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Part One:
We speak with Garrett Epps, professor of constitutional law at the University of Baltimore, about the evolution of Chief Justice John Roberts during the last two years. In 2017, Roberts joined the conservative majority in upholding the President’s Muslim-country travel ban, even in the face of some major constitutional questions. Roberts seemed to close his judicial eyes to legal flaws in Trump’s policy. Two years later, in the recent census case, the Chief led the Court in rejecting Trump’s plans, based in large part upon the lies contained in Secretary Wilbur Ross’s asserted justification for the plans.
Was Roberts’s epiphany due to Trump’s disrespectful comments in the intervening two years: demeaning the notion of equal justice, fair courts, and the rule of law? If so, how will Roberts react if Trump tries to circumvent the Court’s decision and put a citizenship question on the census anyway? Will we see a renaissance in Roberts’s judicial conscious, a renewed commitment to protecting the Court system as an institution?
Part Two:
We talk to Henry Grabar, staff writer at Slate, about the effects of the Trump administration’s economic policies on the working class, many of whom voted for him. The media have spilt a lot of ink on the suffering of the white working class under Trump. But the *nonwhite* working class is suffering even more as a result of Trump’s economic policies, including even his so-called “tax cuts.”
We also discuss some news about the often-neglected issue of affordable housing. Oregon has enacted legislation that looks beyond a focus only on single-family housing as the definition of “the American dream.” The State requires consideration of two- and three-family homes as well. This would make it possible that at least some housing is affordable to people of limited economic means. Further policies may be necessary if society wants to make sure that the very-low-income population is also able to afford decent, safe and sanitary housing as well.
