Constitutional adjudication is not a "Cosmic Battle" of good versus evil between Ironman and Thanos. "Judges are not superheroes," and constitutional cases should be decided dispassionately, with an appreciation that judges or justices who disagree usually do so in good faith and for valid legal reasons. But "some judges [and justices] have confused their ... Show More
Nov 20
Family doesn't matter to Eddie Winslow, Diddy Finally Got Time, & Smokey’s Under Fire | ZoR Ep #3
<p>Diddy got 50 months. <br/>Smokey's allegedly got 48 counts.<br/>And Eddie Winslow… might’ve pulled a Judy Winslow and vanished.<br/><br/>In Episode 3 of Zone of Risk, trial attorneys Joni Mosely and Spencer Charif unload more chaos, breaking down the prison sentence for D ... Show More
22m 18s
Aug 1
Smokey's in denial, Shannon's on Fire, & Tyler Perry just wants to help | Zone of Risk Episode 2
<p>In this episode of Zone of Risk, trial attorneys Joni Mosely and Spencer Charif unpack celebrity legal drama like no other.<br/><br/>From Smokey Robinson’s ‘bad girls’ defense, and Tyler Perry’s helpful questioning.<br/><br/>They break down the lawsuits, the shady legal strate ... Show More
1h 2m
Jul 2025
Read, Diddy, and the Insurmountable Gun F ing Defense | Zone Of Risk Episode 1
<p>In the debut episode of <em>Zone of Risk</em>, trial attorneys <b>Joni Mosely</b> and <b>Spencer Charif</b> dive headfirst into three courtroom sagas you have to hear to believe.</p><p>The <em>Karen Read</em> retrial: a high-profile case featuring discredited expert witnesses, ... Show More
33m 46s
Sep 2024
Anthony Michael Kreis, "Rot and Revival: The History of Constitutional Law in American Political Development" (U California Press, 2024)
One of the great divides in American judicial scholarship is between legal scholars who take the justices at their word and assume that those words define the law and political scientists who dismiss all judicial arguments as smokescreens for partisan bias or wider political forc ... Show More
1h 3m
Sep 2023
Aaron Tang, "Supreme Hubris: How Overconfidence Is Destroying the Court--And How We Can Fix It" (Yale UP, 2023)
Today I talked to Aaron Tang about his new book Supreme Hubris: How Overconfidence Is Destroying the Court--And How We Can Fix It (Yale UP, 2023).
The Supreme Court, once the most respected institution in American government, is now routinely criticized for rendering decisions ba ... Show More
52m 15s
Jul 2023
Morgan L. W. Hazelton and Rachael K. Hinkle, "Persuading the Supreme Court: The Significance of Briefs in Judicial Decision-Making" (UP Kansas, 2022)
Each June in the United States, scholars, journalists, law makers, law enforcers, lawyers, and members of the public wait for the announcement of major decisions from the Supreme Court. Justices often read a summary of their decision from the bench dressed in their robes. Paper c ... Show More
55m 10s
Sep 2024
Anthony Michael Kreis, "Rot and Revival: The History of Constitutional Law in American Political Development" (U California Press, 2024)
One of the great divides in American judicial scholarship is between legal scholars who take the justices at their word and assume that those words define the law and political scientists who dismiss all judicial arguments as smokescreens for partisan bias or wider political forc ... Show More
1h 3m
Jul 2023
G. Edward White, "Law in American History, Volume III: 1930-2000" (Oxford UP, 2019)
For nearly two decades the renowned legal historian G. Edward White has been writing a multi-volume history of law in America. In his third and concluding volume, Law in American History, Volume III: 1930-2000 (Oxford University Press, 2019), he surveys the many developments in A ... Show More
1h 12m
Nov 2023
Demystifying the Indian Supreme Court
<p>In recent years, there has a growing concern that the Supreme Court of India is not firing on all cylinders. Critics have argued that the court functions in an opaque manner, exhibits excessive deference to the executive, is sluggish in concluding cases, and is hampered by an ... Show More
51m 6s
Apr 2025
A Constitutional Crisis, Due Process, & the Rule of Law
What is a constitutional crisis? For some, a constitutional crisis is when the president defies the Supreme Court, for others it is when a president simply defies a federal judge’s order. Under the reign of President Trump and his administration, the country has dealt with a numb ... Show More
36m 59s
Nov 2024
Ketanji Brown Jackson on Ethics, Trust, and Keeping It Collegial at the Supreme Court
<p>Since the founding of the nation, just 116 people have served as Supreme Court Justices; the 116th is Ketanji Brown Jackson, appointed by President Biden in 2022. Jackson joined a Court with six conservative Justices setting a new era of jurisprudence. She took her seat just d ... Show More
25m 59s
Sep 2024
Kevin J. McMahon, "A Supreme Court Unlike Any Other: The Deepening Divide Between the Justices and the People" (U Chicago Press, 2024)
Many scholars and members of the press have argued that John Roberts’ Supreme Court is exceptional. While some emphasize the approach to interpreting the Constitution or the justices conservative ideology, Dr. Kevin J. McMahon suggests that the key issue is democratic legitimacy. ... Show More
57m 38s