Liberty Under Law

Staffan I. Lindberg of the V-Dem Institute joins Kristan again to wrap up the year's theme and discuss their most recent (as of recording) Democracy Report, which analyzes the characteristics of democracy and each country's movement toward democracy or autocracy.Staffan I. Lindberg is a Professor of political science and Director of the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and a founding Principal Investigator of Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem).

This podcast is drawn from a multi-part program the Center hosted on October 12, 2022 entitled The Movement to a Level Playing Field. This second installment features Professor Brad Snyder commemorating the 50th anniversary of the landmark Flood v. Kuhn case. After the 1969 season, the St. Louis Cardinals traded Curt Flood, their star center fielder, to the Philadelphia Phillies. At that time, when a player was traded, he had two options – to report to his new team or retire. Unwilling to leave St. Louis and influenced by the civil rights movement, Flood instead sued Major League Baseball for his freedom. His case reached the Supreme Court, where Flood ultimately lost. By challenging the system, he created an atmosphere in which, just three years later, free agency became a reality. Flood’s decision cost him his career, but dramatically changed baseball. Professor Snyder published A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood’s Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports in 2007. He teaches constitutional law, constitutional history, and sports law at Georgetown University Law School.To see the video of this presentation, please visit the Jackson Center's YouTube Channel at https://youtu.be/N41LPh0-qw0

This podcast is drawn from a multi-part program the Center hosted on October 12, 2022 entitled The Movement to a Level Playing Field. This first installment features David L. Crane speaking about how the ephemera of the Civil Rights Movement contributed to the non-violent protests and the advancement of civil liberties. David L. Crane, the founder and curator of Making the Movement: Civil Rights Museum. Making the Movement is an exhibit that explores the use of non-violent weapons to combat Jim Crow and made its debut at the Jackson Center in 2013. Crane is a history instructor at Alamance Community College in North Carolina and is the author of Making the Movement: How Activists Fought for Civil Rights with Buttons, Flyers, Pins, and Posters.To see the video of this presentation, please visit the Jackson Center's YouTube Channel at https://youtu.be/iTpH3KkYkZs.

Bay Fang, President, Radio Free Asia joins Kristan to discuss the challenges and importance of news reporting in and from Asian countries without strong press freedoms, including China, Cambodia, Laos, Tibet, and the Uyghurs. Bay Fang oversees award-winning journalism with the mission of bringing free press to closed societies in Asia. She spent most of her career in print journalism, as the Beijing Bureau Chief and covering the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for US News and World Report, and later as the Diplomatic Correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. She served in government during the Obama Administration as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Press and Public Diplomacy. Ms. Fang earned her undergraduate degree at Harvard University, was a visiting fellow at Oxford University and a Fulbright scholar in Hong Kong.

For our 2022 Constitution Day commemoration, the Robert H. Jackson Center hosted Keith Plessy and Phoebe Ferguson to share how they have come together to advance justice. Keith and Phoebe are the descendants of the named parties in Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court case that codified the separate but equal doctrine, until that was overturned in 1954 by the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education (The 69th anniversary of that decision was marked on May 17, 2023.)Keith M. Plessy is a New Orleans native and is the great grandson of Gustave Plessy – Homer Plessy’s first cousin. He is co-founder and President of the Plessy and Ferguson Foundation.Phoebe Ferguson is a native of New Orleans and the great-great granddaughter of Judge John Howard Ferguson, the named defendant in the case, Plessy v. Ferguson. In 2009, she co-founded the Plessy and Ferguson Foundation with Keith Plessy, the descendent of Homer Plessy, and is currently the foundation’s executive director.This event was moderated by Gregory L. Peterson, the co-founder of the Robert H. Jackson Center.

Leading experts on Ukraine and international criminal tribunals share their thoughts on how an international tribunal could be established to hold Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine and the atrocities being committed. This episode is drawn from a July 28, 2022 webinar was hosted by the Robert H. Jackson Center and co-sponsored by the Global Accountability Network, the International Section of the New York State Bar Association, and the Public International Law & Policy Group. Panelists are:Ambassador Hans Corell, former Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and former Legal Counsel of the United NationsDavid Crane, founding Chief Prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone and Founder, Global Accountability NetworkAmbassador Anton Korynevych, Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of UkraineInna Liniova, CEO & Executive Director of the Ukrainian Bar AssociationDr. Paul Williams, the Moderator and co-Founder of the Public International Law & Policy Group

Richard Overy, historian and prolific author, shares his thoughts on the interplay of the Nuremberg Trials with the allegations of crimes committed by Soviet soldiers during World War II. Professor Overy was the Robert H. Jackson Center's 2022 Al & Marge Brown Lecturer on World War II.Richard Overy is an honorary professor at the University of Exeter and the author of more than 30 books on military history, World War II, the Third Reich, the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin, and the Soviet war effort

Professor Erica Goldberg joins Kristan to discuss free speech and the First Amendment, whether society's understanding of these rights have changed, the role truth (or knowingly making false statements) should play, and limits or guardrails.Professor Erica Goldberg teaches Torts, Constitutional Law, and Criminal Procedure at the University of Dayton School of Law and her scholarship focuses on the intersection of tort law remedies and First Amendment rights. You can read more of her thoughts on her blog - In a Crowded Theater or on Twitter at GoldbergPrime.

Dr. Katelyn Stauffer and Dr. Alex Badas join Kristan to discuss the importance of diversity in the judiciary, including how it impacts public perception of decisions and nominees.Dr. Stauffer is an Assistant professor in the department of political science and affiliated faculty member with the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at the University of South Carolina. Her research focuses on gender and politics, representation, political institutions, and public opinion.Dr. Badas is an assistant professor in the department of political science at the University of Houston. His research expertise is in the field of judicial politics, which covers judicial decision-making, public attitudes toward judicial institutions, and representation within the judiciary.

David Crane joins Kristan to discuss the international humanitarian law implications of Russia's invasion of Ukraine including the laws governing armed conflict and the possible paths to hold Russia's leadership accountable and provide justice to Ukraine.