The End of an Era, and the Cult of the Constitution

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In a week marked by rising rancor, when racist rhetoric ricocheted out of the president’s Twitter feed and into a chanting crowd at his reelection rally, the end of an era almost slid under the radar. Dahlia Lithwick reflects on the passing of Justice John Paul Stevens, and the more-than-symbolic shift from his jurisprudence, his character, to our current state of affairs at the high court and beyond. You can read more here. And Dahlia is joined by professor Mary Anne Franks of the University of Miami Law School to talk about her book, The Cult of the Constitution, how growing up among Christian fundamentalists helped her write a book about constitutional extremists, and why there’s still hope for America’s faulty founding document.

Produced by Sara Burningham.