May 6, 2021
[Cross-posted from Trumpconlaw.com]
By Elizabeth Joh
What can Joe Biden or any U.S. president do when it comes to reforming the approximately 18,000 locally governed police departments around the U.S.? The infamous Rodney King video showing him being graphically beaten by police officers helped catalyze a giant 1994 crime reform bill that brought the pattern and practice of local police departments under federal scrutiny. How does it work? Listen to episode 52 of What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law.
March 30, 2021
[Cross-posted from What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law]
By Elizabeth Joh
On Jan. 6, a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to stop the certification of the presidential election results. Many of the insurrectionists will be tracked down and charged with crimes, in part, because their cell phones placed them in the Capitol building during the attack.
The case of Carpenter v. United States is the closest the Supreme Court has come to weighing in on the matter of historical cell phone data, but the decision didn’t offer an opinion on law enforcement’s use of a location-specific cell phone tower data dump without an individual suspect in mind. This brings up questions about the way warrants usually work under the Fourth Amendment. Listen to episode 51 of What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law.
March 1, 2021
[Cross-posted from What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law]
By Elizabeth Joh
Following the Jan. 6 riot at the United States Capitol, the major social media platforms banned former President Donald Trump, and many accounts related to far-right conspiracy theories. In response, conservative activists have called for the repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, saying it would prevent “censorship” of right-wing viewpoints in the future. But what does Section 230 actually say? How are the social media companies determining what can be on their platforms? Listen to episode 50 of the What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law podcast.
February 1, 2021
[Cross-posted from What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law]
By Elizabeth Joh
On Jan. 13, former President Donald Trump became the first person ever to be impeached twice by the House of Representatives. But with Trump out of office, it’s unclear if there will be enough votes to reach the two-thirds majority needed to convict him in the Senate. With the trial looming, we look at whether Trump has a good argument against the charge he incited a riot at the U.S. Capitol, and whether it’s constitutional to impeach a person who has left office.
Listen to the episode
January 4, 2021
Episode 48 of “What Trump Can Teach Us Con Law,” “The Final Days,” explores President Donald Trump's failure to overturn the results of the presidential election and what the Constitution has to say about pardons. Listen to the episode
November 30, 2020
[Cross-posted from “What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law”]
By Elizabeth Joh
As of late November, most states had certified the presidential election for Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris. But Donald Trump continues to deny the results of the election and insist (without a shred evidence) that he lost because of voter fraud.
Episode 47 of “What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law,” “Lame Duck,” explores what the Constitution has to say about the transfer of power. What if Donald Trump fails to concede? What does the constitution say about the period of time after an incumbent loses but remains in power?
Listen to the episode
September 28, 2020
[Cross-posted from “What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law”]
By Elizabeth Joh
On Sept. 18, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at age 87. She was a trailblazing jurist who fought for the equality of women before the law. But her legacy is in peril, as President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans prepare to push through a conservative successor. What can Democrats do to alter the course of the SCOTUS? And what does the Constitution tell us about so-called "judicial supremacy?" Listen to episode 45 of "What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law"
August 29, 2020
Episode 44: “The Hatch Act and the Election”
[Cross-posted from Trumpconlaw.com]
By Elizabeth Joh
Episode 44 of the “What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law” podcast explores the legality of President Trump using the White House as a backdrop for the Republican National Convention under the Hatch Act, explains the Electoral College, and tackles the president’s recent comments casting doubt on mail-in voting. Listen to the episode
August 3, 2020
[Cross-posted from Trumpconlaw.com]
By Elizabeth Joh
Episode 43 of the “What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law” podcast reviews some of the big cases of the past Supreme Court term and considers the constitutionality of the federal policing of the Portland protests. Listen to the podcast
June 29, 2020
[Cross-posted from trumpcon.law]
By Elizabeth Joh
Episode 42 of the “What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law” podcast: As people around the world continue to protest police brutality, Republicans and Democrats in Congress have proposed bills that would reform policing across the U.S. But in the American system, states are given a lot of latitude over law enforcement, down to the use of tactics like chokeholds and tear gas. Given the Constitution, what can the federal government actually do to make things better? Also, why was the ever-obscure Third Amendment trending last month? Listen to the episode
