The Insurrection Act gives presidents dangerous authority to use the U.S. military as a domestic police force It has virtually no limits on when and how this power can be used, making it ripe for abuse by any leader. Without urgent reforms, the law is a threat to civil liberties — and American democracy itself.

In a conversation moderated by the Brennan Center’s Elizabeth Goitein, lawyer and writer Hawa Allan, Harvard law professor Jack Goldsmith, and Brennan Center counsel Joseph Nunn discuss how urgent reforms are needed to prevent the Insurrection Act’s misuse. They also explore how these proposed solutions can help protect our civil liberties.

Please give us a boost by liking, subscribing, and sharing with your friends. If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, please give it a 5-star rating.

You can keep up with the Brennan Center’s work by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, The Briefing: https://go.brennancenter.org/briefing

The Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority has taken a hard originalist turn, citing history to justify rulings that have eliminated many long-standing American rights. What exactly does originalism mean? Should history be the sole source of rights? And what if the history that the Court has relied on is flat-out wrong?

Listen in on a discussion from October 12, 2023 moderated by Adam Serwer of the Atlantic with historians Laura Edwards, professor at Princeton University; Kate Masur, professor at Northwestern University; and Karen Tani, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Their conversation dissects how history has been used and abused in consequential recent cases and sketches out alternative views for how history can help us better understand the Constitution.

Please give us a boost by liking, subscribing, and sharing with your friends. If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, please give it a 5-star rating.

Click here to read more from the Brennan Center’s Historians Council on the Constitution: https://www.brennancenter.org/historians-council-constitution

You can keep up with the Brennan Center’s work by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, The Briefing: https://go.brennancenter.org/briefing

Public support for the Supreme Court has plummeted to an all-time low in the last year as the highest court has been ridden with controversy and ethics scandals. Hard-right rulings from a conservative supermajority have also raised concerns about the judicial independence of the institution. Is it time to reform the Court?

Listen in on a discussion between Kenji Yoshino, the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU School of Law, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Brennan Center President Michael Waldman about ethics reform, term limits, and other ways the public, the media, and Congress can bring accountability back to the Supreme Court.

Please give us a boost by liking, subscribing, and sharing with your friends. If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, please give it a 5-star rating.

You can keep up with the Brennan Center’s work by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, The Briefing: https://go.brennancenter.org/briefing