Amicus: A Law Review

It's Saturday in America, and you know what that means. It means former US Attorney James Santelle is catching you up on the Supreme Court, International Affairs, and the aftermath of January 6th Insurrection.

James Santelle wraps up this last month of Supreme Court rulings and more this week on Morning Cannoli's.

Resuming our traditional “This Day in History” segment, we begin with recollections of the catastrophic events of July 4, 2022—in which a young man, using an assault weapon and a high-capacity magazine, fired 70 rounds of ammunition into a crowd of Independence Day parade-goers in Highland Park, causing the deaths of seven and injuries to many more. Pondering again the heath care, Rule of Law, and...

Beginning the next significant series of broadcasts during this important time in the annual history of our High Court—when, consistent with tradition, its Members release their major decisions, including explanatory opinions, tempering concurrences, and increasingly vitriolic dissents. And observing the one-year anniversary of the landmark decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—...

Starting our second year on the broadcast networks of Civic Media with one of the most significant events ever in law, government, and the aspiration for justice in America—namely, the first time in our nation’s history that a former President has been charged with federal crimes. Focusing on the 38 allegations against him and his assistant-bodyguard for withholding national defense information, c...

Expressions of appreciation for the listening audience and especially on-air callers for supporting the mission and goal of this show—that is, reviewing, analyzing, and discussing the most significant weekly news stories in the realms of law, government, and the aspiration for justice in America. Consistently asking (and answering) three pivotal questions—namely, what do we know?; why is it import...

Starting the final broadcast of our first year on the Civic Media airwaves with a special segment of “What Happened Today in History”—highlighting the return in 1994 of Russian dissident and Nobel Prize Winner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to the Soviet Union (after the dismissal of criminal charges against him) and the 1935 decision of the United States Supreme Court invalidating President Roosevelt’s N...

In substitution of the fairly routine invocation and description of significant events on the broadcast “Day in History,” opening this time with two landmark occurrences in recent human history—beginning with the 75 th anniversary of the creation of the modern state of Israel (and the reactions to it, both civilian and military, in the decades since then), followed by an analysis of the 49-year-ol...

Reflecting, first, on the Rule of Law overseas—including the abiding tradition of the United Kingdom to support and, at least in part, serve under a monarch (as witnessed in the coronation of King Charles III), long rejected by our nation’s founding fathers in favor of what was, 234 years ago, a completely novel form of checks and balances among three discrete branches of a national government (in...

In another invocation of our (occasional special) segment entitled “Undiscovered Justice,” stories of our times at the intersection of popular music, intellectual property, and judicial intervention—examining the civil court action brought by the estate of the late, great song stylist Marvin Gaye against current popular musician Ed Sheeran, based on allegations that the latter stole a core series...

In the first hour, an omnibus sweep of the great flurry of news stories in the arenas of law enforcement, judicial activity, and the delivery (however imperfect) of justice in America—beginning with the start of the Tree of Life Synagogue hate crimes trial in Pittsburgh, effectively assigned to the jury the decision of whether the death penalty should be imposed on the defendant for his malicious...

Following a return to our now-traditional “What Happened Today in (Often Rule of Law-Related) History,” examination and explanation of the just-issued decision by the United States Supreme Court, effectively reversing (if only for now) the findings of lower federal courts removing access to the abortion and miscarriage drug, mifepristone. Discussion of what is next in this continuing post-Dobbs v....

At a time of inter-faith observance of Ramadan, Passover, and Easter among our fellow Muslim, Jewish, and Christian residents, respectively, another broadcast on “Undiscovered Justice”—this time, focusing on the celebration of Vaisakhi by members of Sikh congregations throughout our state, nation, and world. A description of the historical development of the 500-year-old faith, now commemorating b...

Beginning this broadcast with another supremely “late breaking” story, our focused exposition and in-depth analysis of two overtly “competing” decisions from the federal courts—both affecting the broad right to privacy and its especially important application to reproductive/abortion rights: In the Northern District of Texas, a trial judge finding inadequate, unsupported, and invalid the Food &amp...

At the start of the broadcast, the first of what will be semi-regular segments featuring justice-focused news that, for various reasons, has not received the media and public attention that it rightly deserves—this week, turning our attention to what millions of Israeli citizens have been and continue to pursue in their protests against the anti-judicial proposals of the Prime Minister. The openin...

Beginning with an updating analysis of some among the many, diverse criminal investigations and civil actions involving former President Donald Trump—including the campaign “hush money” scheme of 2016 being pursued by the Manhattan District Attorney, the election fraud and voting interference efforts in Georgia being led by the Fulton County District Attorney, the $250 million lawsuit against Trum...

Broadcasting live from one of the state’s most important gatherings of civic leaders, advocates, and residents concerned about and motivated to act to protect the foundations of our free, embracing, and forward-looking society, another in the series of discussions of the important news items of our times—as understood through the informing lens of civics, law, and government. Beginning with an exp...

Beginning the last in a three-arc series focusing special attention on the actions and impacts of our Supreme Court is a brief examination of some of its historical and recent demographics—including the first Justices to diversify representation in the areas of race, gender, religion, and even age. Followed by reporting on the (still unaccomplished) creation and enforcement of a practical, meaning...

In this second of the three-arc series focusing special attention on the works and impacts of our Supreme Court—beginning with a brief historical review of some of the long-lasting traditions of it—the promised, extensive examination of two of the most important decisions in contemporary American history: Highlighting, first, the 2008 ruling (breaking with 200 years of precedent) that the Second A...

[The First Segment in a Three-Part Arc Reporting on News of the High Court] In a modest departure from the usual broadcast format, the initial presentation and analysis of the works and impacts of our Supreme Court—beginning with an exposition of its foundations in Article III of the Constitution and a review of its early history, including the seminal decisions establishing its authority to tell...

Beginning with an extensive review of some major, country-defining events on this day in American history (that continue to reverberate and impact our 21st Century lives)—including the order by President Roosevelt to place in internment camps over 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry as the United States entered World War II against the Axis Powers. Then focusing on an equally extensive series o...

Focusing on four major Rule of Law developments of this past week—beginning with the anticipated decision of a federal judge in Texas on whether a 22-year-old approval by the Food & Drug Administration of a well-tested and thoroughly reviewed abortion drug will stand, following the Supreme Court ruling last year eliminating a constitutional right to reproductive rights. Then an update on the c...

Observing (among other, important Rule of Law events at this time in our history) the 20th anniversary of unfounded and misleading representations by a former Secretary of State about Saddam Hussein’s purported possession of “weapons of mass destruction” –leading to the invasion of Iraq and, three years later, my own volunteer assignment as the Justice Attaché and a Rule of Law Coordinator there,...

Devoting a full hour to exposition, analysis, understanding, and reaction to the tragic and horrifying murder of Tyre Nichols by five Memphis Police Officers in early January—including a graphic review of four videotapes of the stops, apprehensions, assaults, and beatings that led to the appropriate firings and state charges. Embedded in that examination, a prediction of Justice Department involve...

Beginning the discussion with a review of our constitutional right to privacy, as first articulated clearly in 1965 and reaffirmed broadly until 2021, when the Supreme Court of the United States not only rescinded nearly 50 years of access to abortion but also placed in jeopardy many other fundamental privileges and prerogatives in the areas of personal relationships and private decision-making. A...