Justice, Interrupted

An unassuming string of 16 words tucked into the Constitution grants Congress extensive power to make laws that impact the entire nation. The Commerce Clause has allowed Congress to intervene in all kinds of situations — from penalizing one man for growing too much wheat on hi ...

What happens when the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, seems to get it wrong? Korematsu v. United States upheld President Franklin Roosevelt’s internment of American citizens during World War II based solely on their Japanese heritage, for the sake of nat ...

The 25th amendment. A few years before JFK was shot, an idealistic young lawyer set out on a mission to convince people something essential was missing from the Constitution: clear instructions for what should happen if a U.S. president was no longer able to serve. On this episod ...  Show more

The episode title is a line from a speech Susan B. Anthony gave a few months before she died in 1906; she didn’t live to see the 19th amendment added to the Constitution in 1920. But the 19th amendment wasn’t -- and isn’t -- the end of the voting rights story. Pictured with this ...  Show more

For most of our nation's history, the voting age was 21. So how'd we get it down to 18? In one sense, it was the fastest ratified amendment in history. In another, it took three decades. Our guide to the hard-won fight for youth enfranchisement is Jennifer Frost, author of "Let U ...  Show more

The world's oldest oldest continuously surviving constitution, was adopted in the tiny country of San Marino on 8th October, 1600. This was a good 187 years before the United States adopted its own constitution and, during his presidency, Abraham Lincoln frequently held San Mari ...  Show more