Our system of government is rooted in the Constitution and designed to ensure that power is shared, not concentrated in any one branch. But what happens when the institutions that were meant to hold one another accountable are tested in new and unprecedented ways?
Season 6 of Democracy Decoded examines some of the defining constitutional questions shaping American democracy today. From the separation of powers and the role of the Department of Justice, to presidential pardons, political dissent, citizenship, voting rights, and safeguarding our elections, each episode explores the legal principles, institutions, and people at the center of today's most consequential debates.
Through conversations with leading legal experts, advocates and policymakers, we'll unpack what's happening, why it matters and what these developments could mean for the future of our democracy. Going beyond the headlines, we also examine the constitutional framework behind the news; the checks and balances designed to protect our freedoms; and the challenges facing the rule of law in a rapidly evolving political landscape.
Whether you want to better understand the political events of the day or the Constitution itself, follow Democracy Decoded on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen, to get the context, clarity, and insight required to make sense of this pivotal time for our country.
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Is the Trump administration trying to undermine our elections?
Saison 6 · Épisode 5
mardi 13 octobre 2026 • Durée 31:52
On this episode of Democracy Decoded, host Simone Leeper sits down with Campaign Legal Center’s Jonathan Diaz and Chad Dunn, head of the UCLA Voting Rights Project, to discuss the Department of Justice's escalating seizures of 2020 election materials in Georgia, Arizona, and beyond. They also unpack the executive orders President Trump has issued to reshape voter eligibility and mail-in voting, which have been repeatedly blocked by federal courts. Dunn goes on to detail his fight against the Riverside County sheriff's illegal ballot seizure and explains how election misinformation erodes public trust even when systems remain secure. As we get closer to the 2026 midterms, this episode explores what it will take to keep American elections safe, secure, and accurate — and who's responsible for making sure they stay that way.
Episode Highlights:
2:59 – Is the Trump administration laying groundwork to undermine the 2026 midterms?
3:46 – Why does the president still refuse to accept his 2020 loss in Georgia?
5:14 – How far has the DOJ's ballot subpoena campaign spread beyond Georgia?
6:55 – What happens when a sheriff decides he can seize ballots from a special election?
9:30 – Why are ballot seizures like this often self-defeating?
12:00 – How does election misinformation spread even when systems remain secure?
13:55 – Why does election misinformation make people lose faith in democracy itself?
15:58 – Can the president legally nationalize elections or cancel the midterms?
17:48 – Why have federal courts repeatedly blocked Trump's election executive orders?
21:42 – Can the president legally nationalize elections?
24:14 – What happens when election deniers are put in charge of federal agencies?
26:45 – What can be done to protect the freedom to vote going forward?
Host and Guests:
Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at Campaign Legal Center, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.
Jonathan Diaz manages CLC's work to protect election results and defend against election sabotage and works directly with CLC's litigation, communications, and policy teams to help set organizational strategy on voting rights and elections advocacy. He also works directly with election officials at the state and local level to improve election administration processes, and represents CLC in democracy reform coalitions to coordinate legal, advocacy, and messaging strategies with partner organizations across the country.
Jonathan has also litigated voting rights cases in federal courts across the country, including LULAC v. Executive Office of the President (challenging the President's unconstitutional executive order on voting), LUCHA v. Fontes (challenging Arizona's burdensome and discriminatory proof-of-citizenship requirements for voter registration), VoteAmerica v. Raffensperger (challenging Georgia's restrictions on the distribution of absentee ballot applications) and Raysor v. Lee (challenging Florida's conditioning of rights restoration for voters with past felony convictions on the payment of legal financial obligations).
Chad Dunn is a Lecturer in Law at UCLA School of Law for the Voting Rights and Law Practicum that proudly equips emerging lawyers to confidently serve as powerful courtroom civil rights advocates in any court in the country. His research lies in civil rights, with a specialization in voting rights. He also serves as the Legal Director of UCLA’s Voting Rights Project, a joint project of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, the UCLA School of Law, and the UCLA School of Social Science, where he directs all litigation, appeals, and legal scholarship for the Voting Rights Project. In addition to his scholarship and teaching, Dunn co-founded and is a partner of the law firm Brazil & Dunn, LLP, where he continues to try cases and handle appeals in numerous areas of civil rights including redistricting, race discrimination under Title VII, sex discrimination under Title IX, prison conditions, police conduct, and government ethics as well as other civil and criminal legal matters.
Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan legal organization dedicated to solving the wide range of challenges facing American democracy. We fight for every American’s freedom to vote and participate meaningfully in the democratic process, particularly Americans who have faced political barriers because of race, ethnicity or economic status. Learn more about us.
Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Who gets a pardon in Trump's America — and why?
Saison 6 · Épisode 4
mardi 6 octobre 2026 • Durée 31:28
A crypto billionaire convicted of laundering money walks free after his company enriches the president's family by billions. A congressman expelled for defrauding voters gets his slate wiped clean for staying loyal. A tax fraudster owing investors $700 million never repays a dime before receiving clemency. These aren't isolated instances— they're a pattern.
On this episode of Democracy Decoded, host Simone Leeper is joined by Liz Oyer, former head of the DOJ's Office of the Pardon Attorney, and Brendan Fischer, director of strategic investigations at Campaign Legal Center, to break down how President Trump has reshaped executive clemency into a marketplace. Oyer draws on her firsthand experience reviewing pardon applications to explain how the traditional, merit-based process has been sidelined, while Fischer lays out three distinct categories of abuse — reward pardons, corrupt pardons, and brokered pardons — each backed by real cases of donors, loyalists, and lobbyists cashing in. Together, they explore what recourse remains, from proposed legislation like the No Payoffs for Pardons Act to the limits of congressional oversight, including a sobering look at what's lost when clemency serves power instead of justice.
Episode Highlights:
2:46 – How have executive clemency powers been used by President Trump?
3:11 – Can clemency give deserving people a real second chance?
5:16 – How is a presidential pardon supposed to work?
6:32 – Are there any legal limits on who a president can pardon?
7:35 – How has President Trump turned pardon power into a reward system?
9:17 – What is a reward pardon?
12:59 – Did a $1 million donation really buy a nursing home executive's clemency?
15:28 – Why did an expelled, unrepentant congressman get pardoned anyway?
18:47 – How do wealthy individuals use brokers for pardons?
23:14 – Could legislation actually stop this corruption?
What happens when political dissent is suppressed?
Saison 6 · Épisode 3
mardi 29 septembre 2026 • Durée 33:14
It was a dramatic scene that made headlines across the country; Senator Alex Padilla lying on the floor in handcuffs for simply trying to ask a question to the former head of the Department of Homeland Security. But it turns out dissent isn't a threat to democracy, it's actually the mechanism that makes democracy work. On this episode of Democracy Decoded, Host Simone Leeper sits down with Yale Law School professor Robert Post to trace how the printing press gave rise to public opinion — and why that history explains why losing an election doesn't mean losing your voice. Then Campaign Legal Center's Danielle Lang takes over with the receipts: law firms strong-armed into pro bono deals, ICE protesters flagged in retaliation databases, and federal employees' auto-reply emails hijacked for partisan messaging. Together, Post and Lang make the case that a government that punishes its critics isn't protecting order — it's undermining the very system it claims to defend.
Episode Highlights:
3:22 - Why does the First Amendment protect dissent as the foundation of self-government?
5:12 - How did the printing press create the public opinion democracy now depends on?
6:21 - Why does democracy make citizens accountable to the judgment of total strangers?
8:49 - How does free political debate shape which candidates and coalitions voters choose?
11:16 - Why is losing an election still compatible with governing yourself democratically?
14:53 - How is the Trump administration infringing on Americans' First Amendment rights?
17:16 - Why are universities and law firms being pressured to fall in line?
17:47 - How have law firms been targeted by the Trump administration?
26:05 - How did shutdown emails violate federal workers’ First Amendment rights?
28:38 - What must Americans do now to defend their First Amendment rights?
Are political loyalty and partisanship replacing the rule of law at the DOJ?
Saison 6 · Épisode 2
mardi 22 septembre 2026 • Durée 35:12
An FBI counterintelligence agent loses his career over a friendship. A prosecutor gets fired by email because of who her father is. A civil rights attorney quits rather than betray her oath. On this episode of Democracy Decoded, host Simone Leeper explores how the Trump administration's second term has undermined the rule of law at the Department of Justice. She speaks with former FBI agent Michael Feinberg, who describes being forced out after being flagged for a friendship with a former colleague who criticized the president. She also hears from law professor and former U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, who details the DOJ leadership's willingness to pursue politically motivated prosecutions, shield presidential allies, and erode judicial trust. And Campaign Legal Center’s Dana Paikowsky recounts an exodus of career officials at the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, plus a troubling pattern of failed prosecutions against protesters, and efforts to shield political appointees from bar discipline.
Episode Highlights:
3:45 – How are the principles of the nonpartisan civil service demonstrated in practice at the FBI?
6:21 – How did new FBI leadership dismantle protections against political influence?
9:41 – Why was a friendship with an ex-colleague enough to end a 16-year career in counterintelligence?
13:00 – Is loyalty to the president now more important than a career record?
16:14 – How far will DOJ leadership go to shield the president from accountability?
19:17 – What happens to the rule of law when three of Trump's own lawyers run the DOJ?
22:50 – Why are career officials resigning instead of doing work they no longer believe in?
25:59 – What does it mean when a federal prosecutor is fired by email?
29:20 – Can DOJ attorneys really be shielded from ethics accountability?
32:33 – Why does Campaign Legal Center say civil servants can't be fired as political retribution?
What happens when the balance of power becomes unbalanced?
Saison 6 · Épisode 1
mardi 15 septembre 2026 • Durée 34:12
When President Trump fired a Federal Trade Commission commissioner in 2025, it sparked a legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court — and ended up re-shaping the American government. In Trump v. Slaughter, the Court's conservative majority struck down nearly a century of precedent protecting independent agency heads from at-will presidential removal, handing the executive branch sweeping new authority over agencies Congress had designed to be nonpartisan.
On this season premiere episode of Democracy Decoded, host Simone Leeper explores what this ruling means for the separation of powers and the rule of law. Joined by NYU law professor Melissa Murray, retired federal judge Michael Luttig, and Campaign Legal Center's Brent Ferguson, Leeper examines how an increasingly emboldened executive, a passive Congress, and a compliant Supreme Court are eroding the constitutional safeguards that protect American democracy — and what citizens can do to push back before it's too late.
Episode Highlights:
2:01 — Why is the rule of law the foundation of democracy that rarely gets the headlines it deserves?
5:06 — Which traumas were the Framers responding to when they designed the Constitution?
6:05 — How fragile was the early American government before the Constitution was written?
10:53 — What is impoundment, how did Nixon weaponize it, and why is Trump bringing it back?
12:10 — What is the "shadow docket" and how has the Supreme Court been using it to side with Trump?
Democracy Decoded, Season 6: The Rule of Law Under Threat
Saison 6
mardi 1 septembre 2026 • Durée 02:25
Our system of government is rooted in the Constitution and designed to ensure that power is shared, not concentrated in any one branch. But what happens when the institutions that were meant to hold one another accountable are tested in new and unprecedented ways?
Season 6 of Democracy Decoded examines some of the defining constitutional questions shaping American democracy today. From the separation of powers and the role of the Department of Justice, to presidential pardons, political dissent, citizenship, voting rights, and safeguarding our elections, each episode explores the legal principles, institutions, and people at the center of today's most consequential debates.
Through conversations with leading legal experts, advocates and policymakers, we'll unpack what's happening, why it matters and what these developments could mean for the future of our democracy. Going beyond the headlines, we also examine the constitutional framework behind the news; the checks and balances designed to protect our freedoms; and the challenges facing the rule of law in a rapidly evolving political landscape.
Whether you want to better understand the political events of the day or the Constitution itself, follow Democracy Decoded on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen, to get the context, clarity, and insight required to make sense of this pivotal time for our country.
About CLC:
Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan legal organization dedicated to solving the wide range of challenges facing American democracy. We fight for every American’s freedom to vote and participate meaningfully in the democratic process, particularly Americans who have faced political barriers because of race, ethnicity or economic status. Learn more about us.
Special Announcement: We've been nominated for a Webby!
Saison 5
vendredi 10 avril 2026 • Durée 02:12
We are beyond thrilled to announce Democracy Decoded once again has been nominated for a Webby Award in the category of Public Service & Activism podcasts!
Please vote now for Democracy Decoded by the April 16 deadline to help our expert insights and analysis reach even more ears!
REGISTER with the Webby Awards website when prompted (if you already have an account, sign in).
FOR YOUR VOTE TO COUNT: Check your email for a message from The Webby Awards that says “Webby People’s Voice Confirmation”.
CLICK the “Make Your Voice Count” button.
That’s it — you’re done! On behalf of the Democracy Decoded team and everyone at Campaign Legal Center, thank you!
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How New Voting Barriers Threaten Elections
Saison 5 · Épisode 8
jeudi 20 novembre 2025 • Durée 42:43
New voting restrictions across the country are threatening to make it harder for millions of Americans to participate in elections. In some states, these barriers have thrown long-registered voters into limbo, as Arizona voter James Wilson learned when he nearly lost his ability to vote because of strict new proof-of-citizenship rules.
In this season finale, Democracy Decoded examines how these barriers to voting — along with an administration actively attempting to curtail the freedom to vote and a Supreme Court with voting rights cases on its docket — are reshaping access to the ballot.
Host Simone Leeper speaks with election law scholar Rick Hasen and Campaign Legal Center’s voting rights expert Danielle Lang to unpack the rise of new barriers to voting, the future of the Voting Rights Act, the dangers of executive overreach, and the policy solutions and reforms needed to secure the freedom to vote in 2026 and beyond.
Timestamps:
(00:00) — How did one Arizona voter nearly lose his right to vote?
(04:35) — Why are federal actions now threatening elections?
(06:50) — How do proof-of-citizenship laws disenfranchise voters?
(11:48) — What happened inside Arizona’s dual-track voting system?
(15:32) — Who is most affected by modern voting restrictions?
(21:36) — What role has the federal government historically played in protecting voting rights?
(23:49) — Why is the SAVE Act so bad for voting rights?
(25:16) — What is Campaign Legal Center doing to protect the freedom to vote in Louisiana?
(28:38) — What is Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act?
(30:06) — What is the Turtle Mountain v. Howe case?
(34:05) — What reforms are needed to protect elections in 2026 and beyond?
Host and Guests:litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at Campaign Legal Center, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.
The Latest: How the Erosion of Federalism Endangers Elections
Saison 5 · Épisode 7
jeudi 13 novembre 2025 • Durée 42:48
Under our Constitution, the federal government and the states have distinct powers — especially when it comes to elections. But the Trump administration has repeatedly tried to interfere with how states run elections, pushing unlawful policies that undermine faith in safe, secure and accurate elections.
Host Simone Leeper sits down with Catie Kelley, Senior Director of Policy and Strategic Partnerships at Campaign Legal Center, and Jonathan Diaz, CLC’s Director of Voting Advocacy and Partnerships, to examine how the Trump administration has attempted to federalize elections, impose unconstitutional voter restrictions and silence Americans.
They unpack CLC’s major court victory against the administration’s unlawful election executive order; explain how new proof-of-citizenship requirements could disenfranchise millions of voters; and discuss lawsuits defending states’ rights and voters’ privacy against federal overreach. They also explore broader threats—from troubling legislation and to presidential attacks on mail-in voting—and what Campaign Legal Center is doing to preserve checks and balances, protect election integrity and defend every American’s freedom to vote.
Timestamps: (00:00) — What does “federalism” mean, and why is it under attack?
(02:50) — How is the Trump administration overstepping its authority on elections?
(06:44) — What lawsuits has CLC filed to stop the president’s election overreach?
(07:58) — Why are proof-of-citizenship rules so dangerous for voters?
(11:28) — How are military families impacted by new voting restrictions?
(14:50) — Why is the DOJ demanding states’ voter data—and why is it alarming?
(17:56) — How are states pushing back to defend their power and voters’ privacy?
(19:10) — What is the SAVE Act, and how could it silence millions of voters?
(25:16) — Why is mail-in voting under attack again?
A Quick Update from Democracy Decoded
Saison 5
jeudi 6 novembre 2025 • Durée 01:04
Host Simone Leeper shares a quick Election Day 2025 update — Campaign Legal Center staff worked to safeguard elections; millions of Americans exercised their freedom to vote in states across the country; and Democracy Decoded will return next week with lessons learned from this and past elections that we will carry with us into 2026 and beyond.
About CLC:
Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to solving the wide range of challenges facing American democracy. Campaign Legal Center fights for every American’s freedom to vote and participate meaningfully in the democratic process. Learn more about us.
Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
27:25 – Is America left with a two-tiered system of justice?
28:01 – What effect does President Trump’s abuse of the pardon power have on applicants without money or connections?
Host and Guests:
Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at Campaign Legal Center, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.
Liz Oyer is an experienced attorney and justice advocate. She most recently served in the Department of Justice as United States Pardon Attorney (April 2022 to March 2025), overseeing the Office of the Pardon Attorney. In that role, Liz was responsible for reviewing applications from individuals across the country seeking pardons and commutations of sentence and preparing recommendations for the President concerning the exercise of his constitutional clemency power.
Liz’s tenure as Pardon Attorney was focused on making second chances through clemency available to all deserving Americans without consideration of status, resources, or politics. Liz and her team completely overhauled the clemency application process to make it more accessible, transparent, and user-friendly, including streamlining and improving the application forms for the first time in decades. Liz conducted extensive community outreach and education, including visits to federal prisons around the country. During her three years as Pardon Attorney, Liz and her team made recommendations to the President in over 15,000 clemency cases, prioritizing those involving overly harsh sentences imposed under outdated laws and policies.
Brendan Fischer is Director of Strategic Investigations, working to support legal actions, policy reform and public accountability by exposing how money influences politics and providing stakeholders with the information needed to protect the freedom to vote.
Brendan brings over a decade of experience at the intersection of law, investigative journalism and democracy reform. Prior to his current role, he served as Deputy Executive Director at the investigative watchdog group Documented, and before that, he built and ran Campaign Legal Center's Federal Reform program, where he directed legal strategies to address dark money, illegal coordination and foreign interference. He earned his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School, and he began his public service career as a Peace Corps volunteer in El Salvador. Brendan rejoined CLC in October 2025.
Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan legal organization dedicated to solving the wide range of challenges facing American democracy. We fight for every American’s freedom to vote and participate meaningfully in the democratic process, particularly Americans who have faced political barriers because of race, ethnicity or economic status. Learn more about us.
Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Host and Guests:
Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at Campaign Legal Center, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.
Robert Post is Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School. He served as the School's 16th dean from 2009 until 2017. Before coming to Yale, he taught at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law.
Post specializes in constitutional law, with a particular emphasis on the First Amendment. Post has written and edited numerous books, including The Taft Court: Making Law for a Divided Nation, 1921-1930 (1924), which is Volume 10 of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise History of the Supreme Court of the United States; Citizens Divided: A Constitutional Theory of Campaign Finance Reform (2014), which was originally delivered as the Tanner Lectures at Harvard in 2013; Democracy, Expertise, Academic Freedom: A First Amendment Jurisprudence for the Modern State (2012), which was originally delivered as the Rosenthal Lectures at Northwestern University; For the Common Good: Principles of American Academic Freedom (with Matthew M. Finkin, 2009), which has become a standard reference for the meaning of academic freedom in the United States; and Prejudicial Appearances: The Logic of American Antidiscrimination Law (2001), which was originally delivered as the Brennan Lectures at Berkeley.
Danielle Lang has worked as a civil rights litigator for her entire career and as a voting rights litigator for over a decade. At CLC, she has led dozens of case teams challenging state and federal laws and policies that unlawfully restrict access to the ballot. These matters include successful challenges to the second Trump administration's illegal executive order on elections; a last-minute error-ridden voter purge in Alabama in 2024; Arizona's burdensome registration documentation of citizenship requirements; North Dakota's voter ID law targeting Native communities; Texas's discriminatory voter ID law; and numerous successful challenges to signature match policies for absentee ballots.
Under her leadership, CLC's Voting Rights team not only fights in court to protect voters, but also advances pro-voter policies at the local, state and federal level across the country. In 2018, alongside CLC’s Blair Bowie, she founded CLC's unique Restore Your Vote Project. She also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, where she co-teaches the Election Law Practicum with CLC's Jonathan Diaz.
Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan legal organization dedicated to solving the wide range of challenges facing American democracy. We fight for every American’s freedom to vote and participate meaningfully in the democratic process, particularly Americans who have faced political barriers because of race, ethnicity or economic status. Learn more about us.
Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
35:44 – Why does everyday life depend more on the rule of law than most of us realize?
Host and Guests:
Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at Campaign Legal Center, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.
Michael Feinberg is a former Assistant Special Agent in Charge with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where he spent the overwhelming majority of his career combating the PRC’s intelligence services. He is a recipient and multiple times nominee of the FBI’s highest recognition, the Director’s Award for Excellence, as well as numerous other Bureau honors and ODNI commendations. Prior to his service with the FBI, he was an attorney in both private and public practice.
Joyce White Vance is a Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Law. She served as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 2009 to 2017. She was nominated for that position by President Barack Obama in May of 2009 and unanimously confirmed by the Senate in August of 2009. Professor Vance served on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee and was the Co-Chair of its Criminal Practice Subcommittee. As U.S. Attorney, she was responsible for overseeing all federal criminal investigations and prosecutions in north Alabama, including matters involving civil rights, national security, cybercrime, public corruption, health care and corporate fraud, violent crime and drug trafficking. She was also responsible for affirmative and defensive civil litigation on behalf of the government and for all federal criminal and civil appeals.
Before becoming U.S. Attorney, Vance served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Birmingham for 18 years. She spent ten years as a criminal prosecutor, before moving to the Appellate Division in 2002, becoming Chief of that Division in 2005. Prior to her work as a federal prosecutor, she spent six years as a litigator in private practice. She received a B.A. from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, magna cum laude, and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of law.
Dana Paikowsky graduated from Oberlin College and Harvard Law School. She joins Campaign Legal Center from the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where she worked in both the Voting and Special Litigation Sections. At DOJ, her work included cases and matters to protect voters' right to cast a ballot free from intimidation, to safeguard the rights of voters with disabilities and limited English proficiency, and to combat the discriminatory policing of and institutionalization of people with disabilities. Dana also fought to protect the rights of federal workers, playing a leadership role in the successful organizing campaign to establish the Civil Rights Division Employee Union and serving as a transitional union officer for the new union. Previously, Dana was an Equal Justice Works Fellow for Campaign Legal Center in 2019, where she focused on protecting the rights of justice-involved voters. Dana joined CLC in September 2025.
Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan legal organization dedicated to solving the wide range of challenges facing American democracy. We fight for every American’s freedom to vote and participate meaningfully in the democratic process, particularly Americans who have faced political barriers because of race, ethnicity or economic status. Learn more about us.
Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
13:40 — What would Judge Luttig say to his old friend Chief Justice John Roberts if given the chance?
15:41 — Why does Judge Luttig say Trump v. United States destroyed a critical part of the structural Constitution?
19:03 — Has the Constitution itself failed — or have the people responsible for upholding it?
21:30 — What does the Trump v. Slaughter ruling actually mean for independent federal agencies?
23:10- — Why are the FEC and EAC uniquely vulnerable — and what is Campaign Legal Center doing to protect them?
25:52 — What did a 1952 Supreme Court justice foresee about executives who move too fast — and who was he really warning about?
31:13 — Who ultimately holds the power in American democracy, and what are they being called to do?
Host and Guests:
Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at Campaign Legal Center, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.
Melissa Murray is the Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law at NYU School of Law, where she teaches constitutional law, family law, and reproductive rights and justice. She is a co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Trump Indictments: The Historic Charging Documents with Commentary, and The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader.Her other writing has appeared in a range of legal and lay publications, including the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Nation. Before joining the NYU Law faculty, Murray was the Alexander F. and May T. Morrison Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, where she received the law school’s Rutter Award for Teaching Distinction, the Association of American Law Schools’ Derrick A. Bell Award, and, from March 2016 to June 2017, served as interim dean of the law school. Murray serves as a legal analyst for MSNOW and is a co-host of Strict Scrutiny, a Crooked Media podcast about the Supreme Court. A graduate of the University of Virginia and Yale Law School, Murray clerked for Sonia Sotomayor, then a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and Stefan Underhill of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. She is a member of the American Law Institute and the New York bar.
Judge Michael Luttig served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for 15 years, from 1991 to 2006. He was Counselor and Special Advisor to The Coca-Cola Company and the Board of Directors of the Coca-Cola Company from January 2021 to January 2025. Prior to that, Judge Luttig was Counselor and Senior Advisor to The Boeing Company CEO and The Boeing Company Board of Directors from January 2019 to January 2020 and Executive Vice President and General Counsel of The Boeing Company from 2006 to 2020.
Before he was appointed to the Federal Bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, he served as Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel and Counselor to the Attorney General of the United States at the U.S. Department of Justice 1990-1991. He was Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice from 1989-1990. He was Assistant Counsel to the President at The White House from 1981 to 1982 under President Ronald Reagan. From 1982 to 1983, he was a law clerk to then-Judge Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. From 1983 to 1985, he served as a law clerk and then Special Assistant to the Chief Justice of the United States, Warren E. Burger.
Judge Luttig was formerly Co-Chair of the American Bar Association Task Force for American Democracy, a Member of the Board of Trustees of the National Constitution Center, a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Thomas Jefferson/Monticello Foundation, and a Distinguished Fellow of the Karsh Institute of Democracy and the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy.
Brent Ferguson has worked on protecting and improving our democracy for most of his career. At Campaign Legal Center, he has led litigation teams challenging federal government overreach and seeking to invalidate state and federal laws that unlawfully purge voters, limit voter registration activity and otherwise prevent Americans from exercising their constitutionally protected rights. He has authored academic articles on election law and other constitutional issues in the Washington Law Review, the Cornell Journal of Law & Public Policy, the Emory Law Journal Online and elsewhere.
Before coming to CLC, Brent was senior counsel at the National Redistricting Foundation, where he helped develop strategy for federal and state redistricting litigation. For four years, he served as counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, focusing on campaign finance reform and working on a broad range of other democracy issues. He was also an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, where he litigated appeals of public corruption convictions. He clerked for Judge Michael Chagares of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Judge Jeffrey Miller of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
Brent graduated from Columbia Law School (J.D. 2010), where he served on the administrative board of the Columbia Law Review. He graduated with honors in political science from the University of Southern California (B.A. 2006). Brent is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and New York. He joined CLC in 2023.
Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan legal organization dedicated to solving the wide range of challenges facing American democracy. We fight for every American’s freedom to vote and participate meaningfully in the democratic process, particularly Americans who have faced political barriers because of race, ethnicity or economic status. Learn more about us.
Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
James Wilson is a resident of Pinal County, Arizona. He’s passionate about voting and has done voter registration work for many years. He first registered to vote in Arizona in 1982 and has proudly voted in many elections since then.
Danielle Langleads Campaign Legal Center's voting rights team dedicated to safeguarding the freedom to vote. She litigates in state and federal courts from trial to the Supreme Court, and advocates for equitable and meaningful voter access at all levels of government. Danielle has worked as a civil rights litigator her entire career. At CLC, she has led litigation against Texas's racially discriminatory voter ID law, Florida's modern-day poll tax for rights restoration, Arizona's burdensome registration requirements, North Dakota's voter ID law targeting Native communities and numerous successful challenges to signature match policies for absentee ballots. Previously, Danielle served as a Skadden Fellow in the Employment Rights Project of Bet Tzedek Legal Services in Los Angeles, where she represented low-wage immigrant workers in wage and hour, discrimination and human trafficking matters. From 2012 to 2013, Danielle clerked for Judge Richard A. Paez on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Professor Richard L. Hasenis the Gary T. Schwartz Endowed Chair in Law, Professor of Political Science (by courtesy) and Director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA School of Law. He is an internationally recognized expert in election law, writing as well in the areas of legislation and statutory interpretation, remedies and torts. He is co-author of leading casebooks in election law and remedies. Hasen served in 2022 and 2024 as an NBC News/MSNBC Election Law Analyst. He was a CNN Election Law Analyst in 2020.
Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to solving the wide range of challenges facing American democracy. Campaign Legal Center fights for every American’s freedom to vote and participate meaningfully in the democratic process. Learn more about us.
Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
(28:41) — How does misinformation from the president erode trust in elections?
(30:51) — What lessons from 2024 should shape the 2026 midterms?
(34:04) — What can states do to strengthen confidence in elections?
(36:24) — What should voters remember heading into 2026 and beyond?
(40:17) — How can Americans hold the line for democracy?
Host and Guests:
Simone Leeperlitigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at Campaign Legal Center, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.
Catie Kelley is Senior Director of Policy & Strategic Partnerships at Campaign Legal Center. Catie oversees CLC's policy work at the federal, state and local levels. She is leading CLC's work to address the emerging threats of election sabotage. Previously, Catie built and ran CLC's state campaign finance program. In that capacity, she worked with state and local stakeholders and policymakers to advance innovative policies designed to decrease the influence of money in the political process. She began her legal career in the Federal Election Commission's Office of General Counsel.
Jonathan Diaz is Director of Voting Advocacy and Partnerships at Campaign Legal Center. Jonathan advocates for laws and policies that expand the freedom to vote for all Americans; leads CLC's work on combatting election sabotage; and coordinates CLC's relationships with national, state and local voting rights partners.
Jonathan manages CLC's work to protect election results and defend against election sabotage, and he works directly with CLC's litigation, communications and policy teams to help set organizational strategy on voting rights and elections advocacy. He also works directly with election officials at the state and local level to improve election administration processes, and he represents CLC in democracy reform coalitions to coordinate legal, advocacy and messaging strategies with partner organizations across the country.
Jonathan has also litigated voting rights cases in federal courts across the country, including LULAC v. Executive Office of the President (challenging the President's unconstitutional executive order on voting); LUCHA v. Fontes (challenging Arizona's burdensome and discriminatory proof-of-citizenship requirements for voter registration); VoteAmerica v. Raffensperger (challenging Georgia's restrictions on the distribution of absentee ballot applications); and Raysor v. Lee (challenging Florida's conditioning of rights restoration for voters with past felony convictions on the payment of legal financial obligations).
Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to solving the wide range of challenges facing American democracy. Campaign Legal Center fights for every American’s freedom to vote and participate meaningfully in the democratic process. Learn more about us.
Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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