The new U.S. Supreme Court term is set to begin Monday, October 5, the first day of remote oral arguments. To preview what’s ahead, Adam Liptak, Supreme Court reporter for the New York Times, and Marcia Coyle, Supreme Court correspondent for the Center’s blog Constitution Daily and Chief Washington correspondent for The National Law Journal, joined host Jeffrey Rosen. They explored how the election and the forthcoming confirmation battle over Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination might affect the...
Oct 01, 2020•54 min
Following the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Republicans have promised to nominate a new Supreme Court Justice swiftly, before the imminent presidential election. If the Republican-led Senate confirms a new nominee either before or closely after the November election, some Democrats have said they will respond by attempting to “pack”—or add justices—to the Supreme Court. This week’s episode looks to history, particularly to the 19th century and the Civil War era, to see what lessons fro...
Sep 25, 2020•49 min
On Constitution Day, September 17, the National Constitution Center awards the 2020 Liberty Medal to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for her efforts to advance liberty and equality for all. As part of the Liberty Medal celebration—and the Center’s yearlong Women and the Constitution initiative celebrating 100 years of women’s suffrage—this podcast explores the Justice’s living constitutional legacy both before and after joining the Supreme Court bench, including her trailblazing work as a lawyer adv...
Sep 17, 2020•43 min
Constitution Day— the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution on September 17th, 1787—is next week! As we look forward to Constitution Day, this week’s episode shares founding stories of America’s founding documents from three key periods: the Declaration of Independence and the Revolution, the Founding era, and post-Civil War Reconstruction, sometimes referred to as the “second founding.” Renowned teachers of the Constitution, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and professor Kurt Lash, tell the stor...
Sep 10, 2020•44 min
In August, the Democratic and Republican parties held their conventions mostly virtually for the first time in history due to the coronavirus crisis. This week on We the People we look back to past conventions throughout history. Host Jeffrey Rosen and scholars John Gerring and Michael Holt explore the constitutional positions the parties have taken from the Founding to the Civil War era and beyond, diving into nineteen century party platforms to consider the evolution of the parties’ constituti...
Sep 03, 2020•49 min
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment on August 18th and its certification on the 26th—this episode dives into the story of the 19th Amendment from its roots among abolition and the Civil War and Reconstruction through its ratification, the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment, and beyond. 19th Amendment experts and historians Reva Siegel and Laura Free explain when and why the word “male” was first introduced into the Constitution, how the right to vo...
Aug 28, 2020•56 min
President Trump recently signed several executive actions and, in doing so, some have argued the president overstepped his constitutional authority and infringed on congressional power. This week’s episode considers those claims in regards to the president's recent actions on coronavirus crisis relief, the post office, and more. It also examines how presidential power has grown over time, how we think about the three branches and the “political” Constitution versus the legal one, and more. Const...
Aug 20, 2020•51 min
Last week, historians Martha Jones and Lisa Tetrault joined National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen for a conversation exploring the history and legacy of the 19th Amendment. The discussion highlighted the untold stories of women from all backgrounds who fought for women's suffrage and equality for all—as well as the work still left to do after the Amendment's ratification was won. Martha Jones is author of the new book Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote,...
Aug 13, 2020•29 min
As the coronavirus crisis presents major challenges for voting this November, today’s episode looks backs at past elections during major crises in American history. How were they handled, what were their outcomes, and what are the lessons learned for election 2020? Kim Wehle, CBS News commentator and professor at the University of Baltimore Law School, and historian Jonathan White of Christopher Newport University explore key elections such as the Election of 1864 carried out in the throes of th...
Aug 06, 2020•54 min
Portland has seen more than 60 consecutive days of protests since the killing of George Floyd. The protests escalated when federal forces were deployed in Portland to protect its federal courthouse, angering protestors and local officials who said they did not ask for the federal deployment. On Wednesday, Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced that federal officials will soon begin withdrawing from the city, although they remained as of Thursday morning. On today’s episode, we’ll discuss the rapid...
Jul 30, 2020•52 min
In the term that just wrapped up, the Supreme Court decided several key cases weighing the First Amendment’s protection of free exercise of religion in relation to workers’ rights and antidiscrimination concerns, the separation of church and state, and more. This week’s episode examines those cases including: Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue holding that Montana can’t deny tuition assistance to parents who send their children to religious-affiliated private schools Our Lady of Guadalupe v. M...
Jul 23, 2020•59 min
Last week, host Jeffrey Rosen was joined by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost for a bipartisan discussion about the role of state attorneys general in addressing policing reform, protests, and other constitutional challenges facing their states today. This conversation was a hosted as an online America’s Town Hall program. Hear more programs on our companion podcast Live at the National Constitution Center https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-at-a...
Jul 16, 2020•1 hr 3 min
The 2019-2020 Supreme Court term recently ended with a series of blockbuster opinions involving presidential subpoenas, religious liberty, abortion, the Electoral College and more. Supreme Court experts Kate Shaw of Cardozo Law School and Ilya Shapiro of the Cato Institute join host Jeffrey Rosen to recap those opinions and more. They also weigh in on Chief Justice Roberts’ efforts to put the institutional legitimacy of the Court front and center in this historic term. Questions or comments abou...
Jul 10, 2020•1 hr 7 min
In 1852, the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Rochester, New York, invited Frederick Douglass to give a July Fourth speech. Douglass opted to speak on July 5 instead, and, addressing an audience of about 600, he delivered one of his most iconic speeches that would become known by the name “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” This episode explores Douglass’ oration on racial injustice and the broken promises of equality and liberty laid out in the Declaration of Independence. David Blight, Pu...
Jul 02, 2020•1 hr 8 min
Last week, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) will remain in place, ruling that the Trump administration’s attempts to rescind DACA were “arbitrary and capricious.” This episode details the Supreme Court’s majority opinion, written by Chief Justice Roberts, and the partial dissents by Justices Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh, and how the case arose including the history of DACA under the Obama and Trump administrations. Constitutional law schol...
Jun 26, 2020•58 min
This week, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia and two related cases, holding that an employer who discriminates against or fires an individual for being gay or transgender violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This episode explores this landmark decision with Joshua Matz, a constitutional lawyer who wrote a key amicus brief in support of the employees in these cases, and Dr. Matthew Franck of Princeton University. They dive into the “weeds” ...
Jun 18, 2020•54 min
Last Friday, the National Constitution Center hosted a two-part national Town Hall program on policing, protests, and the Constitution. The wide-ranging discussions covered qualified immunity for police officers, the history of racial inequality, protests and the First Amendment, and more. Part two of the discussion features Monica Bell of Yale Law School, David French of The Dispatch, Janai Nelson of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Theodore Shaw of the University of North Caro...
Jun 11, 2020•58 min
Last Friday, the National Constitution Center hosted a two-part national Town Hall program on policing, protests, and the Constitution. This episode—which originally aired on our companion podcast Live at the National Constitution Center—features National Constitution Center President Jeffrey Rosen’s keynote conversation with Judge Theodore McKee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Their wide-ranging discussion covered qualified immunity for police officers, the history of racial...
Jun 11, 2020•30 min
Last week, Twitter added a fact-check message to President Trump's tweets about voter fraud and vote by mail, and a notice that one of his tweets about recent protests violated Twitter’s policy against glorifying violence. In response to the fact-check, the President signed an executive order aimed at limiting the legal protections given to online platforms under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. This episode explores Section 230—what does it say and how has it influenced speech onl...
Jun 05, 2020•1 hr 7 min
Coronavirus has presented difficulties in holding presidential primaries this spring and will continue to pose challenges for the general election. Some states have responded by implementing vote by mail (although those decisions have brought logistical challenges like those that Pennsylvania currently faces) while some that have not are facing lawsuits. The U.S. Supreme Court also recently issued a ruling about voting in Wisconsin in April, RNC. v. DNC , which involved questions about counting ...
May 29, 2020•55 min
Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments by teleconference, and the National Constitution Center recapped those arguments live on C-SPAN with advocates on either side of each case. On this week’s episode we’re sharing the recap for the cases Colorado Dept. of State v. Baca and Chiafalo v. Washington, about "faithless electors" and the electoral college. Those cases ask whether states can penalize or remove a presidential elector because they refused to vote for the candidate who won the...
May 22, 2020•58 min
This week, the Supreme Court continued to hear oral arguments by teleconference, and the National Constitution Center recapped those arguments live on C-SPAN with advocates on either side of each case. Today we’re sharing the recap for Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru —which raises the question of whether two former teachers who taught at Catholic schools fall under the "ministerial exception,” and thus are unable to sue their employers for alleged employment discrimination. Host ...
May 14, 2020•50 min
This week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments by teleconference, allowing the public to listen in, in real time, for the first time in history. On Monday, the Court heard United States Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com —a case about whether Booking.com can trademark its name. Immediately following the argument, host Jeffrey Rosen was joined by three experts who filed briefs on different sides of the case—Corynne McSherry of Electronic Frontier Foundation, professor Rebecca Tushnet o...
May 07, 2020•49 min
The coronavirus pandemic has seriously impacted the criminal justice system—as prisons experience severe outbreaks, states release nonviolent offenders, trials experience delays, and some jurisdictions halt arrests for misdemeanors to keep jail populations down. On this episode, criminal justice experts Emily Bazelon and Paul Cassell weigh in on those and other changes affecting criminal justice systems around the country, and potential long-term impacts. They also explain defendants’ rights und...
Apr 30, 2020•52 min
As the United States seems to begin to flatten its curve of new coronavirus cases, President Trump has claimed he has the authority to reopen the economy and the nation. Evaluating that claim in relation to both presidential power under Article II and state power under the 10th Amendment—professors John Yoo and Alison LaCroix join host Jeffrey Rosen. They give their takes on the president’s claims and conduct in the midst of coronavirus and evaluate what he can and can’t do in light of the syste...
Apr 23, 2020•52 min
On Monday, the Supreme Court announced that it will hear its May oral arguments over the phone, allowing the public to listen in live for the first time. On this episode, host Jeffrey Rosen first interviews Marcia Coyle, chief Washington correspondent for The National Law Journal , to discuss that change and other adjustments the Court has made due to the coronavirus pandemic. Coyle is also the new Supreme Court correspondent for the National Constitution Center’s blog Constitution Daily . Next,...
Apr 17, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Responses to the coronavirus pandemic may be posing a danger to democracies around the world—as fault lines in constitutional systems are exposed and some authoritarian leaders attempt to grab broad powers. Two experts on constitutional and international law — Professor Kim Lane Scheppele of Princeton University and Professor Deborah Pearlstein of Cardozo Law School — join host Jeffrey Rosen to explore the governmental challenges raised by COVID-19 in the United States and around the world. Sche...
Apr 10, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Some of Americans’ civil liberties—like the freedom to assemble in public, the right to travel, the ability to purchase a gun at a gun store or visit a reproductive health clinic, the freedom to exercise religion by going to church, and more— are typically exercised in person. As states enforce the stay-at-home orders necessary to prevent the spread of coronavirus, how will those rights be impacted? And what will happen to them after the crisis is over? This episode explores those questions as F...
Apr 03, 2020•50 min
Congress and the courts depend on meeting in-person, so how can they adjust to the coronavirus outbreak and the public health measures necessary to stop its spread – like social distancing – while continuing to meet their constitutional functions? Host Jeffrey Rosen explores that question with Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, who’s worked since the aftermath of 9/11 on emergency-preparedness recommendations for all three branches of government, and lawyer and podcast host Ken ...
Mar 26, 2020•44 min
Jeffrey Rosen is joined by public health law experts Polly Price of Emory University School of Law and Ed Richards of Louisiana State University Law Center to discuss key questions about the coronavirus and the Constitution. Starting with the history of quarantines prior to and during the Founding era, they explain how the government combatted diseases when, as Ed puts it, “The colonies were basically fever-ridden swamps.” Drawing examples from public health responses to outbreaks of yellow feve...
Mar 19, 2020•55 min
