We the People

On Wednesday, April 25, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in one of the biggest cases of the year: Trump v. Hawaii, the challenge to the latest iteration of President Donald Trump’s efforts to restrict travel to the United States by nationals from certain countries.The federal government contends that a ruling for the challengers would “hamstring” the president’s ability to conduct foreign relations and protect the national security; the challengers counter that allowing the so-called “travel ban” to stand will not only preclude over 150 million people, overwhelmingly Muslim, from coming to the United States, but it will also consolidate “breathtakingly vast” power in the executive branch.Josh Blackman is an Associate Professor of Law at the South Texas College of Law Houston. He blogs at JoshBlackman.com and has written dozens of blog posts, editorials, and articles on the Trump v. Hawaii case.Joshua Matz is of counsel at Gupta Wessler PLLC and Kaplan & Company LLP. He is the publisher of the Take Care blog. He filed an amicus brief (with Robbie Kaplan) on behalf of constitutional law scholars in Trump v. Hawaii, on behalf of the respondents.Jeffrey Rosen is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Constitution Center, the only institution in America chartered by Congress “to disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a nonpartisan basis.”  Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you. Contact the We the People team at podcast@constitutioncenter.orgThe Constitution Center is offering CLE credits for select America’s Town Hall programs! Get more information at constitutioncenter.org/CLE.

Jeffrey Rosen discusses the recent Facebook hearingsand the broader impact of social media on free speech and democracy with Nate Persily of Stanford Law and Kate Klonick of Yale Law School.Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you. Contact the We the People team at podcast@constitutioncenter.orgThe Constitution Center is offering CLE credits for select America’s Town Hall programs! Get more information at constitutioncenter.org/CLE.

Our president and CEO, Jeffrey Rosen sits down with Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston. They discuss the First Amendment, hate speech, the Citizens United decision, and other free speech cases.Stephen G. Breyer  is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Jeffrey Rosen is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Constitution Center, the only institution in America chartered by Congress “to disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a nonpartisan basis.”  Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you. Contact the We the People team at podcast@constitutioncenter.orgThe Constitution Center is offering CLE credits for select America’s Town Hall programs! Get more information at constitutioncenter.org/CLE. 

When President Donald Trump took office last year, there were over 100 federal court vacancies, roughly twice as many as when President Barack Obama faced the same situation in 2009. Since then, President Trump has been nominating judges and having nominees confirmed at “record speed,” leading many senators from both sides of the aisle—from Senator Ted Cruz to Senator Chris Coons—to  assert that the most long-lasting and significant legacy to the Trump administration “will be the men and women appointed and confirmed to the federal bench.”  This topic and others were part of the Federal Bar Association’s annual mid-year meeting in Washington, D.C.John Malcolm is Vice President of the Institute for Constitutional Government and Director of the Meese Center for Legal & Judicial Studies and Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, where he oversees the Heritage Foundation’s work to increase understanding of the Constitution and the rule of law. Elizabeth Wydra  is President of the Constitutional Accountability Center. From 2008-2016, she served as the CAC’s Chief Counsel, representing the Center as well as constitutional scholars and historians, state and local government organizations, and groups such as the League of Women Voters and the AARP. Jeffrey Rosen is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Constitution Center, the only institution in America chartered by Congress “to disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a nonpartisan basis.” He is also a professor at The George Washington University Law School, and a contributing editor for The Atlantic.  Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you. Contact the We the People team at podcast@constitutioncenter.orgThe Constitution Center is offering CLE credits for select America’s Town Hall programs! Get more information at constitutioncenter.org/CLE. 

This week, the National Constitution Center celebrates the March 2018 opening of its new exhibit, Hamilton: The Constitutional Clashes That Shaped a Nation. This compelling new exhibit highlights the competing ideas of Alexander Hamilton and his legendary rivals, including Madison, Jefferson, Adams, and Burr, and the personalities and constitutional debates that shaped America. The exhibit also provides an intimate look into Hamilton’s enduring role in the constitutional and political arguments that continue to create sparks to this day.Joining us to discuss the debut of this fascinating new exhibit and the life and constitutional legacy of Alexander Hamilton are two of America’s leading scholars of Hamilton and the Founding.Jay Cost is a political historian and journalist and a contributing editor at The Weekly Standard and a contributor to the National Review. He is the author of the new book The Price of Greatness: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and the Creation of American Oligarchy. Nancy Isenberg is an American historian, and T. Harry Williams Professor of history at Louisiana State University. She is the author of Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr, and co-author (with Andrew Burstein) of a dual biography of Madison and Jefferson. Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you. Contact the We the People team at podcast@constitutioncenter.orgThe Constitution Center is offering CLE credits for select America’s Town Hall programs! Get more information at constitutioncenter.org/CLE.

In his new book for The American Presidents Series, the National Constitution Center’s President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen argues that William Howard Taft was our most judicial president and presidential Chief Justice, and explores Taft’s crucial role in shaping how America balances populism with the rule of law. In this exclusive book launch held at the Constitution Center on March 20, Mr. Rosen was interviewed by Judge Douglas Ginsburg of the U.S Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, who calls Taft “the most under-appreciated constitutional figure since George Mason.” 

Over the past few months, President Trump has announced new tariffs on imported goods from solar panels and washing machines to steel and aluminum. He has also taken swift executive action to block international mergers that he has deemed harmful to U.S. interests from occurring, and has even said he would consider withdrawing from NAFTA and related trade agreements. President Trump’s protectionist policies are a reversal of mostly free-trade orientated policies of past administrations, and his actions raise important constitutional questions about the extent of executive power over trade policy, separation of powers and the non-delegation doctrine, as well as the future of U.S. and global trade.Timothy Meyer is a Professor of Law at Vanderbilt Law School. He is an expert in public international law, with an emphasis on international economic and energy law. He previously worked as a Legal Advisor for the Department of State, and clerked for now-Justice Neil Gorsuch while he was on the 10th Circuit.Steve Charnovitz is Associate Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School. He is a member of both the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Law Institute, and the author of many publications including The Path of World Trade Law in the 21st Century.Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you. Contact the We the People team at podcast@constitutioncenter.orgThe Constitution Center is offering CLE credits for select America’s Town Hall programs! Get more information at constitutioncenter.org/CLE.

Can an employment lawsuit be based on the premise that discrimination based on sexual orientation is a Title VII violation under the Civil Rights Act of 1964? On Feb. 26, 2018, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 10-3 decision in Zarda v. Altitude Express Inc. that sexual orientation discrimination constitutes a form of discrimination “because of . . . sex,” in violation of Title VII.Some legal experts have predicted that the case might eventually make its way to the Supreme Court. Last April, the Seventh Circuit ruled in a separate case that Title VII could be applied to a similar workplace situation. But the Supreme Court passed on a third case, out of Georgia, that dealt with the same issue.Joining us on this podcast are two experts with different takes on this question.               John Eastman is Henry Salvatori Professor of Law and Community Service and Former Dean at Chapman University Law School. He is also the Director of the University’s Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence.Suzanne Goldberg is Herbert and Doris Wechsler Clinical Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, where she also directs the Law School’s Center for Gender and Sexuality Law and its Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic. National Constitution Center president and CEO Jeffrey Rosen moderates the discussion.Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you. Contact the We the People team at podcast@constitutioncenter.orgThe Constitution Center is offering CLE credits for select America’s Town Hall programs! Get more information at constitutioncenter.org/CLE.

Can the federal government compel a U.S.-based email provider to turn over its records as part of a criminal investigation when those records are located outside of the country?The United States v. Microsoft case pending before the Supreme Court could have big implications for law enforcement, consumer privacy and the business operations of many companies that do business overseas.The Microsoft case deals with a specific question: If a U.S. provider of email services must comply with a probable-cause-based warrant (issued under 18 U.S.C. § 2703) by disclosing in the United States electronic communications within that provider’s control, even if the provider has decided to store that material abroad.Joining us to discuss these important issues are two leading experts on the case.Benjamin Battles is the solicitor general of Vermont, which filed an amicus brief with 34 other states and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico in support of the federal government in United States v. Microsoft.Vivek Krishnamurthy is a Clinical Instructor in Harvard Law School's Cyberlaw Clinic. He specializes in the international aspects of internet governance and on the human rights challenges associated with offering new internet-based services in different legal environments around the world.Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you. Contact the We the People team at podcast@constitutioncenter.orgThe Constitution Center is offering CLE credits for select America’s Town Hall programs! Get more information at constitutioncenter.org/CLE.

Alicia Hickok and Eugene Volokh join National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen to discuss a major Supreme Court case about public-union dues.The Supreme Court is considering arguments in a case that could have a huge effect on public-section unions and their membership. The case of Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) will be heard on February 26 at the Court. The question in front of the nine Justices is if public-sector “agency shop” arrangements -- payments that workers represented by a union must pay even if they are not dues-paying members -- should be invalidated under the First Amendment.The Supreme Court said in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977) that government employees who don’t belong to a union can be required to pay for union contract negotiating costs that benefit to all public employees, including non-union members.The Abood decision has been challenged in court several times, and an evenly divided Court couldn’t decide a similar case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, in 2016.  This time, a full Court will consider the issue.Alicia Hickok is a Partner at the law firm Drinker Biddle and a Lecturer in law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She wrote an amicus brief in the Janus case on behalf of the Rutherford Institute, siding with Janus’s position. Eugene Volokh is Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law at UCLA Law School. He co-wrote an amicus brief in Janus with Will Baude siding with the union.Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you. Contact the We the People team at podcast@constitutioncenter.orgAnd don't forget to take our new podcast survey at constitutioncenter.org/surveyThe Constitution Center is offering CLE credits for select America’s Town Hall programs! Get more information at constitutioncenter.org/CLE.