Amarica's Constitution

The Amars’ amicus brief in Moore vs. United States is the talk of the legal ecosphere.  Akhil’s co-author, Professor Vik Amar, joins us for analysis of the precedents that followed Hylton - faithful and otherwise.  This tour de force of legal analysis is perfectly suited for your CLE credit.  We also look at recent comments from the Supreme Court on Moore’s issues, and survey the reactions to the...

In our 150th episode, we present the amicus brief in Moore v. United States, authored by Professor Amar with his brother, Professor Vikram Amar.  Reminder: CLE credit is available after listening by going to podcast.njsba.com .  The brief begins with the provocative statement that most other briefs in the case have missed the point?  What is the point that they missed?  We explain how their focus...

The follies in the House have ended, for now.  Many Americans looked upon the travesty with despair, wondering if our government might yet be up to the task of leading and reaching beyond party to find country and duty.  We take a good look and search for places where reaching across the aisle might still take place - and we try to do our part and go beyond demonizing those not in our own party. ...

Still no speaker.  Is it really the case that the House can’t do anything?  How might it work?  What about Section 3 of the 14th Amendment - does it play any role in the Speaker selection process?  Meanwhile, we turn towards the other Jordan and see the dangers of insecure borders that are inherently hard to defend.  Professor Amar explains how this simple fact led him to insights that resulted in...

The House is at it again, and there is no Speaker in the chair as of this recording.  So many implications - for Presidential succession, for democratic governance, for legislative stalemate.  Meanwhile violence escalates in the Middle East.  How are these connected?  We explore all these, and Akhil has some fascinating originalist analyses - of history you surely didn’t know; of structural reason...

After the Court decided important voting rights and affirmative action cases last term, these issues are back either before the Court or apparently headed for it. Why? We look at Allen v. Milligan, and affirmative action in the service academies, and find that the bounce-back of what seem to be entirely unrelated cases in fact demonstrates important constitutional and indeed originalist principles...

The career of America’s greatest investigative reporter has spanned more than 50 years, and Bob Woodward has told the stories of eleven presidents, the Supreme Court, the Intelligence Community, and indeed the American political system with a penetrating, persistent drive towards the truth. (LAWYERS AND JUDGES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION CREDIT by visiting podcast.njsba.com after l...

It’s almost October, and the Supreme Court readies to hear a new set of cases.  The Roberts Court seems defined above all by the Dobbs decision at this point.  The opinion, authored by Justice Alito, has been exhaustively dissected, but looking forward, we see various states taking further and more extreme actions.  What role will the so-called swing justices, some of whom wrote concurrences in th...

It’s an assortment of topics as listeners response to some recent developments and nagging questions.  We revisit the 303 case, specifically the dissent, as Justice Jackson lays out an interesting hypothetical that doesn’t produce, perhaps, the intended response - at least from Professor Amar.  Meanwhile, Justice Alito is back in the news with his judicial Declaration of Independence - Akhil may n...

Two recent major podcast themes - section 3 of the fourteenth amendment, and judicial ethics - echoed through the news this past week.  Wisconsin legislators seek to impeach a new state Supreme Court Justice before she even sits for a case; and in Washington, Justice Alito is asked to recuse himself because of an interview he gave. Meanwhile, Section 3 is addressed by a former US Attorney General,...

***CLE Available*** We continue our exclusive discussion with the Professors Baude and Paulsen, authors of the bombshell article declaring Trump ineligible for the Presidency.  This time we explore some concerns that have been voiced in the media and elsewhere; we look at how this provision might make itself effective in practice.  We trace the possible routes such an effort might take; where woul...

***CLE available*** In a special episode, the two distinguished authors of a recent major article, which dives deep into Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment and finds that Donald Trump is disqualified from the Presidency, join us for a thoughtful and rigorous examination of the tough questions about their conclusions.  These are leading conservative scholars who have gone where their methodologi...

Everyone needs a translator, and for decades there have been few better than Washington Post columnist, reporter, and editor Ruth Marcus.  She has made understandable the intricacies of many a Supreme Court matter, not to mention the vicissitudes of other Washington institutions.  Now, with Federal and State cases against former president Trump pending, the complexities are impressive, but we take...

Ex-President Trump faces a number of trials, and he doesn’t like where some of them are.  Too many Democrats, or he doesn’t like the judge.  Does he have recourse?  No surprise - Professor Amar has written on this subject.  There is a fascinating history behind it, an originalism analysis, and, most importantly - an answer.  Changes of venue, bench trials, peremptory challenges, unanimous verdicts...

He's baaack.  Former President Trump has been arraigned once again, this time on serious federal charges related to the very heart of democracy - the election itself.  Special Counsel Jack Smith continues to discharge his appointed function by bringing charges he deems warranted.  Beyond Smith, however, do the American people have other means of redress?  And if Trump is guilty, will these prosecu...

We return to the affirmative action case, and again former Yale Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, Jeffrey Brenzel, joins us with his peerless expertise.  The fallout of the opinion is enormous ,and we address some of its ramifications, including legacy admissions, donor admissions, private vs. public institutional options, admissions departments’ responses, and much more.  What about the new front...

What’s in a name?  This week, it’s “Amar was wrong - Amar was right.”  Two weeks ago it was “bigots” and many made much of that.  So we take the feedback seriously and revisit it - you can judge the result.  Meanwhile, news from Long Island brings the 4th amendment to the fore again, and in a somewhat different way.  Different - how?  Listen and find out how to create a better jurisprudence withou...

It’s time to discuss the Affirmative Action cases from Harvard and the University of North Carolina, and we have brought in an expert on college admissions - Jeff Brenzel, the former Dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Yale.  Jeff is so much more than that - he has taught at Yale as a lecturer in philosophy and humanities; is the former head of the Alumni Association, and is a current trustee at M...

A Colorado website designer refuses to create sites for gay couples’ weddings, going afoul of Colorado’s public accommodations law.  Can she be compelled to author such a site?  The Court has ruled, and we have the analysis.  Along the way, we find ourselves discussing the intricacies of stipulations, and getting into the fine points of how one gets to federal court, even as we consider more mains...

The Supreme Court has ruled in the Independent State Legislature case, Moore v. Harper.  As we have from the beginning, we look at the case from the point of view of the precedents, of the history, the constitutional issues and implications, and the inner dynamics of the Court and beyond.  As an author in a key amicus brief, Professor Amar is on the inside, and now so are you, as we take the opini...

It’s Supreme Court opinion season, and just before this week’s upload came the happy news of the Moore v. Harper decision.  We’ll be back with details on that soon enough, of course.  Prior to that, however, the Court issued some fascinating decisions last week, including in the case of Samia v. United States.  This confrontation clause/Sixth Amendment case happens to hit one of Professor Amar’s m...

The Supreme Court upheld various provisions of the controversial Indian Child Welfare Act last week.  The facts of Haaland v. Brackeen, and some provisions of the Act, raise dramatic questions about questions of best interests of children, of the nature of tribal entities, and of who speaks for whom.  The opinion itself largely sidesteps many of these questions and instead dives into areas which P...

All eyes are on Miami, where Donald Trump faces justice.  But should it be Miami?  Should it be this judge, who has such a checkered history in this case?  What does the Constitution say about these and other issues this case brings forth?  What about precedents?  It’s just the beginning, but we are ready to take on these and other issues.

In this season of college commencements, our eyes were caught by an honorary degree given to Yale Professor, Federal Judge, and scholar Guido Calabresi. This episode will review his many contributions to America’s constitutional landscape, and to Professor Amar in particular. Prepare for a Paper Chase-like journey through the world of Guido Calabresi as seen through the eyes of Akhil Amar.

Congress is attempting to pass a bill that would implement a deal that President Biden reached with Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans.  The issues are many - what does the President due if the bill is not passed?  How imminent is the threat of default?  Would a default be constitutional?  Does the Constitution require any action by the President in such a situation?  What does the 14 Amendmen...