Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, ju...

A show about the law and the nine Supreme Court justices who interpret it for the rest of America.


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News Commentary
Politics
Government
376
The Contraceptive Mandate
This week, SCOTUS heard arguments in Zubik v Burwell, the latest challenge to Obamacare. In it, a group of religious nonprofits are challenging the govt.’s workaround for employers who don’t want anything to do with getting birth control to their workers.
44 min
377
Is the Burden Undue?
It was a big week at SCOTUS, as a newly-balanced Court turned to Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, its first abortion case in nine years. We discuss the case with legal scholar Pamela Karlan and listen to some highlights from oral arguments.
45 min
378
The Contradictions of Antonin Scalia
A week after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, one of his former clerks shares fond memories of a mentor with whom she didn’t always agree politically. And a legal scholar explains why Scalia didn’t always remain true to his originalist principles.
49 min
379
Amicus Extra: Antonin Scalia's Death
The sudden death on Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Saturday has unleashed huge shockwaves in both the presidential race and the legal community.
27 min
380
The Candidates and the Court
On this episode, Dahlia asks why the Supreme Court has been almost absent as a campaign issue, despite the fact that the next president could have the opportunity to reshape the Court’s bench. She is joined by UC-Irvine law professor Erwin Chemerinsky.
26 min
381
The Case of the Missing Constitutional Violation
In Heffernan v City of Paterson, the Supreme Court must decide whether a government worker can be punished for a political belief his employers attribute to him. This week, Dahlia speaks with lawyers on both sides of the topsy-turvy case.
27 min
382
Labor Pains
This week, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could undercut the ability of public sector unions to raise money. Dahlia is joined by Cato Institute’s Ilya Shapiro and U. of Michigan’s Sam Bagenstos, who submitted briefs on opposite sides of the case.
37 min
383
Judging Tribal Courts
Dahlia speaks with attorney Mary Kathryn Nagle about Dollar General Corporation v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, a major Native American rights case argued at the Supreme Court earlier this month.
31 min
384
One Person, One Vote
What is the meaning of “one person, one vote? That’s the main question in Evenwel v. Abbott, argued this week at SCOTUS. Dahlia speaks with experts on both sides of the case. And she plays a few highlights from the week’s big affirmative action case.
44 min
385
Color Blind Constitution
A half-century after Brown v. Board, should courts still be in the business of integrating public schools? Dahlia sits down with legal historian Risa Golubuff to discuss the backdrop to the term’s big affirmative action case, Fisher v Univ. of Texas.
41 min
386
Class Dismissed?
Dahlia speaks with Carter Phillips, the lawyer who represented Tyson Foods at SCOTUS this week in its attempt to dismiss a class action suit by workers. She also considers the love-hate relationship between presidential hopefuls and the high court.
32 min
387
Strike Zone
Dahlia previews Foster v. Chatman, a Supreme Court case that centers on the problem of racial bias in the process of jury selection.
42 min
388
No Second Chances
In Montgomery v. Louisiana, the Supreme Court takes up the case of a man who has served 53 years in prison for a murder he committed as a juvenile.
30 min
389
The Machinery of Death
As serious questions about lethal injection protocols continue to swirl, Dahlia speaks with The Marshall Project’s Andrew Cohen about where the Supreme Court currently stands on the constitutionality of the death penalty.
30 min
390
2015 Term Preview
Dahlia sits down with the LA Times’ David Savage to consider three of the big cases on the SCOTUS docket this fall -- and whether liberals are right to be worried about the outcomes of those cases.
33 min
391
Sandra and Ruth
Dahlia sits down with Linda Hirshman, author of “Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World.” Hirshman recounts the two women’s rise to the bench and reflects on the impact they’
31 min
392
Sock the Vote
To mark the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, Dahlia sits down with The Nation’s Ari Berman to discuss the decades-long campaign to roll back the achievements of the landmark 1965 legislation.
31 min
393
The Term in Review
ahlia sits down with three fellow SCOTUS-watchers — Kenji Yoshino, Mark Joseph Stern, and Christian Turner — to reflect on the just-completed term and how it will go down in history.
40 min
394
Amicus: The Storm Arrives
Over two consecutive days, the Supreme Court handed down historic decisions on same-sex marriage and Obamacare. Dahlia Lithwick and Walter Dellinger react.
28 min
395
The Storm Before the Storm
Dahlia is joined by The Atlantic’s Garrett Epps to parse the latest batch of 5-4 decisions from SCOTUS. They included rulings on immigration, free speech, and the death penalty, and involved some strange alliances among the Justices.
39 min
396
A Certain Justice
This week, Dahlia speaks with a former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas about the strong stances that Thomas has been taking recently. And she asks what’s at stake in a big challenge to “One Person One Vote” that SCOTUS will take up next term.
40 min
397
The Calm Before the Storm
On today’s episode, Dahlia takes stock of the big whammy decisions just around the corner at the Supreme Court, and considers a few of the major abortion cases that could be following shortly on their heels.
28 min
398
Ready for Her Close-Up
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.
37 min
399
Making the Case
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.
34 min
400
The Politics of Law
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.
28 min