Does AI Dream of Constitutional Rights?

Law Talk With Epstein, Yoo & Senik

The Civitas Institute at the University of Texas at Austin

Government, History, News, Politics

4.9 • 677 Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Law Talk returns and in this excursion, Charles C.W. Cooke, Richard Epstein, and John Yoo tackle a grab bag of constitutional issues with their usual mix of legal scholarship and exasperation (typically with each other). First up: the state of Maine, apparently auditioning for a role in a dystopian novel, bans a legislator from speaking because her views on gender in sports offend the ruling party. Epstein and Yoo are, unsurprisingly, not impressed. Then it’s on to Trump’s latest target—Harvard—where he wants to yank their tax-exempt status for what he sees as race-based admissions sins. Yoo says, “Hey, Bob Jones University got smacked for less,” while Epstein warns that burning down universities to own the libs might be a bit much. Things get even spicier with the arrest of a Wisconsin judge who allegedly helped an illegal immigrant sneak out the back door—Yoo and Epstein agree it’s legally justified, but question whether perp-walking a judge was really necessary. Finally, the gang ponders whether chatbots have First Amendment rights, with the consensus being: no, and let’s hope the robots don’t hear us say that.

Transcript

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0:00.0	All right.
0:12.0	Welcome to the second episode of the new and reconstituted Law Talk.
0:18.8	Amazingly, they let me come back for a second bite at the Apple.
0:25.8	I am Charles C.W. Cook, and I'm here with Richard Epstein and John U.
0:31.4	gentlemen, welcome to the show.
0:33.3	Good to be back with you, Charlie, at least for one more time.
0:36.4	I see. I'm on probation. I get three, right?
0:38.6	We'll let you back because you weren't in an El Salvadoran counterterrorism center prison.
0:43.1	Oh, that's true. That's true. That's not on my bucket list, to be perfectly honest.
0:47.9	In fact, El Salvador in general is probably out for the moment.
0:55.3	Anyhow, the first topic of the week comes from Maine,
0:59.2	not usually a state that makes the headlines,
1:02.9	which has banned one of its state representatives,
1:08.9	representative Libby, from speaking and from voting, unless she stops
1:20.5	saying things that the regnant party in the state house of representatives dislikes in particular if she continues to
1:33.5	oppose biological males participating in female sports.
1:40.0	Now this seems completely unprecedented, but is there room for it under the theory that constitutionally
1:49.9	legislatures get to set their own rules, Richard?
1:54.5	Well, I would hope not.
1:57.7	Set their own rules, I think, are rules of general application and rules of order.
2:02.4	I don't believe this is a rule. I think it's a directive to a single person that she has to be
2:06.7	quiet. And what makes it so odd is that people who are really out of step with everybody else in
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