rationally BASED

In this special episode of Rationally BASED, our host, law professor Ilan Wurman, is joined by guest co-hosts Sanjana Friedman and Judge Glock. Both write about homelessness, public encampments, and other disorders in America's progressive cities. Our hosts talk about the state of the homelessness-industrial complex in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Do NGOs have an incentive to perpetuate homelessness? Was Spencer Pratt right to describe homeless people as simply "drug addicts"? (Answer: mostly yes.) Our hosts talk about how progressives manipulate language to dull the mind and advance their radical agenda, for example by describing homeless persons as "unhoused." Our hosts then dive into legal issues surrounding "public nuisance": Can taxpayers and homeowners use public nuisance to fight back against public encampments and other insane progressive policies? And why are progressives so against public nuisance laws in these obvious contexts, when they use public nuisance laws for absurd purposes like suing energy companies for climate change or gun manufacturers for gun violence? Is this another example of progressives abusing the legal system? Tune in to find out.

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Our hosts Kathryn Johnson, Joshua Kleinfeld, and Ilan Wurman break down the controversial new DOJ Anti-Weaponization Fund. Is it legal? Is it justified? And after decades of Democrat “sue and settle” tactics, does it even matter? 

The panel dives into how Obama and Biden administrations used collusive sue-and-settle tactics to funnel billions to allies, donors, and favored causes through settlement funds — from $3.5B for Native American tribes and aligned lawyers, to $1.3B for Hispanic farmers and aligned lawyers, to $1.2B from Volkswagen for electric cars, to a student debt end-run from Biden. Trump banned the practice in his first term — only to have the ban immediately reversed by Biden. 

At the core of the episode is the defining question of the Trump era: When the Left breaks norms for power, should the Right turn the other cheek, respond combatively but differently, or engage in pure tit-for-tat? Is upholding already-broken norms just being suckers?

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Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, are joined by guest co-host Joshua Kleinfeld, law professor at Scalia Law School at George Mason University, former professor at Northwestern, and a recent alum of the Trump Administration. They are also joined by Yonatan Green, author of Rogue Justice: The Rise of Judicial Supremacy in Israel. Our hosts talk about the modern phenomenon of left-wing "Juristocracy," that is, rule by judges--but only so long as they're on the political left. Our hosts explain why the Left must couch its ideas in false language like "democracy," and how they label obviously democratic reforms as "anti-democratic."

Israel is the cautionary tale for America. How did a group of Supreme Court Justices become so powerful in a system without any written constitution? First, they get rid of standing and justiciability requirements; second, they engage in "reasonableness" review of executive action; third, they invent a written constitution out of parliamentary legislation enacted by the opposition in the dead of night; and fourth, they change the rules as they go, and prevent new parliamentary legislation from undoing the old parliamentary legislation. Although Israel's case is one of judicial supremacy on steroids, there are clear warning signs for America. Oh, and the Israeli Left engages in lawfare, too--as when meritless criminal prosecutions were initiated against two members of Israel's judicial appointments committee when they spoke out against the judicial supremacist trends in their country. You won't want to miss this episode.

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In this special episode, our host gives a lecture at Stanford Law School on his new book, The Constitution of 1789: A New Introduction. What caused the American Revolution? Why did we write down our constitutions? What the nature of the American Union? Of executive power? And -- a topic near and dear to the listeners of Rationally BASED -- what is judicial power? Does the Constitution contemplate judicial review? Does that mean the Supreme Court has final say over all constitutional questions? And what was the Constitution's relationship to slavery? Get a sneak peek of Ilan's new book, which if you can order on Amazon or here: https://cambridge.org/Constitution1789. If you order from Cambridge, you can use the discount code WURMAN26 and get 20 percent off. Enjoy the preview, and please remember to like and subscribe!

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Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, start off discussing the Virginia Redistricting case. What did the state supreme court hold? What is an "election"? Is there a federal question for the U.S. Supreme Court to review? Are the Democrats flipping 180 on a bunch of issues to get their way, including the meaning of "election day" and the independent state legislature doctrine? Our hosts then turn to the five-court circuit split surrounding the mandatory detention of illegal aliens. What is an "applicant for admission"? Is an applicant for admission necessarily "seeking" admission? And what does Judge Lagoa's Eleventh Circuit dissent tell us about birthright citizenship? Enjoy this textual and interpretive bonanza.

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Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, cover everything Voting Rights Act in light of the Supreme Court's recent decision in Louisiana v. Callais. Why was the Voting Rights Act enacted, and how does it relate to the Fifteenth Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment? What did the VRA accomplish? What did the Supreme Court do with Section 5 of the VRA in Shelby County, and was that case rightly decided? Is redistricting even covered by the language of the VRA? If it is covered, would that even be constitutional if the Fourteenth Amendment covers only civil rights, rather than political rights? How has the VRA been interpreted since it was held to cover redistricting? Ilan and Kathryn talk about the "Democrat Movement Lawyer" theory of the VRA, which required what Kathryn calls "Dem Maxxing" -- maximizing the political power of Democrats. The Supreme Court in Callais, Ilan argues, merely scuttled this crazy interpretation of the VRA, restoring it to its original and intended purposes.

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Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, get a full hour with Mollie Hemingway, editor-in-chief of The Federalist and author of the new New York Times bestseller, Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution. They touch on several themes in the book and connect them to current issues and news. Is Alito an originalist? What is a "practical originalist"? Why did he make fun of Justice Scalia, saying he wanted to know what James Madison thought about video games? What do the attacks on Alito show us about the Left's strategy and tactics more broadly? What is "demosprudence"? The "Greenhouse effect"? And what's the Shadow Docket? Our hosts then talk with Mollie about the recent Voting Rights Act decision, about election integrity more generally, and here takeaway from the birthright citizenship oral arguments, which she attended. Enjoy and please like and subscribe!

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Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, revisit the issue of Trump's ballroom after the recent assassination attempt. Ilan sticks to his guns and thinks Congress has to approve the ballroom; Kathryn is skeptical. Both agree, though, that the District Court case against the ballroom is ridiculous because the plaintiff doesn't have standing. Our hosts pivot to the Democrats' plan to pack the Supreme Court and make D.C. a state. They talk about the history of circuit riding and the need to increase the number of lower court judges after Biden shamefully vetoed a bipartisan bill in 2024. They talk about Congress's power over and duties toward the other branches through the Necessary and Proper Clause. Their longest discussion is about the Fifth Circuit's ruling allowing the Ten Commandments to be displayed in Texas classrooms. The audience can join Kathryn as Ilan tests her on the application of the infamous "Lemon test" for religious establishment. 

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Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, take a deep dive into the ongoing January 6 lawfare, and particularly the civil lawsuit against President Trump brought by capitol police officers and lawmakers in D.C. Did you even know that such a lawsuit was going on? Our hosts break down the 2024 immunity decision, talk about the Independent Counsel statute from the Watergate era, and break down the causes of action against Trump in the civil case. Did Trump "direct" others to assault and batter capitol police officers? Did he "aid and abet" the attacks? Or is the civil lawsuit another outrageous attempt by Movement lawyers to abuse the legal process to harass their political opponents? The hosts round out the episode with discussion of the lawfare against the ordinary citizens who served as "alternate electors" in 2020 and the recent disbarment of Trump lawyer John Eastman. 

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Our hosts, law professor Ilan Wurman and Kathryn Johnson, rave about the Supreme Court's shadow docket. The shadow docket allows the Court quickly to rein in rogue district judges and their crazy opinions. Our hosts in particular talk about Justice Kavanaugh's shadow docket decision involving "Kavanaugh Stops," Justice Sotomayor's personal attack on Kavanaugh, Judge Boasberg's TdA ruling, and the D.C. Circuit's benchslap of his recent attempt to hold Trump officials in contempt. They also talk about exit taxes, and their most academic topic to date: What is the object of legal interpretation? Does the intent of the legislature matter? Only the text? Something else?

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