In this episode, Kathryn Johnson and law professors Ilan Wurman and Joshua Kleinfeld break down the Supreme Court's 5-4 birthright citizenship decision — a much more closely divided ruling than many expected.

Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the Court, held that the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment confers citizenship on virtually anyone born on U.S. soil, with only narrow historical exceptions. The decision effectively takes the issue out of the democratic process, requiring either a constitutional amendment or a future Court to change course.

The hosts also analyze the full range of views across the concurrences and dissents: Justice Kavanaugh’s narrower, more statutory approach that would leave room for Congress to act; Justice Alito’s rejection of British “birthright subjecthood” and focus on the Civil Rights Act of 1866; and Justice Thomas and Gorsuch's domicile-based theory. They also examine Justice Jackson’s concurrence, which pushes a sweeping “antisubordination” reading of the Fourteenth Amendment that even Justice Sotomayor declined to join in full and that puts Justices Jackson and Thomas directly at odds.

The conversation explores the deeper stakes: Did the majority get the original meaning right, or did it entrench a contested historical view and disable democratic self-government? Should consequences — such as birth tourism and incentives for illegal immigrants — matter in constitutional interpretation? And what realistic paths remain for those who believe birthright citizenship should be more limited?

This is the rational — and based — discussion of the Court’s biggest decisions that you won’t hear anywhere else.

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In this special episode, our hosts — Kathryn Johnson and law professors Ilan Wurman and Joshua Kleinfeld — tackle four recent Supreme Court decisions. They focus on the two big immigration cases from Thursday, where the Supreme Court upheld the right to hold migrants on the Mexico side of the border without processing their asylum claims, and held that Trump could end Temporary Protected Status for Haiti and Syria. Our hosts talk about the Left's judicial lawfare, and ask deep questions about the nature and purpose of our asylum and immigration laws. They round out the episode with the Court's decision invalidating restrictions on public carrying of firearms in Hawaii, and they ask what about communist regimes expropriating private property makes the three liberal Justices want to side with Cuba instead of an American oil company.

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New Podcast Episodes every Thursday morning, find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or on YouTube!

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In this episode, our hosts — Kathryn Johnson and law professors Ilan Wurman and Joshua Kleinfeld — take on a topic that has taken the country by storm over the last several months: welfare fraud. They go over some legal developments involving the Trump Administration's efforts to stem the fraud, including intricate administrative law questions involving "final agency action" and whether agencies may act on political pretexts. They touch, as always, on activist judges seeking to thwart the administration's efforts. They also go deeper and debate the constitutional roots of the welfare system. Ilan argues in his new book that Congress does not have an independent power to spend for the general welfare — and that social security and most other federal welfare systems are probably unconstitutional. Josh thinks Ilan's argument is crazy. Whos' right? And Ilan, Josh, and Kathryn debate whether welfare saps the foundations of a free society. Join our hosts as they engage in an unusually robust debate among themselves about these topics fundamental to the future of America. And don't forget to buy Ilan's book, The Constitution of 1789: A New Introduction, which is now available online or in bookstores near you.

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New Podcast Episodes every Thursday morning, find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or on YouTube!

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