Show Cause - A Memphis Law Podcast

This episode features two individuals who have helped redefine what a family looks like in the 21st century United States. The first is a leading voice at the intersection of family law, constitutional law, and LGBTQ rights—Douglas NeJaime, the Anne Urowsky Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Our second guest is our very own Professor Regina Hillman, a member of the Obergefell v. Hodges legal tea...

In this episode of Show Cause, we welcome Shannon Minter, the Vice President and Legal Director of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, to discuss his involvement in an event at Memphis Law examining an upcoming Supreme Court case regarding trans athletes and school sports teams and also talk with him about the history of the LGBTQ rights movement, it's history, it's future, and his role in all o...

This episode of Show Cause features Memphis Law 2L, Jeff Engle. Jeff is the current Director of Technology & Resources for the AI & The Law Society and joins the show to share some information about the new student organization he's a part of, as well as the reasons why this is such an opportune time for AI & The Law Society to launch at the law school. Additionally, drawing upon h...

For years, the U.S. government has tried to police antitrust and monopoly issues in the technology industry with varying degrees of success. Several recent rulings have pushed the topic back into the spotlight, with a landmark ruling in a case against Google garnering headlines across the country, though many experts say Google is still winning in the long-term game of monopoly. Additionally, Epic...

This episode of Show Cause focuses on a forward-thinking solution to the conservation and future use of the Mid-South's greatest natural resource, the Middle Claiborne Aquifer. In the groundbreaking ruling in Mississippi v. Tennessee, the Middle Claiborne Aquifer was declared an interstate body of water, similar to the Great Lakes and the Colorado River, both of which have extensive agricultur...

We’re joined in this episode by two special guests to talkabout a variety of things, including the unique experiences our students receive via our externship program and an in-depth conversation with one of Memphis’s extraordinary judges, touching on his involvement with Memphis Law, dedication to the legal community, and his efforts in making the legal profession more accessible and less intimida...

The law school’s Disability Rights Law Clinic will kick off next semester, giving students even more chances to make a real difference in the lives of Memphians through their legal work. So, this seemed like a great time to have Professor Jeff Miller join us to really give some insight into just what this clinic will focus on and why it’s unique. He shares some insight into what exactly Disability...

This episode focuses on Memphis Law's partnership with Everytown For Gun Safety and Le Bonheur Children's Hospital to help the pediatric victims of gun violence in the Mid-South. Abigail Weiss, the law school's "Everytown Legal Fellow," joins the podcast to go into detail about the work being done by her and her students in our Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic at Le Bonheur, where they help addres...

Thanks to the Memphis Sands Aquifer, Memphis has some of the best drinking water in the world. But the quality of that water may be at risk due to the recent Supreme Court ruling in Sackett v. EPA, which stripped federal protections from a massive amount of wetlands across the country, including the wetlands that help "recharge" and filter the water flowing into our very own aquifer. Recent state...

The concept of NCAA student-athletes being recognized as employees has brought about intense debate surrounding NIL deals and regulations. In this episode, we delve into many of the relevant issues such as the ability of student-athletes unionization or players associations, insurance, the implications of student-athletes being "fired" and losing scholarships, increased costs on behalf o...

Today's space industry is a more than $500 billion dollar enterprise, with commercial spaceflight, governmental contracts, telecommunications, mining, solar power, and overall space tourism all making up the many facets of the field. But as governments the world over, as well as billionaires like Elon Musk and Richard Branson are racing to carve up outer space and establish a presence there, w...

On today’s episode of Show Cause, we’re focusing on one of Memphis’ extremely important non-profit legal services provider in the Community Legal Center, or as most everyone in the legal community here refers to it, the CLC. 2024 is the CLC’s 30th anniversary and as such, it seemed a great time to have some of their folks come on to talk about the important work that they are doing in the Mid-Sout...

This episode focuses on our upcoming Law Review Symposium entitled "The Path of Least Resistance: How Marginalized Communities are Targeted by Harmful Infrastructures and Land Uses." For anyone interested in issues such as water access, housing, wastewater, and other infrastructure that impacts the well-being of communities, as well as the disparities in how low-income communities fare i...

Earlier this year, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that individuals with orders of protection against them must be allowed to keep their guns. This overturned a federal statute that prohibits firearm possession by individuals who a court determined pose a credible threat to the safety of an intimate partner or child. This episode of Show Cause focuses on United States v. Rahimi , the firs...

In this episode, we take a look at a number of international news items that have received alot of attention lately. We're joined by our own resident international law expert, Professor Ronnie Gipson, as he becomes the podcast's most frequent guest on his 3rd visit on the show. He goes over issues and news items regarding the recent helicopter crash in Russia involving Wagner military grou...

Marijuana and cannabis-based products are everywhere these days. Even in states like Tennessee, where marijuana and THC-derived products are still recreationally and medically illegal, weed is still making waves, both legislatively and from a consumer perspective. Here in Tennessee, the most recent to-do about marijuana centers around Delta-8, which is sort of the gentler, and more importantly, le...

This episode takes a look at Tennessee's Adult Entertainment Act and the recent ruling from a Federal District Court judge in Memphis which found it unconstitutional. Memphis Law professor Regina Hillman joins the show to discuss a wide array of LGBTQ related topics, from the ripple effects from legislation like the Adult Entertainment Act and how it plays out across our culture, as well as th...

Today’s guest has an incredibly timely book addressing the differences, and some surprising similarities, between these two pillars of the Court, and the still unfolding impact of the transition from Justice Marshall to his replacement on the bench in Justice Thomas. Our very own Professor Daniel Kiel has authored the forthcoming book, “The Transition: Interpreting Justice from Thurgood Marshall t...

In this episode of Show Cause, we are joined by two of our very own Memphis Law professors (Associate Dean Jodi Wilson and Professor Jennifer Brobst) to talk about the fears, implications, applications, ideas and future of AI programs like ChatGPT and the broader concept of technology’s impact in the classroom. ChatGPT is a new chatbot program developed by OpenAI and which is capable of writing co...

How do abortion access, FAA enforcement of airline refunds, airplane crashes, pilot arrest and detainment, and the history of the airline industry and international airline standards all tie together? Find out in episode 11 of Show Cause as we're joined by International Law and Aviation Law expert, our very own Professor Ronnie Gipson.  As the travel season ramps up again, everyone can relate...

In this episode, we take a deep dive into the history of the building we call home, with a focus on the massive undertaking that was its redesign and modernization. Our guest is Bill Nixon, the lead architect and project director for the project that saw our historical home transform into what it is today.  He joins us ahead of an upcoming event at the law school on Friday, November 4th in ou...

The US Supreme Court recently announced that it would hear a case this Fall that could radically reshape how federal elections are conducted. It could give state legislatures independent power, which would not be subject to review by state courts, to set election rules that could be in direct conflict with their own state constitutions. In short, it could give state legislatures unchecked power to...

In this episode, we take a look back at the landmark United States Supreme Court case in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage in the U.S. Our very own Professor Regina Hillman was a part of the legal team that took this case to the Supreme Court, and she joins us in this episode to take us behind the scenes a bit and explain what it was like to be a part of such a monumental mom...

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the President Nixon's "Week That Changed the World" trip to Communist China that effectively ended the United States’ long isolation from the People’s Republic of China. The status of Taiwan and U.S.-China relations have never been the same since. For today’s episode of Show Cause, we spoke with Memphis Law professor Ronnie Gipson about the fallout from that...

At the start of the pandemic, especially during the quarantine phase, we all saw the constant posts on social media about all of the free time people had for new hobbies, exercising, cleaning, and random projects. But those individuals trying to juggle being an all of a sudden 24/7 parent and young professional with a career often felt like they were drowning in an environment of constant kids and...