Bound By Oath by IJ

Aug 30 2024 34 ep. 55 mins 900

Bound By Oath by IJ Podcast artwork

Bound by Oath is a podcast series from the Center for Judicial Engagement at the Institute for Justice. It’s where the Constitution’s past catches up with the present. Article VI of the U.S. Constitution requires every judge to be “bound by Oath” to uphold “this Constitution.” But to understand if judges are following that oath, it’s important to ask, “What is in ‘this Constitution’?” Your host John Ross takes a deep dive into the Constitution’s text, history, and characters, and interviews historians, legal scholars, and the real people involved in historic and contemporary cases.

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Punishment Without Crime | Season 3, Ep. 9

Aug 30 2024 74 mins

Civil forfeiture is a civil rights nightmare, allowing police and prosecutors to seize billions of dollars’ worth of property annually—cash, cars, houses, bank accounts, and more—without charging anyone with a crime, let alone obtaining a conviction. On this episode, we trace the rise of the modern forfeiture regime in the 1970s and 80s, and we look at forfeiture's historic r

Public Purpose | Season 3, Ep. 8

Jun 21 2024 65 mins

In 2005, in the case of Kelo v. New London, the Supreme Court allowed officials to seize and raze an entire neighborhood of well-maintained homes and businesses in the hopes that someone else could build fancier homes and businesses. According to the dissenters, the majority's opinion effectively deleted the provision of the U.S. Constitution requiring that takings be for a "public

The Despotic Power | Season 3, Ep. 7

On this episode: Berman v. Parker, the Supreme Court's decision in 1954 to abandon previous constitutional limits on the government's power to take property from Person A to give it to Person B. The decision greenlit the era of urban renewal, which saw over a thousand cities across the country seize and bulldoze entire neighborhoods en masse. Click here for episode transcript.

This is Mine | Season 3, Ep. 6

Apr 26 2024 44 mins

On this episode, we take a break from case law and go way back to the beginning to examine the origins and justifications of private property. Click here for episode transcript. Tyler v. Hennepin County

The Blessings of Quiet Seclusion | Season 3, Ep. 5

Apr 05 2024 61 mins

On this episode we return to the subject of zoning. With the doors to federal courthouses barred shut, advocates for reforming zoning have turned to state courts and state constitutions. Most famously, in 1975, the New Jersey Supreme Court took a look at a zoning ordinance that made it illegal to build low- and moderate-income housing in the township of Mount Laurel and said in no

A Pig in a Parlor | Season 3, Ep. 4

Feb 16 2024 53 mins

In 1926, in the case of Euclid v. Ambler, the Supreme Court upheld zoning, giving elected officials and city planners vast, new, and largely unchecked power to tell people what they can and cannot do with their own private property. On this episode: the story of the lawsuit that changed everything for American property rights plus the personalities who made it happen. Click here

A Lost World | Season 3, Ep. 3

Jan 19 2024 36 mins

On Episode 3, we journey back to a lost world: the world before zoning. And we take a look at a trio of historic property rights cases. In In re Lee Sing, San Francisco officials tried to wipe Chinatown off the map. In Buchanan v. Warley, Louisville, Ky. officials mapped out where in the city residents were allowed to live based on their race. And in Hadacheck v. Sebastian, a Los A

Groping in a Fog | Season 3, Ep. 2

Dec 21 2023 72 mins

In 1922, Scranton, Pennsylvania was said to be on the verge of collapsing into the vast coal mines beneath the city; residents, buildings, and streets alike were being swallowed up by “suddenly yawning chasms.” State legislators responded by unanimously passing a law meant to save the region, where about a million people lived, from total desolation. But when the law reached th

Mr. Thornton’s Woods | Season 3, Ep. 1

Dec 08 2023 66 mins

In 1984, the Supreme Court ruled that the Fourth Amendment's protections against warrantless searches do not apply to "open fields." Which means that government agents can jump over fences, ignore No Trespassing signs, and roam private land at will. There are no limits. On this episode, we talk to Richard and Linda Thornton, whose property in rural Maine was at the center of the ca

Season 3 Teaser

Nov 20 2023 3 mins

Season 3 of Bound By Oath is coming soon! Click here for transcript.