Concrete Plans to Restore Law, after Trump

Concrete Plans to Restore Law, after Trump

Author: Slate Podcasts June 6, 2026 Duration: 1:03:35

One of the challenges of modern legal journalism is recalling that case law, doctrine, and Supreme Court decisions aren’t a complete picture, without including the lived realities of the people whose lives and communities are often turned upside down by changes in the law.


On Tuesday night, the Supreme Court’s far-right flank vastly expanded its holding in Louisiana v. Callais to make it harder, if not impossible, to challenge racist voting maps designed to suppress Black votes. The shadow-docket decision misrepresented its own holding in Callais and discarded a case it had already decided. With the conservative supermajority tossing a lower-court panel’s finding in Allen v. Milligan and further erasing voting rights for Black Americans across the country, Amicus revisits our 2022 conversation with Evan Milligan, the named plaintiff, at the time the case first came to the high court. Milligan explained what’s at stake for the very real people living in gerrymandered districts in Alabama’s Black Belt region; a gerrymander blessed this week that was forbidden just three years ago.


Later, Dahlia Lithwick talks with Andrew Weissmann, an MS NOW legal analyst, NYU law professor, and veteran federal prosecutor who served as lead prosecutor under special counsel Robert S. Mueller and as chief of the DOJ’s Fraud Section. Even with Opinionpalooza heating up at the high court, Weissmann pauses to analyze a busy week in democratic dismantling at the Justice Department and on Capitol Hill. And, Weissmann proposes something truly shocking— real accountability for public officials who lie, as laid out in his new bestselling book, Liar’s Kingdom: How to Stop Trump’s Deceit and Save America. 



This is part of Opinionpalooza, Slate’s coverage of the major decisions from the Supreme Court. The best way to support our work is by joining Slate Plus. (If you are already a member, consider a donation or merch!)


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Dahlia Lithwick guides Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts through the complex and often opaque world of the American legal system. This isn't just a dry recap of rulings; it's a vital exploration of how the law shapes lives, freedoms, and the very fabric of society. The focus frequently rests on the Supreme Court, unpacking the philosophies, personalities, and profound consequences stemming from its nine justices. Each episode seeks to demystify the court's operations and its towering influence on everything from civil rights to everyday governance. You'll hear insightful conversations with legal scholars, journalists, and practitioners who provide clarity on landmark decisions and the simmering cases poised to change the nation. Produced by Slate Podcasts, this series operates with the understanding that justice is not a static concept but a living, breathing, and fiercely debated process. The podcast serves as an essential companion for anyone striving to understand the forces that govern us, offering narrative depth and analytical rigor far beyond the headlines. For those who want to dive deeper, a Slate Plus membership offers additional weekly episodes with extended legal analysis, alongside an ad-free listening experience across Slate's network.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts
Podcast Episodes
One Ballot After Another [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:24
You’ve seen the headlines about the lists, the claims, the THREE times this same executive order about voting by mail has gone to the Supreme Court. But is Trump’s interference with mail-in voting settled—at least with r…
Capitulation Nation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:58
Capitulation under Trump 2.0 has been devastating to the rule of law. To review a couple of lowlights: One of the nation’s leading lawyers, Brad Karp, cut a deal with Donald Trump in the first days of the bully-in-chief’…
SCOTUS Rewrites the Rules for One Special Boy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:16
It’s past time to say it. This Supreme Court is helping President Donald J. Trump evade accountability. Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the Berkeley School of Law, joins Dahlia Lithwick to break down the conservative majority…
Becoming Justice Gorsuch | 3. A Lunch Room for Life [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:08
With Amicus on a brief summer break, we’re bringing you the final installment of Slow Burn’s latest season, Becoming Justice Gorsuch. Host Susan Matthews enlists Slate’s jurisprudence team—Amicus co-hosts Dahlia Lithwick…
Becoming Justice Gorsuch | 2. The Stolen Seat [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:19
With Amicus on a brief summer break, we’re bringing you the second installment of Slow Burn’s latest season, Becoming Justice Gorsuch.When Justice Antonin Scalia died in February of 2016, the Supreme Court appeared to be…
Becoming Justice Gorsuch | 1. Man With a Plan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:55
Our friends over at the Slate podcast Slow Burn are good at taking events that we think are settled history, then unlocking a new understanding of those stories through interviews, archives, and fresh analysis. They’ve r…
By the People | Now It’s Your Turn [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:37
In the final episode—for now—of our series on reclaiming constitutional power for every American, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern urge you to consider the many ways you can make constitutional meaning in your life,…
By The People | Two Steps Forward, One Step Back [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:55
Long before the Supreme Court handed down the landmark Obergefell ruling on equal marriage in 2015, activists were canvassing door-to-door, courting any lawmaker who would listen, and losing at the local level—a lot. The…
By the People | For the Children [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:52
In 1867, an 8-year-old girl named Elizabeth Turner became the epicenter of a legal battle that would help define what freedom really meant after the Civil War. Days after Maryland abolished slavery, her former enslaver h…
By the People | Who Owns the Constitution? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:14
For the better part of two centuries of U.S. history, the American people understood that they—and not the Supreme Court—were the final arbiters of the Constitution. But in recent decades, nine unelected justices have cl…