Constitutional Conventions

Prof. Marc DeGirolami is the Cary Fields Professor of Law at St. John’s University School of Law, where he is also the co-director of the Center for Law and Religion. His research interests include law and religion, freedom of speech, constitutional law, jurisprudence, tort law, and criminal law. His book, The Tragedy of Religious Freedom, was published by Harvard University Press in 2013. Prof. DeGirolami joins Rob and Teddy to talk about the Establishment Clause and the role of religion in American public life.

Prof. John Yoo is the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution.He also served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) at the Department of Justice during the Bush Administration, where he worked on issues related to national security and the war on terrorism. He was also General Counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee.Prof. Yoo joins Jon and Rob to talk about the contours of the American presidency and the nature of the executive power.

Prof. Vincent Phillip Muñoz is the Tocqueville Associate Professor of Political Science and Concurrent Associate Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame. He is the Founding Director of ND’s Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government. His most recent book, Religious Liberty and the American Founding: Natural Rights and the Original Meanings of the First Amendment Religion Clauses, was published in 2022. His writing has been cited by Justice Alito in Fulton (2021) and Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Thomas in Espinoza (2020).Prof. Muñoz joins the show to talk about his new book, its arguments and methodology, and the various strains informing the Founding Fathers' philosophy of religious liberty.

Prof. David Blight is Sterling Professor of American History at Yale University. Prof. Blight is one of the world's leading experts on the American Civil War and Frederick Douglass. He won the Pulitzer Prize for History and the Bancroft Prize in 2019 for his most recent book, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. His 2001 book Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory won the Bancroft Prize.Prof. Blight joins Jon and Rob to talk about how historical research can inform the legal profession and his career as a leading light in the American academy.