Sidebar: Recent Episodes
Legal Talk Network
Co-hosts law school deans Jackie Gardina and Mitch Winick invite lawyers, authors, law professors, and expert commentators to discuss current challenges to our individual constitutional and civil rights. Educators at heart, this “dynamic dean-duo” believe that the law should be accessible to everyone . . . and should never be boring!
Supreme Court Correspondent Nina Totenberg discusses her fifty-year career as a reporter covering some of the most important Supreme Court decisions of our time. As a front-row witness to history, with unique access to Supreme Court Justices and Washington D.C. policymakers, Nina joins SideBar cohosts Jackie Gardina and Mitch Winick to discuss the importance of building relationships - with the Court - within the Court - and most importantly, with the public. Along with Susan Stamberg, Cokie Roberts, and Linda Wertheimer, Nina was one of the "Four Mothers of National Public Radio" who laid the foundation of one of the most respected news organizations in America.
Professor Stephen Vladek, author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic, discusses how the Supreme Court has dramatically expanded the use of the little-known - and poorly understood - "Shadow Docket" to approve unconstitutional voting processes, abortion bans, restrictive immigration policies, and expanded religious liberties. Vladek is a CNN Supreme Court analyst and cohosts an award-winning national security law podcast.
Professor Julie Suk, author of After Misogyny: How the Law Fails Women and What to Do About It, discusses the legal and economic framework in the United States that fails to fairly recognize and value women's work. Unfortunately, the U.S. remains a leader in unequal pay, no pay, inadequate support for childcare, healthcare, and social services, and irregular parental leave policies and protections. Professor Julie Suk explains how other countries have enacted constitutional protections and inclusive lawmaking processes that result in more equitable outcomes for women that result in benefits to all members of society. Professor Suk challenges us to consider correcting deficiencies in our federal constitution that would enhance equality, improve the economy, and enrich our democracy.
After 200 years of racial and ethnic struggle, including the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Era, and Black Lives Matter, where are we now in the effort to achieve the promise of a multi-racial democracy? Dr. Peniel Joseph helps us to understand this struggle and describes our current political environment in a historical context. He holds a joint professorship at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the History Department in the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also the founding director of the LBJ School's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy and the Associate Dean for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Dr. Joseph is the author of seven books, most recently The Third Reconstruction: America’s Struggle for Racial Justice in the 21st Century which won the 2023 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award.
Damon T. Hewitt, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, discusses Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina and the Supreme Court’s direction on affirmative action. Hewitt explains what Brown v. Board of Education got wrong, exposes the logical fallacy behind the idea that a diversity rationale should have an endpoint, and offers insights on what higher education institutions should do in response to the Court’s decision.
Dr. Thaddeus Johnson, former police officer, Senior Fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, and Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Georgia State University, discusses his research and unique insights on empowering citizens to create safer communities. Public safety requires more than police reform, it requires community reform and in this wide-ranging and motivating conversation, Dr. Johnson details the steps communities can take to reduce crime, increase police accountability, and rebuild trust.
Professors Morgan Hazelton and Rachael Hinkle have published a fascinating book on one of the mysteries behind Supreme Court decision-making. "Persuading the Supreme Court: The Significance of Briefs in Judicial Decision-Making" combines research of more than 25,000 party and amicus briefs filed between 1984 and 2015 and interviews with former Supreme Court clerks and attorneys to shed light on the use of amicus briefs, one of the more mysterious and consequential features of Supreme Court cases. Both professors have J.D. and Ph.D. degrees and combine unique academic expertise in judicial politics, judicial process, and analytical methods.
David Noll, co-author of "Vigilante Federalism", is a lawyer, columnist, and Rutgers law professor who warns how the spread of private subordination laws thwarts our democratic system and erases longstanding constitutional rights.
In Episode 2, Reclaiming Democracy, David Pepper, the author of Laboratories of Autocracy: A Wake-Up Call from Behind the Lines, provides a stark wake-up call for the steps he believes are necessary to move from a competitive autocracy back to a democracy. Pepper insists that reclaiming our democracy requires a sustained and persistent effort at the local, state, and federal levels. With a view to the future, he highlights the steps he believes are necessary to defend democracy.
It’s the Statehouses. Stupid. So says David Pepper, the author of Laboratories of Autocracy: A Wake-Up Call from Behind the Lines. State legislatures, often ignored, play a significant role in deciding our rights, including the right to vote. Join SideBar co-hosts law school deans Jackie Gardina and Mitch Winick as they discuss current challenges to the American political system and Constitutional rights with author, lawyer, and politician David Pepper as the podcast’s inaugural guest. {Part 1 of 2}
Is our democracy at risk? How do we balance competing constitutional rights? How do we battle disinformation and still maintain free speech? If these are questions you grapple with, this is the show for you! Hosts (and law school deans) Jackie Gardina and Mitch Winick proudly present ‘SideBar’, a podcast dedicated to discussing rights, self-governance, and the fabric of our society... the law. Tune in twice a month as Jackie and Mitch speak plainly about these complicated topics with amazing guests! And now, onto the teaser :)