U.S. Supreme Court End-of-Term Cases - beyond Roe

The U.S. Supreme Court has ended its 2021-2022 term with several more blockbusters in addition to the Dobbs case (reversing Roe v. Wade). You can hear about one of two cases eroding the barrier between church and state on NPR here (3 min. 51 sec. transcript available) and hear about the influence of the Christian right here (6 min. 42 sec.).  You can find a story about the decision eroding the power of administrative agencies to fight climate change here (4 min. 58 sec. transcript available). The end of the piece presents a voting rights case the Court has just agreed to hear next term which law professor Rick Hasen describes as potentially an earthquake in American election law.

State Judicial Elections in the U.S.

In the U.S. state, but not federal, judges are often elected although these elections were not usually considered « political ». This is changing as NPR’s All Things Considered report reveals. 4 min 40 sec, transcript available.

The comedian John Oliver on the U.S. Criminal Justice System

John Oliver’s satirical comedy program, Last Week Tonight, has just posted a program on YouTube about obstacles that former offenders face when they leave prison. 25 min, no transcript. Both funny and serious. In this program, Oliver mentions four other programs of his about criminal justice - mandatory minimum sentences, bail, public defenders, and municipal violations .
He also has a program about elected judges. While it's comedy (and not always easy to understand for non-Americans) it is sadly not fiction.