Trailer: Season 2

More from Bound By Oath by IJ All episodes →

1. 

   S2 · E5 · 1 Mar 2021 · 1 hr 10 min

   Under Color of Law | Season 2, Ep. 5

   In Chicago in 1958, over a dozen police officers barged into the home of a sleeping family with guns drawn. They didn’t have a warrant, and it turned out they didn’t have the right man. When the family’s civil rights claim reached the Supreme Court, it resulted in the landmark case of of Monroe v. Pape , which finally — 90 years after Congress authorized such suits — opened the doors of federal courthouses to victims of unconstitutional misconduct by state and local officials. On this episode, we hear about the raid from people who experienced it firsthand. Click here for transcript.…

2. 

   S2 · E4 · 28 Jan 2021 · 1 hr 4 min

   Outrage Legislation | Season 2, Ep. 4

   Section 1983 is one of the most important civil rights laws on the books; tens of thousands of plaintiffs file Section 1983 cases each year seeking to hold state and local officials to account for unconstitutional conduct ranging from excessive force and false arrest, to violations of free speech rights and much else. But where does the law come from? In this episode, we explore the origins of Section 1983, or, as it was originally called, Section One of the Ku Klux Klan Act 1871. Click here for transcript. Click for Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Google Podcasts , TuneIn , and Stitcher .

3. 

   S2 · E3 · 28 Dec 2020 · 1 hr 9 min

   The Bubble | Season 2, Ep. 3

   By any measure, the conditions that Lee Saunders endured in the psych unit at the Brevard County jail in Florida were shockingly inhumane. But when he sued over the overcrowding, abusive treatment, and denial of basic sanitation, the courts ruled that the officer in charge was immune from suit. On this episode, we explore the state of qualified immunity doctrine today and whether the Supreme Court’s justifications for its policy of shielding officials from suit—even when they have violated the Constitution—hold water. Click here for transcript.

4. 

   S2 · E2 · 14 Dec 2020 · 1 hr 5 min

   Death By a Thousand Cuts | Season 2, Ep. 2

   For victims of government misconduct, whether you can sue the officials who violated your constitutional rights often depends on whether the officials are federal, state, or local government employees. On Episode 2, we look at federal officials. We’ll head out to Wyoming where a rancher subjected to a 12-year campaign of harassment found out the hard way that all too often the Constitution simply isn’t enforceable against federal officials. Click here for transcript. Click for Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Google Podcasts , TuneIn , and Stitcher .

5. 

   S2 · E1 · 25 Nov 2020 · 38 min

   They’re Going to Kill This Man | Season 2, Ep. 1

   In 2014, two members of a joint state-federal fugitive task force beat up an innocent college student, James King, after mistaking him for a suspect who looked nothing like him. The officers had James prosecuted for resisting arrest, which a jury quickly threw out. Then, in 2015, he sued the officers for violating his rights. In 2020, James’ suit reached the U.S. Supreme Court, where the question the Court faced was a narrow one: Can he even sue the officers in the first place? On Season 2 of Bound By Oath, we’ll explore why it is so hard to sue government officials who violate the…

6. 

   S1 · E9 · 20 Feb 2020 · 1 hr 3 min

   Episode 9 – Excessive Fines

   Prohibitions on excessive fines date back at least as far as Magna Carta in 1215, and the U.S. Constitution has barred excessive fines since 1791. But the Supreme Court has only recently begun to interpret what the Excessive Fines Clause means, and it wasn't until 2019 that the Court said the Clause applies to the states. On this episode: the story of how the Supreme Court finally began to incorporate the Bill of Rights rights against the states and the history of excessive fines.

7. 

   S1 · E10 · 16 Jan 2020 · 46 min

   Special Episode: Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue

   On January 22, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in an IJ case, Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue. At issue is a Montana school choice program that allowed families to send their children to private schools, including religious ones. The Montana Supreme Court said the program violated the state’s Blaine Amendment, a relic of 19th-century anti-Catholic hysteria that lives on today in 37 states constitutions, and struck the program down in 2018. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, will consider whether discriminating against religious options violates the First Amendment. On…

8. 

   S1 · E8 · 15 Nov 2019 · 1 hr 5 min

   Substantive Due Process | Episode 8

   If the government is going to take away life, liberty, or property, the due process of law requires it to follow fair procedures. But, according to the Supreme Court, that’s not all that due process requires. The government also must have a good reason to take life, liberty, or property. On this episode, we head to Akron, Ohio where city officials have shut down a privately run homeless community—without a good reason.

9. 

   S1 · E7 · 23 Aug 2019 · 40 min

   Incorporation, the Lack Thereof | Episode 7

   In 1842, the city of New Orleans prosecuted Father Bernard Permoli, a Catholic priest, for conducting an open casket funeral. A violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment? The Supreme Court said no: The protections in the Bill of Rights did not bind state and local governments. Then in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment is ratified, and it incorporated the Bill of Rights against the states–or did it? On this episode, the failure of incorporation after Reconstruction.

10. 

    S1 · E6 · 5 Jul 2019 · 1 hr 8 min

    Procedural Due Process | Episode 6

    Before the government can take away your life, liberty, or property, it must first give you due process: fair and meaningful procedure. On this episode, we trace the history of due process from 1215 to today. And we head to Harris County, Texas, which operates the the third-largest jail in the country, to see why federal courts say its system of money bail violated that ancient guarantee.