In part one of a two part CLIFFHANGER (!!!), this week's episode introduces the Voting Rights Act, and specifically how it created a dunce corner for States who could not be trusted to pass fair, non-racist voting laws. After the goodness of the statute is covered at length, Brett and Nazim discuss how the Supreme Court destroyed that part of the statute in Shelby County v. Holder. General law talk begins around (03:44) but specific Voting Rights Act law starts at (10:10).
This week's episode takes us back to the year 2000 when all hell broke loose in the Presidential Election. Brett and Nazim dive deep into the Bush v. Gore case, including why the case came before the Supreme Court, the lower decisions that put the Supreme Court in place to "decide" the election, and how much blame the Supreme Court should take from this with sixteen years of hindsight on our side. The entire episode covers the broad context of the issue, but the most specific law starts around (09:30).
This week's mini-episode covers two State law issues that deal with victorious and/or spiteful Public Defenders, with the first being Delaware's Death Penalty being declared unconstitutional after a case involving the PD's office, and the second being Missouri's PD Office appointing public officials to criminal cases as revenge for a lack of funding. The recent Third Circuit decision denying New Jersey's sports gambling law is also tacked on, which covers the extent of federal power over selective States. Law starts at (02:54).
This week's episode continues the discussion from last week about non-BOR amendments, only this week is decidedly more positive. This week centers mostly on voting, equality, and taxes; and to liven things up, Brett and Nazim suggest fairly unworkable changes to our existing system of government. Finally, Brett and Nazim discuss whether or not Citizens United, or any other proposal, will be the next amendment on this list. Law starts at (06:52).
The non-Bill of Rights Amendments, 11 through 27, cover a host of different topics including government regulation, voting, and equality; and this week's episode covers part one of our efforts to rank these amendments from the bottom up. The goal is to cover how the Constitution is amended, and whether its possible for an amendment to be passed in the upcoming future. This episode covers rankings 17-9, which include amendments that appear non-consequential, amendments that seem like objectively bad ideas, and amendments that prohibit alcohol consumption. Law starts at (01:50).