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PODCAST

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

Constituting America

Constitutional Chats are hosted by Janine Turner, Cathy Gillespie, student ambassadors, and experts who join us weekly to discuss hot-topic issues! The audience is not on camera, but you may ask questions!

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All Episodes

56:55

Ep. 206 - Can Elected Officials Block You On Social...

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2024/04/05

Did you know the United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear four cases pertaining to social media this term? One of the major issues is whether or not an elected official has the authority to limit speech on social media accounts by blocking critical comments pertaining to their work in office. We know government cannot prohibit your speech, but are elected officials required to permit all comments on their official pages, or can they censor them? What about their personal pages? Can the

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57:46

Ep. 205 - How To Fix Congress?

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2024/03/28

Who is the Speaker of the House and what are his duties? How does a bill become law? What are the three branches of government. Let’s be honest, so many in our country are not fully educated on civics. If we don’t understand how Congress works, we get frustrated with the whole process. This leads to an overall sentiment that Congress is broken. Our guest today likes to say “without public trust, you cannot govern. Without governing, people get angry and hostile and walk away from the

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58:26

Ep. 204 - George Washington's Vision For National...

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2024/03/23

Winning a war was just the beginning for George Washington’s service to our new country. After retiring to Mount Vernon post-war, Washington saw a weakness in our country under the Articles of Confederation. He felt the future of republican democratic self-government globally was dependent on the American experiment. If it were to fail in that perfect post-war moment, man was probably not destined to govern himself. Washington’s views on what the government should look like can seem to be

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56:41

Ep. 203 - The Strategy for State Government

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2024/03/14

The relationship between the federal and state governments is not always clear. These two governments exist simultaneously but at times have different goals and objectives. The federal government can use its purse strings to coerce a state government to take an action and that state can simply refuse. The Founders wanted states to solve major issues that were not under the federal purview to establish “laboratories of democracy.” Joining our all-star student panel, we are happy to welcome Ken

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55:33

Ep. 202 - The Importance of Local Government

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2024/03/08

Can you name the President? We hope yes! Can you name your state’s governor? More than likely yes. But can you name your mayor and city council members? While the issues nationally get the most attention, your local government’s actions impact your day-to-day life more. Issues like your water supply, trash pickup, sewage, and police and fire departments are all controlled by local entities. Some mayors aren’t paid a salary at all but one defining feature of mayors is they come directly out of

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59:06

Ep. 201 - The Genius of the Town Hall

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2024/03/01

Regular listeners will certainly recognize this famous phrase from the Declaration of Independence: “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” As the governed who give consent to the government, we have several mechanisms through which we can give that consent and voice approval or disapproval with an elected official. Perhaps the most direct mechanism is through a town hall discussion. A town hall is simply a

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55:09

Ep. 200 - What is Federalism Anyway?

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2024/02/23

At Constituting America, we love to talk about federalism. Federalism is a founding principle that government authority is best when one central government does not have all authority, but it is divvied up between local, state and national government. Have you ever thought about why we have this system and what its virtues are? In a large country with varied geographical interests, why does this system work? Should those closest to a problem be the ones to solve that problem, and what are the

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55:22

Ep. 199 - The U.S. Constitution and Protecting...

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2024/02/16

We have a military. We have a militia. When it comes to protecting our citizens, both play a role. The same militia mentioned in the second amendment is actually defined in 10 U.S. Code § 246 as able-bodied men over 17 and under 45 years old, who are or intend to become US citizens and female citizens who are members of the National Guard. What precisely are the differences in roles of the organized and unorganized militia compared to the military? Under what circumstances is a militia’s

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55:01

Ep. 198 - The U.S. Constitution and The Border

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2024/02/08

One of the biggest events in the news lately has been the situation at our southern border and illegal immigration. Texas, due to its lengthy border with Mexico, is front and center in this discussion that involves the role both state and federal governments play in immigration. While the U.S. Constitution says Congress has the authority to write immigration-related laws and the executive branch has the authority to implement these laws, what can a state do if the laws are not carried out?

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56:32

Ep. 197 - The U.S. Constitution and National Sovereignty

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2024/02/02

Since World War II, the United States, as the world’s lone superpower, has promoted democracy around the world with a focus on the longevity of the nation-state. After all, a nation-state that is whole and free, holds free and frequent elections and is representative of its people will tend to have greater stability, less war, more prosperity and greater trade opportunities. But as our guest discusses, lately we are seeing a greater build-up of multi-lateral and regional organizations to replace

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57:12

Ep. 196 - The Constitution and Declaring War

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2024/01/25

Think about the environment under which our Constitution was drafted. Our new nation had just waged and won a war for independence and was surrounded on all sides with hostility: the British in the north and their navy out to sea, the Spanish empire to the south, British and French ships patrolling the Caribbean and sometimes hostile Native American tribes to the west. Our Founders knew war was necessary but also had a healthy wariness about where the power to wage it should reside. The Founders

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58:00

Ep. 195 - The Constitution and Israel

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2024/01/18

In 1948, the United States under President Truman became the first country to recognize the existence of Israel. Since then, the two nations have been staunch allies. This alliance is certainly being put to the test with the latest round of fighting between the state of Israel and Hamas, the Islamic group which controls Gaza. What is the legal process for the US to provide aid to Israel? What is the dual role Congress and the President play in helping our ally? To help us answer these questions

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55:51

Ep. 194 - The Constitution and Ukraine

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2024/01/13

Seemingly, the United States has been engaged in some armed conflict somewhere in the world for most of our lives. However, the United States has not had a formal declaration of war since World War II. How exactly does that happen? From what authority does the Congress and President engage in war or armed conflict? What is a Congressional Authorization for Use of Military Force and what are its limitations? How does all of this relate to the almost 2 year long conflict in Ukraine today? To

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55:05

Ep. 193 - The Tenth Amendment

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2023/12/14

We are wrapping up our series on the Bill of Rights with this special episode on the 10th Amendment. In just 28 words, it grants tremendous powers not to the federal government but to the states. How so? Regular viewers of our chats know Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution grants 17 specific powers to Congress. That’s it. The 10th Amendment says any powers not granted by the Constitution to the federal government are under the purview of the states or the people. The Founders did this

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56:28

Ep. 192 - The Ninth Amendment

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2023/12/07

The Ninth Amendment might seem a bit confusing at first glance. To understand its massive significance requires some insight into what the Founders were thinking. Think of the Bill of Rights not as granting rights to the people but rather restricting what the government can and cant do in the lives of its citizens. To wit, it would be impractical to list every right a citizen has and as such the rights specifically enumerated in the Bill of Rights should not be viewed as a limit to those rights.

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55:58

Ep. 191 - The Eighth Amendment

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2023/12/01

Once again, the Founders showed their preference for brevity with the 8th Amendment. It is actually the shortest of all the amendments but packs a wallop in just 16 words! In this week’s chat, we are discussing the elements of the 8th Amendment: protections against excessive bails and fines and protections against cruel and unusual punishments. We answer what is a cruel and unusual punishment, who decides the standard by which punishment is deemed legal or illegal, how does this relate to

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54:25

Ep. 190 - The Seventh Amendment

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2023/11/17

As we discussed last week, the Sixth Amendment guarantees a trial by jury in a criminal trial, among other guarantees. The Seventh Amendment guarantees a trial by jury in federal civil cases for disputes over $20. Why were the Founders so adamant about jury trials as opposed to a single judge? What is the difference between a civil or common law trial and a criminal trial? What are the exceptions to a trial by jury? And how does this apply and function in conjunction with state law? Alongside

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54:29

Ep. 189 - The Sixth Amendment

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2023/11/09

A criminal trial has the potential to permanently alter the rest of one’s life. Punishments can range from fines to imprisonment to execution. This gives the government tremendous ability to impose penalties on its citizens. The Founders understood this and laid out criteria under which criminal trials would proceed. Under the Sixth Amendment, trials are speedy and fair, juries are impartial and Congress cannot take any of these rights away from the accused. We are delighted to have joining our

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53:16

Ep. 188 - The Fifth Amendment

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2023/11/03

The Fifth Amendment really packs a punch. Think about the Constitution like this: the body of the Constitution created the new government and the Bill of Rights immediately put constraints on that government’s power. The Founders had a natural skepticism and nervousness about governmental power especially when it comes to the prosecuting of criminal activity. The Fifth Amendment lists 5 significant restraints on government: indictments by a grand jury, double jeopardy, self-incrimination,

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55:04

Ep. 187 - The Fourth Amendment

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America ·

2023/10/26

The Fourth Amendment provides two specific protections: protection against unreasonable searches and seizures and requirements for when a warrant can be issued. At only 54 words, the amendment continues the Founders’ penchant for brevity and leaves room for interpretation through the courts. How do we define what is unreasonable and probable and how has this standard changed over time? At one point the United States Supreme Court said a search had to involve a physical trespass onto your

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