Introducing ACS's New President!  Phil Brest joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss his background in judicial nominations, the perspective he brings to his new role, and the political moment we all find ourselves in as he takes the helm at ACS.

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Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program

Guest: Phil Brest, President of ACS

Link: ACS National Convention 2026 

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Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
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Copyright of American Constitution Society 2025.

From detaining student protesters to threatening to deport rival politicians, President Trump has weaponized the immigration system to suppress dissent. Professor Alina Das and advocate Ramya Krishnan join Taonga Leslie to discuss how these attacks chill speech across the board, examine the unique challenges of defending free speech in the immigration context, and describe how lawyers can resist efforts to silence non-citizens and citizens alike.

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Host: Taonga Leslie, Director of Policy and Program for Racial Justice

Guest: Alina Das, James Weldon Johnson Professor & Co-Director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic, NYU Law

Guest: Ramya Krishnan, Senior Staff Attorney, Knight First Amendment Institute; Lecturer in Law, Columbia Law School

Link:  Opinion, AAUP v. Rubio (Judge Young)

Link: The First Amendment in Flux, ACS Program Guide

Link: Rights Under Attack: DHS Violence Against Journalists, Observers, and Protestors

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Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
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This fall, the Department of Homeland Security descended on the Greater Chicago area as part of an aggressive immigration enforcement campaign targeting Democratic-run cities.  Scott Sakiyama joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss his experiences organizing and engaging in efforts to combat authoritarian tactics used by federal agents, what activists in other cities can learn from Chicago, and the importance of taking action now.

Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program

Guest: Scott Sakiyama, Oak Park, Ill. Attorney and Activist

Link: Oak Park attorney arrested near school says federal agents pointed gun at him, had ‘Chiraq Team 2’ group chat, by Rebecca Johnson 

Link: Order and Opinion, Chicago Headline Club v. Noem (Judge Ellis)

Link: Volunteer patrols and the PTA at school entrances: How some Charlotte residents are mobilizing amid the immigration crackdown, by Dalla Faheld, Andy Buck, & Dianne Gallagher   

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Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
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Production House: Flint Stone Media

Copyright of American Constitution Society 2025.

Indigenous communities are often invited to participate in the conversation about access to their sacred sites but rarely do their interests prevail. Time and again, their input is received and yet made subordinate to competing interests from corporate powers, scientific pursuits, and even recreation.  Michalyn Steele joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss how the law could be changed to reorder existing values and give greater weight to Indigenous interests in sacred sites.

Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program

Guest: Michalyn Steele, Marion G. Romney Professor of Law, BYU Law

Link: The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act as a Model of Cultural Sovereignty for Protecting Indigenous Sacred Sites, by Michalyn Steele

Link: Rethinking Protections For Indigenous Sacred Sites, by Stephanie Hall Barclay and Michalyn Steele 

Link:  Indigenous Resilience, by Michalyn Steele

Link: Supreme Court spurns Native American religious claim over copper mine on sacred land, by Lawrence Hurley

Link: Native American Rights Fund

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Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
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Production House: Flint Stone Media

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President Trump is currently remodeling a house that he does not seem keen to move out of when his lease is up.   Donald Sherman of CREW joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss the threat of Trump seeking a third term, and why in spite of clear constitutional text, history cautions us to take the threat seriously.  They examine the clear text of the 22nd Amendment, the fight over ratification in the states, and why that all matters now.

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Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program

Guest: Donald Sherman, Executive Director and Chief Counsel, CREW

Link: 2 presidential terms, 41 states: the ratification of the 22nd Amendment, CREW

Link: Remarks of Rep. Jennings, Congressional Record (852-853)

Link: A Third Trump Term Is Not the Charm, by Jamelle Bouie

Link: Presidential Term Limits in American History, by Michael Korzi

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Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
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Production House: Flint Stone Media

Copyright of American Constitution Society 2025.

Right-wing operatives continue to target diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Through a growing web of hostile executive orders, state bans, and private lawsuits, enemies of diversity are using law to chill discussion of race, gender, sexuality, and other "divisive" concepts. In the face of these attacks, diversity defenders are turning to the First Amendment — and in many cases, they are winning. Taonga Leslie is joined by practitioners from across the country to explore strategies for using First Amendment principles and precedent to strengthen DEI programs going forward and highlight recent wins.

Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

Host: Taonga Leslie, Director of Policy and Program for Racial Justice

Guest: Katy Youker, Director, Economic Justice Project, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Chicago Women in Trades v. Trump)

Guest: Lawrence Lustberg, Director, John J. Gibbons Fellowship in Public Interest & Constitutional Law, Gibbons P.C. (Saadeh v. New Jersey State Bar Association)

Guest: Robert McDuff, Director of the George Riley Impact Litigation Initiative, Mississippi Center for Justice (Jackson Federation of Teachers v. Fitch)

Link: The First Amendment in Flux, ACS 2025-2026 Program Guide

Link: Using the First Amendment to Uphold DEI Initiatives, by Christopher Lucca and Vanessa Huber

Link: Protecting Our Purpose

Link: The Legal DEI Project

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Production House: Flint Stone Media

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In the midst of an all-out assault on the rule of law, many are seeking opportunities to get involved in their communities to fight for our democracy.  We've heard from members of our network who are interested in running for office or are considering for the first time finding their way to elected service.  Rebecca Dussich of Buckeye Justice Forum joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss the impact of downballot elected officials, particularly judicial officials, and what potential candidates should consider as they approach a possible run for office.

Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program

Guest: Rebecca Dussich, State Director, Buckeye Justice Forum

Link: Running for Office, ACS

Link: Buckeye Justice Forum 

Link: Find Your Ballot, Vote411

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Production House: Flint Stone Media

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After a very active summer on the emergency docket, the Supreme Court is set to begin a new term.  Christopher Wright Durocher and Taonga Leslie join Lindsay Langholz to break down several important cases on the Court's merits docket, including those focused on LGBTQ+ rights, free speech, immigration, voting rights, and more.

Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program

Guest:  Christopher Wright Durocher, Vice President of Policy and Program

Guest: Taonga Leslie, Director of Policy and Program for Racial Justice, ACS

Link: Brief of Amici Curiae National Women's Law Center and 51 Additional Organizations, B.P.J. v. West Virginia State Bd. of Ed. (4th Cir.)

Link: The First Amendment in Flux, ACS 2025-2026 Program Guide

Link: Episode 180: The Voting Rights Act at 60

Link: Concurring Opinion, Hilo Bay Marina v. State of Hawai'i

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Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
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Production House: Flint Stone Media

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This week on Broken Law, we are circling back on stories we've previously covered, providing updates you may have missed before we head into a new SCOTUS term and a new academic year.  Lindsay Langholz and Christopher Wright Durocher bring you the latest on Harvard's lawsuit against the Trump Administration, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook's purported termination, the conservative majority's continuing and egregious misuse of the Supreme Court emergency docket, and how the federal government and states are handling death row cases.

Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program

Guest:  Christopher Wright Durocher, Vice President of Policy and Program

Link: Harvard College v. HHS (D. Mass.)

Link: Appeals court judges publicly admonish Supreme Court justices: ‘We’re out here flailing,' by Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney

Link: Judge temporarily blocks Trump's firing of Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, by Steve Kopack 

Link: Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo

Link: Mid-Year Review 2025: New Death Sentences Remain Low Amidst Increase in Executions, Death Penalty Information Center

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Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
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Production House: Flint Stone Media

Copyright of American Constitution Society 2025.

The Trump administration has sought to advance its extreme and often unlawful agenda through the strategic use and abuse of the law and legal system, including Executive Orders targeting law firms and litigation and misconduct complaints against district court judges. While some lawyers and courts are holding the administration accountable, others are quick to capitulate. Mark Lemley joins Christopher Wright Durocher to talk about the administration’s abuse of the law and legal system and what can be done to stop it. 

Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

Host: Christopher Wright Durocher, Vice President of Policy and Program

Guest: Mark Lemley, William H. Neukom Professor of Law and Director of the Program in Law, Science and Technology, Stanford Law School; Partner, Lex Lumina, LLP

Link: Amicus Brief of 676 Law Professors in Support of Plaintiff, WilmerHale v. U.S. Dep’t of Just., 25-cv-917 (Apr. 11, 2025)

Link: As July 4 Approaches, Supreme Court Signs Away American Democracy, by Mark Lemley

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Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
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Production House: Flint Stone Media

Copyright of American Constitution Society 2025.