We The People

The landmark 1964 Supreme Court decision New York Times Company v. Sullivan shaped libel and defamation law and established constitutional principles that still govern the scope of press protections in America today.   More

Benjamin Franklin is well known as a Founding Father and an innovative inventor, scientist, and diplomat. But did you know he had a major and often unsung role at the Constitutional Convention?   More

Last week, the Supreme Court released its opinion in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee—upholding two Arizona voting rules by deciding that they did not violate the Voting Rights Act or the Constitution and were not enacted with a racially discriminatory purpose.   More

As Americans look forward to celebrating Independence Day this holiday weekend, this week’s episode dives into the Declaration of Independence. We trace where its words and its ideals came from and how it went on to influence state constitutions, the United States constitution, and other key American texts including President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Rev.   More

As Americans look forward to celebrating Independence Day this holiday weekend, this week’s episode dives into the Declaration of Independence. We trace where its words and its ideals came from and how it went on to influence state constitutions, the U.S.   More

The Supreme Court recently released decisions from some of the most highly-anticipated cases of this term. Jess Bravin, who covers the Supreme Court for The Wall Street Journal, and Marcia Coyle, Chief Washington correspondent for The National Law Journal and contributor to the National Constitution Center’s blog Constitution Daily, join host Jeffrey Rosen to recap those decisions and highlight the role, approach and legal philosophy of each individual justice in this blockbuster term.   More

The Supreme Court recently released decisions from some of the most highly-anticipated cases of this term. Jess Bravin, who covers the Supreme Court for The Wall Street Journal, and Marcia Coyle, chief Washington correspondent for The National Law Journal and contributor to the National Constitution Center’s blog Constitution Daily, join host Jeffrey Rosen to recap those decisions and highlight the role, approach and legal philosophy of each individual justice in this blockbuster term.   More

On June 19th, 1865, Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended and that the enslaved were now free.   More

On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War had ended and that the enslaved were now free.   More

As the Supreme Court approaches the home stretch of the 2020-2021 term, it’s released some opinions with unanimous decisions and others with split votes composed of unusual alignments of justices. Supreme Court experts Kate Shaw, cohost of the podcast Strict Scrutiny and professor at Cardozo Law, and Jonathan Adler, contributing editor of National Review and professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, join host Jeffrey Rosen to recap those decisions and detail why they’re important, as well as what to look out for in the rest of the outstanding cases still left in this term, and new cases in the next.   More

Last week, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer joined National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen for a live online program to discuss the Constitution, civility, the Court, and more.   More

The Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to a Mississippi law banning most abortions after 15 weeks (with narrow exceptions for medical emergencies or “severe fetal abnormality,” but not for instances of rape or incest).   More

In the wake of the 2020 election, a host of new laws that deal with voting have been proposed across the country by both states and the federal government. Election law experts Rick Hasen, professor at UCI Law and author of Election Meltdown: Dirty Tricks, Distrust, and the Threat to American Democracy, and Derek Muller, election law professor at Iowa Law, join host Jeffrey Rosen to discuss whether or not the proposed bills are constitutional; explain how the election system is structured under our Constitution and state, federal, and local laws; and more.   More

This week’s episode previews New York State Rifle and Pistol Association Inc. v. Corlett, which could become a major Second Amendment and gun rights case. This lawsuit was brought by two New York state residents who were denied licenses to carry firearms outside of the home, AKA “concealed carry” permits, because they had failed to show “proper cause” to carry a firearm in public for the purpose of self-defense and did not demonstrate a special need for self-defense that distinguished them from the general public.    More

The Facebook Oversight Board—a recently-developed court of sorts that independently reviews Facebook’s decisions and policies—issued a major ruling this week, upholding the company’s initial decision to ban President Trump indefinitely, but calling on the company to come to a final decision on its suspension of Trump and similar cases with greater detail.   More

After a high school student with initials B.L. posted a snap on the social media app Snapchat complaining about sports and school, she was suspended from the cheerleading team. She sued the school for violating her First Amendment rights and appealed up to the U.S.   More

Next week, the Supreme Court will hear argument in a key consolidated case about the First Amendment and donor disclosure laws. Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Rodriquez asks whether a policy of the California attorney general’s office that requires charities to disclose the names and addresses of their major donors violates the First Amendment.   More

Recently, the Supreme Court seemingly put an end to the legal battle over whether President Trump violated the First Amendment by blocking people on Twitter by instructing the lower court to declare the case moot.   More

This week we dive into the fascinating history of global constitutionalism and declarations of independence. Linda Colley of Princeton University, author of the new book The Gun, The Ship, and the Pen: Warfare, Constitutions, and the Making of the Modern World, and David Armitage of Harvard University author of The Declaration of Independence: A Global History, join host Jeffrey Rosen.   More

In the midst of March Madness, the Supreme Court recently heard oral argument in NCAA v. Alston. The case is an antitrust challenge to the NCAA’s rules on compensation for athletes, brought by college basketball and football players including Shawne Alston, a former West Virginia University running back who argues that college athletes are being exploited.   More