We the People

In the aftermath of the Las Vegas tragedy, renewed attention has come to controversy over the constitutional status of guns in the United States and the role of the Second Amendment.Joining National Constitution Center president and CEO Jeffrey Rosen to discuss this central question are two of the leading scholars on this subject.Saul Cornell is the Paul and Diane Guenther Chair in American History at Fordham University. Nelson Lund is University Professor at George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School.Note to listeners: Take the Panoply user survey at survey.megaphone.fm.

Michael Morley and Daniel Tokaji join National Constitution Center president and CEO Jeffrey Rosen to discuss Supreme Court arguments in a potential landmark case about gerrymandering.

Shannon Gilreath and Keith Whittington join National Constitution Center president and CEO Jeffrey Rosen to discuss if the courts can regulate hate speech.

Michael Dorf and Ilya Shapiro join National Constitution Center president and CEO Jeffrey Rosen to preview a potentially blockbuster Supreme Court term starting in early October.

In commemoration of Constitution Day 2017, we will explore what James Madison would think of today’s presidency, Congress, courts, and media and how we can resurrect Madisonian values today.

Brian Kalt and Margaret Love join National Constitution Center president and CEO Jeffrey Rosen in a broad-ranging discussion about the President’s constitutional powers to issue pardons.

Protests in Charlottesville, Baltimore, and Ferguson have prompted many questions about the right to protest in our country. What restrictions can governments place on assemblies? What responsibilities do governments have to protect protestors? How should we think about the right to protest in a free society?John Inazu and Burt Neuborne join National Constitution Center president and CEO Jeffrey Rosen to discuss Charlottesville and the right to free assembly.

Article I of the Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, raise armies, and regulate forces. Yet Article II names the President the Commander-in-Chief and vests him with the executive power. Who should be in charge of the nation’s security? What does the Constitution say about the relationship between Congress and the President in wartime?With rising tensions with North Korea, Afghanistan, and the global war on terror, these questions are as important as ever.Joining National Constitution Center president and CEO Jeffrey Rosen to discuss these important questions are two leading scholars of national security law.Sai Prakash is the James Monroe Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Imperial from the Beginning: The Constitution of the Original Executive.  He has written extensively on the domestic war powers of Congress, the powers of the presidency, and the Constitution.Deborah Pearlstein is an associate professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Her work on national security and the separation of powers has appeared widely in law journals and the popular press. Today, she serves on the editorial board of the peer-reviewed Journal of National Security Law and Policy.CREDITSToday’s show was engineered by Kevin Kilbourne and produced by Ugonna Eze and Lana Ulrich. Research was provided by Lana and Tom Donnelly.Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr.Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.Please subscribe to We the People and our companion podcast, Live at America’s Town Hall, on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.We the People is a member of Slate’s Panoply network. Check out the full roster of podcasts at Panoply.fm.And finally, despite our congressional charter, the National Constitution Center is a private nonprofit; we receive little government support, and we rely on the generosity of people around the country who are inspired by our nonpartisan mission of constitutional debate and education. Please consider becoming a member to support our work, including this podcast. Visit constitutioncenter.org to learn more.

Can President Trump block citizens from following his own Twitter feed? The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University has filed suit on behalf of several Twitter users who were denied the ability to follow the President’s Twitter feed after they made comments critical of him. The Institute claims that the ban is a violation of a First Amendment right to free speech and free assembly, and that a public official’s social media page is a designated public forum.The Justice Department, defending President Trump, says the courts are powerless to tell President Trump how he can manage his private Twitter handle and the Institute’s requests would “send the First Amendment deep into uncharted waters.”Joining our We The People podcast to discuss these arguments are Alex Abdo, a senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute and Eugene Volokh, the Gary T. Schwartz Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law.CREDITSToday’s show was engineered by Jason Gregory and produced by Ugonna Eze and Lana Ulrich. Research was provided by Lana and Tom Donnelly.Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr.Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.Please subscribe to We the People and our companion podcast, Live at America’s Town Hall, on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.We the People is a member of Slate’s Panoply network. Check out the full roster of podcasts at Panoply.fm.And finally, despite our congressional charter, the National Constitution Center is a private nonprofit; we receive little government support, and we rely on the generosity of people around the country who are inspired by our nonpartisan mission of constitutional debate and education. Please consider becoming a member to support our work, including this podcast. Visit constitutioncenter.org to learn more.

National Constitution Center president and CEO Jeffrey Rosen moderates a special discussion about the 1963 Birmingham Church bombing and how it impacted the meaning of equality in America.In this event, held on June 16 in Philadelphia, bombing survivor Sarah Collins Rudolph, Washington Post editor and author of Kennedy and King Steven Levingston, and Philadelphia Orchestra composer-in-residence Hannibal Lokumbe spoke with Rosen about the bombing’s legacy could also bring about constitutional change.