The Legal Lens Podcast

186. The U.S. Supreme Court: Dr. Anansi Wilson Breaks Down Birthright Citizenship, Voting Rights, and Excessive Force in the Current Judicial Era

Episode Summary

In this episode of The Legal Lens Podcast, host Angela Reddock-Wright welcomes renowned legal scholar, justice advocate, and policy expert Dr. Anansi Wilson for an in-depth breakdown of the most consequential United States Supreme Court decisions of the 2024-2025 session.

Episode Notes

In this episode of The Legal Lens Podcast, host Angela Reddock-Wright welcomes renowned legal scholar, justice advocate, and policy expert Dr. Anansi Wilson for an in-depth breakdown of the most consequential United States Supreme Court decisions of the 2024-2025 session.

Dr. Wilson unpacks the Court’s expanding use of emergency dockets, critical rulings on birthright citizenship, redistricting, voting rights, excessive force, and healthcare protections for transgender youth. They provide historical context from the Reconstruction Amendments to the Dred Scott decision, tying today’s legal battles to the original hopes of enslaved Africans, immigrants, and those long denied equal protection under the law.

Key Topics Covered

• What “checks and balances” means in this modern era
• Repercussions of birthright citizenship challenges and executive orders
• Birthright citizenship, voting rights and redistricting, and excessive force after recent rulings
• “Furtive Blackness” and the realities of being in—and outside—the law
• The emergency (shadow) docket and its implications for American democracy