Former US Attorney
Former US Attorney in Los Angeles and author of Closed Chambers: The Rise, Fall, and Future of the Modern Supreme Court; former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun (1988-89); columnist at FindLaw.com
PROFILE
Edward Lazarus
Guest
FROM Edward Lazarus
To the Point
Supreme Court Divided Again on a Major Decision In 1954, US Supreme Court ruled --without a dissenting vote--that racial segregation in public schools violated the Constitution. The Court's unanimity was considered a great achievement by the new Chief Justice, Earl Warren --and a major factor in driving the subsequent integration of schools. Today, the US Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that schools cannot consider race in trying to maintain racial diversity. School districts nationwide could be affected by a split decision with Bush appointees Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts on the winning side. In dissent, Stephen Breyer said, "This is a decision the nation and the court will come to regret." We consider the first term of the Roberts Court, and whether its record of 5-to-4 decisions will make history or leave major issues more muddled than ever.
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To the Point
Venezuela spirals into economic and political chaos Venezuela, a country whose potential for prosperity is unmatched, finds itself on the verge of civil war. What sustains the repressive government? With time running out, guest host León Krauze looks at what the international community can do to pull the country from the edge of collapse.
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
To the Point
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
To the Point
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?