I speak with ERWIN CHEMERINSKY, Dean of Berkeley Law School, about the Supreme Court’s recent term. I see ethical challenges and radical rulings – the law of the land interpreted through their religious and moral lenses, overturning legislation and precedent – hardly conservative behavior, stretching and distorting the law in their decision defending arguments, imposing their agenda on the nation with little regard for real world consequences, the common good, or the future. We’ll also talk about  his latest book, WORSE THAN NOTHING: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism. Learn more at law.berkeley.edu – search for Chemerinsky.

I turn to ERWIN CHEMERINSKY, Dean of Berkeley Law School, for commentary and analysis re justice, our legal system, and the courts – especially the Supreme Court. Here are two such conversations. In the first half hour, one newly recorded on current issues and his latest book PRESUMED GUILTY: How the Supreme Court Empowered the Police and Subverted Civil RIghts. In the second half, a 2018 conversation on the Trump White House and the book, WE THE PEOPLE: A Progressive Reading of the Constitution for the Twenty-First Century. You can learn more at law.berkeley.edu.

In his newest book, We the People: A Progressive Reading of the Constitution for the 21st Century, ERWIN CHEMERINSKY, Dean of Berkeley Law, makes the case that the right has since the 1970s developed and enacted a clear vision of constitutional interpretation. He calls on progressives to fight back with an alternative vision based on fulfilling the Constitution’s promise of liberty and justice for all.

I turn to constitutional scholar ERWIN CHEMERINSKY to talk about legal issues raised by the Trump administration. How far is this Supreme Court going to go in weakening the separation between church and state? Is Trump violating the law by making money – including taxpayer’s money – from his businesses and properties? Who’s going to enforce that law? How bad is it that he belittles and scapegoats the judiciary? Is it too early to think about impeachment? We’ve only got a half hour, but we cover a lot.

https://www.law.berkeley.edu

 

 

Aired 05/01/11

Live from USC - The Annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

ERWIN CHEMERINSKY, founding dean of the UC Irvine Law School, has also taught at DePaul and Duek. An expert on constitutional law, he has frequently argued cases before the US Court of Appeals and occasionally before Suprem Court. His latest book is THE CONSERVATIVE ASSAULT ON THE CONSTITUTION.

BILL BOYARSKY is a columnist for LA Observed and the online magazine Truthdig. He is the author of six books, including Calfornia's Big Daddy, and his most recent, Inventing LA: The Chandlers and Their Times. Boyarsky lectures in journalism at the USC Annenberg School for Communications.

HENRY WEINSTEIN, a reporter for the LA Times for 30 years, covering law, labor and politics, now teaches law and journalism at UC Irvine's School of Law.