Your Weekly Constitutional

Well, it's been ten years. A good run. But all things must come to an end.

At last! A new episode! Well, kinda. We're not yet resuming production (sorry), but Wayne and Stewart got together via Skype to discuss some of 2020's most pressing issues. Their interview was part of WETS' 2020 fall fundraiser--so, if you're inclined to support the station that brings you "Your Weekly Constitutional," please consider making a donation.

Two of Stewart's students join us to discuss papers they wrote for his constitutional seminars. First, Jennifer Bolt tells us about the history of slavery and human trafficking among Asian immigrants. Then D.T. Christmas talks about, well, breasts. Join us!

Is there such a thing? Well, there’s certainly something called the Administrative State, governed by something called administrative law. Stewart’s colleague, Akram Faizer, is writing a new article on it. He and Stewart discuss Akram's ideas and even argue a little bit about them. Turns out that Stewart has some pretty strong opinions on the subject.

Donald Trump likes to compare himself to Andrew Jackson. So do his supporters. So do his opponents, for very different reasons. Are any of these comparisons valid? We ask a guy who should know: University of Tennessee historian Dan Feller, the Director of The Papers of Andrew Jackson.

This is Part Two of a two-part episode. In Part One, we told you about Kristine Bunch, who experienced the worst thing that could happen to any parent: the death of her son, Tony. Then we started to tell you what happened next: a false accusation of arson and murder, a conviction, and more than a decade in prison. Now we’ll tell you the rest of Kristine’s story.

Kristine Bunch experienced the worst thing that could happen to any parent: the death of her son, Tony. But then things got worse. Much worse. She was accused of his murder. She was accused of burning him to death. Join us for a poignant tale of a wrongful accusation and its terrible aftermath.

Nope. Not Andrew Johnson. It's a guy named William Blount, who was kicked out of the United States Senate more than two hundred years ago. But, like Johnson, Blount was an East Tennessean. Perhaps there's something in the water here. University of Tennessee historian Chris Magra tells the tale.

Well, it happened. Brexit, that is. As of January 31, 2020, the UK is no longer a member of the EU. So . . . what's changed? And what happens next? Our go-to Brexit Guy, William Walton, shares his wisdom with us.

Appellate Attorney John Vail recently argued a case in the Tennessee Supreme Court presenting a very important issue: Does Tennessee’s $750,000 cap on "noneconomic" personal injury damages violate the Tennessee Constitution? This case could have a significant impact on so-called "tort reform," in Tennessee and beyond.

Remember the parade last fall? The parade of high federal officials lining up to testify before Congress in the impeachment inquiry? Now that the Senate has failed to remove Trump from office, it's payback time. Many of those officials are feeling Trump's wrath. Former federal prosecutor and current D.C. lawyer Benjamin Vernia, whom Stewart previously interviewed about the Mueller Report, sat down with us again and explained all. Please note: this interview was recorded in late 2019, before the Senate impeachment trial.

Sanford Levinson is a law professor from Texas who is very critical of our Constitution’s “structural flaws.” We interviewed him several years ago on this topic. Now, he’s teamed up with his wife, Cynthia, an author of children’s books, to explain his arguments to a younger audience. Hey, you're never too young to start becoming a good citizen.

Donald Trump often claims that some folks have been trying to impeach him since the day he was sworn in. He's right. Stewart speaks with one of those folks, Ron Fein, of Free Speech for People. Ron's organization has gone beyond calling for Trump's removal from office--it has actually drafted six different Articles of Impeachment.

No, not our current president. Another one, perhaps the greatest in our history: Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was anti-slavery, but he didn’t believe that the Constitution gave him the power to ban slavery where it existed. And Lincoln believed in the rule of law. But, eventually, of course, things changed. Daniel Stowell, the former Editor of the Lincoln Papers, was the 2019 McMurtry Lecturer at Lincoln Memorial University. Daniel tells Stewart about Lincoln’s ethical dilemma and how he resolved it.

The air is, once again, heavy with talk of impeachment. It’s happened three times before (if you count Richard Nixon’s resignation, which you should). Stewart talks with his buddy Russell Riley from the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, where the talk is almost always about presidents, and, sometimes, about impeaching them.

Recently, Stewart attended a conference at Montpelier focused upon the essential role that Virginia has played in establishing and maintaining representative democracy in North America and the pivotal year of 1619. Jon Alger, the President of James Madison University, also attended. The two of them discuss what they learned, and what they and many others are doing to extend Virginia's legacy.

“Domestic terrorism” has been in the news a lot lately. Many of the mass shootings we’ve recently experienced seem to have been motivated, at least in part, by white supremacist ideology, perhaps with the intent to provoke widespread terror. This has prompted at least one proposal in Congress to create a domestic terrorism statute mirroring laws already in place to fight international terrorism. Doug McKechnie, our First Amendment Guy, discusses some of the constitutional issues such a statute would create, including not only concerns about free speech and association, but also about wiretaps and other forms of government surveillance. And, anyway, are such laws even necessary? Aren’t there already statutes on the books that criminalize murder, assault, damage to property, and conspiracy? Is this a road we want to go down?

Donald Trump calls himself Tariff Man, and he certainly seems to enjoy waging his trade wars. Has he exceeded his constitutional authority? What, precisely, is a tariff, anyway? And who has the power to impose them? Joel Trachtman of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University shares his expertise with Stewart, and, boy, does Joel know a lot about law, economics, and, well, tariffs.

Earlier this year, we told you about the push for Virginia to become the final necessary state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. That hasn't happened yet, but the battle continues. We speak with Virginia's Deputy Solicitor General, Michelle Kallen, who guides us through the constitutional thicket.

Sophia Rosenfeld is a historian at the University of Pennsylvania. She's published an incisive and timely book about the fraught relationship between democratic governance and, well, the truth. Turns out that when it comes to politics--SPOILER ALERT--not everything you hear is factual. And some people--SPOILER ALERT--believe falsehoods even after they've been debunked. But aren't facts necessary to democratic debate and governance? How can we address these fundamental problems? Sophia has a few ideas. Join us!

Steven Waldman has been writing about religion and spirituality for a long time. He is the co-founder of Beliefnet, a website devoted to such issues. More recently, he has written a book about the history of religious freedom in the United States. It’s called Sacred Liberty. Join us for a spirited, and spiritual, discussion.

Recently, Montpelier installed a time machine in the Potter Family Studios. Stewart had the honor of being the first to try it. So, of course, he set his dials for the founding era, and, of course, his first guest was James Madison. With a little assistance from Colonial Williamsburg interpreter Bryan Austin, Stewart had a delightful conversation set in two pivotal years: 1776 and 1787. Then Bryan broke character to tell us about his exciting career and the unlikely path that led him to Williamsburg.

Birds migrate. So do monarch butterflies. And so do constitutions. So says A.E. "Dick" Howard, the White Burkett Miller Professor of Law and Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. And he should know--over the past fifty years, whenever constitutional ideas migrated from the United States to other countries, Dick Howard seemed to be there.

We finish our two-part interview with our go-to guy on all things Brexit, British barrister William Walton of the University of Hertfordshire. Will Brexit happen, despite the lack of an agreement with the EU? What about Ireland? What about Scotland? What about Wales? Is the UK on the verge of a breakup? Will the world economy crash? With Parliament suspended, is democracy in Britain dead? Think we’re overstating it? Think again.

The Queen has suspended Parliament at the request of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Is this the end of British democracy? Or just another quirk of that fascinating, amorphous thing called the British Constitution? We talk to our go-to guy on all things Brexit, William Walton.

Matthew Reeves, the Director of Archaeology at James Madison's Montpelier, tells us about his next big project: the reconstruction of the overseer's cabin. Montpelier doesn't hide its history as a slave plantation. It's one reason we're so very honored to associated with James and Dolley's historic home.

Josh Douglas teaches at the University of Kentucky, where he studies voting in the United States. Despite the current political environment, he sees lots of good being done. He’s written about it in a new book, Vote for US, in which he tells the stories of people who are working in their communities to secure voting rights for themselves and their fellow citizens. Join us for an inspiring conversation.

Is the ban on military service for transgender people unconstitutional? Eric Merriam thinks so. He’s a law professor at the University of Central Florida who previously worked for the Air Force, both as a Judge Advocate General Corps officer and as a professor at the Air Force Academy. He thinks the ban, allegedly justified by something called “unit cohesion,” is actually based upon unconstitutional animus aimed at trans people.

What’s up with all the new laws on abortion? What do they contain? Why now? Mary Ziegler, a law professor at Florida State University, has written several books on abortion. She puts everything in historical context, and speculates on what might happen next. Trigger warning: this episode includes some explicit discussion. It may not be appropriate for younger listeners.

Does the Supreme Court need saving? Ganesh Sitaraman thinks so. He teaches constitutional law at Vanderbilt University, and, like many of us, he is troubled by current political challenges to the Supreme Court’s legitimacy. Unlike most of us, however, he has some concrete proposals to save it. He and co-author Daniel Epps have put their ideas into writing in an article that will soon appear in the Yale Law Journal. As Stewart points out, some of the proposals in the article are pretty radical, but Ganesh has thoughtful and interesting arguments in favor of them. Join us for a deep dive into the highest court in the land.

A year before Little Rock, twelve brave African-American students in Clinton, Tennessee, participated in the first court-ordered integration of an all-white high school after Brown v. Board of Education. Retired attorney Jerry Shattuck, who was a student at Clinton High at the time, tells the tale. This one will bring tears to your eyes.

Ever since the release of the Mueller Report, we’ve all been hearing about something called “obstruction of justice.” But what, precisely, does that mean? And what is this thing called the "OLC" that apparently prevented an indictment of Donald Trump, regardless of the evidence against him? Former federal prosecutor Benjamin Vernia enlightens us.

Many people bemoan the growing gaps in wealth and income in our country, as well as their negative effects on our political discourse and our trust in our government. Akram Faizer has some concrete proposals to fix at least part of the problem. Some of his proposals are quite controversial. All of them are interesting.

You’re young, innocent, female. Perhaps 18 years old. You’re walking down the street in your hometown on a fine spring day. A car pulls to the curb. A man gets out. He has a gun. And a badge. “Come with me,” he says. “Why?” You think perhaps someone has been hurt. “You’re under arrest.” “What? Why?” The cop gives you a hard look. “Suspicion of promiscuity.” Seems unlikely, doesn’t it? Laughable. But it’s no joke. Such things really happened, and not so long ago, to thousands of American women. One of those women was Nina McCall. Author Scott W. Stern tells us all about it.

Professor Pat Baker of the University of Tennessee at Martin has noticed something troubling about small private colleges. They’re closing down. At an alarming rate. Why is this? And is there anything we can do about it? Some people have tried lawsuits, but the courts haven’t been very helpful, for a couple of very constitutional reasons.

Linda Monk has been on our show before, to discuss her wonderful books, "The Words We Live By" and "The Bill of Rights: A User's Guide." She was also this year's keynote speaker at Montpelier's celebration of Presidents' Day, where she confessed to Stewart that she has a longtime crush on James Madison.

Since the Democrats overwhelmed the House of Representatives with their Blue Wave, there’s been a lot of talk about investigations and hearings. Investigations and hearings and even impeachment are part of something called “congressional oversight” of the Executive. Dean Ronald Weich of the University of Baltimore’s law school tells us all about some common myths and misperceptions about this very important part of constitutional checks and balances.

Andrew Boyle works for the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. He and Stewart start at the very beginning of a very current issue: What, precisely, constitutes a “national emergency?” Who gets to declare one? And what happens then? Specifically, can Donald Trump use the powers granted to the Executive during a national emergency to build his wall? He’ll face a fair amount of resistance, and Andrew and Stewart consider the various forms it might take.

Justin Driver is a law professor at the University of Chicago. He is concerned about the extent to which public school students are paddled, searched, stifled and otherwise denied their constitutional rights. He’s so concerned that he's written a book about it called "The Schoolhouse Gate." Recently, he sat down with Stewart to talk about it.

We haven't heard much from the Supreme Court lately on the Second Amendment. That may soon change. So the Law Review at Lincoln Memorial University’s law school decided to host a symposium, bringing together leading Second Amendment scholars from around the country. Two of the scholars at the symposium sat down with Stewart to share their contrasting views. We'll hear from Stephen Halbrook, a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute, and Robert Spitzer, a Distinguished Service Professor at the State University of New York-Cortland.

Well, he’s at it again: Beelzebub and his minions are showing up at public buildings, demanding equal space with other religious displays. Doesn't this guy ever quit? Our First Amendment Guy, Doug McKechnie, tells us all about it. He and Stewart also talk about some other current First Amendment issues.

“Tort Reform” takes many different forms. One way to “reform” tort law is to limit the damages that a plaintiff may receive, regardless of what the judge or jury considers appropriate. Recently, however, a federal court held that Tennessee’s limitation on tort damages violates the state’s constitution. Tennessee lawyer Tony Seaton tells us about the big stir this decision is creating, especially among personal injury lawyers. Then, on a more pastoral subject, we speak with our buddy Kat Imhoff about Montpelier's efforts to conserve James Madison's natural legacy. Join us!

Prohibition is a very constitutional subject, the focus of both the 18th and the 21st Amendments. Howard Wooldridge of Citizens Opposed to Prohibition joins us, again, to update us on his increasingly successful efforts to end the prohibition of marijuana at both the state and – drum roll, please – the federal levels. Yep, you heard that right. Howard thinks that the federal prohibition of the wacky weed will soon end. Join us for a mellow conversation.

Hilarie Hicks, a senior researcher at Montpelier, often encounters “hard history,” that is, history that we don’t necessarily like to think about. At Montpelier, most of the hard history involves slavery, which is featured prominently throughout the estate. But not everyone is happy about that. A number of visitors leave rather critical messages on the comment cards that Hilarie collects. She and Montpelier’s Director of Marketing and Communications, Price Thomas, share some of those comments with us.

Jennifer Wilkoski Glass has one of the coolest jobs in the world: she’s part architect, part detective. She figures out what buildings used to look like, what they were made of, how they were constructed . . . and then she rebuilds them. Join us as Jennifer shares her experiences and future plans at James Madison's Montpelier.

Colleges and universities are supposed to be dedicated to the generation and dissemination of knowledge. They can’t accomplish that mission without academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas. Lately, however, there has been growing resistance to the idea of free speech on campus, often for very good reasons: the desire for diversity and inclusion of underrepresented or oppressed groups. How do we balance these sometimes-conflicting values? Well, we can begin by talking about them, and that’s just what Stewart did with students, faculty and administrators from Appalachian State University at ASU’s annual event, “Say What?”

The Blue Wave that recently swept over the House of Representatives and a number of state legislatures was powered largely by women, and resulted in a number of new elected officials who look a lot less white and a lot less male than their predecessors. Author Sayu Bhojwani anticipated this phenomenon in her new book, People Like Us: The New Wave of Candidates Knocking at Democracy’s Door. Join us for an interesting take on the changes in our republic that are taking place before our very eyes.

Remember the ERA, the Equal Rights Amendment proposed in the Seventies designed to guarantee equal rights for women? It was never ratified — at least not so far. But a group of feminists in Virginia is determined to change that, and they feel like they’re getting close. Stewart discusses this exciting new development with Kati Hornung of VAratifyERA, after setting the scene with an excerpt from a 2012 interview with Knoxville attorney Wanda Sobieski.

Why preserve a presidential home? Because history? Well, okay, that makes sense. But why a particular president's home? Why make the enormous effort, financial and otherwise? Dennis Kernahan is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Montpelier Foundation, the nonprofit that preserves and operates James Madison’s home. Recently, Dennis sat down with Stewart to discuss the Board’s role, particularly its vision for what Montpelier is and should be. Join us for a thoughtful and enlightening discussion.

Montpelier recently commissioned a national survey on the Constitution--not to measure our constitutional literacy, but to figure out what parts of the Constitution are working, and which parts aren't. The results, which can be broken down by race, gender, and income, are illuminating. Stewart sits down with Francois Baird, a member of Montpelier's Board of Directors, and Price Thomas, Montpelier's Director of Communications, to talk about it.

Montpelier's African American Descendants' Project seeks to identify and create bridges to living descendants of the African American women and men who were enslaved at Montpelier and elsewhere in Orange County, Virginia. Hannah Scruggs is an important part of the project. In addition to her research skills, she brings her heritage: she is a descendant of a nearby enslaved community. In this episode, she shares her experiences, professional and personal, with Stewart.