Welcome to Anacus, Slates Podcast about the Law and the US Supreme Court.

I'm Dahlia Lithwick, I cover the Supreme Court for Slate and thanks for joining us.

So we thought we would spend this week really drilling down on these historic same-sex

marriage cases that are going to be argued later this month, April 28th, at the court.

These are probably going to be the most important gay rights cases the court has ever heard,

but sometimes the issues are really technical and sometimes they're very hard to understand.

So we are so lucky to have a fantastic Supreme Court shirt by here this week to walk us through

the cases.

Paul Smith is chair of the Appellate and Supreme Court practice and co-chair of the media

and First Amendment election law and redistricting practices at Jenner and Block in Washington,

DC.

Paul has argued 16 cases at the US Supreme Court involving incredibly important free speech

and civil rights matters.

Following the big, big victories in his career has been Lawrence versus Texas in 2003.

That was the landmark gay rights case where the court struck down Sodomy Laws in Texas

in 13 other states.

Paul was also former co-chair of Lambda Legal's Board of Directors, Paul Smith.

What a thrill to have you here.

Welcome to Anacus.

Well, thanks.

It's nice to be here, Dahlia.

So, I think in order for folks to understand the landscape we're in, help us understand

...