Episodes
-
Checks on executive power have become fully unbalanced, with boundaries and guardrails overrun daily. Congressional leadership unwilling to challenge a president of their own party and an enabling Court have thus far proven largely uninterested in reining in a president who openly defies constitutional and legal constraints on his power. A recent panel at ACS's 2026 National Convention tackles the question of what can be done now to curb executive power and rebalance our branches of federal government?
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Lindsay Langholz, Vice President of Policy and Program
Guest: Vanita Gupta, Director of the Center for Law and Public Trust, NYU Law
Guest: Harold Hongju Koh, Sterling Professor of International Law, Yale Law School
Guest: Barbara McQuade, Professor from Practice, University of Michigan Law School
Guest: Hon. Jamie Raskin, Member, U.S. House of Representatives for the 8th District of Maryland
Guest: Donald Sherman, President and Chief Executive Officer, CREW
Link: Videos of all 2026 National Convention Panel Conversations Coming Soon
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
Since retaking office, the Trump Administration has put the legal profession in the crosshairs through executive orders, administrative rules, and public pressure campaigns targeting lawyers, law firms, and judges. In a recent wave of attacks, the Administration has set its sights on law schools and law students. Amanda Fuchs Miller joins Ashley Erickson to discuss the various levers of federal power being pulled by the Administration to target legal education and what can be done about it.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Ashley Erickson, Senior Director of Network Advancement
Guest: Amanda Fuchs Miller, President, Seventh Street Strategies
Link: An Under the Radar Attempt to Politicize Federal Funding Needs Your Input, by Amanda Fuchs Miller
Link: Notice and Comment Project, ACS
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
Missing episodes?
-
In the final weeks of the 2025-2026 term, the Supreme Court will issue over two dozen decisions in key cases. Before this final stretch, we return to ACS's Supreme Court Preview event to refresh our collective memories on those cases still outstanding and as an opportunity to reflect on what the term has yielded thus far.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Valerie Nannery, Senior Director of Policy and Program
Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, Senior Writer, Slate Magazine
Guest: Carlos A. Ball, Distinguished Professor of Law and Judge Frederick Lacey Scholar, Rutgers Law School
Guest: Alexis Hoag-Fordjour, David Dinkins '56 Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center for Criminal Justice, Brooklyn Law School
Guest: Pamela S. Karlan, Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law and Co-Director of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, Stanford Law School
Guest: Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Samuel Weiss Faculty Scholar, Director of the Center for Immigrants' Rights Clinic, and Clinical Professor of Law, Penn State Dickinson Law
Link: ACS National Supreme Court Preview 2025-2026
Link: Supreme Court Term in Review, Georgetown Law on July 1
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
Recent reporting suggests the President is flirting with issuing more blanket pardons for political allies and those willing to court his favor. Liz Oyer joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss how the president's pardon power has been used (and abused) in recent years and to understand just how far outside the norms we have strayed.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Lindsay Langholz, Vice President of Policy and Program
Guest: Liz Oyer of Lawyer Oyer, Former United States Pardon Attorney
Link: Justice Dept. Sets Up $1.8 Billion Fund That Could Funnel Money to Trump Allies, by Glenn Thrush, Andrew Duehren, & Alan Feuer
Link: Trump Promises Mass Pardons to Staff Before Leaving Office, by Josh Dawsey
Link: Lawyer Oyer
Link: Register Here for ACS's 2026 National Convention
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
It has been a tough few weeks for democracy. The US Supreme Court's recent demolition of what remained of the Voting Rights Act, the Virginia Supreme Court's decision to trump the express will of Virginia voters to redraw congressional lines, and southern state legislatures racing to the bottom to strip Black voters of political power have weighed heavily on us all. For our 200th episode, Joyce Vance joins Valerie Nannery to discuss her book, Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy, and what it will take from all of us to save our democracy.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Valerie Nannery, Senior Director of Policy and Program
Guest: Joyce Vance, Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Law, The University of Alabama School of Law; ACS Board Member
Link: Giving Up is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy, by Joyce Vance
Link: Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance
Link: ACS 2026 National Convention details and registration
Link: Register Here for ACS's 2026 National Convention
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
As ACS staff prepares for our 2026 National Convention in Washington, DC, we invite you to revisit two highlights of our 2024 convention for a little inspiration and encourage you to join us for this year's event if you are able. Judge Carlton Reeves (S.D. Miss.) and then-New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin delivered remarks on the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education, the role attorneys and law students can play as social engineers, and being a hero for democracy.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Lindsay Langholz, Vice President of Policy and Program
Guest: Hon. Carlton Reeves, District Judge, Southern District of Mississippi; Chair, U.S. Sentencing Commission
Guest: Matt Platkin, 62nd Attorney General of New Jersey; Partner, Platkin LLP
Link: Register Here for ACS's 2026 National Convention
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
Since January 2025, the District of Columbia and its more than 700,000 residents have been under near-constant attack by both the Executive and Legislative branches of the federal government. The federal officials attempting to control the District through legislative action and physical force are not elected by D.C. residents and are not accountable to them. Keya Chatterjee joins Broken Law to describe what has been happening, why everyone should care, and how people are fighting for the right of the people of D.C. to govern themselves.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Valerie Nannery, Senior Director of Policy and Program
Guest: Keya Chatterjee, Executive Director, Free DC
Link: May Day DC
Link: Anti-DC Congressional Bills Attempt Federal Takeover of DC Criminal Justice and Home Rule, Maryland State & DC AFL-CIO
Link: Putting D.C. in the Chain of Command: Congress Should Reform the DC National Guard’s Outdated and Dangerous Command Structure, by Elizabeth Goitein
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
The Roberts Court has recently used its docket to indulge in growing antidemocratic tendencies, collecting power for itself as it shuts the courthouse doors on those seeking to vindicate their constitutional rights and uphold checks and balances. David Sloss joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss his new book, People v. The Court: The Next Revolution in Constitutional Law, and how power might be rebalanced through a change in judicial review standards.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Lindsay Langholz, Vice President of Policy and Program
Guest: David Sloss, John A. and Elizabeth H. Sutro Professor of Law, Santa Clara University School of Law
Link: People v. The Court: The Next Revolution in Constitutional Law, by David Sloss
Link: The Roberts Court's Assault on Democracy, by Judge Lynn Adelman
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
What trust remains in antitrust enforcement under the Second Trump Administration? Diana Moss joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss the Nexstar-Tegna merger, what impact the deal would have on consumers, and why the politicization of regulatory bodies like the FCC threatens due process and the rule of law.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Lindsay Langholz, Vice President of Policy and Program
Guest: Dr. Diana Moss, Vice President and Director of Competition Policy, Progressive Policy Institute
Link: The Nexstar-Tegna Merger Will Raise Your Cable Bill, and Then Some, by Diana Moss
Link: Resisting the Politicization of Antitrust and Regulation, by Diana Moss
Link: Competition, Progressive Policy Institute
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
Katie Gima and Jess Zalph join Ashley Erickson to discuss ACS's Constitution in the Classroom program, including a look at newly released curriculum entitled "Separation of Church and State and the U.S. Constitution" and how to bring this important piece of civic education to a classroom near you.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Ashley Erickson, Senior Director of Network Advancement
Guest: Katie Gima, Senior Director of Legal Programs & Networking, Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Guest: Jess Zalph, Constitutional Litigation Fellow, Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Link: Constitution in the Classroom
Link: Elementary School Lesson Plan
Link: Middle School Lesson Plan
Link: High School Lesson PlanVisit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
Kim Lane Scheppele joins Valerie Nannery to discuss how America’s slide into autocracy is similar to and different from autocratic shifts around the world, how far America is on the path to autocracy, and what we can all do to stop the descent.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Valerie Nannery, Senior Director of Policy and Program
Guest: Kim Lane Scheppele, Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International Affairs & Director of the Program in Law and Normative Thinking at the University Center for Human Values, Princeton University
Link: Autocratic Legalism, by Kim Lane Scheppele
Link: Trump’s Counter Constitution, by Kim Lane Scheppele
Link: The ‘Big Lie’s’ Autocratic Assault on the Rule of Law: Attorneys Can Stop It, by Jim Saranteas
Link: Become a Poll WorkerVisit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
Lindsay Langholz is joined by ACS San Diego Lawyer Chapter leaders Kevin Gregg and Emily Howe to discuss immigration cases making their way through federal courts, who gets to decide who is an American, what protection citizenship or legal status provides, and what it is like to be on the front lines of defending American democracy.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program
Guest: Kevin Gregg, Partner, Kurzban Kurzban Tetzeli & Pratt, P.A. and ACS San Diego Lawyer Chapter Leader
Guest: Emily Howe, Principal, Law Offices of Emily E. Howe and ACS San Diego Lawyer Chapter Leader
Link: The American adoptees who fear deportation to a country they can't remember, by George Wright
Link: Immigration Review Podcast, hosted by Kevin A. Gregg
Link: ACS National Convention 2026
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
The rights protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution are essential for the proper functioning of a responsive democracy. As we mark the end of the first year of the Second Trump Administration, Nora Benavidez joins Lindsay Langholz to take stock of the effects of a year-long assault on free speech and discuss her recent report, Chokehold: Donald Trump's War on Free Speech & the Need for Systemic Resistance.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program
Guest: Nora Benavidez, Senior Counsel and Director of Digital Justice and Civil Rights, Free Press
Link: Chokehold: Donald Trump’s War on Free Speech & the Need for Systemic Resistance
Link: I Counted Trump’s Censorship Attempts. Here’s What I Found., by Nora Benavidez
Link: Defending Academic Freedom, Episode 175 of Broken Law
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
Introducing ACS's New President! Phil Brest joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss his background in judicial nominations, the perspective he brings to his new role, and the political moment we all find ourselves in as he takes the helm at ACS.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program
Guest: Phil Brest, President of ACS
Link: ACS National Convention 2026
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
From detaining student protesters to threatening to deport rival politicians, President Trump has weaponized the immigration system to suppress dissent. Professor Alina Das and advocate Ramya Krishnan join Taonga Leslie to discuss how these attacks chill speech across the board, examine the unique challenges of defending free speech in the immigration context, and describe how lawyers can resist efforts to silence non-citizens and citizens alike.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Taonga Leslie, Director of Policy and Program for Racial Justice
Guest: Alina Das, James Weldon Johnson Professor & Co-Director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic, NYU Law
Guest: Ramya Krishnan, Senior Staff Attorney, Knight First Amendment Institute; Lecturer in Law, Columbia Law School
Link: Opinion, AAUP v. Rubio (Judge Young)
Link: The First Amendment in Flux, ACS Program Guide
Link: Rights Under Attack: DHS Violence Against Journalists, Observers, and Protestors
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
This fall, the Department of Homeland Security descended on the Greater Chicago area as part of an aggressive immigration enforcement campaign targeting Democratic-run cities. Scott Sakiyama joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss his experiences organizing and engaging in efforts to combat authoritarian tactics used by federal agents, what activists in other cities can learn from Chicago, and the importance of taking action now.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program
Guest: Scott Sakiyama, Oak Park, Ill. Attorney and Activist
Link: Oak Park attorney arrested near school says federal agents pointed gun at him, had ‘Chiraq Team 2’ group chat, by Rebecca Johnson
Link: Order and Opinion, Chicago Headline Club v. Noem (Judge Ellis)
Link: Volunteer patrols and the PTA at school entrances: How some Charlotte residents are mobilizing amid the immigration crackdown, by Dalla Faheld, Andy Buck, & Dianne Gallagher
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
Indigenous communities are often invited to participate in the conversation about access to their sacred sites but rarely do their interests prevail. Time and again, their input is received and yet made subordinate to competing interests from corporate powers, scientific pursuits, and even recreation. Michalyn Steele joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss how the law could be changed to reorder existing values and give greater weight to Indigenous interests in sacred sites.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program
Guest: Michalyn Steele, Marion G. Romney Professor of Law, BYU Law
Link: The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act as a Model of Cultural Sovereignty for Protecting Indigenous Sacred Sites, by Michalyn Steele
Link: Rethinking Protections For Indigenous Sacred Sites, by Stephanie Hall Barclay and Michalyn Steele
Link: Indigenous Resilience, by Michalyn Steele
Link: Supreme Court spurns Native American religious claim over copper mine on sacred land, by Lawrence Hurley
Link: Native American Rights Fund
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
President Trump is currently remodeling a house that he does not seem keen to move out of when his lease is up. Donald Sherman of CREW joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss the threat of Trump seeking a third term, and why in spite of clear constitutional text, history cautions us to take the threat seriously. They examine the clear text of the 22nd Amendment, the fight over ratification in the states, and why that all matters now.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program
Guest: Donald Sherman, Executive Director and Chief Counsel, CREW
Link: 2 presidential terms, 41 states: the ratification of the 22nd Amendment, CREW
Link: Remarks of Rep. Jennings, Congressional Record (852-853)
Link: A Third Trump Term Is Not the Charm, by Jamelle Bouie
Link: Presidential Term Limits in American History, by Michael Korzi
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
Right-wing operatives continue to target diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Through a growing web of hostile executive orders, state bans, and private lawsuits, enemies of diversity are using law to chill discussion of race, gender, sexuality, and other "divisive" concepts. In the face of these attacks, diversity defenders are turning to the First Amendment — and in many cases, they are winning. Taonga Leslie is joined by practitioners from across the country to explore strategies for using First Amendment principles and precedent to strengthen DEI programs going forward and highlight recent wins.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Taonga Leslie, Director of Policy and Program for Racial Justice
Guest: Katy Youker, Director, Economic Justice Project, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Chicago Women in Trades v. Trump)
Guest: Lawrence Lustberg, Director, John J. Gibbons Fellowship in Public Interest & Constitutional Law, Gibbons P.C. (Saadeh v. New Jersey State Bar Association)
Guest: Robert McDuff, Director of the George Riley Impact Litigation Initiative, Mississippi Center for Justice (Jackson Federation of Teachers v. Fitch)
Link: The First Amendment in Flux, ACS 2025-2026 Program Guide
Link: Using the First Amendment to Uphold DEI Initiatives, by Christopher Lucca and Vanessa Huber
Link: Protecting Our Purpose
Link: The Legal DEI Project
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
-
In the midst of an all-out assault on the rule of law, many are seeking opportunities to get involved in their communities to fight for our democracy. We've heard from members of our network who are interested in running for office or are considering for the first time finding their way to elected service. Rebecca Dussich of Buckeye Justice Forum joins Lindsay Langholz to discuss the impact of downballot elected officials, particularly judicial officials, and what potential candidates should consider as they approach a possible run for office.
Join the Progressive Legal Movement Today: ACSLaw.org
Host: Lindsay Langholz, Senior Director of Policy and Program
Guest: Rebecca Dussich, State Director, Buckeye Justice Forum
Link: Running for Office, ACS
Link: Buckeye Justice Forum
Link: Find Your Ballot, Vote411
Visit the Podcast Website: Broken Law Podcast
Email the Show: [email protected]
Follow ACS on Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | 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 2025.
- Show more
