Contempt of Court with Elie Mystal

Feb 28 2024 10 ep. 34 mins 360
Contempt of Court with Elie Mystal Podcast artwork

Contempt of Court is an original podcast series from The Nation about how to reform the Supreme Court. Hosted by The Nation's Justice Correspondent, Elie Mystal, each episode delves into distinct avenues for change, featuring historical insights, fresh analysis of the latest SCOTUS news, and conversations with experts and change-makers who are actively working to shape the future of the judiciary.

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'Women Don't Get AIDS, They Just Die From It' | Blindspot

Feb 28 2024 46 mins  
Listen to an excerpt of the new podcast series Blindspot: The Plague in the Shadows, which revisits the early years of the HIV epidemic in New York City and how the virus tore through some of our most vulnerable communities while the wider world looked away. A co-production of The HISTORY® Channel and WNYC Studios. You can listen to more of Blindspot: The Plague in the Shadows her

Delegitimize The Court

Aug 21 2023 64 mins  
This is the eighth and final episode of Contempt of Court, our podcast series about reforming the Supreme Court. On this episode, we’re going to talk about the court’s only true form of power: legitimacy.To discuss potential paths toward delegitimizing the Court, my first guest on this episode is Harvard Law School professor, Nikolas Bowie. He makes a compelling case that the p

Stripping The Court of Its Power

Aug 14 2023 52 mins  
Instead of reforming how the Supreme Court uses its power, what if we took its power away?Harvard Law School professor, Ryan Doerfler, and Michigan Law School Professor Leah Litman join the podcast to discuss their perspectives on jurisdiction stripping. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

How to Fix The Supreme Court’s Ethics Problem

Aug 08 2023 49 mins  
The Supreme Court has a serious ethics problem—actually, ethics problems. The justices have been dogged by allegations of corruption. They’ve been peppered with questions about how they make money. And then, of course, there’s the long career of Clarence Thomas, who, along with his wife Ginni Thomas, appears so brazenly corrupt that his scandalous behavior has made the very i

Finding the Balance

Jul 31 2023 30 mins  
Beyond raw court expansion, or the (probably unconstitutional) big stick of forced term-limits, there are a number of other ways one might go about balancing the Supreme Court.On this episode of Contempt of Court, Elie Mystal speaks with legal experts Dan Epps and Steve Vladeck about potential ways we might find that balance.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivac

Reform the Media

Jul 24 2023 26 mins  
The court ended its most recent term completely off the chain. Having already killed reproductive rights, it accomplished another longstanding conservative goal: banning affirmative action in college admissions. That's not even the half of it.And yet, a lot of the mainstream media coverage suggested that the Court turned *moderate* and worked hard to achieve a mainstream consen

You're Wrong About Term Limits

Jul 17 2023 26 mins  
Term limits are by far the most popular form of Supreme Court reform. According to a recent poll from the Associated Press, two-thirds of Americans favor term limits for Supreme Court justices.On this episode of Contempt of Court, Elie Mystal is joined by Leah Litman and Aaron Belkin, to discuss what's wrong with everybody's favorite reform option.Advertising Inquiries: htt

Elie's Court Packing Plan

Jul 10 2023 15 mins  
When most people talk about expanding the Supreme Court, they're talking about adding a few justices. Two or four to the bench. But I am not most people. I do not think we should add a few justices to get into an endless tit for tat. With Mitch McConnell and his federal Society forces, I think we should blow the lid, clear off this incremental, institutionalized motherfucker, a

Packing The Court!

Jul 03 2023 27 mins  
On this episode, we start with the most powerful reform available: court expansion. As a matter of Constitutional structure, Court expansion has always been the constitutionally preferred way of handling a court that has overstepped its bounds. But as a political matter: court expansion has been treated like it is a radical solution. But It’s not. It is the way a President and Co

Welcome to Contempt of Court!

Jun 26 2023 4 mins  
If you have a problem with how the Supreme Court operates and how much power it is allowed to hold over the rest of us: welcome! On this show, we'll look at ways to make the Supreme Court stop hurting us. In each episode, The Nation's Justice Correspondent Elie Mystal will talk to experts and advocates who are doing the work to reform the Supreme Court and salvage American