We the People

Portland has seen more than 60 consecutive days of protests since the killing of George Floyd. The protests escalated when federal forces were deployed in Portland to protect its federal courthouse, angering protestors and local officials who said they did not ask for the federal deployment. On Wednesday, Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced that federal officials will soon begin withdrawing from the city, although they remained as of Thursday morning. On today’s episode, we’ll discuss the rapidly evolving situation in Portland—exploring the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights of protestors; the president’s power to deploy federal forces in the states to protect federal property, and the limits on that power; and more. Host Jeffrey Rosen was joined by John Inazu, an expert on the First Amendment right of assembly, and Bobby Chesney, an expert on the president’s power to deploy federal forces.Questions or comments about the podcast? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

In the term that just wrapped up, the Supreme Court decided several key cases weighing the First Amendment’s protection of free exercise of religion in relation to workers’ rights and antidiscrimination concerns, the separation of church and state, and more. This week’s episode examines those cases including: Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue holding that Montana can’t deny tuition assistance to parents who send their children to religious-affiliated private schools Our Lady of Guadalupe v. Morrissey-Berru holding that the plaintiffs, teachers at religious schools, couldn’t sue for employment discrimination because, under the “ministerial exception,” their schools can make decisions about teaching without government interference Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania: holding that religious employers don’t have to provide health insurance for contraceptive coverage if doing so violates their beliefs Host Jeffrey Rosen is joined by constitutional law scholars Leah Litman and Michael McConnell.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Last week, host Jeffrey Rosen was joined by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost for a bipartisan discussion about the role of state attorneys general in addressing policing reform, protests, and other constitutional challenges facing their states today.This conversation was a hosted as an online America’s Town Hall program. Hear more programs on our companion podcast Live at the National Constitution Center https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-at-americas-town-hall/id1037423300 or register for an upcoming program—to watch live via Zoom and ask speakers questions in the Q&A—at https://constitutioncenter.org/townhall. You can also watch videos of archived programs on the National Constitution Center’s Interactive Constitution Media Library https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-library.This program is presented in partnership with the Center for Excellence in Governance at the National Association of Attorneys General.

The 2019-2020 Supreme Court term recently ended with a series of blockbuster opinions involving presidential subpoenas, religious liberty, abortion, the Electoral College and more. Supreme Court experts Kate Shaw of Cardozo Law School and Ilya Shapiro of the Cato Institute join host Jeffrey Rosen to recap those opinions and more. They also weigh in on Chief Justice Roberts’ efforts to put the institutional legitimacy of the Court front and center in this historic term.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

In 1852, the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Rochester, New York, invited Frederick Douglass to give a July Fourth speech. Douglass opted to speak on July 5 instead, and, addressing an audience of about 600, he delivered one of his most iconic speeches that would become known by the name “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” This episode explores Douglass’ oration on racial injustice and the broken promises of equality and liberty laid out in the Declaration of Independence. David Blight, Pulitzer Prize-winning Douglass biographer, and Lucas Morel, an expert on Douglass and African American history and politics, join host Jeffrey Rosen. They discuss the context and content of the speech, which Blight calls “the rhetorical masterpiece of abolition.” They also explore Douglass’ views of the Declaration of Independence—including that the principles expressed in the Declaration are eternal, but America does not live up to them in practice—as well as the Constitution. Finally, they reflect on what Douglass can teach us about the challenges America faces today, including the ongoing fight for racial justice and efforts to remove monuments around the country.The full text of the speech is available here https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) will remain in place, ruling that the Trump administration’s attempts to rescind DACA were “arbitrary and capricious.” This episode details the Supreme Court’s majority opinion, written by Chief Justice Roberts, and the partial dissents by Justices Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh, and how the case arose including the history of DACA under the Obama and Trump administrations. Constitutional law scholars Leah Litman, who co-hosts the podcast Strict Scrutiny, and Jonathan Adler, who blogs for the Volokh Conspiracy, join host Jeffrey Rosen.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

This week, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia and two related cases, holding that an employer who discriminates against or fires an individual for being gay or transgender violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This episode explores this landmark decision with Joshua Matz, a constitutional lawyer who wrote a key amicus brief in support of the employees in these cases, and Dr. Matthew Franck of Princeton University. They dive into the “weeds” of Justice Gorsuch’s majority opinion, the dissenting opinions by Justices Alito and Kavanaugh, and the reasoning behind them—then take a step back and examine the “forest” view of how this ruling may affect LGBTQ people as well as religious groups and others more broadly.Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Last Friday, the National Constitution Center hosted a two-part national Town Hall program on policing, protests, and the Constitution. The wide-ranging discussions covered qualified immunity for police officers, the history of racial inequality, protests and the First Amendment, and more. Part two of the discussion features Monica Bell of Yale Law School, David French of The Dispatch, Janai Nelson of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Theodore Shaw of the University of North Carolina School of Law. Part one is a keynote conversation featuring Judge Theodore McKee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and you can listen to that here https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-at-ncc-policing-protests-constitution-part-1/id83213431?i=1000477612011 Jeffrey Rosen moderates. Listen and subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center here https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-at-americas-town-hall/id1037423300Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Last Friday, the National Constitution Center hosted a two-part national Town Hall program on policing, protests, and the Constitution. This episode—which originally aired on our companion podcast Live at the National Constitution Center—features National Constitution Center President Jeffrey Rosen’s keynote conversation with Judge Theodore McKee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Their wide-ranging discussion covered qualified immunity for police officers, the history of racial inequality, protests and the First Amendment, and more. In part two, leading scholars touch on those topics further, and you can listen to that episode here https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-at-ncc-policing-protests-constitution-part-2/id83213431?i=1000477612012 Listen and subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center here https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-at-americas-town-hall/id1037423300Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Last week, Twitter added a fact-check message to President Trump's tweets about voter fraud and vote by mail, and a notice that one of his tweets about recent protests violated Twitter’s policy against glorifying violence. In response to the fact-check, the President signed an executive order aimed at limiting the legal protections given to online platforms under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. This episode explores Section 230—what does it say and how has it influenced speech online?—and the potential consequences of the executive order. It also takes a broader look at content regulation on Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms, and how that squares with First Amendment values. Host Jeffrey Rosen was joined by digital speech experts Professor Kate Klonick and David French. Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.