Lawful Assembly

Cecil Cicirello and Craig Mousin

1 Creator

The Lawful Assembly podcast teams up two divergent activists, a Secular Humanist Political Activist with an immigration lawyer and an ordained clergy to dissect politics, important legal issues facing the United States, and the role of religion in our political and legal landscapes. Its challenging conversation combines a bit of humor with lamentations over injustices, combined with equal measures of pragmatic cynicism and faith-filled hope. Engage with us as we navigate through the complexities of governance and justice, examining how beliefs and law intersect in the shaping of society. Lawful Assembly is more than just a podcast; it's a community dedicated to celebrating the power of people gathering together to inspire further understanding and activism where law, ethics, and compassion meet seeking the common good. Tune in, and be part of the conversation that ignites minds and hearts alike.

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Top 10 Lawful Assembly Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Lawful Assembly episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Lawful Assembly for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Lawful Assembly episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Injunction Junction - What's your Function?

Lawful Assembly

03/22/24 • 30 min

For more information on antebellum state migration laws, see, "The myth of ‘open borders.’ Even before the U.S. government regulated migration, states did. Here’s why" by Anna O. Law, the Herbert Kurz Chair in Constitutional Rights and associate professor of political science at CUNY Brooklyn College. (September 21, 2021), The Washington Post Heidi Altman, the Director of Policy at the National Immigrant Justice Center (https://immigrantjustice.org/ ) presents ten points of humane border solutions. They can be found at: https://immigrantjustice.org/staff/blog/humane-solutions-work-10-ways-biden-administration-should-reshape-immigration-policy

Read Steve Vladeck's blog post: https://stevevladeck.substack.com/p/72-30-hours-of-sb4-whiplash

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Episode 3: Chicago Welcomes New Arrivals: Challenge or Opportunity?

Lawful Assembly

01/18/24 • 31 min

We talk about the influx of asylum seekers sent to Chicago via bus from red states. Articles referenced:

Opening music, "Don't Fade Away" from the Voices CD Dare the Untried written by Matt Yanny-Tillar and Chris Inserra and arranged and performed by Voices: https://open.spotify.com/track/1wc0BD0aPLT2jbeYpKYSim Closing music: "Green Leaf Rain" arranged and performed by Matt Yanny-Tillar from the Voices CD "Tearing Down Walls": https://soundcloud.com/mbyannytillar/09-green-leaf-rain Dare the Untried CD is fully on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6lDgRpKrOoCCBW1sQprNlw

Listener Questions

Lawful Assembly

04/05/24 • 37 min

We answer several listener questions this week. We talk about a lot of different issues and here are some of the links we suggested in the episode:

https://immigrantjustice.org/

https://cmsny.org/

https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/

https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/

Episode 2: An Ethics Code for the Supreme Court?

Lawful Assembly

01/18/24 • 50 min

We discuss the supreme court and their new ethics code of conduct.

Articles referenced:

Episode 1: What Are Refugee Restrictionists Up To?

Lawful Assembly

01/18/24 • 47 min

We review the Proposed Lankford-Cotton Bill and discuss the implications to international law: https://humanrightsfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Intl-Law-Analysis-of-Lankford-Cotton_Nov-202312.pdf

Take Action: Call Senators to Reject Harmful Immigration Proposals Opening music, "Don't Fade Away" from the Voices CD Dare the Untried written by Matt Yanny-Tillar and Chris Inserra and arranged and performed by Voices: https://open.spotify.com/track/1wc0BD0aPLT2jbeYpKYSim Closing music: "Green Leaf Rain" arranged and performed by Matt Yanny-Tillar from the Voices CD "Tearing Down Walls": https://soundcloud.com/mbyannytillar/09-green-leaf-rain Dare the Untried CD is fully on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6lDgRpKrOoCCBW1sQprNlw

Judicial Appointments and the Controversy over the Honorable Todd E. Edelmann

Lawful Assembly

02/16/24 • 40 min

Articles referenced:

Episode 5: Are We Prepared for a 2024 Trump Immigration Landscape?

Lawful Assembly

01/18/24 • 40 min

We discuss the former president's plans for office in 2024 and the possible immigration implications.

We used this article:

How Trump and His Allies Plan to Wield Power in 2025 - The New York Times

Trump Bibles in Oklahoma and Voting Like Jesus

Lawful Assembly

10/18/24 • 43 min

This week we talk about several news stories. All the stories are linked below.

Megachurch pastor tells congregation to "vote like Jesus" by supporting Trump

'Trump Bible' one of few that meet Walters' criteria for Oklahoma classrooms

FBI Kavanaugh probe tightly controlled by Trump White House, congressional report finds - The Washington Post

DeSantis Threatening Jail Time for Running Abortion Rights Ads in Florida - TPM – Talking Points Memo

Trump wages campaign against real-time fact checks - The Washington Post

Dr. Bourbaine's quote can be found in Donald W. Shriver, Jr.'s book, Honest Patriots, Loving A Country Enough to Remember Its Misdeeds, (NY, Oxford Press, 2005), p. 284. Walter Brueggeman's quotes are from, The Land: Place as Gift, Promise and Challenge in Biblical Faith, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002), pp. 10 and 61. Further discussion of his ideas can be found in Craig's chapter on "Constantine’s Legacy: Preserving Empire While Undermining International Law" which can be found at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3960335 Our theme song, "Don't Fade Away" was co-written by Matt Yaney Tillar and Chris Inserra. We apologize to Chris Inserra for leaving her name out of the recording. "Don't Fade Away" can be found on the CD recorded by Voices, Dare the Untried. If you would like more information on this song or other Voices music, email us at lawfulpod.com. It appears the Oklahoma Superintendent is being sued for the Bibles: https://www.friendlyatheist.com/p/oklahomas-ryan-walters-sued-over?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=95153&post_id=150357512&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=3en6fu&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email