I'm Lee Rowland, and this is At Liberty from the ACLU, the podcast that explores the biggest civil rights and civil liberties issues of our day.

The Supreme Court's latest term just ended, and it was a doozy.

The court issued major opinions on partisan gerrymandering, warrantless searches and seizures,

union dues, political speech, the religious rights of business owners, and the Trump administration's notorious travel ban, just to name a few.

We also know now that it was Justice Anthony Kennedy's last term on the court, bringing an end to his 30-year reign as a swing vote.

The ACLU has been involved in many of these cases, and today we have the ACLU's legal director, David Cole, here to reflect on the court's past year and its future.

David leads and supports a nationwide litigation program with more than 300 staff attorneys,

1,700 cooperating attorneys, and more than 1,400

active lawsuits.

He's had a long career as a civil rights lawyer, a professor, and an author before coming

to lead the legal department at the ACLU.

Welcome, David.

Thanks for having me, Lee.

David, let's please start with the good news, assuming there is at least some.

What was the best Supreme Court decision we got this year, at least from your point of

view?

Well, I think without question, it's Carpenter versus United States, the case holding that

the Fourth Amendment protects the

information that cell phone companies collect about our location when we walk around with our

cell phones. This was really a case about whether privacy will survive in the digital age,

because the government's argument in this case was when you buy a cell phone and walk

around with your cell phone and it pings the cell phone tower in order for the phone to

...