Affirmative Action and Constitutional Complexities

Law Talk returns and in this excursion,  Charles C.W. Cooke, Richard Epstein, and John Yoo tackle a grab bag of constitutional issues with their usual mix of legal scholarship and exasperation (typically with each other). First up: the state of Maine, apparently auditioning for a role in a dystopian novel, bans a legislator from speaking because her views on gender in sports offend the ruling party. Epstein and Yoo are, unsurprisingly, not impressed. Then it’s on to Trump’s latest target—Harvard—where he wants to yank their tax-exempt status for what he sees as race-based admissions sins. Yoo says, “Hey, Bob Jones University got smacked for less,” while Epstein warns that burning down universities to own the libs might be a bit much. Things get even spicier with the arrest of a Wisconsin judge who allegedly helped an illegal immigrant sneak out the back door—Yoo and Epstein agree it’s legally justified, but question whether perp-walking a judge was really necessary. Finally, the gang ponders whether chatbots have First Amendment rights, with the consensus being: no, and let’s hope the robots don’t hear us say that.