Amarica's Constitution

The election is upon us, and worries about possible anti-democratic actions, especially by those who make wild claims in an attempt to justify extraordinary intrusions into the voting process, have many on alert.  From the beginning of our podcast we have looked for these “bullets” that must be dodged to keep the Republic, and once again we peer ahead to see what to watch out for, and to review th...

At the James Otis Lecture at Faneuil Hall in Boston, Professor Amar sat on a panel with (retired) Justice Stephen Breyer, Sarah Isgur, and the moderator, Chris Duggan.  Remarkably, the Justice and the Professor engaged in a debate on a case Justice Breyer sat on:  the sometimes-notorious Citizens United v. FEC from 2010.  Rarely does one have the opportunity to hear a Justice defend their opinion...

This episode features Judge Patrick Schiltz, a deeply respected and honored judge on the US District Court in Minneapolis, interviewed by Professor Michael Stokes Paulsen, long time friend of this podcast and distinguished scholar.  Judge Schiltz has been in the belly of the beast that was the dramatic escalation in ICE activity in his area, with a geometric increase in cases, motions, and need fo...

The President has been throwing news organizations out of various places: the White House in general, including the Press Room, and Air Force One.  Can he do that?  Does it matter why he is doing it?  Has this come up before?  Is it a  constitutional matter?  We welcome a leading First Amendment expert, Professor Eugene Volokh, to the podcast to discuss.  Meanwhile, the Eight Circuit wasn’t quite...

The Eighth Circuit is at it again, believe it or not.  Despite what appeared to be a clear directive from the Supreme Court to use the 2022 map in the upcoming federal election in Missouri, a panel of three judges from the circuit went in the other direction.  Akhil has had about enough of this, and while he expects the Supreme Court to once again shoot down the eighth circuit, perhaps with feelin...

It’s Constitution Day, or rather Constitution Eve as we record.  Akhil is the invited speaker at Princeton University’s gala event, and ahead of the speech, we invited Princeton undergraduates to come and talk about the Constitution with us; to voice their questions, and to help us honor the mission of the day by engaging with American citizens on that thing that we all share and that hopefully em...

The big issue in the news today is the Missouri legislature’s attempt to avoid the state constitution’s referendum provisions in order to impose a legislative map that would advantage Republicans to the tune of all but one of the state’s seats in the US House.  The Supreme Court is asked to intervene, and Justice Kavanaugh - after we taped - declined to do so.  This may not be end of the story, bu...

Originalists venerate the Founders, who were by most reckonings a group of remarkable statesmen.  Today, many Americans look seemingly in vain for a statesman worthy of the moment and its challenges.  But what is a statesman?  Does the U.S. Constitution assume a statesman will be at the helm?  Does it enable such a leader, or is it designed to thwart the designs of what Lincoln called the “towerin...

Voting rights are in the news.  The state and federal governments have sought to weigh in and intervene on election laws, as we have seen in previous cycles.  This time, a number of states have passed laws that address mail-in or absentee voting, but in doing so, what seems on its surface to be addressing some needs of seniors may in fact be more constitutionally questionable than first meets the...

What happens when the president loses in court, even at the Supreme Court, but repeatedly attempts to fight the battle again?  New tariffs are offered after the old ones are thrown out.  Birthright citizenship, resoundingly affirmed, is challenged anew.  To Americans who lived in the South after Brown v. Board, this might sound familiar.   And indeed, as we wrap up our Roberts court constitutional...

The President did not file for reconsideration of the Court’s decision in Trump v. Barbara, but the President nevertheless doesn’t let the Constitution rest, issuing two new executive orders that purport to extend the set of persons not receiving birthright citizenship upon their birth, among other things. We take a look.  Meanwhile, our review of the Roberts Court’s important constitutional cases...

As we make our way through the 20 most constitutionally significant cases of the Roberts court, this episode takes us through two cases that have continued to have resonance with the American people and with the justices.  Dobbs saw an infamous leak, a momentous decision, powerful electoral impact, and ongoing questions that echo back to an important limiting concurrence.  Bruen brought a controve...

We continue our survey of the Roberts Court’s oeuvre of constitutional cases, with particular emphasis on the series of cases that concerned making rules for voting and for voting districts.  These cases make particular use of “intratextualism” - a term coined by Professor Amar that provides tools - and traps - for textual analysis of the Constitution.  And as it turns out, it is also valuable on...

The SCOTUS term is behind us, and we take a look back - not just at this term, but at the entirety of the Roberts Court.  What are the most important constitutional cases of its time?  Where do the justices line up on the important cases - that is, how often are they in the majority; how often is the opinion right-leaning, as many believe is usually the case, and how many are left-leaning?  How of...

How could the vote in Trump v. Barbara have been as close as it was?  Many have been bewildered by the vote in this case, given the strength of the arguments in Chief Justice Roberts' majority opinion, the long history of birthright citizenship, the statutory history, and the clear text of the 14th amendment.  We try to understand this by looking at how the dissents took an aberrant and incorrect...

he Supreme Court ruled in two cases framing Unitary Executive theory.  So it’s entirely appropriate that we have two great experts on the topic joining us.  Steve Calabresi literally wrote the book on this theory, and perhaps it’s not surprising that he is more pure than the Court itself.  Meanwhile, Vik Amar has seen his theories concerning non-delegation and Congressional lock-in come up again a...

America gets a 250th birthday present from the Supreme Court as Chief Justice John Roberts authors an opinion for the ages in Trump v. Barbara.  The Court went big and decided on the basis of the Constitution, not merely the Congressional statutes, that Abraham Lincoln's wish for the nation, birthright citizenship, which gives rise to the chance for birth equality and therefore the "new birth of f...

In the wake of our recent discussion on private vs state action, a recent incident in New York regarding US Representative Dan Goldman’s banishment from a coffee shop because of his political stance brings these issues home, with additional questions related to public accommodations and more.  Meanwhile, the Supreme Court faced some of these similar issues in the case of Wolford v. Lopez, decided...

The tributes to Gordon Wood have been pouring in, and as promised, we spend this episode with him and his peerless body of work.  Professor Steven Calabresi, Gordon’s neighbor, friend, and colleague, joins us, and how appropriate that is, as Steve and Akhil produced a tribute weekend at Yale Law School that reviewed and celebrated his lifetime of work.  Now we remember the man, the teacher, and mo...

There’s some highly questionable behavior going on in an area of Missouri, where a fringe group seeks to establish a whites-only enclave.  Objectionable?  We think so.  Unconstitutional?  Therein lies an opening to a whole host of questions.  Government action versus private action.  When is private action beyond private purview?  When does state action overlap into private domains, and where are...

It is an honor to introduce the initial episode of our new sister podcast: The Blessings of Liberty, hosted by Jeffrey Rosen, president emeritus of the National Constitution Center and Professor of Law at GW.  Prof. Rosen begins with a bang, as he holds a discussion with US Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, including two books newly authored or contributed to by Justice Gorsuch.  We precede this...

It’s time for listener questions, and no surprise that current events are on everyone’s mind.  We range from the supposed weaponization slush fund, to pardons;  illegal military orders; simultaneous office holding; and lots of converse-1983 discussion.  And Professor Amar looks at a possible error in one of his books.  Great questions from a great audience, and Akhil answers them without prep, on...

After weeks of tracing the background history and constitutional principles at work on religious establishment, free exercise, and equality issues, the Administration on cue sponsors, holds, staffs, and headlines a “Rededication 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving,” complete with a virtually all-Christian (one Jew) speaker roster, a White House website, money from Congress...

Our journey through the centuries of religious practice, attitudes, and constitutionalism has reached the 20th century, when several presidential elections set mileposts for the American religious debate.  The first major party Catholic candidate, Al Smith, met the worst sort of vitriol and prejudice, and was destroyed by it.  This cast a shadow over the later campaign of John F. Kennedy, and he a...

As the 10 commandments case makes its way towards the Supreme Court, we add another chapter to our study of the historical events and factors that went into the American constitutional tradition when it comes to religious freedom, religious establishment, and the relationship of government and religion as a whole.  We begin this episode where The Words That Made Us began - in 1760.  We take it for...