Hi, I'm Jeff Sickinga, executive director of the Ashbrook Center, and this is the American

idea, where we discuss the ideas, people, and events that have made America what it is today.

We believe that by understanding our history and our principles, we can better

live up to the promise of the American founding and preserve our ongoing experiment in self-government.

Welcome to the American Idea. I want to welcome everyone to this episode of the American idea. Today we're going to be

talking about a very important recent Supreme Court decision that goes all the way back to a

landmark American law passed in 1965 the Voting Rights Act. We're going to be talking today about the Supreme Court's

decision in the Calais case. Louisiana versus Calais recently decided, and an interpretation

of the Voting Rights Act, we're going to talk more about the Voting Rights Act, its place in

American history, its significance, and then how it leads us to the court's

recent controversial decision.

And I'm joined for that conversation today by an old friend of mine, personally, an old

friend of the Ashbrook Center, and an old friend of this podcast.

Every time the Supreme Court makes some important decision, we always turn to Professor Josh Dunn for insight.

Josh is the executive director of the Institute of American Civics at the Howard Baker School of Public Policy at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

He is a widely published author on the Supreme Court, including

books like Complex Justice, The Case of Missouri v. Jenkins, terrific book, another great book

from schoolhouse to courthouse, the judiciary's role in American education. And Josh also

publishes in the popular press in outlets that you've heard of, New

York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The LA Times, and I'm proud to say,

has edited a wonderful collection of core documents for the Ashbrook Center entitled The Judiciary,

Core Documents. Let me recommend that book and all of Josh's work to our

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