Author: Slate Podcasts

In the lead-up to November’s presidential election, Donald Trump released a list of 21 potential Supreme Court nominees in what many saw as an effort to mollify conservatives who tend to worry about these sorts of things. Now, that list has reportedly been narrowed to eight. On this episode, we sit down with William Jay, a former clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia, to discuss Scalia’s possible successors.

We also speak with Jack Robinson, a lawyer for the special-needs student at the center of Endrew F. v Douglas City School District. The case is scheduled for argument at the Supreme Court next week, and Robinson explains why special-education advocates are watching the case so closely.

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 here.

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Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Follow us on Facebook here. Podcast production by Tony Field.

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“[N]o person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.” These words, from Article I of the U.S. Constitution, make it unambiguously clear to many legal scholars that Donald Trump will be committing an impeachable offense by not relinquishing an ownership stake in his multiple companies before Jan 20.  Zephyr Teachout is among those scholars, and joins us to explain why corruption in the presidency was such anathema to the nation’s founders.

In the remainder of today’s episode, we share a few highlights from a recent symposium about the current state of free speech on campus. The event was organized by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. You can watch videos of the entire two-day event here.

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 here.

Amicus is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, a video learning service with a large library of lectures all taught by award-winning professors. Get a free month of unlimited access when you sign up at TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/amicus.

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Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Follow us on Facebook here. Podcast production by Tony Field.

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On Monday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in McCrory v. Harris and Bethune-Hill v. Virginia Board of Elections, two challenges to Republican gerrymandering efforts that resulted in the creation of majority-minority voting districts. At issue is whether lawmakers in Virginia and North Carolina were motivated primarily by racial considerations or only secondarily so. Marc Elias, the lawyer who represented the challengers in both cases, joins us to explain why the distinction is so critical.

We also consider the revolt that’s underway in the Electoral College. A small group of electors calling themselves the Hamilton Electors are seeking to be unbound from state requirements that they vote as their state voted. Legal scholar Carolyn Shapiro explains why she believes the Hamilton Electors should be taken seriously.

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 here.

Amicus is brought to you by the Great Courses Plus, a video learning service with a large library of lectures all taught by award-winning professors. Get a free month of unlimited access when you sign up at TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/amicus. And by First Republic Bank. At First Republic, the staff takes the time to know your business and customize solutions to help you reach your goals. Visit FirstRepublic.com today to hear what their clients say about them. Please let us know what you think of Amicus.

Our email is amicus@slate.com. Follow us on Facebook here. Podcast production by Tony Field.

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Just a few weeks into the era of President-elect Donald Trump, and already there is a lot of bruising around the edges of the Constitution. The past few weeks have brought talk of Muslim registries, jail time for flag burners, restrictions on voting and the sweet mystery of the Emoluments Clause. This week, we sit down with U.S. Senator Chris Coons to discuss how much of this talk we should take seriously, and where the true threats to Americans’ constitutional protections lie.

We also speak with Neal Katyal, former Acting Solicitor General of the United States, about the 1944 Supreme Court decision that upheld the internment of Japanese-Americans. In 2011, Katyal issued an official apology for the role of one of his predecessors in that case. Korematsu v United Stateshas been in the news again recently, after one Trump surrogate cited it as a “precedent” for a possible Trump Administration program that would require the registration of immigrants from a handful of predominantly Muslim countries.

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 here.

Amicus is brought to you by the Great Courses Plus, a video learning service with a large library of lectures all taught by award-winning professors. Get a free month of unlimited access when you sign up at TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/amicus. And by First Republic Bank. At First Republic, they take the time to know your business and customize solutions to help you reach your goals. Visit FirstRepublic.com today to hear what their clients say about them.

Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Follow us on Facebook here. Podcast production by Tony Field.

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In the days leading up to Election Day, conservative legal scholar Orin Kerr explained why he would be crossing the aisle to vote for a Democrat. On this episode, he tells us why the prospect of a President Trump frightened him so much, and what we can expect in the way of checks and balances on executive power for the next four years.

We also speak with Garrett Epps, who wrote in The Atlantic this week that Trump is “a figure out of authoritarian politics, not the American tradition.” Epps observes that Trump has expressed contempt for nearly every article in the Bill of Rights, and deserves to be taken at his word.

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 here.

Amicus is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, a video learning service with a large library of lectures all taught by award-winning professors. Get a free month of unlimited access when you sign up at TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/amicus. And by First Republic Bank. At First Republic, they take the time to know your business and customize solutions to help you reach your goals. Visit FirstRepublic.com today to hear what their clients say about them.

Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Follow us on Facebook here. Podcast production by Tony Field.

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In the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County v Holder, many states made changes to their voting laws that may disproportionately harm minorities. This week, lawyers in Ohio filed an emergency motion with the Supreme Court requesting a suspension of voting restrictions in their state. One of those lawyers, Subodh Chandra, joins us to explain why.

We also speak with Wendy Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, about the potential impact of Donald Trump’s recent warnings about vote-rigging. She explains why long-term neglect of our voting infrastructure is a much bigger threat than either vote tampering or self-styled poll watchers.

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 here.

Amicus is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, a video learning service with a large library of lectures all taught by award-winning professors. Get a free month of unlimited access when you sign up at TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/amicus.

And by Blue Apron. For less than $10 per meal, Blue Apron delivers meal kits right to your door to make cooking at home easy. Get your first THREE meals FREE by going to BlueApron.com/amicus.

Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Follow us on Facebook here. 

Podcast production by Tony Field.

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After President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court in March, there was widespread speculation that opposing his confirmation hearings could have political costs for Republican senators. But seven months later, it’s not clear how much the GOP’s continued obstructionism will matter to voters next month. On this episode, we discuss Obama’s handling of the Supreme Court vacancy with White House Counsel Neil Eggleston and Brian Deese, Senior Adviser to the President.

We also take a closer look at Peña Rodriguez v. Colorado, an important case about jury bias that was argued at the Supreme Court this week. Jeffrey Fisher, who represented the petitioner, joins us to explain why blatantly racist comments uttered by a juror in a criminal trial should invalidate that trial’s verdict. 

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 here. 

Amicus is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, a video learning service with a large library of lectures all taught by award-winning professors. Get a free month of unlimited access when you sign up at TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/amicus. 

And by Blue Apron. For less than 10 dollars per meal, Blue Apron delivers meal kits right to your door to make cooking at home easy. Get your first THREE meals

FREE by going to BlueApron.com/amicus.

Subscribe to our podcast here. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Follow us at Facebook here. 

Podcast production by Tony Field.

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The 2016 Supreme Court term gets underway next week, but don’t get too excited. Eager to avoid any more 4-4 split decisions, the eight remaining justices have cobbled together a caseload that steers clear of the big social questions that defined the court’s past two terms. SCOTUSblog founder and publisher Tom Goldstein joins us for our annual survey of what’s ahead. 

We also speak with former federal judge Shira Scheindlin. In 2013, she ruled that stop-and-frisk tactics were being used unconstitutionally by the NYPD. Because of that ruling, she was accused this week by Donald Trump of being “very against police.” 

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 here. 

Amicus is brought to you by The Great Courses Plus, a video learning service with

hundreds of engaging lectures taught by top professors. Get a free month of

unlimited access when you sign up at TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/amicus. 

And by Blue Apron. For less than 10 dollars per meal, Blue Apron delivers meal

kits right to your door to make cooking at home easy. Get your first THREE

meals FREE by going to BlueApron.com/amicus.  

Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Follow us on Facebook here.

Podcast production by Tony Field.

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We kick off a brand new season of our podcast with an episode devoted to the member of the Supreme Court bench who has garnered by far the most headlines since our last episode. That’s right, it’s the slavish fangirl edition of Amicus, in which we cave to the pressure of our listeners and fête the woman who had the temerity to call Donald Trump a “faker” this past July.  Joining us to discuss the cultural phenomenon that is Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is MSNBC national reporter Irin Carmon, co-author of the bestselling biography Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We also hear from Cooper Sirwatka, a New York attorney and proud wearer of a full-color RBG tattoo. 

Amicus is brought to you by Upstanders, a new podcast from Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and Rajiv Chandrasekaran. Hear stories of ordinary people

doing extraordinary things to create positive change in their communities. Listen and subscribe to Upstanders on iTunes now.

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. 

Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Our email is amicus@slate.com. 

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On Monday, the Supreme Court invalidated two provisions of Texas’ omnibus abortion law known as HB2. The 5-3 decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt was a big win for abortion rights advocates, many of whom expected things to turn out the other way. On today’s show, we speak with Amy Hagstrom Miller, founder and CEO of the abortion provider that challenged the Texas law. We also sit down with Slate’s own Mark Joseph Stern to recap the highlights – and lowlights – of one a Supreme Court term that was chock-full of unexpected twists and turns.  

Amicus is sponsored by The Great Courses Plus, a new video service with thousands of lectures on dozens of topics. Learn more at TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/amicus.

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solar funds. Do well and do good. Please let us know what you think of Amicus. Our email is amicus@slate.com. 

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