Trump in the Ballot?

NPR's program Consider This has an interview with University of Chicago law professor Aziz Huq about the case before the U.S. Supreme Court deciding if section three of the 14th Amendment applies to
Donald Trump. 

The case will be argued before the Court Thursday February 8. The Court has said the oral arguments will be live-streamed. 12 min. 53 sec., transcript available.

To prepare yourself for listening to the oral argument, you can see a presentation of how this one will take place as part of an article in Politico - Meet the Lawyers Arguing the Trump Ballot Case...(the second video).

Donald Trump on the Ballot?

NPR's Geoff Bennett interviews election law expert Professor Rick Hasen about the application of Article 3 of the 14th Amendment to the candidacy of former president Donald Trump in the 2024 election. 6 min., transcript available.

Insurrection and Disqualification of Candidates

The Minnesota Supreme Court on November 8 declined to disqualify former president Donald Trump from appearing on the ballot in the coming presidential primary election because of the 14th amendment of the U.S. constitution that prevents candidates from holding federal office if they "engaged in insurrection or rebellion". The court did not rule out disqualification in the general election ballot. MPR has the story here. 4 min. 11 sec., no transcript.

Former President Trump's Legal Troubles

For those who are confused by the large number of lawsuits involving Donald Trump, NPR has a podcast to help you here. 12 min., transcript available.

Two Important U.S. Supreme Court Cases

On December 5th and 7th, the U.S. Supreme Court heard two cases that received widespread attention. NPR's Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg presents them both. The first case concerned a web designer who didn't want to follow a Colorado anti-discrimination statute that would not allow her to refuse to create same-sex wedding sites under the theory that her designs were a form of speech and she shouldn't be forced to present a message with which she disagreed. 4 min. 38 sec.

The second involved election law and the legal status of a novel theory that only state legislatures, not state courts or governors, have the last say about elections. Former President Trump's supporters tried to use a form of this theory to overturn the 2020 election results. 4 min. 45 sec.

There is no transcript for either recording but available with both is a text which is almost a transcript.

 Can this abortion referendum get on the ballot in Michigan?

A referendum petition, signed by over 700,000 people, to protect abortion rights in the state of Michigan, ran into problems recently and may not be put on the ballots for the November election. You can find the story here. 3 min. 30 sec., transcript available (but careful, there's one "legal" that should be "illegal").

 U.S. Supreme Court and the Texas Election Claim

NPR's Nina Totenberg explains here why the Supreme Court on Friday rejected the Texas Attorney General's challenge to election results in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia. 4 min., no transcript.

The History of Gerrymandering 

There have been several mentions of gerrymandering on this blog, but for some in-depth historical background, you can to to a New York Times retro report on the subject and learn its relationship to an attempt to ensure that minorities, especially black Americans, could be elected. 11 min, 36 sec, no transcript, but the video is accompanied by a long newspaper article. You can also turn on the subtitles.

The Electoral College and the U.S. Presidential Election

NPR’s Weekend Edition of last Saturday spoke with Lawrence Lessig, a professor at Harvard Law School, about his activity giving advice to members of the Electoral College who want to know whether the Constitution allows them to vote for a candidate other than the one for which they pledged to vote. The short answer - yes, according to Lessig. 4 min 33 sec, transcript available.

More news about U.S. elections

In the recent elections, the states of Washington and Colorado held referendums about legalizing some use of marijuana (or "pot"). In Colorado, marijuana even got more votes than Obama. The success of marijuana in state elections presents a challenge to the Obama administration which must now decide whether to enforce federal legislation which makes the drug illegal. NPR's Morning Edition of Nov. 20 has a story about this example of legal problems caused in the U.S. by its federal system. 4 min 6 sec, transcript available

American Elections

Americans voted last week to elect their President, some Governors, one-third of Senators and all the Members of the House of Representatives but in many states they also voted for judges. NPR's Morning Edition of November 6 had a story about judicial elections in Florida. 3 min 56 sec, transcript available. The NPR piece doesn't give the outcome of those elections, but you can read more on Slate.
Elections in many states also included referendums. California voters were asked about abolishing the death penalty and modifying the state's three-strikes law. You can find what those voters decided by listening to this Morning Edition program. 3 min 51 sec, transcript available.