I'm Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, and welcome to the latest of our We the People Constitutional Podcasts.

The National Constitution Center is the only institution in America chartered by Congress to disseminate

information about the US Constitution on a non-partisan basis.

And this week in our first podcast of the New Year, we're tackling a timeless debate among

constitutional law scholars and citizens. When is it appropriate for courts to

strike down laws passed by Democratic legislatures? In a front-page story this week,

the New York Times reported that Republicans are turning to the court

to block actions taken by President Obama

on a range of issues, including health care, climate change, and immigration.

And in another story published this week, Politico reported that Democrats also are turning

to the courts, this time to block Republican gerrymandering and Democrats have also been

successful in overturning same-sex marriage bans across the country most recently

in Florida. Are these examples of illegitimate judicial activism in which the courts are overstepping their

proper bounds or are they appropriate examples of judicial engagement, protecting liberty and fulfilling the constitutional

roles of the courts as the founders intended.

Joining me to debate this fascinating topic are to outstanding scholars and advocates and friends of the National

Constitution Center. Clark Neely is a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice

where he litigates economic liberty, property rights, school choice, first amendment, and other constitutional

cases.

He is director of the Institute's Center for Judicial Engagement, and has written a book about

Judicial Engagement titled, Terms of Engagement, How Our Court Should Enforce the Constitution's

promise of limited government.

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