Legal lightning rounds: ERWIN CHEMERINSKY – Supreme Court, abortion, voter suppression, Covid mandates, police accountability

Written on September 30th, 2021

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.

LAWRENCE LESSIG – They’re Not Representing Us-and what we need to do about it

Written on November 21st, 2019

In his latest book, THEY DON’T REPRESENT US: Reclaiming Our Democracy, Harvard Law School professor LAWRENCE LESSIG points out big problems the U.S. is NOT solving, and adds, “The crisis in America is not its president. Its president is the consequence of a crisis much more fundamental…The core problem with our democracy today is that it is essentially unrepresentative. We should secure, finally, a representative democracy…let’s just try it for once… and see if things get better.” We talk about how democracy is broken and how we can fix it.

NEW – ERWIN CHEMERINSKY offers a progressive vision of the Supreme Court

Written on December 18th, 2018

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.

Free Forum NEW – ERWIN CHEMERINSKY, Dean of Berkeley Law – the law and Donald Trump

Written on July 30th, 2017

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

Free Forum – (1) Sessions is AG, Trump’s attacking judiciary. so you’ll hear longtime NYT Supreme Court reporter LINDA GREENHOUSE (originally aired May 2005) (2) Betsy DeVos confirmed by Pence so you’ll hear 30+ year LA public school teacher RAFE ESQUITH

Written on February 12th, 2017

Originally aired November 2005

The last week gave us an Attorney General with a terrible record on civil rights and the drug war, a Supreme Court nominee in the mold of Scalia, the President attacking the judiciary, and an Education Secretary with no experience of public school. Listen to my 2005 interviews with the wise and knowledgeable Linda Greenhouse and Rafe Esquith, award-winning 5th grade teacher, famous for the Hobart Shakespearians.

http://www.hobartshakespeareans.org