Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts

What We’re Watching This New Supreme Court Term

Oct 5, 2024

Sky Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, and Barbara Hausman-Smith, an attorney with a storied Supreme Court history, dive deep into the challenges facing democracy and civil rights. They reflect on past Supreme Court rulings and the new term's implications, including gun regulation and healthcare discrepancies. Hausman-Smith plans to revisit the Court in her original argument suit, while Perryman discusses legal strategies to combat the conservative legal landscape. Together, they emphasize civic engagement and the crucial role of women in advocating for democracy.

54:00

Episode guests

Barbara Hausman-Smith

Sky Perryman

AI Summary

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

The podcast highlights how far-right judicial movements are strategically undermining democratic principles by circumventing higher courts to restrict rights.

Active citizen engagement, particularly from women, is essential to restoring democratic integrity and ensuring equitable representation in the courts.

Deep dives

The Power of Decision-Making Psychology

Understanding the psychology behind decision-making is crucial to improving the choices we make daily. Behavioral science reveals that many of our decisions are influenced by cognitive biases and social pressures, often leading to irrational choices. For instance, research demonstrates how the 'do-over' effect can help individuals rethink their past decisions, thereby allowing for better future outcomes. By leveraging insights from behavioral science, one can cultivate strategies to enhance decision-making processes and minimize costly mistakes.

Intro

2min

Revisiting Justice: The Supreme Court's Impact on Democracy

19min

Legal Tensions: State vs. Federal Authority in Healthcare

6min

Judicial Challenges and Civic Engagement

14min

Environmental Responsibility and Election Insights

2min

Anticipating the Supreme Court's Key Decisions for the Upcoming Term

5min

Empowering Women in Democracy

6min

Democracy had a pretty rough ride at the Supreme Court last term. Presidents have criminal immunity now! Agency experts aren’t the experts anymore! Sure, you can convert that rifle into an automatic weapon! And guess what? More horrors await us this term.

But we are not going to spend this last episode before the start of a new term dispassionately picking over a smattering of cases for a lawyerly preview, or helplessly doom spiraling. Instead, we will hear from two women who refuse to blithely accept what the High Court is handing down—two women who have decided to do something, in very different ways.

You’re going to find out why one of these women will head to SCOTUS on Monday in the suit she wore to argue before the High Court 44 years ago. Dahlia Lithwick will ask the other woman, Skye Perryman of Democracy Forward, about the legal theories, doctrine tracking, and litigation strategies her organization is deploying to fight for democracy in the courts –– even (and especially) in courthouses and cases far from One First Street, where until now, the conservative legal movement has had almost free reign. Because any honest preview of the new Supreme Court term needs to look wider and deeper than the handful of cases docketed for the coming weeks.

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