Attorney

PODCAST: Law and Politics: The Case of State Judicial Elections 

tlconlineeditor

Summary:

Alicia Bannon, Director of the Judiciary Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, discusses the politics of state judicial elections with Associate Dean Rodger Citron.  In 38 states, judges are elected.  As Bannon describes, judicial elections used to be “sleepy” – not much campaigning was done and not much money was spent.  For a number of reasons, that has changed.  In 2023, for example, about $51 million was spent on the election of a state supreme court justice in Wisconsin. 

Furthermore, as Bannon explains, state courts matter.  The most notable example of the importance of state courts is that they very well may have the final say on laws allowing or restricting access to abortion after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022.  Bannon describes how judicial elections have become more politicized, what effect this has on the operation and perception of state judicial systems, and what, if anything, can be done in response to these developments.       

Brought to you by the Touro Law Review.    

Learn More About Alicia Bannon

Continue reading →

PODCAST: A Discussion with Judge Michael Ponsor on “Point of Order.”

TLR BLOG

Summary: 

Long before he became a federal judge, even before he went to law school in the
early 1970s, Michael Ponsor wrote fiction.  It was not until 2013, however, that Judge Ponsor published his first novel, The Hanging Judge.  In this podcast, Judge Ponsor discusses his passion for writing as well as his experiences as a lawyer and judge that inform his third published novel, Point of Order. 

In his conversation with Associate Dean Rodger Citron, Judge Ponsor discusses the demands and challenges of being a judge and how he presents them in his novels involving Judge David S. Norcross.  Among other things, Judge Ponsor says, it is necessary for a judge to “rule and roll” in order to do the job.  Judge Ponsor also talks about how his experience teaching in Kenya as a young man figures into Point of Order as well. 

This podcast will be of interest to anyone who wishes to learn more about the relationship between law and literature.

Brought to you by the Touro Law Review.   

Learn more about Judge Michael Ponsor

Continue reading →

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

tlconlineeditor

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. 

Brought to you by the Touro Law Review.   

Learn more about Nicholas Maggio

Continue reading →

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

tlconlineeditor

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.    

Brought to you by the Touro Law Review.   

Embed:

Learn more about Robert Tsai

Continue reading →

PODCAST: A Discussion with Daniel Kiel on “The Transition: Interpreting Justice from Thurgood Marshall to Clarence Thomas.”

tlconlineeditor

Professor Kennedy conducted an insightful interview with Professor Daniel Kiel, a distinguished law professor at the University of Memphis and author of the book “The Transition: Interpreting Justice from Thurgood Marshall to Clarence Thomas.” This literary work seamlessly blends historical narratives, legal analysis, and literary elements, comprehensively exploring the Supreme Court justices’ perspectives on educational inequalities and racial disparities—issues Professor Kiel has dedicated his career to addressing. Notably, Professor Kiel directed the acclaimed documentary “The Memphis 13,” shedding light on students’ groundbreaking efforts during the segregation era in Memphis. For further exploration, you can access the book and the documentary through the links below.


The Transition: Interpreting Justice from Thurgood Marshall to Clarence Thomas: https://eastapt.wixsite.com/daniel-kiel

The Memphis 13: http://www.thememphis13.com/

Brought to you by the Touro Law Review.   

Learn more about Daniel Kiel and Deseriee Kennedy.

Continue reading →

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

tlconlineeditor

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

Brought to you by the Touro Law Review.   

Learn more about David Lat and Zachary Baron Shemtob

Continue reading →

PODCAST: David Guterson Discusses His Novel, The Final Case.

tlconlineeditor

This podcast features a discussion of law and literature with author David Guterson, author of The Final Case and the PEN/Faulkner Award-winning novel Snow Falling on Cedars.  Guterson discusses with Associate Dean Rodger Citron the inspirations for The Final Case – including the death of an adopted girl in a rural county in Washington State and the life of his father, an accomplished criminal defense attorney – and what he learned while immersing himself in criminal law and procedure to write the novel.  

Brought to you by the Touro Law Review.   

Continue reading →