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

This week we learned that Natalie Portman will play a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a new film about the Supreme Court Justice. On this episode, Dahlia and her guests consider the recent explosion of Court-related dramatizations on the stage and screen. Please let us know what you think of Amicus, our legal affairs podcast. Our email is amicus@slate.com.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at .   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we take you inside the courtroom for the recent gay marriage case at the Supreme Court. Dahlia listens to highlights of oral arguments with Douglas Hallward-Driemeier, one of the lawyers who represented same-sex couples in the historic case. Please let us know what you think of Amicus, our legal affairs podcast. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Our archives, which include discussions of other big cases recently decided by the Court, can be found at slate.com/amicus. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/podcastplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In anticipation of big decisions on marriage equality and Obamacare, many are talking about the balance of political power on the Supreme Court. Dahlia Lithwick speaks with two court watchers about the extent to which the Justices are political actors. Please let us know what you think of Amicus, our legal affairs podcast. Our email is amicus@slate.com.Subscribe to our podcast here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/slates-amicus-dahlia-lithwick/id928790786?mt=2#Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at [http://slate.me/1ENza1a].     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On April 28, the Supreme Court will finally take up the constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans. Dahlia Lithwick previews the cases with Paul Smith, the lawyer involved in the 2003 gay rights case that helped set the stage for this historic event. Please let us know what you think of Amicus, our legal affairs podcast. Our email is amicus@slate.com. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at http://slate.me/1ENza1a Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How should the EPA weigh costs when regulating toxic emissions? Dahlia Lithwick speaks with lawyers on both sides of a Supreme Court case posing that question. And she reviews the highlights of a case testing the limits of free speech on license plates. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at http://slate.com/podcast.plus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seven years after ruling that detainees at Guantanamo Bay were entitled to the protections of the U.S. Constitution, the Supreme Court seems to have turned its back on the remaining detainees there. On this week’s episode, we ask why.This week’s episode is sponsored by HBO. Its documentary series “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst” airs Sundays at 8.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today here.Please let us know what you think of Amicus, our legal affairs podcast. Our email is .   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments in the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act -- King v. Burwell -- Dahlia Lithwick hears from experts on both sides of what could be the most important case in the Court’s entire term. First, she speaks with Jonathan Adler, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University and a one of the lawsuit’s chief architects. Then she hears from Abbe Gluck, a professor at Yale Law School and a co-author of an amicus brief submitted in the case. ************** This week’s episode is sponsored by HBO. Its new documentary series “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst” airs Sundays at 8. We’re also sponsored by the Great Courses. Save up to 80% off their most bestselling courses here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the Supreme Court prepares to revisit the constitutionality of lethal injection, Dahlia Lithwick speaks with two experts about the controversial drugs being used for execution and whether the capital punishment system can be repaired. This week’s excerpts from the Supreme Court’s public sessions were provided by Oyez, a free law project at the Chicago-Kent College of Law, part of the Illinois Institute of Technology. More information on our show page.  Please take a couple of minutes to Slate's podcast listener survey! Tell us about yourself and your favorite podcasts, so that Slate can serve you better. Go to slate.com/survey. This week’s episode is sponsored by The Great Courses. Save up to 80 percent off their most bestselling courses when you visit thegreatcourses.com/amicus. We’re also sponsored by HBO. Its new documentary series “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst” airs Sundays at 8 on HBO, starting this Sunday, Feb. 8. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dahlia Lithwick speaks with Sonja West and RonNell Andersen Jones, two Supreme Court experts who don’t buy the justices’ arguments against allowing cameras in the courtroom. Help us make our podcasts even better! Take Slate's listener survey at to slate.com/survey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dahlia Lithwick talks to Andrew Pincus, the lawyer who brought a Supreme Court challenge this week to a law banning fundraising by judicial candidates. And she hears from the NAACP’s Sherrilyn Ifill on the latest challenge to the Fair Housing Act. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices