Tag Archives: Courts

Scholars’ Circle – How power of the Supreme Court fails institution of American democracy – December 19, 2021

The US Supreme Court faces a legitimacy crisis. The US faces a democracy deficit because of the power of the Court. How should the US address both concerns? Several proposals for reform of the Court have advocated change. Would these help to rebuild the Court’s image and legitimacy? [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Roe v Wade is likely to be overturned by US Supreme Court – September 19, 2021

The Supreme Court signaled with their upholding of the Texas abortion law that Roe v Wade is likely to be overturned. What does this mean for the reproductive rights of women around the country, and in particular women of color and poorer women? Is it the end of women’s rights to reproductive choice established by Roe v Wade? We look at how are many women ensuring access to abortions in light of the closure of abortion clinics. [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Impeachement of Donald Trump and President Biden’s immigration policy – February 14, 2021

What is the future of impeachment as a constitutional tool after the Second Trump Impeachment Trial? Hosted by Doug Becker. [ dur: 33mins. ]

How will Biden change American immigration policy? Hosted by Doug Becker. [ dur: 25mins. ]

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Supreme Court and 2020 US Elections -/- Role of Class and Identity in US Elections – November 1, 2020

We speak about the Supreme Court and the Presidency. Also, how has Donald Trump reshaped the Federal Judiciary and the Supreme Court and how does that shape the election? [ dur: 29mins. ]

We discuss how the role of class and identity politics in the midst of American politics are shaping elections. [ dur: 28mins. ]

This program is produced by the following team members: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Politics and policy implication after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg – Sept 27, 2020

The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and the Republican promise to replace her has profound implications for American politics and policy. In our first segment we examine the potential legal impacts on the Court’s decisions themselves. In our second segment, we explore the impact of this decision on public policy, on the checks and balances of the branches of American government, and the 2020 election. [ dur: 58mins. ]

First Panel: [ dur: 28mins. ]

Sanford Levinson is W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law at the University of Texas Law School. He is the author of many publications including Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (and How We the People Can Correct It) and Framed: America’s 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance and, with Cynthia Levinson, Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Framers, Their Fights, and the Flaws that Affect Us Today.

Erwin Chemerinsky is Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law and Dean at University of California Berkeley School of Law. His many publications include Closing the Courthouse Doors: How Your Constitutional Rights Became Unenforceable and We the People: A Progressive Reading of the Constitution for the Twenty-First Century.

Second Panel: [ dur: 28mins. ]

John Vile is Dean and Professor of Political Science at Middle Tennessee University. He is the author of Essential Supreme Court Decisions: Summaries of Leading Cases in U.S. Constitutional Law, 17th Edition, The United States Constitution: One Document, Many Choices and The Bible in American Law and Politics: A Reference Guide.

Mark Peterson is Professor of Public Policy, Political Science, and Law at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Legislating Together: The White House and Capital Hill from Eisenhower to Reagan and the editor of Healthy Markets? The New Competition in Medical Care and co-editor of the volume Institutions of American Democracy: The Executive Branch.

This program is produced by the following team members: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – US Supreme court decisions and its effects on future of American Politics – July 19, 2020

What does the decisions made by the Supreme Court in 2020 mean for the future of American politics? What is the future of the Court? And how does this influence the relationship between the Supreme Court and the other branches of government? Doug Becker hosts. [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by the following team members: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Civil Rights to US Corporation -/- Is Privatization a US Constitutional Coup – August 4, 2019

First, how did corporations get civil rights? The two-hundred-year battle to give corporations personhood and constitutional protections. [ dur: 34 mins. ]
For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

Then, how does privatization amount to what our guest calls a Constitutional Coup.[ dur: 23 mins. ]

Produced by the Scholars’ Circle team: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Laws governing Misconduct by the Sitting President of The United States – September 2nd, 2018

In this hour, what types of criminal proceedings are possible for a US president? What types of secrets can they keep? Who can they fire and who can they pardon? We spend the hour with two constitutional law professors who untangle these and other legal issues. [ dur: 58 mins. ]

  • Heidi Kitrosser is Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. She is the author of the book, Reclaiming Accountability: Transparency, Executive Power, and the U.S. Constitution, and the articles, The Shadow of Executive Privilege, and Accountability in the Deep State.
  • Eric M. Freedman is a Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Rights at Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. He is the author of Making Habeas Work: A Legal History and the article, On Protecting Accountability

This program is produced with contributions from the following volunteers: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Supreme Court Justices, Privatization and Constitutional Coup in USA – July 15, 2018

We spend the hour exploring the latest nominee for Supreme Court justice, the possible role for the four so-called liberal justices, and how privatization has amounted to what our guest calls a Constitutional Coup.[ dur: 58 mins. ]

  • Jon Michaels is a Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law. He is the author of Constitutional Coup: Privatization’s Threat to the American Republic.

This program is produced with contributions from the following volunteers: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Stories about Secret Heros -/- Britain Loyalist during American Revolution -/- Retirement of US Justice Anthony Kennedy ( part 2 ) – July 8, 2018

First, secret heroes. We know the role of presidents and other leaders in shaping history, however we hear little about the unsung heroes; many who have risked their lives to liberate and rescue others. Who might some of those secret heroes be? We are joined by Paul Martin author of Secret Heroes: Everyday Americans Who Shaped Our World. [ dur: 14 mins. ]

  • Paul Martin is a journalist, author and editor. He is the author of Secret Heroes: Everyday Americans Who Shaped Our World and his most recent American Trailblazers:A Celebration of All But Forgotten Firsts.

Next, tens of thousands of people remained loyal to Britain during the American Revolutionary War, who were they and what happened to them? Where did they go after the war and what do their stories tell us about American history? Maya Jasanoff joins us, she is a Professor of History at Harvard and author of Liberty’s Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World.[ dur: 15 mins. ]

  • Maya Jasanoff is Professor of History at Harvard University. She is the author of Liberty’s Exiles: American Loyalists and the Revolutionary War. Edge of Empire: Lives, Culture, and Conquest in the East, 1750-1850, and The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World.

Finally, what does the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy mean for the United States? This is part two of a two part interview. Part one can be found here. [ dur: 29 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

  • Sanford Levinson, is a Professor in the Department of Government at the University of Texas. He is the author of The Undemocratic Constitution and Nullification and Secession in Modern Constitutional Thought and Framed: America’s 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance (2012)
  • Dr. John Vile is a professor of Political Science at Middle Tennessee University. He is the author of: Constitutional Law in Contemporary America, Essential Supreme Court decisions and The Writing and Ratification of the US Constitution
  • Stephen Griffin is a professor of Constitutional Law at Tulane University. He is the author of American Constitutionalism: From Theory to Politics, Long Wars and the Constitution, and Broken Trust: Dysfunctional Government and Constitutional Reform

This program is produced with contributions from the following volunteers: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.