Background Briefing: December 1, 2021

On By gram

 

The Supreme Court Appears Ready to Restrict Abortions or Overrule Roe

We  begin with the oral arguments today in the Supreme Court on the Mississippi abortion case that seemed to indicate the right wing majority of justices are willing to uphold the State of Mississippi’s abortion restrictions. Joining us is Sherry Colb, Professor of Law at Cornell University who teaches courses in constitutional criminal procedure, evidence, and animal rights and has published articles in a variety of law reviews on reproductive rights and her most recent book is, Beating Hearts: Abortion and Animal Rights which addresses both the pro-life and animal rights movements. She clerked for Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court and we discuss her prediction in The Washington Post that the outcome is not a nail-biter since the Supreme Court will uphold the Mississippi 15-week ban and say that it is not overruling Casey because it does not need to reach the question, since a 15-week ban does not impose an undue burden. The decision, she feels, will be at best manipulative, and at worst dishonest.

 

An Expert Witness the University of Florida Barred From Testifying Against Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Voting Restrictions

Then we speak with Dr. Michael McDonald, a Professor of Political Science at University of Florida. He is a principal investigator on the Public Mapping Project, a project to encourage public participation in redistricting, and also is the Director of the United States Election Project. We discuss how the University of Florida had to reverse its decision to bar him from serving as an expert witness in a lawsuit against the state targeting legislation supported by Governor Ron DeSantis that inhibits access to the ballot. We look into how this fits into the aggressive national campaign by Republicans to restrict Democratic votes as American democracy heads toward a one-party autocracy.

 

The Attacks on the 2024 Election Are Already Underway

Then finally we speak with Joshua Douglas, a Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky College of Law who teaches and researches election law and voting rights, civil procedure, constitutional law, and judicial decision making. He is the author of Vote for US: How to Take Back our Elections and Change the Future of Voting and he joins us to discuss his article at CNN, “The attacks on the 2024 election are already underway.”