Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts

Before news of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s lung surgery broke, Dahlia Lithwick sat down for a revealing conversation with the screenwriter Daniel Stiepelman about the RBG biopic he penned, On The Basis of Sex. Stiepelman also happens to be Justice Ginsburg’s nephew, and this episode offers an insider’s view of the most well-known, but not always fully understood, justice on the court. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

*This week's show was recorded before Friday's filings concerning Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen, but the merits of the discussion stand. Mimi Rocah, a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, now a Criminal Justice Fellow at Pace Law School draws out the themes of the Mueller investigation. Plus Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Riyaz Kanji, an attorney for the Creek Nation, to explore the fascinating questions and disgraceful history involved in Carpenter v Murphy, a case argued by Kanji before the Supreme Court last week. The case started with a murder and now involves questions of sovereignty over 3 million acres in Oklahoma. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Ted Boutrous, who represented CNN and Jim Acosta in their case against the White House. Jim Acosta’s “hard pass” or permanent press pass, was revoked by the Trump administration after Acosta clashed with the President at a November 7th news conference. Dahlia Lithwick and Ted Boutros examine questions of due process and free speech thrown up by the case. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Neal Katyal, former acting Solicitor General under President Barack Obama and co-author of this op-ed in The New York Times. Also on Amicus this week, Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s voting rights project on why their current litigation over the 2020 census is so crucial, and concerning.Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dahlia Lithwick and her son Coby talk to Rabbi Chuck Diamond about the deadly shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. Diamond was the rabbi at Tree of Life for seven years and originally met Dahlia when she was 10 years old. The three of them discuss the generosity of the Squirrel Hill community, the healing process over the past week, and how to talk to kids about the tragedy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dahlia Lithwick talks with Slate’s own Mark Joseph Stern about what to look out for this term. Professor of law and political science at UC Irvine, Rick Hasen discusses how free and fair the midterm elections will be in light of recent Supreme Court rulings on voting rights. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The courtroom can be a battlefield over money, people’s rights, and even their lives. For some cases, the consequences can affect us long after the verdict is read. Based on extensive interviews and court transcripts, Wondery’s new podcast LEGAL WARS puts you inside the jury box of some of the most famous court cases in American history. Subscribe to Legal Wars today at wondery.fm/amicus Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dahlia Lithwick talks with Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon about the “deep wounds” in the senate following Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation. And she’s joined by Vox’s Matthew Yglesias who brings his nihilism about the institution of the Supreme Court to the show. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a special episode recorded live at Slate Day during Tribfest in Austin, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Dean of Boston University Law School, Cristina Rodriguez, Leighton Homer Surbeck professor of law at Yale Law School, Stephen Vladeck, A. Dalton Cross professor of law at the University of Texas Law School and Adam White, director of the Center for the Study of the Administrative State at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School for a deep dive on the fallout from the Kavanaugh hearings and the future of the Supreme Court absent a swing justice. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Dahlia Lithwick looks at freedom of the press through the lens of legal scholarship. Lithwick is joined by Professor Lisa Sun of Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School and RonNell Andersen Jones, the Lee E. Teitelbaum Chair & Professor of Law, S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah Law School. Their article “Enemy Construction and the Press” was published in the Arizona State Law Journal last year.Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Dahlia Lithwick for a conversation on the Supreme Court with Angela Onwuachi-Willig, dean and professor of law at Boston University; Cristina Rodríguez, a professor of law at Yale University; Stephen Vladeck, professor of law at the University of Texas, and Adam White, director of the Center for the Study of Administration at George Mason University. Get your tickets here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In an intimate conversation, three educators who survived school shootings talk to Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick about the trauma of going back to the classroom. For a transcript, visit Slate.com/TeacherPodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Professor Melissa Murray of NYU Law School, who gave blistering testimony at the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings last week. They talk Roe v Wade, when precedent counts and when it doesn’t, and what the likely confirmation of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Courts means for reproductive rights writ large. Plus, Dahlia Lithwick shares highlights from an on-stage conversation between her and Justice Elena Kagan this past week, where they covered division in the court and in the country, how Chief Justice Roberts steers the court through choppy waters, and civility.Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Student activism is back in America’s schools. Young people mobilizing around gun safety and social justice issues are heading back to school. We talk to Mary Beth Tinker, who took her fight for the right to protest at school all the way to the Supreme Court back in 1969. And we hear from noted First Amendment scholar Geoffrey R. Stone of the University of Chicago Law School, who tells us what rights students have to raise their voices—or wear t-shirt slogans—in schools today. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You Don’t Own Meis Orly Lobel’s fascinating examination of a landmark legal battle between plastic dolls. The Mattel v MGA, Barbie v Bratz case exposed questions about gender, culture and rights in the workplace. This episode of Amicus takes you inside a case involving corporate espionage, intellectual property, and icons of American girlhood.Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amicus’ summer of exploring great legal writing continues this week with Jeff Rosen, whose biography of William Howard Taft reveals a president who was scrupulous in observing constitutional boundaries, and much happier on the bench than in the White House. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first of a series of deep dives into great legal reads this summer, Dahlia Lithwick talks with Rick Hasen, author of “The Justice of Contradictions: Antonin Scalia and the Politics of Disruption” about civil discourse, rock star justices, and what Justice Scalia would have thought of President Trump. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Dahlia LIthwick talks with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democratic senator from Rhode Island, about what we can expect over the next several months as Donald Trump nominates a new associate justice to the Supreme Court. He talks about why Democrats must care more about the Supreme Court, the danger of dark money, and the frustration of confirmation hearings.Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected]. Podcast production by June Thomas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Supreme Court’s 2017 term ended with some blockbuster opinions and, most dramatically, Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement announcement. On a special edition of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Slate legal writer Mark Joseph Stern and University of California, Irvine, law professor Leah Litman to discuss what it all means. Yes, it's a Supreme Court Breakfast Table without a Breakfast Table!Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected]. Podcast production by June Thomas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dahlia Lithwick takes a close look at the two big voting rights cases decided by the Supreme Court earlier this week with Paul Smith who argued for the plaintiffs in the Wisconsin political gerrymander case Gill v. Whitford. On Monday, the court sent Gill back to the lower courts based on the theory that the plaintiffs had no standing. In the other case, Benisek v Lamone, which involved a Maryland gerrymander, the Justices delivered an unsigned opinion sending Benisek back saying it was too soon to decide. And we take a look at the implications of the court’s earlier decision on Ohio voter purges, a case that was also argued by Paul Smith.Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dahlia Lithwick moderates a discussion of civil rights and legal norms in the Trump era with the ACLU’s David Cole, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Vanita Gupta, former White House chief ethics counsel under President George W Bush, Richard Painter, and former US attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Joyce White Vance.Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An epic Amicus this week, with a thorough analysis of Masterpiece Cakeshop v Colorado Civil Rights Commission with Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern. What does is tell us about Justice Anthony Kennedy’s plans, and can it tell us anything about the travel ban case? Then Dahlia Lithwick speaks with one of her heroes, the Rev. William Barber, about how progressives ceded the language of faith, morality, and the Constitution—and how they are reclaiming it. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While President Trump demands an investigation into the investigators investigating the investigation, the clamour to impeach grows ever more fervent in some quarters. Dahlia Lithwick explores the legal and constitutional questions surrounding impeachment with constitutional scholar and Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe, co-author of To End a Presidency - The Power of ImpeachmentPlease let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the ripples from New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s resignation after allegations of violence against women continue, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey joins Dahlia Lithwick to discuss the role of State Attorneys General and how that’s changing under Trump. Attorney General Healey also talks about fighting—and winning against—the gun lobby in court. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Amicus takes you inside the chamber for a forensic discussion of the last, and possibly the most significant, oral arguments of this Supreme Court term. Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Josh Geltzer, executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law Center and former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It seems as though a slow motion constitutional crisis may be upon us. In this episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Lawfare blog editor and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Ben Wittes, to assess the threats to the rule of law posed by presidential pique, and whether fired FBI director James Comey’s book could be used as a pretext for ending the Mueller probe. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s show, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Priscilla Smith, director of the Program for the Study of Reproductive Justice at Yale Law School, to unpack the oral arguments in NIFLA v Becerra, the latest case on the calendar that seems to be about one thing but is being argued under the all-encompassing umbrella of speech. Dahlia also speaks with Walter Dellinger, former acting solicitor general, about why President Donald Trump can’t get a lawyer. Spoiler: It’s because he lies. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Dahlia Lithwick calls on white-collar-crime specialist Jennifer Taub to follow the money in the Mueller investigation. She also speaks with Bob Bauer, a former White House counsel under President Barack Obama, about the relationship between presidents and their lawyers, and between this president and his lawyers. Bauer discusses when professional duty can stray into enabling, a question facing Trump’s personal and institutional lawyers as cases involving the president accumulate. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s show, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by UCLA Law Professor Adam Winkler to talk about his new book We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights. Together, they also examine what the constitutionalizing of corporate rights can tell us about the current gun debate. And Dahlia steps inside the chamber for oral arguments in the hugely significant public sector union case we previewed last show. She is joined by the Solicitor General of Illinois, David Franklin, who argued the case. There were explosive contributions from the justices on the bench, but notable silence from the court’s newest member, Justice Neil M Gorsuch. Please fill out the Slate podcast survey at slate.com/podcastsurveyPlease let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode, Professor Leah Litman joins Dahlia Lithwick to tune into Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s comments on #MeToo and due process. And for a full background check on the sexy-sounding Janus v. AFSCME case, which potentially poses an existential threat to public sector unions, Dahlia is joined by Professor Catherine Fisk of the U.C. Berkeley School of Law, who wrote about the case for SCOTUSblog.Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week the high court is on its winter break, but the team here at Amicus wanted to talk about DACA, the travel ban, and issues around immigrants, refugees, and the law. We talk Americanism. Who is American and how? What do the courts have to say about who can be here and who cannot? What role do the courts play in figuring out who belongs here and who doesn’t? To tackle these thorny and sometimes super-wonky questions, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Stephen Vladeck who teaches law at the University of Texas. Vladeck’s teaching and research focus on federal jurisdiction, constitutional law, and national security law. He’s CNN's Supreme Court analyst, co-editor in-chief of the Just Security blog, and a senior contributor to the Lawfare blog. Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members several days after each episode posts. To learn more about Slate Plus, go to slate.com/amicusplus.Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re inside the chamber for the high-profile case involving a death row inmate from Louisiana who’s asking for a new trial after his lawyer told the jury his client was guilty, despite the client’s insistence that he was innocent. Jay Schweikert, a policy analyst with the Cato Institute’s Project on Criminal Justice and co-author of an amicus brief filed in this case, joins Dahlia Lithwick to sift through the arguments and legal principles at play. Veteran Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse talks about shifting positions from the solicitor General’s office, tees up a key case at the intersection of abortion and free speech that will be heard by the high court this term, and gives her take on the status of the truth in the courts and the country in the age of Trump. Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members several days after each episode posts. To learn more about Slate Plus, go to slate.com/amicusplus.Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometimes the technical stuff is how you get to the crucial stuff. Next week, the Supreme Court will hear a case about Ohio’s voter purge, and the case rests on some sticky statutory interpretation questions. Up to 1.2 million voters may have been purged from Ohio’s rolls after they sat out a couple of elections and in this episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick does a deep dive into the technicalities of the case. Dahlia and her guests also use this moment to take stock of the state of voting rights in the US. Dahlia talks with Mayor Joseph Helle of Oak Harbor, Ohio, a veteran who came home to find he’d been purged from the rolls after not voting while on active duty, and to the director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, Dale Ho. Ho even cites his favorite Justice Antonin Scalia opinion. Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members several days after each episode posts. To learn more about Slate Plus, go to slate.com/amicusplus.Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The cultural whirlwind of #MeToo has reached the judiciary, reluctantly bringing Dahlia Lithwick into the fray along with it. In a piece for Slate, she detailed her firsthand experiences with Judge Alex Kozinski. Dahlia’s was one of many accounts that that have now surfaced. Heid Bond was one of the first women prepared to go on the record. A former clerk to Judge Kozinski, she now writes romance novels under the name Courtney Milan. You can read Bond’s piece here and Judge Kozinski’s statement here. We speak with three of Kozinski’s accusers—Heidi Bond, Emily Murphy, and Leah Litman—and hear their ideas about what needs to change to allow women to work safely and successfully in a system often shrouded in secrecy. Then Dahlia is joined by Mark Joseph Stern for a run through the headline arguments and decisions from the Supreme Court in 2017 and a look ahead at what to expect in 2018. Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members several days after each episode posts. To learn more about Slate Plus, go to Slate.com/amicusplus.Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Mueller investigation keeps keeping on as subtweets, speculation, and objections mount. Dahlia Lithwick speaks with Andrew Wright, a former associate counsel to President Barack Obama about the latest developments. Plus a deep dive into the oral arguments in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case with Roberta Kaplan, who successfully argued Edie Windsor’s case against the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013.Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members several days after each episode posts. To learn more about Slate Plus, go to slate.com/amicusplus.Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amicus presents a preview of Slow Burn, an eight-episode miniseries about Watergate. People called her crazy, and to be fair she must have seemed crazy. But she was onto something. How Martha Mitchell, the celebrity wife of one of Nixon’s closest henchmen, tried to blow the whistle on Watergate—and ended up ruining her life.Find out more at slate.com/slowburn. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the high court continues through its unprecedented session, Dahlia speaks with Adam Liptak who covers the Supreme Court for the New York Times and knows the ins and outs of the Masterpiece Cakeshop case. And he gives his insight on what a jaw-dropping brief from the Solicitor General's office means for relations between the Court and the Trump administration. Plus, a look into how the Supreme Court Justices seem to be the last grown-ups left in Washington. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the wake of another American mass shooting, Dahlia speaks with Adam Skaggs, Chief counsel at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence about the Second Amendment. And as this week marks the one year anniversary of Donald Trump’s election to office, Becca Heller, co-founder of the International Refugee Assistance Project, joins to talk about how her job changed after the election. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dahlia Lithwick speaks with Representative Jamie Raskin about the Republican remedy for Trump's unfitness for office: The 25th Amendment. Plus, she speaks with ProPublica's Ryan Gabrielson about his recent reporting which revealed that the high court tends to make staggering errors of fact in opinions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dahlia is joined by Kristen Clarke, President & Executive Director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to talk about the federal judiciary and how Donald Trump is speedily filling the vacancies on the federal bench. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As next week marks the opening of the 2017 term at the high court, Dahlia Lithwick speaks with David Cole, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, about some of the cases in this upcoming term, including Trump's travel ban, a civil rights case of gay couples versus those of religious dissenters and more. Cole also discusses how citizen activism is more alive than he's seen is his lifetime, something he illustrates in his new book, now out in paperback, Engines of Liberty: The Power of Citizen Activists to Make Constitutional Law. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the Supreme Court term opens next month, perhaps no issue will be more urgent – and more complicated – than voting rights. One of the first cases the justices will hear is Gill v. Whitford, a challenge to the 2011 redrawing of district lines in Wisconsin. While the Court has struck down racially-motivated gerrymanders in the past, no election map has ever been rejected as a purely partisan gerrymander. And recent developments have some court watchers concerned that Justice Anthony Kennedy may still not be ready to do that. Our guest this episode is Richard Hasen, Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of California, Irvine, and curator of the must-read Election Law Blog. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected]. Podcast production by Tony Field. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Supreme Court’s 2016 term may not have contained the usual number of blockbuster cases, but it did have its fair share of drama. Between the stonewalling of Merrick Garland, the filibustered confirmation of Neil Gorsuch, rumors about Anthony Kennedy’s possible retirement, and in the background, the White House offensive against the federal judiciary, court-watchers had no shortage of things to keep them up at night. And so this week on Amicus, we pour a couple of our favorite court-watchers a big cup of coffee and plop some microphones down at Slate’s annual “Breakfast Table.” Mark Joseph Stern and Pamela Karlan join us to discuss what we learned about the justices this term and what we can expect from them in the fall. Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members, several days after each episode posts. For a limited time, get 90 days of free access to Slate Plus in the new Slate iOS app. Download it today at slate.com/app. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected]. Podcast production by Tony Field. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In his much-anticipated testimony on Capitol Hill this week, former FBI Director James Comey described several uncomfortable interactions with President Trump that preceded his firing. The big question for all watching was: could any of those interactions be considered “obstruction of justice?” On this week’s episode, we put the question to Stanford Law School Professor Robert Weisberg. We also discuss the ongoing litigation around President Trump’s executive order on immigration with Kate Shaw, an associate professor at the Cardozo School of Law and a Supreme Court analyst for ABC News. Shaw is the author of a new article in the Texas Law Review that considers what sorts of presidential speech is and isn’t admissible in a court of law. [Read Shaw’s recent New York Times op-ed on the subject here.] Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members, several days after each episode posts. For a limited time, get 90 days of free access to Slate Plus in the new Slate iOS app. Download it today at slate.com/app. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected] production by Tony Field. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that caught some Court-watchers off-guard. It ruled that North Carolina lawmakers had violated the Constitution by using race as a proxy for divvying up voters along partisan lines. And it was surprising because the swing vote invalidating the gerrymander came from none other than Justice Clarence Thomas. On this week’s episode, we parse the outcome of Cooper v. Harris -- and what it portends for future redistricting litigation -- with Slate legal writer Mark Joseph Stern. We also sit down with Jorge Barón, executive director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. Each year, that group provides assistance to thousands of immigrants threatened with deportation. But last month, the NWIRP received a strange cease-and-desist letter from the U.S. Department of Justice, threatening its ongoing legal work and raising some concerns that the group is being singled out for its defense of immigrants caught up in the first iteration of President Trump’s travel ban. Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members, several days after each episode posts. For a limited time, get 90 days of free access to Slate Plus in the new Slate iOS app. Download it today at slate.com/app. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected]. Podcast production by Tony Field. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the wake of the unceremonious termination of FBI director James Comey this week, one previously unfamiliar name has dominated the news cycle: Rod J. Rosenstein. The former federal prosecutor became the U.S. Deputy Attorney General just over two weeks ago, and since then, has found himself at the center of storm around President Trump’s most high-profile firing to date. Leon Neyfakh has been covering Rosenstein for the past few weeks, and joins us to talk about whether anyone at the Department of Justice can remain neutral in these polarized times. We also speak with University of Virginia School of Law professor Micah Schwartzman about this week’s oral arguments in one of the lawsuits challenging President Trump’s revised travel ban. Schwartzman is among a group of constitutional law scholars who filed an amicus brief arguing that the executive order violates the Constitution’s Establishment Clause. Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members, several days after each episode posts. For a limited time, get 90 days of free access to Slate Plus in the new Slate iOS app. Download it today at slate.com/app. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected]. Podcast production by Tony Field. Our intern is Camille Mott. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Supreme Court has slowed Arkansas’ unprecedented rush to execute eight men in 11 days, pending a decision in McWilliams v. Dunn. At issue in the case is whether James McWilliams, an indigent defendant whose mental health was a significant factor at his capital trial, was entitled to an independent psychological expert to testify on his behalf. We discuss the case with Stephen Bright, longtime president of the Southern Center for Human Rights, who represented McWilliams at this week’s oral arguments. We also sit down with Norm Eisen, co-founder of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), to discuss the ongoing anti-corruption litigation against President Trump. Last week, CREW added two new plaintiffs to its lawsuit, which alleges that Trump’s business interests put him in violation of the Constitution’s Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses. Eisen reflects on the ethical issues of the Trump Administration’s first 100 days, why the president’s tax returns still matter, and what he believes is the single most concerning ethics violation of the new commander-in-chief. Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members, several days after each episode posts. For a limited time, get 90 days of free access to Slate Plus in the new Slate iOS app. Download it today at slate.com/app. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected]. Podcast production by Tony Field. Our intern is Camille Mott. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Newly sworn-in Justice Neil Gorsuch gets his first chance to make his mark on the Court at this week’s oral arguments for Trinity Lutheran v. Comer. The important case asks whether the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause compels the state of Missouri to provide public grant money directly to a church. Holly Hollman, general counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, joins us to discuss BJC’s amicus brief in the case, which argues that religious institutions are actually freer if they are barred from accepting government funds.We also sit down with Jeffrey Toobin, whose piece in this week’s The New Yorker examines the enormous influence that the Federalist Society – and especially its executive vice president Leonard Leo – have on the American judiciary. Toobin argues that with the ascension of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, Leo can now be credited with the selection of one-third of the nation’s most powerful judges. Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members, several days after each episode posts. For a limited time, get 90 days of free access to Slate Plus in the new Slate iOS app. Download it today at slate.com/app. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected]. Podcast production by Tony Field. Our intern is Camille Mott. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1985, eight men were convicted of the grisly murder of a Washington D.C. woman. After spending decades in prison, they learned from an article in the Washington Post that prosecutors had withheld evidence from trial that could have exculpated them. This week, the Supreme Court delved back into the details of the 30-plus year old murder case and considered whether the case should be reopened. Former defense lawyer Thomas Dybdahl is writing a book about the murder and its aftermath, and joins us to discuss Turner v. USand Overton v. US. We also speak with legal scholar Lori Ringhand, who literally wrote the book on Supreme Court confirmation hearings. She reflects on some of the ways the process has evolved over the years, whether the so-called “Ginsburg rule” is appropriately named, and what purpose these hearings actually serve. Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members, several days after each episode posts. For a limited time, get 90 days of free access to Slate Plus in the new Slate iOS app. Download it today at slate.com/app. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is [email protected]. Podcast production by Tony Field. Our intern is Camille Mott. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, the Senate held four days of hearings on the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the vacant seat on the Supreme Court. What did we learn about Gorsuch from his 20-odd hours in the hot seat? Did the Democrats gain anything of value from the testimony? Did Gorsuch say anything of substance? And, in the end, will the hearings even matter? In this bonus episode, we reflect on the hearings with veteran political operative Ron Klain and Slate’s own Mark Joseph Stern. Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members, several days after each episode posts. For a limited time, get 90 days of free access to Slate Plus in the new Slate iOS app. Download it today at slate.com/app.Amicus is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, a video lecture service that offers lectures on all kinds of topics. Get the first full month FREE when you sign up by going to TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/amicus. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Our email is [email protected]. Follow us on Facebook here.Podcast production by Tony Field. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.