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It's the Brian Laira Show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. We continue to ask,

is this what democracy looks like? Are we moving from democracy to autocracy, bit by bit,

executive order by executive order, court ruling by court ruling, are we moving from

DEI for diversity, equity,

and inclusion to DEI for disappearances, erasures, and inequality? Back with us now is University

of Pennsylvania law professor Kate Shaw, who is also co-host of the Legal Affairs podcast,

Strict Scrutiny. Kate, we always appreciate that you come on

and apply your strict scrutiny with us on the law and the courts and this year on that spectrum

from democracy to autocracy that really the courts are playing such a key and complicated role in.

Welcome back to WNYC. Thank you so much for having me back, Brian.

And the court rulings keep on coming, including increasingly now from the Supreme Court. We had

ones just in recent days, I'll tell the listeners, from the High Court on the deportations of

Venezuelan migrants without due process, on the suspension of teacher training grants, on the firing

of so-called probationary workers. Then there was a lower court ruling yesterday that said

Trump violated the First Amendment, freedom of the press, by barring the associated press

from some presidential events because they wouldn't bend to his dictate to rename the Gulf of

Mexico, the Gulf of America. And there are others. There are so many we could get to in this

segment with you, Kate. Can you start with that last one I mentioned, though? What court said what

about the free press and the First Amendment? Sure. So yeah, that was the most recent of the rulings that

you just mentioned, Brian. So that was a ruling just yesterday out of a D.C. District Court. Interestingly,

a decision made by a Trump appointee from the first Trump administration who ruled pretty strongly

...