Hello friends, and welcome back to the NSL Podcast with Professor Vladeck and Dean Chesney. Tune in for a detailed discussion of the bizarre plea-deal-wait-nevermind-no-plea-deal situation that unfolded last week in relation to three of the four remaining military commission defendants in the 9/11 prosecution, as well as a breakdown of the Supreme …

Naomi Cahn (Justice Anthony M. Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Law & Armistead M. Dobie Professor of Law- UVA Law), June Carbone (Robina Chair in Law, Science and Technology- UMN), and Nancy Levit (Associate Dean for Faculty and Curator's Professor and Edward D. Ellison Professor of Law- UMKC) all join us to discuss their new book, Fair Shake: W…

Betcha thought we were done…but we’re back! Tune in as Steve Vladeck and Bobby Chesney discuss and debate the latest (ok, some of this stuff is months old) national security law and related developments, including: The renewal of Section 702 (aka our first contribution to the rapidly-upcoming debate over the next renewal) The conviction of the form…

What’s the difference between how Americans communicated about politics and policies 20 or 30 years ago and how we do it today?What are the most effective ways to combat disinformation in elections and otherwise?Are the platforms and the rest of us ready for election-related threats in 2024?On the season finale of Season 5 of the ELB Podcast, we sp…

How should we understand the Supreme Court’s questions in the Trump immunity case?Will the Court let Donald Trump go to trial for 2020 election interference based just on his acts as a candidate and not as President?Are the legal theories advanced in Donald Trump’s hush money case in New York legally sound?On Season 5, Episode 7 of the ELB Podcast,…

Kellye Testy (President and CEO of the Law School Admission Council) joins us to talk about her time as a law school dean, as well as how she helps law students succeed even before they enter law school.

Hello, is this thing on? Check one, check two…testing, testing. We’re good? Alright alright alright… It’s been 100 days between shows. Thought maybe the world might be calmer if we waited a bit, but no such luck! We are, however, very glad to be back on the air with a fresh (and rather long!) episode. Tune in for topics including: Israel & Hamas Uk…

Cathy Cox ( President of GA State College & University, former Dean of Mercer Law School, former President of Young Harris College, former GA Secretary of State) talks with us about her experiences as both a president and dean in universities in Georgia.

Robert (Bobby) Ahdieh (Dean and Anthony G. Buzbee Endowed Dean's Chair; Vice President for Professional Schools & Programs, Texas A&M-Fort Worth Chief Operating Officer, Texas A&M University) talks with us about the joys of teaching law and being a dean.

Why doesn’t the U.S. Constitution contain an affirmative right to vote?Can constitutional reform promote political equality, defuse the voting wars, and thwart election subversion?How can we get a constitutional right to vote, if we can’t even get normal voting rights legislation passed in Congress?On Season 5, Episode 6 of the ELB Podcast, I am in…

What are the costs for democracy when the Supreme Court decides cases on the “shadow docket?”Is the Purcell Principle a license for states to act illegally in running elections?What is going to happen with the Trump disqualification case at the Supreme Court?On Season 5, Episode 5 of the ELB Podcast, we speak with Steve Vladeck, author of the book,…

Barring an unlikely spate of more than a dozen episodes happening over the next week, it sure looks like Steve has won his bet with Bobby, for this marks the 16th episode of 2023. Ouch, that’s not even *close* to the 30-show target! But tune in anyway if you are interested in a thorough overview of what is and is not clear about the Colorado Suprem…

In this episode, Barbara McQuade (professor from practice at University of Michigan Law School) talks with us about her work as an law analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, teaching law to students from a practical point of view, as well as her upcoming book- Attack from Within: how disinformation is sabotaging America…

Has the United States done enough to minimize the risk of election subversion in 2024?How might problems in Congress affect a fair tallying of electoral college votes on January 6, 2025?How much danger of authoritarian rule does the U.S. face going forward?On Season 5, Episode 4 of the ELB Podcast, we speak with Ian Bassin and Jess Marsden of Prote…

Two months between episodes? Looks like someone will be buying Steve a dinner at the conclusion of 2023 (barring a pivot to posting new episodes every day). As for what is on tap in episode 243: Israel and Gaza: a review of key international law issues The United States and Iran: a review of key domestic law issues Trumplandia: checking in on, like…

Do gag orders against presidential candidate Donald Trump in his civil or criminal trials violate the First Amendment?What should we make of Trump’s claims that his actions to overturn the results of the 2020 elections are protected free speech?How should we assess the dangers of government “jawboning” of social media platforms to remove objectiona…

Is the Roberts Court shifting on its protection of voting rights?How has the addition of three Trump-appointed Justices changed the nature of the Supreme Court?Should we expect a new ethics code for Supreme Court Justices?On Season 5, Episode 2 of the ELB Podcast, we speak with Joan Biskupic, CNN’s senior supreme court analyst and author of the new…

In this episode, we talk to Stephen Vladeck (Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts at the University of Texas School of Law) about his book The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic. Steve's newsletter: https://stevevladeck.substack.com/ Steve's book: https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-…

Sorry about accidentally taking the whole month off, but we’re back with a classic: tune in for the 9/11 case warm-up, and stick around for 45 minutes of wrangling over the PCLOB Report on Section 702! And, yes, frivolity, always frivolity (wherein we discuss the musical Six, football, and gargantuan mismatches).…

Will the multiple indictments and expected trials of former President Donald Trump lead to violence or unrest?Are the risks of political violence in the U.S. increasing or decreasing?What can the United States learn from other countries that reversed democratic backsliding?On Season 5, Episode 1 of the ELB podcast, we have a roundtable with Ben Gin…

In this episode we talk to Matthew Sag (Professor of Law in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Data Science at Emory University Law School) about his work in developing FLAIR (Forward Looking Academic Impact Rankings) for US law schools, an alternative to traditional law school rankings. Find out more here: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4465…

Tune in for the latest, in which we discuss life as a fall 1L, RICO, removal, Nashiri, Bahlul, Shimari, Barbie, and Silo. And if all those names mean something to you…well, you are among the select few, and this pod is for you!Par Bobby Chesney and Steve Vladeck

If you are interested in a detailed and careful explanation of the charges at issue in United States v. Trump (the recent indictment of the former president in relation to his effort to overturn the results of the election), the way that the alleged facts related to those offenses, and the relatives strengths and weaknesses of the most likely defen…

Well, it’s been about a month, so it’s good we are finally back with a fresh episode! Tune in as hosts Steve Vladeck and Bobby Chesney kick the tires on: The New York Times story (per Charlie Savage) on the Biden Administration’s October ’22 revised policy guidance on kill/capture operations outside areas of active hostilities Touching base with th…

What are the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision in Moore v. Harper for American democracy?What will the case mean for 2024 election challenges?Does the decision shut down attempts to submit slates of fake electors and subvert presidential elections?On the Season 4 finale of the ELB podcast, a voting rights roundtable with Derek Muller, Ca…

Why did two conservative justices on the Supreme Court join the Court’s liberals to save section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in Allen v. Milligan?Will voting rights plaintiffs see more success in Section 2 cases in other states including Louisiana, Georgia, and Texas?What are the political implications of the Court siding with minority plaintiffs in…

Today’s episode focuses on the indictment in United States v. Donald Trump and Waltine Nauta, S.D. Fla. (23-80101-CR). Co-hosts Steve Vladeck and Bobby Chesney walk you through the factual allegations, the crimes charged, the areas where tricky evidence questions might arise, the process for selecting the presiding judge, and the prospects for an a…

Since 2017, the Supreme Court has significantly increased its use of the process by which the justices hear and resolves emergency appeals, sometimes known as the shadow docket. These decisions are made without oral argument and often come in short unsigned orders. Stephen Vladeck, the Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts at the University o…

To what extent have abortion politics been the driver of campaign finance fights in the courts?How much of a force has anti-abortion lawyer Jim Bopp been in the campaign finance cases?Are new efforts to make it harder to pass abortion initiatives going to change voters’ access to direct democracy?On Season 4, Episode 8 of the ELB Podcast, we speak …