This week, we revisit one of the most important Supreme Court cases you’ve probably never heard of: Baker v. Carr, a redistricting case from the 1960s, which challenged the justices to consider what might happen if they stepped into the world of electoral politics. It’s a case so stressful that it pushed one justice to a nervous breakdown, put another justic ... Show More
Jun 2023
Part 1: The Viability Line
<p>When the justices heard oral arguments in <em>Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization</em>, the landmark abortion case, one word came up more than any other: viability. The viability line was at the core of <em>Roe v. Wade</em>, and it’s been entrenched in the abortion ri ... Show More
44m 37s
Jun 2023
Part 2: If Not Viability, Then What?
<p>Now that the “viability line” in pregnancy — as defined by <em>Roe v. Wade</em> — is no longer federal law, lawmakers and lawyers are coming up with new frameworks for abortion access at a dizzying rate. In this second part of our series, More Perfect asks: what if abortion la ... Show More
35m 24s
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
The Supreme Court's Past, Present, and Future: A Conversation with John Yoo
It has been a momentous few weeks for the Supreme Court. What better time to discuss the Court's history and future? We are therefore launching our "Summer of Law" series to shed light on the legal world .
Kicking the series off is John Yoo, the Heller Professor of Law at the Uni ... Show More
53m 19s
Aug 2024
Wesley G. Phelps, "Before Lawrence v. Texas: The Making of a Queer Social Movement" (U Texas Press, 2023)
In 2003, in a ruling that bordered on poetic, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in Lawrence v. Texas that sexual behavior between consenting adults was protected under the constitutional right to privacy. This was a landmark case in the course of LGBTQ+ rights in the Un ... Show More
58m 23s
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