University of Texas Law School
Professor of Law at the University of Texas Law School and the Department of Government; author of Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong and How We the People Can Correct It and the recently published Framed: America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance
Justice Anthony Kennedy: Key Vote on the Supreme Court Before the end of this month, the US Supreme Court will decide if President Obama's healthcare reform violates the Constitution. Will liberals and conservatives split four-to-four and let Justice Anthony Kennedy make the call? Will public opinion, the court's role in politics and their own legacies influence how the justices make up their minds? Leaving issues like states' rights and the Commerce Clause until the decision comes down, we look at the justices themselves, their concerns about the law and their legacies and the Court's role in American politics.
The US Supreme Court, the Constitution and American Politics Before the end of this month, the US Supreme Court will decide whether President Obama's major achievement -- healthcare reform -- violates the Constitution. (We'll leave issues like states' rights and the Commerce Clause until the decision comes down.) Since the Court decided the presidential election of 2000 , more and more Americans think it's made up of political animals. We look at the justices themselves, their concerns about the law and their legacies and the court's role in American politics. Will conservatives and liberals divide four-to-four and leave it up to Anthony Kennedy ? Will Chief Justice John Roberts allow Kennedy to be " The Decider ?" Whatever its ruling might be, has "the third branch of government" ever been truly separate from politics?
President Trump: US to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord Trump says he was elected to serve Pittsburgh, not Paris.
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.
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?
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.