ACS Podcast

On April 5, ACS and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) hosted a discussion of whether these justifications should operate as categorical bars to releasing the Report and related evidence.

The American people want to see the Mueller Report and the evidence underlying it, and Congress needs to review the Report and supporting material to fulfill its oversight duties. Yet Attorney General Barr has said he will send only a redacted version of the Report to Congress later this month. Potential justifications for limiting disclosure include grand jury secrecy rules and executive privilege. 

Featured Speakers:

Barbara McQuade, Professor from Practice, University of Michigan Law School; former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan

Andrew Wright, Senior Fellow and Founding Editor of Just Security; Associate Counsel to President Barack Obama

Kristin Amerling, ACS/CREW Presidential Investigation Education Project, Moderator

This Term, the Supreme Court will once again tackle the issue of partisan redistricting when it reviews two cases to determine whether state legislatures violated the Constitution by intentionally diluting their citizens' votes for partisan purposes. Last Term, the Court heard two cases on the topic, but never reached the merits. Instead, it decided the cases on jurisdictional grounds.With those issues arguably resolved, the Court now seems ready to weigh in on whether partisan gerrymandering cases are justiciable when it hears Benisek v. Lamone, a challenge to the electoral map drawn by the Democratically-controlled Maryland legislature, and Rucho v. Common Cause, a challenge to the electoral map drawn by the Republican-controlled North Carolina legislature, on March 26, 2019. What test might the Court adopt for determining when redistricting is legitimate or illegitimate, and what are the implications of the various possibilities? How is the Supreme Court, now without Justice Kennedy, likely to rule on the merits?

Featured Speakers:

Kareem Crayton, Interim Executive Director, Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Nicholas Stephanopoulos, Professor of Law, Herbert and Marjorie Fried Research Scholar, University of Chicago Law School

Jenni Katzman, moderator, Director of Policy and Program, ACS

In an attempt to bypass Congress, President Trump has announced that he will declare a national emergency to fulfill a campaign pledge and build a wall on the southern border, all allegedly in the name of national security. Join us for a discussion of what this means, what litigation might be possible, and whether or not this will actually protect our national security.

Featuring:

Mary McCord, Senior Litigator from Practice at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection and Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center

Peter Shane, Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law

Debra Perlin, ACS Director of Policy and Program, moderator

On Friday, January 11 at 3:00pm, ACS hosted a discussion on the legal and policy implications of the administration’s proposed actions.

As the government shutdown drags on, President Trump prepares to declare a national emergency, arguing that there is an immigration crisis at the southern border that authorizes him to fund and build a wall, despite the lack of congressional approval. What is the controlling law regarding the declaration of national emergencies, and what is the scope of the President’s emergency powers? Do they depend on whether there really is an emergency, and if so, who determines that? What is the mechanism by which such a wall could be built, and what legal limitations apply?

Featured Speakers:

Cristina Rodriguez, Leighton Homer Surbeck Professor of Law, Yale Law School

Stephen I. Vladeck, A. Dalton Cross Professor of Law, University of Texas School of Law

Caroline Fredrickson, ACS President, Moderator

A distinguished panel of judges discuss the benefits of a judicial clerkship, what to expect from clerking, their advice on the application process, and what they look for in clerkship candidates. Speakers will include Judge Beverly Martin (11th Cir.), Judge George Hazel (D. Md.), and Judge Kim Jolson (M.J., S.D. Ohio) and the discussion will be moderated by ACS’s Vice President of Strategic Engagement Jill Dash.

On November 1, ACS hosted a webinar discussion on the Trump administration's recent proposed border policies.

With the mid-term elections around the corner, the Trump Administration has turned its sights on approximately 4000 thousand men, women, and children making their way from Central America on foot to the United States. President Trump alleges that they represent a threat to U.S. security and has suggested that he may close the southern border to the migrants, including those seeking asylum. This week he ordered 5000 troops to the border, and then let it be known that his administration is considering issuing an executive order that would terminate birthright citizenship, in conflict with the 14th Amendment’s promise of citizenship to “All persons born ... in the United States.”

Join ACS for a briefing call on these questions and other legal and policy implications of the administration’s actions regarding the caravan and its proposed executive actions affecting the rights of immigrants, refugees, and asylees.

Featured speakers:

T. Alexander Aleinikoff, University Professor, The New School; United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees (2010-15)

Deborah Pearlstein, Professor of Law; Co-Director, Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy; Cardozo School of Law

Kara Stein, ACS Vice President of Policy & Program, Moderator

On October 18, ACS hosted a webinar featuring John H. Thompson, the 24th Director of the U.S. Census Bureau, and Robert Yablon, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School, discussing the upcoming 2020 Census and the role that state attorneys general can play to ensure a fair and accurate count.

On September 28, 2018,ACS held a briefing call to discuss the week’s developments - the day after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding sexual assault allegations brought against Kavanaugh, and the same week in which Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's job was threatened by rumors of his firing, and its implications for the Mueller investigation.

Featured Speakers:

Christopher Kang, Chief Counsel, Demand Justice; Deputy Counsel to President Barack Obama; ACS National Board Member

Judith Lichtman, Senior Advisor, National Partnership for Women & Families; ACS National Board of Advisors Member

Thiru Vignarajah, Partner, DLA Piper; former Assistant. U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland serving with then-U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein

Moderated by Jill Dash, ACS Vice President of Strategic Engagement

On September 18, ACS hosted legal experts to parse where things stand with Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.

The process for Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the United States Supreme Court has been fraught from the start with Senate Republicans’ refusal to request his full record of documents, the highly unusual way in which any documents were produced (many of which were labeled “Committee Confidential”), the rush in the nomination process, hearings punctuated with hundreds of protesters and Senators fighting to tell their narrative, and serious questions about the truthfulnees of Kavanaugh’s testimony. Now comes the latest news of sexual assault allegations which raise another set of serious questions. This is all in addition to substantive concerns about this nomination and the effect it will have to swing the Court hard right on a host of issues including personal liberty issues, health care, presidential power, voting, and the list goes on.

Featuring:

Jill Dash, ACS Vice President of Strategic Engagement

Kent Greenfield, Professor and Michael and Helen Lee Distinguished Scholar, ACS Faculty Advisor at Boston College Law

Melissa Murray, ACS Board member and Professor of Law, New York University School of Law

On August 23, ACS held a conference call on the new publication authored by Professor Neil Kinkopf and released by ACS and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), The Implications for the Mueller Investigation of Confirming Judge Brett Kavanaugh, which addresses:

(1) Can a President commit obstruction of justice with impunity?;

(2) Can a President defy a grand jury subpoena for testimony?;

(3) May the President terminate a Department of Justice investigation of the President himself?;

(4) May the President fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller;

(5) May the President pardon himself?

The conviction of President Trump’s former campaign manager and the guilty plea of his former lawyer that directly implicated Trump in criminal activity, several Senators appropriately called for a delay in the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who has expressed some concerning views of executive power.

Featured Speakers:

Caroline Fredrickson, President, American Constitution Society

Neil Kinkopf, Professor of Law, Georgia State University