Why We Need Legal Academics and Civil Debate on Contentious Legal & Political Issues (and talented interviewers)

 

 

In a discussion of Trump v. Anderson, 601 U.S 100 (2024) (per curiam), Professor Akhil Amar stated:

Legally, I think actually our position [in our amicus brief] was correct, but the Justices [of the U.S. Supreme Court] took a different kind of off-ramp. They didn’t say, actually, what some others were saying, oh, presidents aren’t officers [laughing] within the meaning of the 14th Amendment, Section 3. They didn’t say anything, like, batshit like that. But they did take an off-ramp.

Akhil Reed Amar & Andy Lipka, Season 6, Episode 1 (Show 262), High Fives, Amarica’s Constitution (Jan. 21, 2026) (at 1:33:05ff), <https://akhilamar.com/podcast-2/>.

We need legal academics. We really do. We need civil debate on contentious legal & political issues. We really do.

 

Seth Barrett Tillman, Why We Need Legal Academics and Civil Debate on Contentious Legal & Political Issues (and talented interviewers), New Reform Club (Jan. 22, 2026, 9:33 AM), <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2026/01/why-we-need-legal-academics-and-civil.html>; 

see also Seth Barrett Tillman, ‘Re: Application for a Lateral Position at Yale Law School’ (Sept. 14, 2023, posted: Dec. 24, 2024), <https://ssrn.com/abstract=5070417>; 

cf. ‘Renowned Yale Law Professor Akhil Reed Amar Explores “The Founding Fathers and the Importance of Civil Discourse” in Captivating Baylor Law Lecture,’ Baylor University (Oct. 5, 2023), <https://law.baylor.edu/news/story/2023/renowned-yale-law-professor-akhil-reed-amar-explores-founding-fathers-and>.