Today’s guest is Clark Neily, a constitutional litigator, civil liberties advocate, and senior vice president for legal studies at the Cato Institute. He previously served as co-counsel in the landmark Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller, one of the most consequential gun rights decisions in modern history.
Neily speaks with Nick Gillespie about the Supreme Court’s latest term, the constitutional limits on executive power, and whether Congress has ceded too much authority to the presidency and the administrative state. Neily explains why he believes the Court has become an essential check on government overreach and discusses recent rulings involving birthright citizenship and gun rights.
They also discuss the rise of plea bargaining, why federal prosecutors wield extraordinary leverage over criminal defendants, and whether America’s constitutional system is strong enough to withstand growing political polarization and executive power.
0:00—The Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship ruling
4:01—Humphrey’s Executor and agency independence
9:02—President Donald Trump and executive power
16:05—Gun rights and expanding gun ownership
25:33—Is the Supreme Court defending liberty?
29:38—How the justice system forces guilty pleas
36:24—Neily’s least favorite Supreme Court Justice
38:51—The worst presidents in American history
44:15—Neily’s origin story
49:35—Is Neily optimistic about America’s future?
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