ACS Podcast

On September 6, 2017, ACS hosted a call on the current state of federal judicial nominations. The federal judiciary is instrumental in protecting our rights on issues ranging from immigration to the environment. With Republican Senators having strategically held numerous seats open during the Obama Administration, the Trump White House is now poised to fill the nearly 18 percent of Article III judgeships that remain vacant. This is an Administration that has questioned the independence of the judiciary, attacked individual judges, and is aggressively pursuing an agenda to transform the composition of the courts to regress in many areas of the law.

Moderator:

Lena Zwarensteyn, Director of Strategic Engagement, American Constitution Society

Featured Speakers:

Senator Mazie Hirono, U.S. Senator from Hawaii

Christopher Kang, Former Deputy Assistant and Deputy Counsel to President Barack Obama; ACS Board of Directors

Ronald Klain, Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Revolution; ACS Board of Advisors

ACS Conference Call featuring Tracey E. George, Vanderbilt Law professor and co-author of "What Every Law Student Really Needs to Know: An Introduction to the Study of Law" in conversation with Vaishali Goyal ’18, Boston College Law School, ACS Next Generation Leader.

This event, hosted by the ACS Chicago Lawyer Chapter and ACS DePaul University College of Law Student Chapter on Sept. 21, 2017, explores the Russia investigations that are being conducted independently by Congress and by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Congressman Mike Quigley, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, is interviewed by former federal prosecutor, MSNBC Contributor, and ACS Chicago Board Member Renato Mariotti about the role of the Congressional investigation and the current status of the investigation. Afterward, Renato discusses about the latest developments in the Mueller investigation and take questions from the audience.

Renato Mariotti is a partner at Thompson Coburn LLP. Before he joined Thompson Coburn, he was a federal prosecutor in Chicago for over nine years, where he prosecuted white collar crime, including tax fraud and cybercrime. He is a legal analyst on television and in print, most frequently for MSNBC.

On May 2, ACS held a call reviewing Voting Rights Act jurisprudence as it relates to judicial elections, in light of recent events. In recent weeks, the North Carolina General Assembly has proposed redrawing the map of the state's District and Superior courts. Analysis of one proposed new map found it to be a racial and partisan gerrymander, with significant population deviations. The changes would “double-bunk” incumbent judges, reducing the number of judges of color in the state. The call discusses the status of recent litigation challenging judicial districts under the VRA, such as Terrebonne Parish NAACP v. Jindal, and Alabama NAACP v. Alabama. Panelists underscore the importance of a diverse judiciary and independent state courts and how judicial redistricting can promote or undermine those aims.

For supporting documentation, go here: https://bit.ly/2Kt9zDX

Featuring: Leah Aden, Senior Counsel, NAACP-LDF Kareem Crayton, Executive Director, Southern Coalition for Social Justice Ezra Rosenberg, Co-Director, Voting Rights Project, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

ACS hosts a discussion of the legal questions under review by the Court and what is at stake in Trump v. Hawaii.

On April 25, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the much-awaited case of Trump v. Hawaii, the challenge brought by the state asserting, among other things, that the Administration's executive order barring admission into the U.S. from certain predominantly Muslim countries and suspending refugee admissions violates the First Amendment's Establishment Clause and federal immigration law.

ACS hosts a discussion of the recent developments in the special counsel's Russia investigation and the President's escalating threats to the ongoing probe. Featuring Barbara McQuade, professor of practice at the University of Michigan Law School and former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, and Renato Mariotti, partner at Thompson Coburn LLP and former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

On March 19, 2018 ACS hosted a conference call on voter pre-registration! The American Constitution Society has started a youth voter pre-registration initiative to encourage young people to vote and get involved in the democratic process as early as possible. This is a great opportunity to share this valuable information with your community. Teenagers, as early as 16 in some states, can pre-register now and vote the moment they turn 18. You can find our pre-registration material with specific states pre-registration policies here, or states that allow under age 18 poll workers here. Our general and state specific voter pre-registration documents can be found on our ACS pre-registration project page

Featuring:

Laura W. Brill, Attorney and Co-Founding Partner, Kendall Brill & Kelly LLP

Mike Burns, National Director, Fair Elections Legal Network's Campus Vote Project

On February 26, the Supreme Court will hear argument in Janus v. AFSCME, an attempt to overturn forty years of precedent governing American labor relations that has the potential to invalidate the provisions of thousands of collective bargaining agreements covering millions of public sector workers. On February 22nd from 2:00pm-3:00pm, the American Constitution Society will host a briefing call moderated by ACS President Caroline Fredrickson with Ann Hodges, Professor of Law at Richmond School of Law, and Nicole Berner, General Counsel of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), addressing the legal questions at the heart of the case and placing it in the context of a larger assault on working Americans.

To date, the Senate has confirmed 16 lifetime appointments to the federal bench. Along the way, the Senate Majority has compromised longstanding advice and consent norms, including respect for blue slips, stacking confirmation hearings, and lack of thorough vetting of the significant number of nominees.

Please join us December 7, 2017, at 3:30pm ET for a discussion moderated by ACS President Caroline Fredrickson featuring Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) who serves as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Susan Davies, former Deputy Counsel to President Obama.

On October 6, Attorney General Sessions issued a guidance regarding “Federal Law Protections for Religious Liberty,” which declared as its central instruction that “to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law, religious observance and practice should be reasonably accommodated in all government activity.…” But what is “practicable and permitted by law,” what is reasonable accommodation, and how broadly might the guidance sweep? As the Supreme Court gets ready to hear oral argument in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case on December 5, join ACS for a briefing call with Gretchen Borchelt, Vice President for Reproductive Rights and Health at the National Women’s Law Center, Frederick Gedicks, Guy Anderson Chair and Professor of Law at BYU Law, and Susan Sommer, Associate Legal Director and Director of Constitutional Litigation for Lambda Legal, who will discuss what are and should be the boundaries of religious exemptions and the potential impact of the October guidance.