A new episode of the Insider podcast is now out. Steve Vladeck joins the conversation to help break down the Supreme Court’s latest slate of rulings. Steve is a Georgetown Law professor and author of the popular Substack: One First.
Preet, Joyce, and Steve cover:
– The Supreme Court’s rulings in US v. Hemani, a gun possession case, and Landor v. Louisiana Dept of Corrections, a religious freedom case;
– The Court’s decision to grant review of a case challenging the constitutionality of Florida’s six-person juries for criminal trials; and
– Trends emerging from the current SCOTUS term, including the shift of power away from Congress and toward the judiciary and executive branches.
A NOTE FROM THE PRODUCER
Jake Kaplan is the Supervising Producer of the Stay Tuned with Preet and Insider podcasts.
On a new episode of the Insider podcast, Preet Bharara and Joyce Vance are joined by Steve Vladeck to discuss under-the-radar Supreme Court opinions that could have a big impact on Americans’ rights.
Vladeck points to today’s ruling where the Court blocked a Rastafari prisoner in Louisiana from suing prison officials for cutting his hair in violation of a religious freedom law. On its surface, the decision appears narrow. Still, Vladeck says the decision could make it significantly harder for private citizens to sue to enforce federal statutes: “The real headline is that the Supreme Court, in this modest opinion that won’t get any real media coverage, has made it much harder for private citizens to sue to enforce things like the Medicaid statute or big parts of the Social Security Act.”
Vladeck also argues that many of the Court’s recent decisions reflect a broader effort to shift power away from Congress (and the public) toward the judiciary and executive branch: “This is a court deeply invested…in disempowering Congress. And that has the short-term benefit of giving the president that much more real and imagined power. But it also empowers the court.”
Listen to the episode and comment below with your thoughts and questions. Thank you for being a member of our community here on Substack. If you’re not yet a paying subscriber, you can now listen to a free excerpt from the show. For access to the full analysis, upgrade your subscription.
Stay Informed,
Jake
Photo by Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
