Episodes

  • The 2024 presidential election is behind us. Now, the second Trump administration looks poised to pick up where the first left off in its effort to reshape the federal judiciary in the conservative legal movement’s image. ACS President and former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold joins Christopher Wright Durocher to discuss prospects for the current Senate to confirm President Biden’s remaining judicial nominees to mitigate the damage of more Trump-appointed judges and to discuss what progressives can do about the courts right now and over the next four years.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Host: Christopher Wright Durocher, Vice President of Policy and Program

    Guest: Russ Feingold, ACS President

    Link: Judicial Nominations, ACS

    Link: On the Bench: Tracking President Biden's Judicial Nominations, ACS

    Link: ACS Pledges to Continue Fight for Rule of Law and Progressive Community

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • In the days after Election Day 2020, mis- and disinformation over how votes are counted, verified, and results certified fueled political violence and the birth of the Big Lie. Ahead of Election Day 2024, Jonathan Diaz joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss what election law experts are actually focused on once the polls close and what is just noise.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program

    Guest: Jonathan Diaz, Director of Voting Advocacy and Partnerships, Campaign Legal Center

    Link: Find Your Polling Place, Vote.org

    Link: Everything You Need to Vote, Vote.org

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • Missing episodes?

    Click here to refresh the feed.

  • From the January 6th attack on the Capitol to recent assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump, political violence and intimidation pose a growing threat to our democracy. Taonga Leslie brings an excerpt from a recent ACS program co-hosted by Giffords Law Center and March for Our Lives featuring a discussion among advocates and legal scholars on the causes of rising political violence, the stakes of the 2024 election, and how progressives can support positive change.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Host: Taonga Leslie, Director of Policy and Program for Racial Justice

    Guest: Joseph Blocher, Lanty L. Smith ’67 Distinguished Professor of Law, Duke University School of Law

    Guest: Makennan McBryde, Legal Project Manager, Giffords Law Center

    Guest: Mary McCord, Executive Director, Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, Georgetown University Law Center

    Guest: Yvin Shin, Legal Associate, March for Our Lives

    Link: "Guided By History: Protecting the Public Sphere From Weapons Threats Under Bruen," by Joseph Blocher and Reva Siegel

    Link: Become a Poll Worker

    Link: Election Protection Sign-Up

    Link: Election Official Legal Defense Network Sign-Up

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • In this supersized episode, Christopher Wright Durocher joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss what to expect from the imminent start to the 2024-2025 Supreme Court Term. Then, Sylvia Albert and Eyricka Geneus of Common Cause join Ashley Erickson to dig in on volunteer opportunities in this final stretch of the 2024 election cycle.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program csacas

    Guest: Christopher Wright Durocher, Vice President of Policy and Program at ACS

    Guest: Ashley Erickson, Senior Director of Network Advancement at ACS

    Guest: Sylvia Albert, Director of Voting and Elections at Common Cause

    Guest: Eyricka Geneus, Election Protection Field Coordinator at Common Cause

    Link: ACS National Supreme Court Preview 2024-2025

    Link: The Shadow Docket by Stephen Vladeck

    Link: ProtectTheVote

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • The Roberts Court has spent years ignoring precedent, norms, and judicial restraint in pursuit of concentrated power. Chris Kang joins Taonga Leslie to discuss the problems this power grab has caused and many of the reform proposals currently on the table.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Host: Taonga Leslie, Director of Policy and Program for Racial Justice

    Guest: Chris Kang, Co-Founder and Former Chief Counsel, Demand Justice

    Link: "To Save Democracy, We Must Expand the Court," by Christopher Kang

    Link: "Supreme Court Term Limits," Brennan Center for Justice

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • This Labor Day Weekend marks the unofficial end to an historically hot summer. Terri Gerstein returns to Broken Law to talk with Valerie Nannery about legal protections for workers -- including from record heats but also from non-compete provisions, child labor exploitation, and more -- and the people who enforce those laws.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Host: Valerie Nannery, Senior Director of Policy and Program at American Constitution Society

    Guest: Terri Gerstein, Director, NYU Wagner Labor Initiative, NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service

    Link: How Noncompete Agreements Stifle Workers, University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business

    Link: Broken Law Episode 98: Unpacking the Child Labor Crisis

    Link: NYU Wagner Labor Initiative

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • Two recent Supreme Court decisions have dramatically eroded the separation of church and state when it comes to our public schools. As students head back for another school year, Elizabeth Cavell joins Lindsay Langholz to look at the impact the Court's decisions have had on public school classrooms and how Christian nationalists are attempting to push the boundary even further.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program

    Guest: Elizabeth Cavell, Deputy Legal Director, Freedom from Religion Foundation

    Link: Christian nationalism on the march by Russell Contreras, Axios

    Link: Praying coach's actions do not alter the Constitution by Elizabeth Cavell, Seattle Times

    Link: We Dissent Podcast

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • In less than four years, President Biden has gone from a skeptic to proponent of significant reforms to the Supreme Court. Christopher Wright Durocher joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss how the Court’s recent decisions have played into the growing calls for reform and what proposals may be gaining traction. We also bring you excerpts of ACS’s 2023-2024 Supreme Court Review to better understand just how aggressive the Court has become in delivering wins for the conservative legal movement and accumulating power for itself.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program

    Guest: Christopher Wright Durocher, Vice President of Policy and Program, ACS

    Link: Full Video: ACS National Supreme Court Review (2023-2024)

    Link: My Plan to Reform the Supreme Court and Ensure No President Is Above the Law by Joe Biden, Washington Post

    Link: Judicial Nominations, ACS

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • In less than 100 days, voters all over the country will start heading to the polls as early voting begins in most states. Lindsay Langholz is joined by ACS’s Ashley Erickson and Power the Poll’s Marta Hanson to cut through the noise of the presidential race and talk about one concrete thing that can be done to help protect democracy this year and help restore faith in our election system long-term.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program

    Guest: Marta Hanson, National Program Manager, Power the Polls

    Guest: Ashley Erickson, Senior Director of Network Advancement, ACS

    Link: Become A Poll Worker

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • Artificial intelligence has burst onto the scene at a fragile time for our democracy, leading to many questions about how such a powerful tool can be harnessed to empower voters and election administrators while exposing vulnerabilities in our democratic structures. Taonga Leslie speaks with Spencer Overton about the potential racial harms and upsides of AI on our democracy.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Host: Taonga Leslie, Director of Policy and Program for Racial Justice

    Guest: Spencer Overton, The Patricia Roberts Harris Research Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Multiracial Democracy Project, George Washington University

    Link: Overcoming Racial Harms to Democracy from Artificial Intelligence by Spencer Overton

    Link: Multiracial Democracy Project, George Washington University

    Link: A political consultant faces charges and fines for Biden deepfake robocalls by Shannon Bond, NPR

    Link: Trump supporters target Black voters with faked AI images by Marianna Spring, BBC

    Link: AI and Elections, Brennan Center for Justice

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • As we approach the end of another Supreme Court term where originalism has dominated opinion after opinion in furtherance of an extremist conservative ideology, a question once again arises - how should progressives interpret the Constitution? Madiba Dennie joins Valerie Nannery to discuss her new book, The Originalism Trap, and how progressives can reclaim what the Constitution means.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Host: Valerie Nannery, Senior Director of Policy and Program

    Guest: Madiba Dennie, Author of "The Originalism Trap"

    Link: The Originalism Trap by Madiba Dennie

    Link: How Originalism Ate the Law, Slate

    Link: Path to the Bench, ACS

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • Antitrust has escaped the business section and become a major topic of conversation in households across America. If you plan to attend a summer concert, buy groceries, or even listen to this episode on your phone, antitrust could have a real impact on your day-to-day life. Recent high-profile cases and notable agency actions have garnered commentary from supporters and skeptics alike. Elizabeth Binczik speaks with Sandeep Vaheesan of Open Markets Institute about the competing views on the FTC’s and DOJ’s recent actions and what this period means for antitrust.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Host: Elizabeth Binczik, Director of Policy and Program for Economic Justice

    Guest: Sandeep Vaheesan, Legal Director, Open Markets Institute

    Link: Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter Delivers Remarks at New York City Bar Association’s Milton Handler Lecture, US Dept. of Justice

    Link: Federal Trade Commission

    Link: Dara Kerr & Alina Selyukh, DOJ, FTC double down on their antitrust strategy, NPR

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • The Biden Administration recently released a new rule that provides critical updates to Title IX. Lindsay Langholz and ACS Law Fellow Claire Comey speak with Anya Marino and Shiwali Patel about this important federal civil rights law, the contours of this new regulation, and the work still to be done to protect students of all gender identities on campus.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Host: Lindsay Langholz - Senior Director of Policy and Program

    Co-Host: Claire Comey

    Guest: Anya Marino - Director of LGBTQI Equality, National Women's Law Center

    Guest: Shiwali Patel - Director of Safe and Inclusive Schools

    Link: Education and Title IX, National Women's Law Center

    Link: Hélène Barthélemy, How Men’s Rights Groups Helped Rewrite Regulations on Campus Rape, The Nation

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • Christopher Wright Durocher is joined by Professor Elisabeth Semel to talk about her recently released report, Guess Who’s Coming to Jury Duty? They discuss how too many courts don’t adequately track prospective jurors’ race and ethnicity and how the failure to take a race-conscious approach to jury selection and service results in the perpetuation of implicit, explicit, and institutional racial bias in our criminal legal system.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Today's Host: Christopher Wright Durocher, Vice President of Policy and Program

    Featured Speaker: Elisabeth Semel, Chancellor’s Clinical Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Death Penalty Clinic, Berkeley Law

    Link: Guess Who's Coming to Jury Duty? Berkeley Law Death Penalty Clinic

    Link: Whitewashing the Jury Box, Berkeley Law Death Penalty Clinic

    Link: Batson v. Kentucky

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • This week on Broken Law, we revisit two moving speeches from ACS's 2023 National Convention. Oren Nimni and Sherrilyn Ifill explore the complicity of lawyers in maintaining our unjust legal system and the special responsibility we bear in creating a more just future.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Today's Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program, ACS

    Featured Speaker: Oren Nimni, Litigation Director, Rights Behind Bars

    Featured Speaker: Sherrilyn Ifill, Former President and Director Counsel, NAACP LDF; Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., Esq. Endowed Chair in Civil Rights, Howard University

    Link: Register for ACS's 2024 National Convention

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • Florida and Arizona state courts recently green lit restrictive abortion bans and the Supreme Court hears two cases that will have significant implications for how doctors and pregnant people navigate the post-Dobbs chaos. Elizabeth Binczik and Lindsay Langholz discuss the latest abortion news and how these developments are interacting with this year's elections.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Today's Host: Elizabeth Binczik

    Guest: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program, ACS

    Link: Former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey says the abortion ruling from justices he chose goes too far by Mead Gruver

    Link: Mississippi Keeps the Door Firmly Shut on Ballot Initiatives by Daniel Nichanian

    Link: The Shadow Medical Community Behind the Attempt to Ban Medication Abortion by Jordan Smith

    Link: After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • The Supreme Court has taken up three cases that arise out of litigants seeking accountability for the violent events of January 6th. This month, the Court will hear arguments on former president Trump's presidential immunity claim and take a look at whether the law used to prosecute many January 6th participants was validly applied in one such prosecution. Lindsay Langholz speaks with Donald Sherman of CREW about what the Court's decision in Trump v. Anderson, the ballot disqualification case, means for this ongoing pursuit of accountability.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Today's Host: Lindsay Langholz, ACS Sr Director of Policy and Program

    Guest: Donald Sherman, Executive Vice President and Chief Counsel, CREW

    Link: American Historians' Brief

    Link: Childrens' Rights Legal Scholars and Advocates Brief

    Link: Colorado lawsuit enforcing Donald Trump's unconstitutional disqualification, CREW

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • Artificial Intelligence has the potential to affect how work is performed across industries and, in particular, within media and entertainment. Elizabeth Binczik speaks with Sarah Fowler of SAG-AFTRA to get her thoughts on how AI could impact performers’ work, the current state of the law, and how we might protect performers and people in general from AI’s risks without sacrificing AI’s benefits.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Today's Host: Elizabeth Binczik, Director of Policy and Program for Economic Justice for ACS

    Guest: Sarah Luppen Fowler, Senior Deputy General Counsel, SAG-AFTRA (affiliation included for identification purposes only)

    Link: Human Artistry Campaign

    Link: CES Tech Talk: SAG-AFTRA Strike's Impact on AI and Hollywood's Future

    Link: "Senators draft policy aimed at deep fakes of Drake, Tom Hanks and noncelebrities" by Brian Contreras

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • International Women's Day will be celebrated on March 8th. It is a day to celebrate while also taking stock of women's rights here in the United States and abroad. This year, we see a number of countries making significant strides toward reproductive freedom for women while the United States slides backwards. Lindsay Langholz speaks with Julie Suk, author of "After Misogyny: How the Law Fails Women and What to Do About It," about how misogyny informs our legal system and our social structures.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Today's Host: Lindsay Langholz, ACS Sr Director of Policy and Program

    Guest: Julie Suk, Hon. Deborah A. Batts Distinguished Research Scholar and Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law

    Link: After Misogyny: How the Law Fails Women and What to Do About It by Julie Suk

    Link: "French Senate votes to enshrine abortion in constitution, a world first" by Karla Adam

    Link: "Ireland kickstarts vote on constitution's wording about women and family" by Rory Carroll

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.

  • Under the banner of "40 acres and a mule," the movement for reparations for slavery and Jim Crow has gained momentum in recent years, with diverse efforts underway from big states like California and New York to smaller communities like Evanston, Illinois and Asheville, North Carolina. Marcus Hunter, author of the recently published "Radical Reparations: Healing the Soul of a Nation" explains to Taonga Leslie why economic compensation alone will not be sufficient to heal the scar of anti-Black racism and explains the six other forms of compensation that will be necessary to bring about true justice.

    Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org

    Today's Host: Taonga Leslie

    Guest: Marcus Hunter, Scott Waugh Endowed Chair in the Division of the Social Sciences, UCLA

    Link: Radical Reparations: Healing the Soul of a Nation by Marcus Hunter

    Link: The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates

    Link: 40 Acres and a Mule

    Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast

    Email the Show: [email protected]

    Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube

    -----------------
    Broken Law: About the law, who it serves, and who it doesn’t.
    -----------------

    Production House: Flint Stone Media

    Copyright of American Constitution Society 2024.