Your Weekly Constitutional

Can we do anything to stop the venomous rantings of groups like the Westboro Baptist Church? Is some speech so hateful that it is beyond the protections of the First Amendment?

Our Prohibition Forum! Or at least as much of it as we could squeeze into an hour's worth of radio.

Was it constitutional for President Obama to kill Osama bin Laden? How about the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen living in Yemen? The answers are more complex than you might think. We talk to John Bellinger, former Legal Advisor to both Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and to the National Security Council. We also speak with Professor Robert Turner of the Center for National Security Law at the University of Virginia.

Are we talking Nazis and bonfires? Or is it something more nuanced? Is every attempt to remove a book from a library a "ban?" We'll talk to a lawyer for the American Library Association and to one of the ALA's critics. We'll also talk to a high school English teacher and a public librarian. Listen up - it's a hot one.

In our second episode on Prohibition, we conclude the bloody tale of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. By 1929, gang violence had become so brazen than many people started openly calling for repeal of the 18th Amendment.

The first in a series of episodes on Prohibition, which tie in with the new Ken Burns PBS documentary. Former Cook County Police Chief Art Bilek tells the gripping story of the Chicago mob and the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, the single most notorious act of gang violence during Prohibition. Such violence and the inability of corrupt politicians to prevent it eventually led to the repeal of the 18th Amendment.

Well, it's a long, sad tale. We'll tell it with help from Derrick Howard of the Appalachian School of Law and James Loewen, author of "Sundown Towns."

We'll hunt for National Treasures where Congress and the Supreme Court first met, and at the Second Bank of the United States, precursor to the Federal Reserve. That's where they keep all the money.

Is the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional? Michael Newdow thinks so. And he's gotten at least one federal court to agree with him. We'll talk to Dr. Newdow, and to Gregory Katsas, a former Justice Department lawyer who defended the Pledge against one of Dr. Newdow's lawsuits.

We're taking a field trip to . . . Independence Hall! To the very place where the Founders came together and debated our Constitution. So grab your tri-cornered hat, pull on your knee breeches, and let's get down to business.