Last week Supreme Court justices heard arguments about whether the state of Colorado could ban Donald Trump from the ballot. This week, Trump petitioned the justices to temporarily block a decision by a federal appeals court regarding his claim of presidential immunity.

“The real question to me is how do these two cases, the Colorado case and the January 6th prosecution, end up fitting together,” says Stephen Vladeck, professor at the University of Texas School of Law and author of the New York Times bestseller “The Shadow Docket.”

Vladeck joined Diane on this episode of On My Mind to explain these cases and why, together, they highlight the role today’s Supreme Court plays in the country’s democracy.

For more from Stephen Vladeck, you can read his newsletter, One First.