On today’s Majority Report, UChicago Law Professor and former SCOTUS clerk, Justin Driver joins the program to talk about his new book The Schoolhouse Gate: Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind. In the book, Driver gives an engaging and alarming book that aims to vindicate the rights of public school stu­dents, which have so often been undermined by the Supreme Court in recent decades. Driver recounts the hallmark cases that have influenced both education policy and our understanding of the first amendment of our constitution. Driver also explains how Brown v. Board unanimous decision set of a fierce debate about how we understand integration and equality in our public schools. We’re headed into an era where principals of previous ruled-upon cases are being reinterpreted by ideology in our newly confirmed conservative court system. Sam and Driver breakdown the idea of racial protection in the face constitutional colorblindness after decades of Justice Scalia and Thomas presiding over the court. The two end the interview discussing what we can do about the grim reality where corporal punishment is allowed in schools in 19 states across the country.

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