Season 5, Episode 17 (Show 226): A Judicious Life, Part 1 – Special Guests Dean Heather Gerken and Judge Kevin Newsom
May 14, 2025
We pay tribute to the late Justice David Souter; in this episode, through the observations of two of his most accomplished former law clerks.
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With the passing of Justice David Souter, the legal establishment has lost one of its most honored members. In this and our next episode, we pay tribute to the man and his work with the help of an amazing roster of his former clerks, friends, and colleagues. We begin with Judge Kevin Newsom from the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the Dean of the Yale Law School, Heather Gerken, who share their experience working closely with the Justice on the Supreme Court, as well as his role in their lives that did and does inspire them. Meanwhile, Akhil, who considered the Justice a good friend and role model, offers an in-depth look at various aspects of the Justice, including why a Justice who disagreed with Akhil on method and, in many cases, substance, nevertheless is regarded by him as one of the great Justices in American history. In our next episode we will have more guests whom we will reveal in the discussion during this episode.
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Show Notes:
Season 5, Episode 16 (Show 225): No School For You – Special Guest Vikram D. Amar
April 23, 2025
Universities threatened with loss of billions in federal funding; law firms threatened with barriers that might prevent them from representing clients. What’s going on here?
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Law firms are threatened with draconian penalties, with scarcely disguised vengeful and politically destructive motive. Universities are dragged on the carpet, with demands that they forfeit their academic freedom, choice in hiring, and internal mission priorities. What’s going on here? What is likely to happen in Court? Are the firms and universities defensible on constitutional grounds as well as because of procedural and statutory reasons? We bring on Vik Amar, former Dean at the Law School at University of Illinois, Urbana, and author of recent articles on both these crises. And while we are at it, we take a look at the forthcoming Supreme Court oral arguments in the birthright citizenship case, which superficially is about nationwide injunctions. Is that really what it’s about, and in any case, is there more than that there? Three of our current crises in one sweeping conversation.
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Show Notes:
Season 5, Episode 15 (Show 224):Equality, Emergencies, Exception, and Easter
April 16, 2025
The deportation efforts of the Trump administration as applied to Mahmoud Khalil are the starting point for this look at the rights of citizens and non-citizens in this extreme context.
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Deportations, the administration’s preferred tactic du jour, appear to many as extreme, inadvisable, and often cruel. Are they unconstitutional? What framework can we use to determine the rights of citizens versus aliens, even if legal, even if permanent resident? What kind of process is “due” for the various groups? Where can we locate the origins in our history, and how do they interact with some of the great themes of the Constitution, including the guarantees of the Bill of Rights, and the rights of “persons” as expressed in the 14th Amendment? The case of Mahmoud Khalil offers a set of facts that shed light on these questions, as do other deportations; we start with this one.
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Show Notes:
Season 5, Episode 15 (Show 223): Project 2026
April 9, 2025
In the wake of economic and market chaos, in the midst of an onslaught of assaults on the constitutional order, we take stock, diagnose the overall danger, and look at whether the system contains the needed resiliency to survive.
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Markets are crashing; freedom seems under siege; the international order is threatened. One man’s whim seems to be decisive. Where are the guardrails of our republic? We see some glimmers through the darkness, as some of the feedback mechanisms start to kick in. The constitutional order may be slow but it may not be completely in ruins. However, there is a threat, and we identify it in not one, but the sum of the actions the president has pursued. Many of these are unconstitutional; others may well be. The first step in protecting the republic from these threats is to identify them. We take that on and at least make a start; the task, in the end, however, will be up to the American people, as Project 2025 may fall to Project 2026.
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Show Notes:
Season 5, Episode 14 (Show 222): Third Time, No Charm
April 2, 2025
Can Trump continue as president beyond the end of his second term? He says yes. We respond with what we hope is the definitive account of the Constitutional facts and history.
CLE Credit Available for this episode from podcast.njsba.com.
President Trump likes being president. He doesn’t like the 22nd amendment so much, and has spoken, with increasing seriousness, of his conviction that he could remain president beyond the end of his second term. Various pundits have weighed in, some dismissively, others with grave declarations that Trump can accomplish this through constitutional contortions of one sort of another. Professor Amar, it turns out, has thought and written about this decades ago. We will take you through all the history; all the constitutional provisions – beyond the 22nd amendment alone; all the supposed workarounds,; and present you with a definitive understanding of the matter. Look to our episode number – 222 – for a preview of where we think it will come out.
(LAWYERS AND JUDGES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION CREDIT by visiting podcast.njsba.com after listening.)
Show Notes:
Season 5, Episode 13 (Show 221): Wisdom From Breyer To Pryor – Special Guest Judge William Pryor
March 27, 2025
Judge William Pryor, Chief Judge of the 11th Circuit, joins us for a wide ranging conversation in two appearances, on the life, work, and tales of a prominent judge.
CLE Credit Available for this episode from podcast.njsba.com.
We’re a bit late this week, because following our recent conversation with Justice Breyer, we had the opportunity to speak at length with Judge William Pryor, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, former Alabama Attorney General, and an important member of the Judicial Conference the “national policymaking body for the federal courts.” Judge Pryor has had a colorful career, having effectively prosecuted another judge for misconduct, had a contentious confirmation hearing, clerked for a titan among judges in Judge Wisdom, and served at the highest level short of the Supreme Court for many years. We discuss a wide range of matters from judicial safety, to the importance of following Court orders, to enforcing civil rights laws, and much more. The discussion took place in two parts; with an audience of undergraduates, and then with an audience of Yale Law School students, many from the Federalist Society chapter at Yale; this produced a great variety of topics. We also have timely information on a new EverScholar program where registration is about to open; be among the first to know about this!
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