Your Weekly Constitutional

Of the many constitutional issues we've followed over the past several years, two stand out as the most dynamic: gay marriage and marijuana legalization. We can hardly keep up with the many changes to the laws and attitudes surrounding them. But we keep trying. And here's our latest effort, courtesy of Howard "Cowboy" Wooldridge of LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, and COP, Citizens Opposed to Prohibition.

How do we know so much about James Madison? Telepathy? Osmosis? Actually, our knowledge about the Father of the Constitution is the product of hard work - hard work done by a number of dedicated Madison scholars, men and women who take the time to read Madison's papers, unearth his artifacts and tell his story. One of the most important of these hard-working scholars is Ralph Ketcham, who wrote the definitive one-volume biography of Madison over forty years ago, in 1971. That's why Stewart was so thrilled to meet Ralph at Montpelier during a recent visit. The two of them sat down for a long talk in the Constitutional Village, and Stewart turned on his microphone.

When Stewart made a reservation at the historic Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, he didn't fully appreciate just how historic the hotel is. It turns out that the Irish Constitution was drafted there, and he heard all about the process from the hotel’s unofficial historian, Denis O’Brien.

Benjamin Franklin has been called the first American. We might also call him the last American Englishman, because he was one of the last of our Founders to abandon his hope that, somehow, America and England could patch up their differences and avoid armed conflict. Indeed, our Founding Grandfather spent sixteen years in London just prior to the American Revolution, trying to keep the American colonies British. Stewart recently travelled to London, where he visited the house where Franklin lived, near Trafalgar Square. He spoke with the staff at what is now called the Benjamin Franklin House, who told him the whole story. They even played a musical instrument that Franklin invented while he was there, the Glass Armonica.

In 1940, one constitutional democracy stood alone against the onslaught of Nazi aggression. And one man led that nation, alone, for the next year, until, "in God's good time," the New World came to the aid of the Old. That nation was the United Kingdom, and that leader was Winston Spencer Churchill. Stewart recently visited Churchill’s home, Chartwell, in the South of England, and spoke to a number of knowledgeable and helpful volunteers there. Now he wants to share that visit with you.

If you want to see the U.S. Constitution, it’s easy – just take a trip to the National Archives where it’s on public display. But what if you want to see the British Constitution? That’s not so easy, because it’s not written down. Or, more properly, much of it is unwritten, and the parts that are written down are spread over many different documents. If you find this confusing, join the club. Stewart was so confused that he went all the way to the UK to get an explanation from Dan O’Boyle, a law professor from the University of Law in Guildford, England.

Only once in its history has the United States gone to war to resolve a constitutional issue. The war was the American Civil War and the issue was slavery. In this episode we go to where it all effectively came to an end: a small, remote town in Virginia called Appomattox Court House.

As this podcast gets posted, in the summer of 2014, the voters of the State of Tennessee are about to go to the polls to decide whether to retain three of the Justices of their Supreme Court. While judicial retention elections are traditionally sleepy affairs, this one is different: the Lieutenant Governor and others are making a concerted effort to convince the voters to "non-retain" these three Justices. Why? We wanted to ask the Lt. Governor, but, to our disappointment, he did not return our calls and emails. So we've reached back twenty years, to the last (and only) time that a Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court -- Stewart's colleague at the University of Tennessee, Penny White -- was non-retained. And we've found some eerie similarities to the current controversy.

Dolly Parton! Whaa? It turns out that the country music superstar is a high school friend of the Chief Justice of Tennessee. His name is Gary Wade, and he tells us some fascinating stories about how he became the highest judicial officer in his state, what his job entails, and how he now faces a coordinated political attempt to have him removed from the bench, along with two of his Supreme Court colleagues. On a happier note, he also tells us some great stories about his high-school friend and "television girlfriend," Dolly Parton. Do you know, for example, what instrument Dolly played in the Sevier County High School Band? Hint: it wasn't the flute. But you'll have to listen in to find out more.

Cloaks and daggers? Old news. Now it's keypads and iPads and other high-tech spying. The United States and China both do it. But they do it differently - or so they say. Dr. Joseph Fitsanakis, the Director of the King Institute for Security and Intelligence Studies, tells us all about this secret struggle for security supremacy.

Here's the latest in our series about the judiciary. This time we speak with the kind of judge you are most likely to encounter if ever you find yourself in court: a trial judge. His name is Thomas Seeley, Jr., and he hears all types of civil cases in his courtroom in Johnson City, Tennessee. As you might expect, he's got lots of interesting stuff to say. After Judge Seeley, we get in the car and drive down to North Carolina to visit the remarkable Grove Park Inn, a five-star resort frequented by Presidents and foreign diplomats and, perhaps, by another group of people you've heard of: the United States Supreme Court. Tracey Johnston-Crum, the Inn's resident historian, tells us all about a secret contract with the Court that provides that . . . well, you'll just have to listen in to find out.

The Good News Club is an after-school program run by evangelical Christians. A few years back, the Supreme Court ruled that public schools who had denied access to the Club for fear of violating the Establishment Clause had actually violated another part of the First Amendment, the Speech Clause. In essence, the Court said that all groups, religious and non-religious, were constitutionally entitled to equal access to public facilities - otherwise, the government would be regulating their speech based upon its content. Author and journalist Katherine Stewart thinks that the Supreme Court got it wrong: the Good News Club, or rather, the public schools that now allow it on campus, are indeed violating the Establishment Clause, she believes. And whether you agree with her or not, she makes some interesting arguments and tells a compelling story.

Love him or hate him (and, either way, you have lots of company) Ronald Reagan was, and continues to be, an important figure in American constitutional history.We'll speak with Justin Garrison, a professor at Roanoke College in Virginia, who's written a balanced, fascinating, readable book called "An Empire of Ideals: the Chimeric Imagination of Ronald Reagan." Justin is that rare scholar who not only writes well, but also speaks well. He's even funny and charming - kinda like Ronald Reagan was.Justin's book is available here: http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Ideals-Imagination-Routledge-Governance/dp/0415818486.

Is there too much money in politics? Ben Cohen certainly thinks so. So he and some like-minded friends have started a group called "Stamp Stampede" aimed at amending the Constitution. They want to overturn the notorious Citizen's United case and other Supreme Court cases that equate money with free speech.Never heard of Ben Cohen? Sure you have. But probably not by himself. Instead, you've seen only his first name, during some of your happiest moments, displayed beside the name of his partner, Jerry.This episode is sweet.

Who are those guys? Those guys who sit on their high benches in federal courthouses, wielding their gavels and wearing those fancy black robes?This is no idle question. Federal judges play an important role in interpreting our Constitution. And yet we know very little about them, since most of these men (and, increasingly, women) work quietly in their courtrooms and chambers and draw little attention to themselves.In this episode, we change all that. With the help of United States District Judge Ronnie Greer of the Eastern District of Tennessee, we take a look into the judge's chambers and talk about all aspects of being on the federal bench. As it turns out, it's not as easy as it looks. But it is fascinating. Join us!

Lots of people do a lot of writing about the United States Constitution. In this episode, Stewart talks to two of them: bestselling author Steve Berry, who has just published a new thriller, The Lincoln Myth, based upon a constitutional conspiracy, and Colin Christensen, one of Stewart's students from Emory & Henry College, who wrote his Honors Thesis on the Second Amendment. Join us for some cracklin' good tales.

Stewart speaks with Garrett Jackson, the Assistant Town Manager of Abingdon, Virginia. Garrett recently returned from a trip to Russia, where he discussed local governmental issues with some of his Russian counterparts. He also discussed the importance of our American constitutional freedoms. Joining Garrett and Stewart is Krisi Hayden, the State Department official who shepherded Garrett from Moscow to . . . well, we can't spell them, or pronounce them, so let's just say that Garrett went to lots of cool places. Join us!

Still Running with the Devil . . . .In Part II of this fascinating episode, we finish our discussion with Lucien Greaves, the Overlord of the Satanic Temple. He's the fellow who has been stirring up so much trouble down in Oklahoma with his statue of Baphomet, a winged, goat-headed demon with horns and wings and . . . well, you get the idea. It seems that Lucien's been stirring up trouble elsewhere, too, notably down in Florida, where he's held a rally hailing both Satan and Governor Rick Scott. Why are we not surprised?When we finish with the Dark Side, we switch to a focus upon Goodness and Light by speaking with some of our friends at Montpelier. We start with Tiffany Cole of the Curatorial Department, who has some exciting new developments to share with us. And then we finish up with our buddy, Doug Smith, who is not only The Riddler, but who also runs the Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution.

It's controversial enough when someone wants to put a Ten Commandments monument on the courthouse steps.But what about a monument to Baphomet, a/k/a Satan?Join us for a really hot episode.

The question of money in politics isn't new. But money in judicial selection? That's a relatively recent issue, and one that had a significant impact on (former) Justice Oliver Diaz of the Mississippi Supreme Court.Joins us for a cautionary tale about judicial elections.