Live at the National Constitution Center

A panel of libertarian and conservative scholars—J. Joel Alicea of The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, Anastasia Boden of the Cato Institute, and Sherif Girgis of Notre Dame Law School—join for an in-depth comparative look at the different strands of originalism as a constitutional methodology. We explore originalism’s modern history and application by current members of the Roberts Court through the examples of recent cases, and how originalism intersects with textualism and other interpretive approaches. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.Additional Resources Moore v. Harper (2023) New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen (2023) Grutter v. Bollinger (2002) District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) National Constitution Center, "Second Amendment," Interactive Constitution Bostock v. Clayton County (2020) Counterman v. Colorado (2023)  John O. McGinnis and Michael B. Rappaport, Originalism and the Good Constitution Randy Barnett and Evan Bernick, "The Letter and the Spirit: A Unified Theory of Originalism," Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works   Stay Connected and Learn MoreContinue the 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 Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

Judge Amul Thapar and former Judge Bernice Donald, both of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, discuss Thapar’s new book, The People’s Justice: Clarence Thomas and the Constitutional Stories that Define Him. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.Additional Resources Amul Thapar, The People’s Justice: Clarence Thomas and the Constitutional Stories that Define Him Kelo v. New London (2005) Bernice Donald and Don Willett, "How to counter today’s tribalism and build ‘a more perfect union’," The Washington Post Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002) Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) Connick v. Thompson (2011)   Stay Connected and Learn MoreContinue the 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 Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

In today’s polarized political climate, how can Americans foster constructive conversations and compromise across the political spectrum to address the nation’s most pressing issues? Ronnie Janoff-Bulman, psychologist and author of The Two Moralities: Conservatives, Liberals, and the Roots of Our Political Divide; Matthew Levendusky, political scientist and author of Our Common Bonds: Using What Americans Share to Help Bridge the Partisan Divide; and Kenji Yoshino, legal scholar and author of Say the Right Thing: How to Talk About Identity, Diversity, and Justice, join for a conversation exploring the roots of America’s political divide, various strategies for overcoming partisan gridlock, and how and why to engage in difficult discussions to secure the future of democracy. Thomas Donnelly, chief content officer at the National Constitution Center, moderates.This program is made possible through the generous support of Citizen Travelers, the nonpartisan civic engagement initiative of Travelers.Additional Resources Ronnie Janoff-Bulman, The Two Moralities: Conservatives, Liberals, and the Roots of Our Political Divide  Kristen de Groot, “Matthew Levendusky’s Our Common Bonds,” Penn Today  Matthew Levendusky, Our Common Bonds: Using What Americans Share to Help Bridge the Partisan Divide  “Matt Levendusky on Our Common Bonds and Bridging Our Differences,” Annenberg Public Policy Center (2023)  "What is affective polarization?" Politics in Question podcast Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow, Say the Right Thing: How to Talk About Identity, Diversity, and Justice Matthew Yglesias, "The Great Awokening," Vox Mark Lilla, The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics Marta Zaraska, "The Genes of Left and Right," Scientific American Drew Desilver, "The polarization in today’s Congress has roots that go back decades," Pew Research Center 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis Global Party Survey (2019) Bruce Ackerman and James Fishkin, Deliberation Day Andrew Dobson, Listening for Democracy: Recognition, Representation, Reconciliation Kristie Dotson, "Tracking Epistemic Violence, Tracking Practices of Silencing," Hypatia Dolly Chugh, The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias  Stay Connected and Learn MoreContinue the 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 Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

Free-speech advocates Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion, political activist, and chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative; Evan Mawarire, Zimbabwean pastor, democratic activist, and director of education at the Renew Democracy Initiative; and Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, discuss the state of free expression in the United States, Russia, Zimbabwe and around the world. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. This program is presented in partnership with the Renew Democracy Initiative and the Center for Constitutional Design at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Additional Resources An Open Letter on American Democracy from Global Dissidents “Forgotten Prisoners, Writing for Freedom – Egypt,” Frontlines of Freedom podcast "Narges Mohammadi, PEN America" Garry Kasparov, Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped Evan Mawarire, 2023 Commencement Address at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service Evan Mawarire, “This Flag - A Lament of Zimbabwe” Kasey Meehan and Jonathan Friedman, “Banned in the USA: State Laws Supercharge Book Suppression in Schools,” PEN America Suzanne Nossel, Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All PEN America, Freedom to Write Index 2022  Stay Connected and Learn MoreContinue the 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 Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

The Supreme Court’s “shadow docket”—cases in which the Court issues emergency orders and summary decisions without oral argument—has been subject to growing scrutiny. Supreme Court reporter Adam Liptak of The New York Times and Jennifer Mascott of the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School join Stephen Vladeck of The University of Texas School of Law for a conversation on Vladeck’s new book, The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic, exploring the history and role of the shadow docket and the current debates surrounding the Court’s emergency rulings. Host Jeffrey Rosen moderates.Additional Resources Stephen Vladeck, The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic  Stephen Vladeck, “Texas’s Unconstitutional Abortion Ban and the Role of the Shadow Docket,” Testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee  National Constitution Center, “The Supreme Court’s ‘Shadow Docket’,” We the People podcast  Jennifer Mascott, “Jurisdiction and the Supreme Court’s Orders Docket,” George Mason Legal Studies Research Paper  Adam Liptak, “Alito Responds to Critics of the Supreme Court’s ‘Shadow Docket,” The New York Times  Stay Connected and Learn MoreQuestions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.  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.  You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library. 

The National Constitution Center and the Federal Judicial Center present a three-part discussion exploring the evolution of judicial independence in America and its critical role in our democracy from the Founding to present day.This episode features two federal judges discussing their experiences upholding judicial independence in the face of contemporary challenges. Clara Altman, deputy director of the Federal Judicial Center, moderates a conversation with Judge R. Guy Cole, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Judge Sara Lee Ellis of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. This program is presented in partnership with the Federal Judicial Center.Stay Connected and Learn MoreContinue the 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 Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

The National Constitution Center and the Federal Judicial Center present a three-part discussion exploring the evolution of judicial independence in America and its critical role in our democracy from the Founding to present day.This episode explores judicial independence and the federal courts in the 20th century and the major milestones that shaped the judiciary, including the crucial role of Chief Justice Taft and key Supreme Court rulings. Moderated by Jeffrey Rosen, this panel features a conversation with scholars Neal Devins and Allison Orr Larsen of William & Mary Law School, Marin Levy of Duke University School of Law. This program is presented in partnership with the Federal Judicial Center.Additional Resources Booth v. United States (1934) Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Fireside Chat No. 9: "On Court-Packing" Edwin Meese, Speech before the American Bar Association (1985) Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Report of the Proceedings of the Federal Judicial Conference of the United States (1964) Amy Gardner and Matt DeLong, "Newt Gingrich's assault on 'activist judges' draws criticism, even from right," The Washington Post Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) United States v. Nixon (1974) Bush v. Gore (2000) Michael Boyd, "Constitutional cases resulting from the 9/11 attacks," Constitution Daily blog Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States, Draft Final Report Neal Devins and Allison Orr Larsen, "Circuit Personalities," Virginia Law Review Stay Connected and Learn MoreContinue the 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 Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

The National Constitution Center and the Federal Judicial Center present a three-part discussion exploring the evolution of judicial independence in America and its critical role in our democracy from the Founding to present day.This episode features a conversation with historians Mary Sarah Bilder of Boston College Law School and Jack Rakove of Stanford University, exploring the founders’ intentions surrounding the establishment of the federal judiciary and the role of the courts during the nation’s formative years. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.  This program is presented in partnership with the Federal Judicial Center.Additional Resources National Constitution Center, "Article III," Interactive Constitution Jack Rakove, Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution Mary Sarah Bilder, Madison's Hand: Revising the Constitutional Convention James Madison, Notes on the Federal Convention of 1787 Federalist 78 Marbury v. Madison (1803) McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) Alexander Bickle, The Least Dangerous Branch: The Supreme Court at the Bar of Politics John Adams, A Defense of the Constitutions of the Government of the United States Ed. Max Skjönsberg, Catharine Macaulay: Political Writings Wendell Bird, Criminal Dissent: Prosecutions under the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 Stay Connected and Learn MoreContinue the 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 Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

With the Supreme Court weighing two cases involving Harvard and the University of North Carolina that could end affirmative action in higher education, scholars William B. Allen of Michigan State University and Hasan Kwame Jeffries of The Ohio State University discuss its future. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Additional Resources William B. Allen, “End of Affirmative Action 2023”   William B. Allen, Drew S. Days III, Benjamin L. Hooks, and William Bradford Reynolds, “Is Affirmative Action Constitutional?” AEI Journal on Government and Society   Jonathan Hicks, “Proponents Worry About Supreme Court Review of Affirmative Action,” BET   “Why Conservatives want the Supreme Court to take up Affirmative Action Case,” Yahoo!News   National Constitution Center, “14th Amendment: Citizenship Rights, Equal Protection, Apportionment, Civil War Debt,” Interactive Constitution   National Constitution Center, “Affirmative Action and the 14th Amendment,” Live at the National Constitution   National Constitution Center, “Affirmative Action and the 14th Amendment – Part 1,” We the People podcast   National Constitution Center, “Affirmative Action and the 14th Amendment – Part 2,” We the People podcast   Fisher v. University of Texas (2013)   Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)   Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)   Griggs v. Duke Power Company (1971) Oral Argument Trasnscript in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College   Oral Argument Trasnscript in Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina   Slaughter-House Cases (1873) National Constitution Center, "Civil Rights Act of 1866," Founders' Library: Civil War and Reconstruction National Constitution Center, "Civil Rights Act of 1875," Founders' Library: Civil War and Reconstruction Shelby County v. Holder (2013)  Stay Connected and Learn MoreContinue the 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 Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

Tomiko Brown-Nagin, author of Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality, and Elizabeth Cobbs, author of Fearless Women: Feminist Patriots from Abigail Adams to Beyoncé explore key influential women throughout history and how these women inspired constitutional change. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.This program is made possible through the generous support of the McNulty Foundation in partnership with the Anne Welsh McNulty Institute for Women's Leadership at Villanova University.Additional Resources Tomiko Brown-Nagin, Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality Tomiko Brown-Nagin, “Identity Matters: The Case of Judge Constance Baker Motley,” Columbia Law Review Tomiko Brown-Nagin, Courage to Dissent: Atlanta and the Long History of the Civil Rights Movement Elizabeth Cobbs, Fearless Women: Feminist Patriots from Abagail Adams to Beyoncé Q&A, “Elizabeth Cobbs”, C-SPAN Muller v. Oregon (1908) National Constitution Center, "The Legality of Abortion Pills," We the People podcast Brandon Burnette, "Comstock Act of 1873 (1873)," First Amendment Encyclopedia   Stay Connected and Learn MoreContinue the 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 Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.