The New Deal’s War on Economic Liberty and Limited Government.

During the New Deal, the U.S. Supreme Court largely abandoned its role as an independent check on government power in the economic sphere by refusing to enforce constitutional limits on federal power and inventing a rubber stamp standard of review called the "rational basis” test.  This abdication of judicial responsibility has enabled legislators to run roughshod over economic liberties and property rights ever since.  IJ senior attorneys Clark Neily and Jeff Rowes talk about the Supreme Court decisions that unleashed government power during the New Deal.

Guests: IJ Attorneys Clark Neily and Jeff Rowes
Host: Shira Rawlinson
Length:27:33
Date: April 2012

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Mutual Consent: How the Individual Mandate Runs Counter to the History of Contracts in America

Historically, contracts are only valid and enforceable if there is voluntary, mutual consent. Contracts entered under duress are void.  At the end of March, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments to decide if the individual mandate of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is constitutional.  The Institute for Justice recently submitted an amicus brief to the Court urging the Court to strike down the individual mandate and keep contracts truly voluntary.  IJ's Elizabeth Price Foley and Steve Simpson sit down to discuss the history of contracts and the unique insights offered by IJ’s brief.

Guests: IJ Attorneys Elizabeth Price Foley and Steve Simpson
Host: Shira Rawlinson
Length:33:05
Date: March 2012

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Campaign Finance Laws Restrict Free Speech

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech,” but campaign-finance laws actually restrict the right of citizens to speak out.  IJ attorneys Steve Simpson and Paul Sherman are campaign-finance experts who litigate free speech cases across the country.  In this podcast, they give a brief history of campaign finance laws, Citizens United and Speechnow.org.

Guests: IJ Attorneys Steve Simpson and Paul Sherman
Host: Shira Rawlinson
Length:34:36
Date: February 2012

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The Rights Not Listed in the U.S. Constitution

The Framers drafted the Bill of Rights to protect individual liberty from government encroachment.  Although the Framers listed specific rights in the first eight amendments of the U.S. Constitution, the 9th Amendment makes clear that these “enumerated” rights are not a complete list of all rights the Constitution protects. Following the Civil War, another rights-protecting provision, the Privileges or Immunities Clause, was added to the Constitution as part of the 14th Amendment. The 9th Amendment and the Privileges or Immunities Clause both protect liberties such as the right to earn an honest living. These so-called “unenumerated” rights are every bit as much a part of the Constitution as specifically enumerated rights, and Institute for Justice Attorneys Clark Neily and Robert McNamara discuss why the rights not listed in the Constitution must be protected by the courts.

Guests: IJ Attorneys Clark Neily and Robert McNamara
Host: Shira Rawlinson
Length: 24:05
Date: January 2012

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Government Unchecked: The False Problem of “Judicial Activism” and the Need for Judicial Engagement

IJ Senior Attorneys Clark Neily and Steve Simpson discuss the new Center for Judicial Engagement report called Government Unchecked: The False Problem of “Judicial Activism” and the Need for Judicial Engagement.

They answer the questions: Is the U.S. Supreme Court running roughshod over the other branches of government?  Is it true, as outgoing Sen. Arlen Specter claimed, that the Court “has been eating Congress’s lunch by invalidating legislation with judicial activism”?  According the report, the answer is emphatically no.

Guests: IJ Attorneys Clark Neily and Steve Simpson
Host: Shira Rawlinson
Length: 29:02
Date: October 2011

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Make-Believe Judging: The Rational Basis Test Exposed

IJ Senior Attorneys Clark Neily and Jeff Rowes discuss the rational basis test and how it is used by courts in constitutional cases to provide the appearance of judicial review without the substance.

Guests: IJ Attorneys Clark Neily and Jeff Rowes
Host: Shira Rawlinson
Length: 29:59
Date: Jul 2011

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The Attorney Cartel: How Attorney Licensing Suppresses Competition

IJ Staff Attorney Anthony Sanders talks about attorney licensing and how states use licensing to protect established attorneys from competition.  IJ recently had a victory for attorneys in Minnesota’s legal market.  Click here to learn more.

Guest: IJ Staff Attorney Anthony Sanders
Host: Mark Meranta
Length: 16:31
Date:  June 2011

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Half-baked: Critiquing the Lochner Critics

IJ attorneys Clark Neily and Robert McNamara discuss one of the Supreme Court's most misunderstood—and mischaracterized—cases, Lochner v. New York (1905), in which the Court struck down a state law limiting the number of hours bakers could work.  Neily and McNamara argue that it is much easier to caricature the Lochner decision than to criticize it persuasively.  Neily and McNamara also explain how the majority's decision is more faithful to the text, history, and purpose of the Constitution than the dissents, particularly Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes's full-throated embrace of judicial abdication and statism.

Guests: IJ Attorneys Clark Neily and Robert McNamara
Host: Shira Rawlinson
Length: 36:18
Date: May 2011

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Economic Liberty in the Constitution

IJ Senior Attorney Clark Neily explains how and why economic liberty is protected by the Constitution.

Guest: IJ Senior Attorney Clark Neily
Host: Shira Rawlinson
Length: 21:54
Date: March 2011

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Eminent Domain and Blight Reform in Washington State and Beyond

IJ Staff Attorney Jeanette Petersen discusses eminent domain abuse and blight reform in the United States, focusing especially on progress in Washington State.

Guest: IJ Staff Attorney Jeanette Petersen
Host: Mark Meranta
Length: 11:27
Date: October 2010

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The Interior Design Cartel in Washington State

IJ Senior Attorney Michael Bindas talks about the interior design cartel in Washington State, and the ways industry insiders try to use the law to keep out competition. 

Guest: IJ Senior Attorney Michael Bindas
Host: Mark Meranta
Length: 11:41
Date: October 2010

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Supreme Court Update for Arizona Clean Elections

IJ's Bill Maurer talks about the news that the Institute's Arizona Clean Elections case will go before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2011. 

Guest:  Executive Director of the Institute for Justice Washington Chapter Bill Maurer
Host: Mark Meranta
Length: 06:45
Date:  August 2010

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McDonald v. Chicago

Listen to expert commentary about the June 28, 2010 SCOTUS ruling in McDonald v. Chicago.

Guest:  IJ Staff Attorney Robert McNamara
Host: Mark Meranta
Length: 14:20
Date:  October 2010

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IJ Client Mercedes Clemens

Institute for Justice client Mercedes Clemens talks about her fight to practice massage.

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