Bound by Oath is a podcast series from the Center for Judicial Engagement at the Institute for Justice. It’s where the Constitution’s past catches up with the p...
Civil forfeiture is a civil rights nightmare, allowing police and prosecutors to seize billions of dollars’ worth of property annually—cash, cars, houses, bank accounts, and more—without charging anyone with a crime, let alone obtaining a conviction. On this episode, we trace the rise of the modern forfeiture regime in the 1970s and 80s, and we look at forfeiture's historic roots.
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Miller v. United States
The Palmyra
Bennis v. Michigan
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1:14:08
Public Purpose | Season 3, Ep. 8
In 2005, in the case of Kelo v. New London, the Supreme Court allowed officials to seize and raze an entire neighborhood of well-maintained homes and businesses in the hopes that someone else could build fancier homes and businesses. According to the dissenters, the majority's opinion effectively deleted the provision of the U.S. Constitution requiring that takings be for a "public use." On this episode, we ask: what, if anything, is left of the prohibition on using eminent domain to take property from Person A merely to give it to Person B? And we look at some current litigation that can restore traditional limits on the government's power of eminent domain.
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Kelo v. New London
Hawai'i Housing Authority v. Midkiff
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1:05:19
The Despotic Power | Season 3, Ep. 7
On this episode: Berman v. Parker, the Supreme Court's decision in 1954 to abandon previous constitutional limits on the government's power to take property from Person A to give it to Person B. The decision greenlit the era of urban renewal, which saw over a thousand cities across the country seize and bulldoze entire neighborhoods en masse.
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Berman v. Parker
Schneider v. D.C.
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This is Mine | Season 3, Ep. 6
On this episode, we take a break from case law and go way back to the beginning to examine the origins and justifications of private property.
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Tyler v. Hennepin County
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44:33
The Blessings of Quiet Seclusion | Season 3, Ep. 5
On this episode we return to the subject of zoning. With the doors to federal courthouses barred shut, advocates for reforming zoning have turned to state courts and state constitutions. Most famously, in 1975, the New Jersey Supreme Court took a look at a zoning ordinance that made it illegal to build low- and moderate-income housing in the township of Mount Laurel and said in no uncertain terms: enough. But the story of the Mount Laurel doctrine, which calls for municipalities to do their fair share to meet the regional demand for affordable housing, is not all milk and honey. Additionally, we take a look at some current efforts in other states to protect property rights under state constitutions.
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Mount Laurel I (1975) and Mount Laurel II (1983)
Warth v. Seldin
Belle Terre v. Boraas
Bound by Oath is a podcast series from the Center for Judicial Engagement at the Institute for Justice. It’s where the Constitution’s past catches up with the present. Article VI of the U.S. Constitution requires every judge to be “bound by Oath” to uphold “this Constitution.” But to understand if judges are following that oath, it’s important to ask, “What is in ‘this Constitution’?” Your host John Ross takes a deep dive into the Constitution’s text, history, and characters, and interviews historians, legal scholars, and the real people involved in historic and contemporary cases.
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