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SOCIETY & CULTURE
EVERY TWO MONTHS

Co-hosts law school deans Jackie Gardina and Mitch Winick invite lawyers, authors, law professors, and expert commentators to discuss current challenges to our individual constitutional and civil rights. Educators at heart, this “dynamic dean-duo” believe that the law should be accessible to everyone . . . and should never be boring!

5 NOV

The Future of the Legal Profession Impacts Democracy with Ray Brescia

Since colonial days, the legal profession has been proud of its role in the founding of the republic, the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, and the defense of democracy and the rule of law. However, the profession faces an existential crisis on which the American democratic experiment hinges, says law professor Ray Brescia, author of Lawyer Nation: The Past, Present, and Future of the American Legal Profession. If attorney unethical behavior surrounding the 2020 election repeats without disciplinary repercussions in 2024 . . . democracy itself is at risk.

41 min
15 OCT

Equal Justice for All is Possible with Robert Tsai

Stephen Bright made it his life's work to unleash social change by representing unpopular clients--namely those on death row. Remarkably, he succeeded, winning all four cases he argued before the Supreme Court. Robert Tsai chronicles Stephen Bright's decades long fight to ensure equality under the law that is still being challenged at the Supreme Court today.

35 min
1 OCT

The Return of Legal Vigilantism with David Noll and Jon Michaels

David Noll and Jon Michaels, authors of Vigilante Nation, discuss the reemergence of state-supported vigilantism. Noll and Michaels explain the vigilante methods, from anti-abortion bounties to book bans to the January 6 attack on the Capitol. They also provide a path forward, outlining what needs to be done to stop these efforts.

43 min
17 SEPT

Pardon My Concerns - Should We Put Limits on Presidential Pardons? with Kim Wehle

Like all discretionary authority, the pardon power is only as virtuous as the person who controls it. Kimberly Wehle, author of the new book, Pardon Power: How the Pardon System Works - and Why demonstrates that it can be a righteous tool to remedy wrongful convictions, but it also can be used to obstruct investigations, benefit political allies, and reward the President’s friends and family. As the author of What You Need to Know about Voting—and Why, Kim also challenges efforts to distort or disrupt the U.S. electoral system for selecting the president and warns that vigilance is necessary, locally and nationally.

38 min
3 SEPT

Does Our Current Constitution Provide the Protections and Rights We Need? with Dean Erwin Chemerinsky

Berkeley Law Dean, author of No Democracy Lasts Forever: How the Constitution Threatens the United States asks the provocative question - is it time to consider drafting a new constitution? Is it absurd to think that a document drafted in the 18th Century can still protect democracy and individual rights in the 21st Century? Join the SideBar discussion about the challenges under the constitution to protect free speech, a democratic electoral system, diversity in higher education, and the status of the Equal Rights Amendment.

37 min
20 AUG

The Erosion of LGBTQ+ Rights with Roberta Kaplan and Brandon Trice

In the last several years, there have been a wave of anti-LGBTQ laws passed across the country and ACLU is tracking 547 new bills in the 2024 legislative session. Robbie Kaplan and Brandon Trice describe their success challenging one of those laws, Florida’s “don’t say gay law.” In this wide-ranging conversation, we touch on the rising attacks on the LGBTQ community, the future of marriage equality, and the effect of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision on the E.Jean Carroll defamation judgement.

48 min
6 AUG

Yes! The Constitution Allows Changes to the Supreme Court - and Other Surprises with Lawrence Goldstone

Award-winning author and historian Lawrence Goldstone explains why what the Constitution does not say - was intentional - so that democracy can evolve. According to Goldstone, author of "Imperfect Union: How Errors of Omission Threaten Constitutional Democracy", changing the Supreme Court, protecting voting rights, defining the Second Amendment, and maintaining the balance of power between state and federal government are intended to be the responsibilities of voters, not the government or the courts.

44 min
16 JUL

Judge Shopping For Me, But Not for Thee with Chris Geidner

Over the past year, the Supreme Court has taken a far more active role in reviewing cases reflecting fringe arguments supported by federal district court judges and appellate circuits. The Western and Northern Districts of Texas have become the destination of choice for "judge-shopping" to receive the benefits of far-right conservative judicial ideology. But when attorneys challenging the ban on gender-affirming care used a similar approach to dismiss a case before a hostile right-wing conservative federal judge, the Alabama district court subjected them to a two-year secret investigation for purported "judge-shopping". Chris Geidner, a noted Supreme Court reporter and author of the newsletter "Law Dork" joins SideBar to discuss how federal "judge-shopping" is allegedly being used to manipulate outcomes and how the current Supreme Court is responding.

37 min

See All (51)

Co-hosts law school deans Jackie Gardina and Mitch Winick invite lawyers, authors, law professors, and expert commentators to discuss current challenges to our individual constitutional and civil rights. Educators at heart, this “dynamic dean-duo” believe that the law should be accessible to everyone . . . and should never be boring!