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

The sudden death on Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Saturday has unleashed huge shockwaves in both the presidential race and the legal community. Luckily, Slate has podcasts covering both areas. In this special joint episode, Amicus host Dahlia Lithwick joins Political Gabfest panelists Emily Bazelon and David Plotz to look at all the possible repercussions of Scalia’s death. Transcripts o...

On this episode, Dahlia asks why the Supreme Court has been almost absent as a campaign issue, despite the fact that the next president could have the opportunity to reshape the Court’s bench.  She is joined by UC-Irvine law professor  Erwin Chemerinsky. Transcripts of  Amicus  are available to  Slate Plus  members. Consider signing up today! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podca...

In  Heffernan v City of Paterson , the Supreme Court must decide whether a government worker can be punished for a political belief his employers attribute to him – rightly  or  wrongly. This week, Dahlia speaks with lawyers on both sides of the topsy-turvy case. Please let us know what you think of  Amicus . Our email is  amicus@slate.com .

 Subscribe to our podcast  here . You can find past epi...

This week, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could undercut the ability of public sector unions to raise money. Dahlia is joined by Cato Institute’s Ilya Shapiro and U. of Michigan’s Sam Bagenstos, who submitted briefs on opposite sides of the case. Please let us know what you think of  Amicus . Our email is  amicus@slate.com . Subscribe to our podcast  here . You can find past episodes of o...

Dahlia speaks with attorney  Mary Kathryn Nagle  about  Dollar General Corporation v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians ,  a major Native American rights case argued at the Supreme Court earlier this month. Please let us know what you think of  Amicus . Our email is  amicus@slate.com . Subscribe to our podcast  here . You can find past episodes of our show  here . Podcast production by Tony Fiel...

What is the meaning of “one person, one vote? That’s the main question in  Evenwel v. Abbott,  argued this week at the Supreme Court. On this episode, Dahlia speaks with  Andrew Grossman  and  Nathaniel Persily  -- experts on opposing sides of the case. She also plays a few highlights from the week’s big affirmative action case,  Fisher v University of Texas at Austin . Please let us know what you...

A half-century after  Brown v. Board of Education , should the Supreme Court still be in the business of integrating public schools and universities? Dahlia sits down with University of Virginia legal historian  Risa Golubuff  to discuss the backdrop to the term’s big affirmative action case,  Fisher v University of Texas . Please let us know what you think of  Amicus . Our email is  amicus@slate....

Dahlia speaks with Carter Phillips, the lawyer who represented Tyson Foods at the Supreme Court this week in Tyson's attempt to dismiss a class action suit by its workers. She also considers the love-hate relationship between presidential hopefuls and the high court. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Subscribe to our podcast here. Want a transcript of this...

Dahlia previews Foster v. Chatman, a Supreme Court appeal that contends with the problem of racial bias in the process of jury selection. Her guests include Stephen Bright, president of the Southern Center for Human Rights; and Glenn Ivey, a former prosecutor who has joined an amicus brief in support of the man at the center of Foster. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Our email is amic...

Dahlia speaks with law professor Robert J. Smith about Montgomery v. Louisiana, a Supreme Court case that focuses on a man who has served 53 years in prison for a murder he committed as a juvenile. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Subscribe to our podcast here. Want a transcript of this week’s episode? They’re all available to members of Slate Plus on our...

As serious questions about lethal injection protocols continue to swirl, Dahlia speaks with The Marshall Project’s Andrew Cohen about where the Supreme Court currently stands on the constitutionality of the death penalty. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Subscribe to our podcast here. Want a transcript of this week’s episode? They’re all available to memb...

Dahlia sits down with the LA Times’ David Savage to consider three of the big cases on the SCOTUS docket this fall -- and whether liberals are right to be worried about the outcomes of those cases.***********Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members. Consider signing up today! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today here....

Dahlia sits down with Linda Hirshman, author of Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World. Hirshman recounts the two women’s rise to the SCOTUS bench and reflects on the impact they’ve had.**************Subscribe to our podcast here. Want a transcript of this week’s episode? They’re all available to members of Slate Plus. Consid...

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, Dahlia sits down with The Nation’s Ari Berman to discuss the decades-long campaign to roll back the achievements of the landmark 1965 legislation.*************************Please let us know what you think of our legal affairs podcast. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members. Consider signing up...

Dahlia sits down with three fellow SCOTUS-watchers — Kenji Yoshino, Mark Joseph Stern, and Christian Turner — to reflect on the just-completed term and how it will go down in history. Transcripts of Amicus are available to Slate Plus members. Consider signing up today! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today here. Amicus is sponsored by...

With the ink barely dry on two momentous Supreme Court decisions affecting marriage equality and health care, Dahlia discusses the history, high points, and likely impact of those decisions with Walter Dellinger, professor of law at Duke University, a Slate contributor, and the former head of the Office of Legal Counsel from 1993 to 1996.   First, Dahlia and Walter reflect on Friday's 5-4 decision...

Dahlia is joined by The Atlantic’s Garrett Epps to parse the latest batch of 5-4 decisions from SCOTUS. They included rulings on immigration, free speech, and the death penalty, and involved some strange alliances among the Justices.*************************Want a transcript of this week’s episode? They’re all available to members of Slate Plus. Consider signing up today -- members get bonus segme...

This week, Dahlia speaks with a former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas about the strong stances that Thomas has been taking recently. And she asks what’s at stake in a big challenge to “One Person One Vote” that SCOTUS will take up next term. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Subscribe to our podcast here. Want a transcript of this week’s episode? They’re...

On today’s episode, Dahlia takes stock of the big whammy decisions just around the corner at the Supreme Court, and considers a few of the major abortion cases that could be following shortly on their heels. Please let us know what you think of Amicus, our legal affairs podcast. Our email is amicus@slate.com. This week’s episode was sponsored by The Great Courses. Get up to 80% off the original pr...

This week we learned that Natalie Portman will play a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a new film about the Supreme Court Justice. On this episode, Dahlia and her guests consider the recent explosion of Court-related dramatizations on the stage and screen. Please let us know what you think of Amicus, our legal affairs podcast. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments,...

This week, we take you inside the courtroom for the recent gay marriage case at the Supreme Court. Dahlia listens to highlights of oral arguments with Douglas Hallward-Driemeier, one of the lawyers who represented same-sex couples in the historic case. Please let us know what you think of Amicus, our legal affairs podcast. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Our archives, which include discussions of o...

In anticipation of big decisions on marriage equality and Obamacare, many are talking about the balance of political power on the Supreme Court. Dahlia Lithwick speaks with two court watchers about the extent to which the Justices are political actors. Please let us know what you think of Amicus, our legal affairs podcast. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Subscribe to our podcast here: https://itune...

On April 28, the Supreme Court will finally take up the constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans. Dahlia Lithwick previews the cases with Paul Smith, the lawyer involved in the 2003 gay rights case that helped set the stage for this historic event. Please let us know what you think of Amicus, our legal affairs podcast. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments,...

How should the EPA weigh costs when regulating toxic emissions? Dahlia Lithwick speaks with lawyers on both sides of a Supreme Court case posing that question. And she reviews the highlights of a case testing the limits of free speech on license plates. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at http://slate.com/podcast....

Seven years after ruling that detainees at Guantanamo Bay were entitled to the protections of the U.S. Constitution, the Supreme Court seems to have turned its back on the remaining detainees there. On this week’s episode, we ask why. This week’s episode is sponsored by HBO. Its documentary series “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst” airs Sundays at 8.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus...