telford Taylor was legislator, war hero, Nuremberg prosecutor, international law pioneer, law firm founder, tenured professor and scholar extraordinaire, public intellectual, and always a principled, skilled lawyer. Professor Amar admired his work from afar, and that admiration led to a personal meeting, to Akhil’s first major law review article in the Harvard Law Review, and ultimately, to the opening scene of his latest book. Meanwhile, in the news, we also take time to look at the latest developments, statements, and misstatements filling the air on the notorious Texas abortion law, SB8.
Show Notes:
Opening Statement in the Nuremberg “Justice Case,” February 13, 1947, delivered by General Telford Taylor.
Miranda v. Arizona, Oral Argument, US Supreme Court. Delivered by Telford Taylor.
Season 2, Episode 10 (Show 62): The Music of the Law
March 9, 2022
Our discussion of Professor Amar’s role models in the law takes us to another giant of the 20th century, Charles Black – lawyer, professor, thespian, poet, courageous advocate, and brilliant writer. Somehow we get from there back to the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson as well.
Continuing our exploration of inspirational models in the law that deeply influenced Professor Amar’s career, today we learn of a predecessor of last week’s model – the newly passed Walter Dellinger – as we hear of the life of Charles Black. A son of the deep South, Black made an enormous mark as he was a vital part of the team that won Brown vs. Board of Education, and in the aftermath, we see his genius as he defends the decision, and separately reflects on how he came to his principled positions. We see this as he picks up pen and paper and leaves these notes for the ages. You will now hear these writings and Akhil’s reaction to them, and ultimately they will lead us back to considering the emerging picture of Ketanji Brown Jackson, nominee to the Supreme Court, in these lights.
Show Notes:
Season 2, Episode 9 (Show 61): Dellinger Departs, Jackson Arrives
March 2, 2022
The passing of a legal titan, Walter Dellinger, is cause for Professor Amar to reflect on his role models in the law. Meanwhile, Dellinger’s last writings are discussed, as is the subject of that writing: President Biden’s nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson as Associate Justice.
The great Walter Dellinger, one of Professor Amar’s role models in the law and one of the great lawyers of the past century, moves Professor Amar to present and review his role models and why they matter to all of us. Dellinger’s career was so enormous in its scope, so impactful in its action, that it forms a scaffolding for considering topics as varied as the most important SCOTUS footnote ever written; other momentous careers such as Earl Warren, Charles Black, and Telford Taylor; the lighter side of working for President Clinton; the last public statements of Benjamin Franklin and now Dellinger himself – and much more. Fittingly, Dellinger’s last writing has impact beyond his demise, as he provided background and perspective for the momentous nomination by President Biden of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to Associate Justice of the Supreme Court – and so we consider that.