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Stanford Legal

Stanford Legal

Stanford Law School 202 Episodes Aug 20, 2026

Stanford Legal is a podcast that explores how law affects everyday life, covering cases, conflicts, and legal stories. Hosted by Stanford Law professors Pam Karlan and Rich Ford, the show delves into constitutional law, voting rights, and Supreme Court litigation. Karlan has argued before the Supreme Court ten times and co-directs the Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic. The podcast aims to make complex legal topics accessible to a general audience.

Episodes

Best of Stanford Legal: Inside the ACLU’s Docket with Anthony Romero
Best of Stanford Legal: Inside the ACLU’s Docket with Anthony Romero Aug 20, 2026 00:34:34 The ACLU’s Anthony Romero unpacks a sweeping docket—from a Supreme Court showdown over birthright citizenship to voting rights and free speech—as the rule of law is tested. --- In a timely conversation about the ACLU’s massive docket of cases, Pam Karlan speaks with Anthony Romero, JD ’90, executive director of the ACLU, about the surge of civil rights and civil liberties battles facing the countr
America's Promissory Note
America's Promissory Note Aug 11, 2026 01:09:05 The Declaration as a “promissory note”—and what it demands now In the final discussion of The Declaration at 250 series, Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, argues that the Declaration of Independence should be read in the Lincoln–King tradition: not as proof that the American
The Growing Influence of State Solicitors General
The Growing Influence of State Solicitors General Aug 6, 2026 00:29:16 Former state solicitors general Michael Mongan and Kevin Gallagher discuss the evolving role of state solicitors general and how states work together to shape legal battles before the Supreme Court. --- When states go to court, the battles are not always divided along party lines. State solicitors general often work across state lines to defend shared interests, coordinate legal strategy, and help
Countering Contemporary Criticism of America's Founding Principles
Countering Contemporary Criticism of America's Founding Principles Aug 4, 2026 01:04:01 The real crisis isn’t the Declaration—it’s what we’ve stopped teaching. Peter Berkowitz, Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, contends that universities have failed at liberal education—the cultivation of citizens prepared to exercise freedom and responsibility. He attributes the breakdown to politicized classrooms, overreliance on narrow “scientistic” approaches in the so
The Declaration In the Age of General Purpose AI
The Declaration In the Age of General Purpose AI Jul 28, 2026 01:07:13 "The Declaration meets the machine age" In this episode of The Declaration at 250, Michael McConnell frames a question the Founders never confronted: if the Declaration grounds rights in human nature, what happens when machines can generate persuasive, human-like language at scale? Constitutional scholar Alexander Tsesis argues that the Declaration’s conception of rights is inherently human-center
The Iran War and the Limits of Presidential Power
The Iran War and the Limits of Presidential Power Jul 23, 2026 00:28:53 Stanford’s Allen Weiner examines how the U.S. war with Iran raises questions about the president’s power to wage war and negotiate peace. --- The American war with Iran began with ambitious goals, including preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and potentially bringing about regime change. But the conflict may well be leading to a very different outcome, according to Stanford Law School'
Is the Declaration Our Law?
Is the Declaration Our Law? Jul 21, 2026 01:04:57 “Two competing originalist instincts” In this episode of The Declaration at 250, Michael McConnell introduces Randy Barnett, the Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law at the Georgetown University Law Center and Faculty Director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution alongside Eugene Volokh, the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution (Stanford), and the Gary T. Sch
State Constitutions and the Declaration of Independence
State Constitutions and the Declaration of Independence Jul 14, 2026 01:04:25 This episode highlights an often-missed story: the Declaration of Independence didn’t just shape the U.S. Constitution—it directly shaped state constitutions, many of which echo its natural-rights language more explicitly than the federal charter. Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick argues that reading state constitutional provisions through the Declaration can strengthen enforceable limits
The Structural Declaration of Independence
The Structural Declaration of Independence Jul 7, 2026 00:50:19 This episode reframes the Declaration of Independence as more than soaring ideals about equality and natural rights. Former California Supreme Court Justice Mariano-Florentino “Tino” Cuéllar argues the text contains an underappreciated architecture of government: accountability to citizens, managing political conflict across regions, and establishing legitimate authority both domestically and in t
Birthright Citizenship and the Future of the Fourteenth Amendment
Birthright Citizenship and the Future of the Fourteenth Amendment Jul 6, 2026 00:33:17 Stanford’s Fred Smith examines the Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship decision, its historical roots in the Fourteenth Amendment, and the questions the Court leaves unresolved. --- The Fourteenth Amendment opens with a simple constitutional promise: that anyone born in the United States is a citizen. In a closely divided Supreme Court decision, that understanding of birthright citizenship is o
Inside the Supreme Court’s Key 2026 Decisions
Inside the Supreme Court’s Key 2026 Decisions Jul 2, 2026 00:36:07 Jeff Fisher discusses a term marked by major rulings across executive power, voting, and civil rights, and what they signal about the Court’s trajectory. --- The Supreme Court has wrapped up a consequential term, issuing decisions that could shape executive power, constitutional rights, and the balance between the branches of government for years to come. Rulings on birthright citizenship, indepen
The Declaration of Independence as Obligation
The Declaration of Independence as Obligation Jun 30, 2026 00:43:44 This episode of The Declaration at 250 discussion spotlights a striking—and often overlooked—line in the Declaration of Independence: when despotism becomes systematic, “it is their right, it is their duty” to throw off such government. Martha Minow probes why the text escalates from permission to obligation, arguing that the “duty” language radically reframes political resistance as a moral deman

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