Season 2, Episode 22 (Show 74): After Uvalde – What?
June 1, 2022
The horrific massacre in Uvalde, Texas has directed the nation’s eyes to the Constitution and its role in gun rights. The Court, and Congress, are looked to warily. We review the constitutional landscape for our listeners, and prepare them for a forthcoming Supreme Court decision.
The nightmare of gun violence haunts America today. What can be done? So many Americans are aghast at assertions of gun rights in the face of absolute evil. It seems incomprehensible. Our job it to render this domain legible, navigable, and at least potentially solvable. We begin in this episode with a review of the Constitutional landscape of rights in general, gun rights in particular, and we put an imminent Supreme Court decision on carrying arms in perspective. We also preview our next episode, which will feature an important guest who will do much the same clarification of the legislative world we will soon enter.
Show Notes:
Season 2, Episode 21 (Show 73): Is There a Dobbs Deal?
May 25, 2022
The leaked Dobbs draft opinion was authored by Justice Alito. Is that the end of the story? We explore a framework, and a coalition, that could conceivably form the basis of a very different opinion.
CLE credit is available by visiting podcast.njsba.com after listening.
We’ve spent the last few episodes examining the leaked draft opinion in Dobbs. But this isn’t yet the opinion of the Court. We look at past “stolen” decisions, and discuss how and why it could happen again that the Court seemed to be going one way and wound up heading in a surprising direction. Which Justices might form a different five? What could bring them together? Could it make a difference to women, and to the nation? What can each “side” offer the other? Listen to this creative and most important legal and political discussion.
(LAWYERS AND JUDGES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION CREDIT by visitingpodcast.njsba.com after listening.)
Show Notes:
Season 2, Episode 20 (Show 72): After Dobbs
May 18, 2022
As our analysis of the Dobbs leaked would-be decision gathers national attention, we look at its impact on recent precedents, on its framework for future decisions, and how it might not – even if a long shot – happen at all.
Our recent podcasts, and their discussions of the constitutional landscape that will follow the release of the leaked possible Dobbs opinion have been heard, amplified, distorted, echoed, and – of course – tweeted in forms true and unrecognizable. We were the impetus for a lead op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, the subject of various blogs, and the target of innumerable media posts. Nevertheless, we carry on, looking at key precedents and their future, analyzing Justice Alito’s framework for evaluating unenumerated rights, and beginning to think about how, conceivably, Justice Alito may not have the last word in this case.
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Season 2, Episode 19 (Show 71): The Memes of Dobbs’ Leak
May 11, 2022
The public, and therefore the media, are consumed with the implications of the draft opinion in Dobbs. We put some of the panic into perspective.
As the Dobbs/Supreme Court leak, and its would-be draft opinion, percolate through the public and the media, certain alarms are sounded again and again. Are these worries realistic? What does the opinion say; what are the constitutional arguments and questions; where are the justices on these questions? We look at some of the more prominent pundits saying the more meme-like (and frightening) things, and put them to the test.
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Season 2, Episode 18 (Show 70): Woe is Roe
May 4, 2022
A draft has leaked of a possible majority opinion in the Dobbs abortion case. We analyze.
CLE credit is available after listening by visiting podcast.njsba.com.
The bombshell news this week was the leak of a purported majority opinion of the Court in the Dobbs case – the Mississippi abortion 15 week law. Needless to say, the media were breathless in short order, and apocalyptic articles began to appear everywhere. For our part, we read the draft opinion and have a dissection and analysis of it start to finish for you. We also discuss some previous Supreme Court leaks, and ask what arguments Justice Alito may have missed, which may be a preview of dissents to come.
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Season 2, Episode 17 (Show 69): Citizenship and Citations
April 27, 2022
Professor Amar is cited by the Supreme Court in a decision this week. Is it a big deal? It could be, as we discuss.
Professor Amar, it is frequently said (by him), has been cited by the Supreme Court more than anyone else in his generation. This week, he is once again cited. We discuss the case, the citation, the underlying theory, and citation in general. Along the way we find ourselves in company with the Great Dissenter, with his namesake John Marshall, and many more. This small citation in a concurrence takes us to a legal theory that has enormous implications.