This November, voters in 30 states and the District of Columbia will be casting ballots for state attorney general. These elected officials work on many issues that impact our everyday lives, and yet, many people do not know exactly what they do or who is running for the office. Valerie Nannery speaks this week with Lisa Madigan, former state Attorney General for Illinois, about what it means to run for and serve as a state attorney general, and how voters can learn more about this important position before voting this fall.
Episode Host: Valerie Nannery, ACS Senior Director for Network Advancement
Episode Guest: Lisa Madigan, Partner at Kirkland & Ellis and Former Illinois Attorney General
Links:
ACS's State Attorneys General Project
ACS's Run.Vote.Work. Initiative
"Get to Know Your State Attorney General; Their Work Matters More than You Know."
Chicago Police Consent Decree
National Association of Attorneys General
Email the Show: Podcast@ACSLaw.org
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Last month, Russia launched a premeditated, unjustified, and unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine in flagrant violation of international law. In response, the international community has unleashed crippling economic sanctions on Russia, President Biden has vowed that the United States will fulfill its obligations as a member of NATO, and the International Criminal Court has launched a probe into Russian war crimes. Debra Perlin speaks this week with Steve Vladeck about the laws and legal systems governing each of these developments, and about why American diplomatic capital is vital in times of international crisis.
Episode Host: Debra Perlin, ACS Director of Policy and Programs
Episode Guest: Stephen Vladeck, Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts at the University of Texas School of Law
Links:
"We Must be Unequivocal in Our Defense of Democracy," by Russ Feingold, ACS President
The National Security Law Podcast: Rhyming or Outright Repeating?
UN Charter
NATO Treaty
Email the Show: Podcast@ACSLaw.org
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Secretaries of State (SoS) play a key role in preserving election security and access to the ballot. Voters will be casting ballots for their state's SoS in 27 states this year. But, just what is involved in being a SoS? And what should be made of the effort underway to pack these offices with proponents of "the Big Lie"? Lindsay Langholz speaks this week with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson about the importance of SoS and how listeners can support election integrity in their states. This episode is part of ACS's Run.Vote.Work. initiative, focused on increasing voter education and engagement on down ballot races, including those for Secretary of State.
Episode Host: Lindsay Langholz, ACS Director of Policy and Programs
Episode Guest: Jocelyn Benson, Michigan Secretary of State
Links:
ACS's Run.Vote.Work. Initiative
"If voters don’t stop it, election deniers could kill American democracy," by Secretaries of State Shirley N. Weber and Jocelyn Benson
"Money Pours into State Secretary of State Races," Brennan Center
"State Secretaries of State: Guardians of the Democratic Process," by Jocelyn Benson
Email the Show: Podcast@ACSLaw.org
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The Supreme Court is taking up four cases, consolidated under the name West Virginia v. EPA, that could lead to the most consequential decision on the government’s ability to fight climate change in recent history. Although the litigation is nominally over President Obama’s Clean Power Plan – which was repealed by the Trump administration but still exists in a zombie-like legal state – it's really about the executive branch's ability to fight climate change - and to govern more broadly. To help us understand what is at stake in this case, Debra Perlin speaks this week with two friends from Earthjustice, Jill Tauber and Kirti Datla.
Episode Host: Debra Perlin, ACS Director of Policy and Programs
Episode Guests:
Jill Tauber, Vice President of Litigation for Climate and Energy at Earthjustice
Kirti Datla, Director of Strategic Legal Advocacy at Earthjustice
Links:
Earthjustice's Action Center
Equitable & Just National Climate Platform
Climate Law Blog, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Supreme Court Oral arguments
Email the Show: Podcast@ACSLaw.org
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Supreme Court confirmations are headlining events, driving the news cycle and consuming the Senate’s attention. But just what does the confirmation process look like behind the scenes? Beyond the TV cameras of the public hearing, what goes into putting a justice on the Supreme Court? Jeanne Hruska talks this week with ACS President Russ Feingold, who voted on six Supreme Court justices during his tenure in the U.S. Senate, about the norms, the politics, and ideas for reform of the Senate confirmation process.
Episode Host: Jeanne Hruska, Senior Advisor for Communications and Strategy of ACS
Episode Guest: Russ Feingold, President of ACS
Link: Justice Breyer's Retirement and the Supreme Court Confirmation Process
Email the Show: Podcast@ACSLaw.org
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What role do ethics violations play in the degradation of our democracy? The Trump administration left behind a legacy of profound corruption, egregious conflicts of interest, and outrageous self-dealing. The Wall Street Journal has reported on over 130 judges who have violated conflicts of interest laws. And Congress evades accountability on the regular by exempting itself from the Freedom of Information Act. This week, Debra Perlin speaks with Donald Sherman and Virginia Canter from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) about these and other ethics issues in the news and about how we build more effective government ethics regimes to safeguard our democracy.
Episode Host: Debra Perlin, ACS Director of Policy and Programs
Episode Guests:
Donald Sherman, Vice President and Chief Counsel of CREW
Virginia Canter, Chief Ethics Counsel at CREW
Links:
"What Democracy Looks Like: a blueprint for an accountable, inclusive and ethical government" by CREW
"131 Federal Judges Broke the Law by Hearing Cases Where They Had a Financial Interest" by James V. Grimaldi, Coulter Jones and Joe Palazzolo from the Wall Street Journal
Email the Show: Podcast@ACSLaw.org
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