Season 6, Episode 17 (Show 279): Scrip for Scripture on the National Mall

May 20, 2026

The Trump Administration holds – and pays for – a national prayer marathon on the National Mall, presenting an opportunity to put our religious constitutionalism lessons to work.

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After weeks of tracing the background history and constitutional principles at work on religious establishment, free exercise, and equality issues, the Administration on cue sponsors, holds, staffs, and headlines a “Rededication 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving,” complete with a virtually all-Christian (one Jew) speaker roster, a White House website, money from Congress’ apportionment of funds for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration commemorations, and a drumbeat of emphasis of supposedly American Christian traditions.  We take it slowly and look at how it fits into the constitutional rubrics that we have examined.  Meanwhile, it’s the Yale Commencement, and Akhil has commentary on the main speaker.  And a number of news developments harken back to our podcasts past – how did we do?

(LAWYERS AND JUDGES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION CREDIT by visiting podcast.njsba.com after listening.)

Season 6, Episode 16 (Show 278): JFK’s Wall

May 13, 2026

The 20th century saw wild swings in the politics and constitutionalism of religion in America, and we place it in perspective.

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Our journey through the centuries of religious practice, attitudes, and constitutionalism has reached the 20th century, when several presidential elections set mileposts for the American religious debate.  The first major party Catholic candidate, Al Smith, met the worst sort of vitriol and prejudice, and was destroyed by it.  This cast a shadow over the later campaign of John F. Kennedy, and he answered it in a speech that we analyze and place in context, even as we thrill to the great man’s voice one more time.  We then trace a line from that speech, through several Supreme Court memberships, to the American cultural and constitutional religious landscape as the 21st century dawns.  Fittingly, perhaps, one of the jurists who has been prominent on this issue, Justice Thomas, celebrates a milestone on the Court.

(LAWYERS AND JUDGES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION CREDIT by visiting podcast.njsba.com after listening.)

Season 6, Episode 16 (Show 277): Fourteen Colonies, Ten Commandments

May 6, 2026

We continue our millenia-spanning survey of constitutional and religious history, now in North America at the American founding through Reconstruction.

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As the 10 commandments case makes its way towards the Supreme Court, we add another chapter to our study of the historical events and factors that went into the American constitutional tradition when it comes to religious freedom, religious establishment, and the relationship of government and religion as a whole.  We begin this episode where The Words That Made Us began – in 1760.  We take it forward through the revolutionary period, into the Articles and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and then wind up with the Civil War and Reconstruction, leaving us poised at last to take a serious look at what the Fifth Circuit thought it was doing, and what it actually was doing, when it allowed a law to stand that mandates posting of the Ten Commandments in every classroom.  

(LAWYERS AND JUDGES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION CREDIT by visiting podcast.njsba.com after listening.)

Season 6, Episode 15 (Show 276): Remember the Alamo Heights

April 29, 2026

More on the origins of the American constitutional view of religious liberty, religious establishment, and church-state relations – culminating in a current case (Alamo Heights).  And Sarah Isgur is back once again.

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We continue to trace the historical origins of the constitution’s approach to religion in American government and American life.  We take you on a tour around Europe at the time of the Reformation and for centuries beyond, all the way to American migration.  All this is remarkably relevant to recent events, as the Alamo Heights/Ten Commandments case comes to a head. Meanwhile, Sarah Isgur returns for a third helping – or is it grilling? – as we continue to discuss her recent book and it finds its way onto the best-seller list.  Individual justices are discussed along with much more.  

(LAWYERS AND JUDGES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION CREDIT by visiting podcast.njsba.com after listening.)

Season 6, Episode 14 (Show 275): Popes and Presidents

April 22, 2026

There’s a tempest between Rome and Washington – or so the President says.  We examine the constitutional paths opened by such matters.  And – more Sarah Isgur, continuing from last week.

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The President has picked a fight with the Bishop of Rome, Pope Leo X.  Putting aside some of the distasteful elements of language and hubris, we ask where this fits in with notions of church and state in a democracy.  What is the constitutional doctrine – is it “separation?” Where does it come from, historically and legally?  A general theory of such things can help us make sense – well, maybe not of everything that is said these days, but perhaps of the numerous cases that are percolating to and arriving at the Supreme Court.  And in a special treat, we continue our conversation with Sarah Isgur on her new book, “Last Branch Standing,” and look more deeply at the patterns of judicial behavior that have emerged from several of the justices, among other things.

(LAWYERS AND JUDGES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION CREDIT by visiting podcast.njsba.com after listening.)

Season 6, Episode 13 (Show 274): Last Branch Stands, the Barbara Court Sits – Special Guest Sarah Isgur

April 15, 2026

We continue our analysis of the oral argument in Trump v. Barbara.  And the author of a new book on the Supreme Court, Sarah Isgur, joins us with an inside look at the Court, and at this important book.

CLE Credit Available for this episode from podcast.njsba.com.

This week it’s Attorney Cecilia Wang’s turn, as she appears before the Supreme Court to defend birthright citizenship in the Trump v. Barbara case, and we continue to analyze clips of the oral argument.  Meanwhile, we are joined by the host of the popular Advisory Opinions podcast: Sarah Isgur, who has written a new book that will be published, well, today.  Last Branch Standing takes us inside the Supreme Court from the life of a clerk to a tour of the Court’s history to a statistical analysis of voting patterns on the Court – which are far more complex than is commonly thought.  You can’t help but know more after this episode than you did coming in!

(LAWYERS AND JUDGES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION CREDIT by visiting podcast.njsba.com after listening.)