Birthright Citizenship in the U.S.

NPR's legal correspondent Nina Totenberg has this report about the state of the question of whether children, born in the U.S., of undocumented immigrants are U.S. citizens. 3 min. 12 sec., transcript available.

For a historical presentation of the question, NPR's Throughline has this hour-long episode, originally broadcast in 2022 under the heading By Accident of Birth. transcript available.

U.S. Judge on Judging

New York Times columnist David French interviews Jeffrey Sutton, chief judge of the Sixth Cercuit Court of Appeals, asking Judge Sutton to explain what it is that a judge does, what his judicial philosophy is. 26 min., transcript available.

History of Birthright Citizenship in the U.S.

PBS has a special report on the history of birthright citizenship in the United States. 8 min. 35 sec. transcript available.

Immigration Law in the U.S. - History

PBS has just aired a ten-minute "deep dive" segment into the history of immigration law in the U.S. to put into context the sweeping changes in the law President Trump wishes to make. Transcript available.

SCOTUS and Gender-affirming Medical Care

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments concerning the constitutionality of a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming medical care for minors under 18. The Court must decide if the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. PBS News reports on this case here. 9 min. 25 sec. video, transcript available.

U.S. Supreme Court 2024 Term    

The U.S. Supreme Court begins its new year (October 2024 term) the first Monday in October. NPR's Nina Totenberg gives us a preview of what the term might hold here. 4 min. transcript available.

One of the cases argued in that first week involves "ghost guns", guns that can be bought in kits and easily assembled. Are they "firearms" and therefore regulated by statute? Totenberg presents the case before oral argument here, (4 min. transcript available) and reports what happened during oral arguments here (4 min, 10 sec., transcript available).

 Interview with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan

The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently released a video of a conversation with Justice Elena Kagan who answered questions for an hour about decisions and events in the Court over the last year. She spoke clearly and candidly. Interestingly, she revealed that she tries to avoid adjectives when writing dissents.