Book Reviews

PODCAST: The Supreme Court and the “Independent State Legislature Theory”: A Discussion with Nicholas Maggio

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Summary: In Moore v. Harper, decided last year, the Supreme Court addressed the “independent state legislature theory.”  In a case arising out of an election in North Carolina, proponents of the theory contended that North Carolina’s Supreme Court did not have the authority to review a legal claim that the state legislature had adopted an illegally gerrymandered congressional map.  The Supreme Court rejected the theory by a 6-3 vote in Moore.  In this Touro Law Review podcast, Nicholas Maggio, an attorney who has written about the independent state legislature theory, discusses the case – in particular, its relevance during an election year and its significance for understanding the current Supreme Court – with Associate Dean Rodger Citron. 

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PODCAST: A Discussion with Robert Tsai on “Demand the Impossible: One Lawyer’s Pursuit of Equal Justice for All.”

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Stephen Bright’s relentless pursuit of equal justice is at the center of Professor Robert Tsai’s most recent book.  For nearly forty years, Bright led the Southern Center for Human Rights, a nonprofit that provided legal aid to incarcerated people and worked to improve conditions within the justice system.  Among other things, Bright argued four death penalty cases at the Supreme Court and won each of them. 

As Tsai discusses with Associate Dean Rodger Citron, the story of these four cases illustrates inequalities in the legal system and legal strategies for combatting them.  The discussion illuminates how race, economics, and politics influence the operation of the criminal justice system when the stakes are at their highest – that is, when the defendant’s life literally depends upon the outcome.    

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PODCAST: David Lat and Zachary Shemtob on Judicial Ethics in a Populist Age.

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In 2023, Supreme Court justices made news not only for the cases decided but also for their personal conduct.  As David Lat and Zach Shemtob noted in an article for The Atlantic, the news stories often involved “financial entanglements between justices and wealthy benefactors.”  As Lat and Shemtob discuss with Associate Dean Rodger Citron, the intensity of the public response to the justices’ behavior is more noteworthy than the underlying conduct. They attribute the strong reaction to our current political era, which is not only hyper-partisan but anti-elitist as well.  Lat and Shemtob discuss their article, the Supreme Court’s adoption of an ethics code in late 2023, and how concerns over the justices’ ethics relate to the current Supreme Court term in this Touro Law Review podcast. 

Their article, “Judicial Ethics in a Populist Age,” is available here: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/09/supreme-court-ethics-oversight-criticism/675460/?gift=8dwuRlq-u4MN-Q9V3JPTqNxbhGZl2d9ZPLKd_9XQKHo&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

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Learn more about David Lat and Zachary Baron Shemtob

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PODCAST: Ray Brescia on Lawyer Nation, The Past, Present, and Future of the American Legal System.

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Please join us for this week’s episode featuring Lawyer and author Ray Brescia where he discusses his book “Lawyer Nation”. Professor Zablotsky hosts and the two discuss institutions, methodologies, history, and an analysis of dynamics in the legal system. In his book, Brescia identifies six forces that represent the most significant challenges facing the legal profession today. Lawyer Nation provides a significant analysis and critique of the legal system but offers concrete ideas on how to fix it.

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Book Review: Errol Morris, “A Wilderness of Error”: Provocative but Unpersuasive

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By Richard C. Cahn*

In light of the inauguration of President Joseph R. Biden, the Touro Law Review will soon publish a timely article, “Restoring Trust in the Judiciary: a Critical, High-Priority Project for the Biden Administration,” by Richard C. Cahn, who served as a member of the Touro Law Center Board of Governors and taught Professional Responsibility at Touro for many years. Mr. Cahn practiced law in Suffolk County for 60 years and served as President of the Suffolk County Bar Association. His book, “Making Law: A Memoir of Good Times,” was published last April, and includes a suspenseful chapter about how extraordinary legal proceedings forced a reluctant Department of Justice to charge Green Beret Captain Jeffrey MacDonald with the murder of his pregnant wife and two small daughters at Ft. Bragg, N.C. in 1970. In 2013, the Law Review published Mr. Cahn’s review of “A Wilderness of Error,” by Errol Morris, which attempted to raise doubts about MacDonald’s guilt, a book that Mr. Cahn described as “Provocative but Unpersuasive.” Last November, a five-part series with the same title was released by FX Networks, piecing together the evidence to argue that MacDonald was indeed guilty.

In light of both the recent publication of Mr. Cahn’s memoir and the revived interest by the public in this controversial case, the Touro Law Review Blog now republishes his 2013 review.

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