On this episode: the story of Pullman abstention, the first of several abstention doctrines the Supreme Court invented to let federal judges decline to decide cases that they have jurisdiction to decide. 
<a href="https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/BBO-Script-Ep-402.pdf">Click here</a> for transcript.
<a href="https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep312/usrep312496/usrep312496.pdf">Railroad Commission of Texas v. Pullman Co.</a>

On this episode: the story of Pullman abstention, the first of several abstention doctrines the Supreme Court invented to let federal judges decline to decide cases that they have jurisdiction to decide. Click here for transcript. Railroad Commission of Texas v. Pullman Co.

On this episode: the story of Pullman abstention, the first of several abstention doctrines the Supreme Court invented to let federal judges decline to decide cases that they have jurisdiction to decide. 
<a href="https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/BBO-Script-Ep-402.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click here</a> for transcript.
<a href="https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep312/usrep312496/usrep312496.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer">Railroad Commission of Texas v. Pullman Co.</a>

Needless Friction. And Treason.

Bound by Oath is a podcast series from the Center for Judicial Engagement at the Institute for Justice. It’s where the Constitution’s past catches up with the present. Article VI of the U.S. Constitution requires every judge to be “bound by Oath” to uphold “this Constitution.” But to understand if judges are following that oath, it’s important to ask, “What is in ‘this Constitution’?” Your host John Ross takes a deep dive into the Constitution’s text, history, and characters, and interviews historians, legal scholars, and the real people involved in historic and contemporary cases.

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Needless Friction. And Treason.

Needless Friction. And Treason.

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