Voting Rights and the U.S. Supreme Court
The Daily Show's Jon Stewart interviews civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill about the history of the Voting Rights Act of 1964 and the effect of the recent Court decision in the case of Louisiana v. Callais which for all purposes removed the last protections of the Act. Ifill provides a very clear presentation of the history of black voting. Stewart is funny at times, but does a good job of asking the right questions. 20 min. subtitles available.
Birthright Citizenship before the U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a challenge to President Trump's executive order abolishing birthright citizenship. The 14th Amendment has been understood since it was adopted to grant citizenship to children born in the United States with minor exceptions. NPR's Nina Totenberg interviews experts on both sides of the question in this video. 10 min. subtitles available.
AI and Supreme Court Advocacy
Bloomberg Law has posted a video about whether AI (artificial intelligence) can argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. One Supreme Court advocate thinks there's a lot to be said for AI. 7min. 38 sec. Subtitles available.
Bloomberg Law has many other interesting videos on YouTube.
U.S. Supreme Court Begins a New Term
NPR's Nina Totenberg has a preview of cases that will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in their new term which starts this week. 4 min., 38 sec. transcript available.
Another presentation of some cases in the coming term in a Wall Street Journal podcast can be found here. 24 min. transcript available.
Tennessee v. Scopes at 100
The Scopes 'Monkey' Trial, as it has been known, took place 100 years ago this July in Dayton, Tennessee. There have been many reflections recently on what was known as "the trial of the century".
National Public Radio has aired several programs about the trial.
Fox News too has a short piece here.
Two longer videos present much more about the questions raised in 1925.
The most scholarly is Monkey Trials and Modern Truths: Revisiting the Scopes Trial 100 Years Later, organised by The Chicago Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression. 1 hour 12 min. no transcript.
Another, produced by a local Tennessee television channel, WBIR, has extensive interviews with two men of Dayton, Tennessee who participate in a presentation of the trial every year by the Rhea Heritage Preservation Foundation who add many local details. 55 min. subtitles available, but MANY transcription mistakes, for instance with the names of the two lawyers - Bryan and Darrow. A shorter version of this story, by the same local television channel, can be found here. 4 min. 15 sec. The subtitles are much better.
Vanderbilt Law School organised a talk on the subject of "Understanding the Scopes Trial 100 Years Later". 1 hour, no transcript.
More about the U.S. Supreme Court Term
NPR's Ari Shapiro on All Things Considered hosted a discussion about what the Court ruled this term. Discussing were Nina Totenberg of NPR, Stephen Vladeck of Georgetown University Law Centre and Sarah Isgur of SCOTUSblog. 8 min. 13 sec., transcript available.
U.S. Supreme Court End of Term
PBS News has a good summary here of several of the last big cases handed down by the Supreme Court on Friday June 27, with interviews with two Court experts. 10 min., transcript available.
U.S. Supreme Court End of Term
NPR's Nina Totenberg presents here news about important cases that will soon be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court and some that have already been decided on the emergency (or shadow) docket. Transcript available 5 min. 18 sec.
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.
The Law Show
BBC's Radio Four has a new programme, The Law Show, presented by Dr Joelle Grogan, replacing Law in Action with Joshua Rozenberg whose last episode was in March. It includes an overview of changes in the law over the last 40 years covered by the programme, followed by a look to the future in the law and a tribute to Rozenberg.
The first episode of the new programme appeared at the end of May and this first series ended in June, promising it will be back in the autumn. Links to Law in Action programmes can still be found on the site of The Law Show.
SCOTUS on Presidential Immunity
On the last day of this term (2023), the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a landmark opinion (6-3) expanding presidential immunity. The dissent by Justice Sonia Sotomayor is fiery.
NPR's coverage includes a 4 minute episode on All Things Considered by Nina Totenberg - transcript available, a 10 minute one on Morning Edition - transcript available and a 16 minute one on Consider This.
PBS NewsHour has an interview with historian Heather Cox Richardson who explains what a revolution this decision is in American law. 6 min. transcript available.
End of Term for SCOTUS
This term the U.S. Supreme Court has decided several landmark cases. The most important one so far overturned what is known as the doctrine of Chevron deference. The courts now, not regulatory agencies, will have the final word interpreting federal laws. NPR's Nina Totenberg explains here the history of the question and what a revolution this decision is. Totenberg also presents another decision about one of the laws applied to some January 6, 2021 insurrectionists. 7 min., transcript available.
More about the criminal law case (January 6th) can be found here. 3 min., transcript available.
More about the case overruling the Chevron doctrine can be found here. 4 min. 43 sec. transcript available.
Coming on Monday, the decisions about presidential immunity and social media.
More U.S. Supreme Court - Abortion News
The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on March 26 about restrictions on the use of mifepristone, the medication that accounts for almost 2/3 of all U.S. abortions.
PBS Newshour has an interview with law professor Mary Ziegler about the role executive branch agencies can play in the availability of medication abortions, highlighting the potential consequences of the 2024 election for reproductive rights. 6 min. 34 sec., transcript available.
U.S. Supreme Court Ethics
The main story on John Oliver's Last Week Tonight program on February 25 was the U.S. Supreme Court and its ethics. Funny, with a spectacular end - "how is this legal?". 30 min. no transcript.
Posts
