In Season 3, Episode 5 of Notorious, we continue to discuss the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment – from Justice Marshall’s viewpoint, as well as Justice Ginsburg’s viewpoint.  This topic is broken up into two episodes, with Episode 5 focusing mostly on Justice Ginsburg’s views and how those views intersect with those of Justice Marshall. Patterson Belknap attorneys Michelle Bufano, Greg Baker and Catherine Djang discuss the history of the death penalty, as well as the cases of Gregg v. Georgia and Glossip v. Gross, and the impact of their legal legacy on ..read more

In Season 3, Episode 4 of Notorious, we discuss the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment – from  Justice Marshall’s viewpoint, as well as Justice Ginsburg’s viewpoint.  This topic is broken up into two episodes, with Episode 4 focusing mostly on Justice Marshall’s views and historical context. Patterson Belknap attorneys Michelle Bufano, Greg Baker and Catherine Djang discuss the history of the death penalty, as well as the cases of Gregg v. Georgia and Glossip v. Gross, and the impact of their legal legacy on future capital punishment jurisprudence. Re ..read more

In Season 3, Episode 3 of Notorious, we discuss campaign finance, from legal viewpoints of Justices Ginsburg and Marshall. Among the issues discussed are what it means to participate in a fair and free election and the intersection between money and its impact on free speech during a political campaign.  Guests will include Patterson Belknap Partner Alejandro H. Cruz and Patterson Belknap Associates Greg Margolis and Bonita L. Robinson. Related Resources: For a selection of Justice Ginsburg’s writings, see Decisions and Dissents of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg:  A Selection, edited by ..read more

In Season 3, Episode 2 of Notorious, we discuss the First Amendment and how it was addressed by Justice Ginsburg and Justice Marshall. Specifically, this episode will cover Justice Ginsburg’s and Justice Marshall’s jurisprudence concerning the religious clauses of the First Amendment, including the Establish Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. Guests will include Patterson Belknap Partner Michelle Bufano; Patterson Belknap Counsel Jacqueline Bonneau; and Patterson Belknap Associates Greg Margolis and Bonita Robinson. Related Resources: For a selection of Justice Ginsburg’s writings, see Decis ..read more

In Season 3, Episode 1 of Notorious, we discuss Justice Thurgood Marshall’s and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, and parallels and differences between their legal and judicial strategies. Guests will include Judge Joseph A. Greenway Jr., who currently sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and previously sat on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey; Gregory L. Diskant, Patterson Belknap Of Counsel and former judicial clerk to Justice Marshall; Patterson Belknap Partner Michelle M. Bufano; and Patterson Belknap ..read more

Featuring guest speakers, Corey Brettschneider, a professor at Brown University and editor of Decisions and Dissents of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Selection, and Joshua Block, Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project. In Season 2, Episode 6 of Notorious, we discuss the 2020-2021 Supreme Court Term and look back at specific cases and instances where Justice Ginsburg’s influence is still alive and well. Specifically, we discuss the cases, FDA v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System, Tanzin v ..read more

In Season 2, Episode 5 of Notorious, we discuss the case of Ricci v. DeStefano, which involved the question of whether the city of New Haven, Connecticut violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act when it rejected the results of a civil service exam given to firefighters. The results of the exam showed that white candidates had out-performed minority candidates and the question was raised as to whether the exam was discriminatory. The Supreme Court held 5–4 that New Haven's decision to ignore the test results violated Title VII becaus ..read more

In Season 2, Episode 4 of Notorious, we discuss the case of Adarand Construction v. Pena, which involved whether a federal statute, which provided for favor treatment to a suspect class to remedy past discrimination, violated the Equal Protection Clause as embodied in the Fifth Amendment. In this case, Adarand, a contractor specializing in highway guard rail work, submitted the lowest bid as a subcontractor for part of a project funded by the United States Department of Transportation. Under the terms of the contract, the prime contractor would receive additional compensation if it hired small ..read more

In Season 2, Episode 3 of Notorious, we discuss the case of Grutter v. Bollinger, which involved the question of whether a law school admissions policy that considered race as a factor in admissions violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment or Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The 5-4 majority opinion decided that the law school’s admission policy complied with the Equal Protection Clause and was written by Justice O’Connor and joined in whole by Justice Ginsburg, Justice Stevens, and Justice Breyer. The Court found that the law school’s stated interest that it ..read more

Featuring guest speaker, Mai Ratakonda of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. In Season 2, Episode 2 of Notorious, we discuss the case of Gonzales v. Carhart, which involved the Supreme Court’s consideration of the constitutionality of The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 (“the Act”). In 2003, Congress passed and President Bush signed the Act into law. Dr. LeRoy Carhart and other physicians, who performed late term abortions, sued to stop the Act from going into effect. A federal district court agreed and ruled the Act unconstitutional. The government appealed to the U.S. Court of ..read more