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Oct 2017
32m 8s

American Pendulum II

Wnyc Studios
About this episode
In this episode of More Perfect, how two families grapple with one terrible Supreme Court decision. Dred Scott v. Sandford is one of the most infamous cases in Supreme Court history: in 1857, a slave named Dred Scott filed a suit for his freedom and lost. In his decision, Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney wrote that black men “had no rights which the white ma ... Show More
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Oct 2017
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<p>“It is an invidious, undemocratic, and unconstitutional practice,” Justice John Paul Stevens said of gerrymandering in <em>Vieth v. Jubelirer</em> (2004). Politicians have been manipulating district lines to favor one party over another since the founding of our nation. But wi ... Show More
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Oct 2017
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<p><span>For nearly 200 years of our nation’s history, the Second Amendment was an all-but-forgotten rule about the importance of militias. But in the 1960s and 70s, a movement emerged — led by Black Panthers and a recently-repositioned NRA — that insisted owning a firearm was th ... Show More
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Oct 2017
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<p>The Supreme Court may not have been conceptualized as a co-equal branch of the federal government, but it became one as a result of the political maneuvering of Chief Justice John Marshall. The fourth (and longest-serving) chief justice was "a great lover of power," according ... Show More
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