Moving The Bar: My Life As A Radical Lawyer

Hosts Heidi Boghosian and Michael Smith interviewed some of Michael Ratner’s closest friends and colleagues as part of a special broadcast highlighting Michael Ratner’s legal work and mentorship. The special also marked the upcoming release of Michael Ratner’s autobiography Moving The Bar: My Life As A Radical Lawyer published by OR Books. In this one hour taken from the two hour fundraiser broadcast, we hear from attorneys including Eleanor Stein, Richard Levy, Ray Brescia, David Cole and Baher Azmy.

Michael Ratner’s pathbreaking legal and political work is unmatched. He provided crucial support for the Cuban Revolution and won the seminal case in the Supreme Court guaranteeing the right of habeas corpus to Guantanamo detainees. Michael also challenged U.S. policy in Iraq, Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Puerto Rico and Israel-Palestine. This book is a testament to his unflagging efforts on behalf of the poor and oppressed around the world.

– Marjorie Cohn, Professor Emerita, Thomas Jefferson School of Law

Michael Ratner personified lawyering that brought both radical and human values into challenges to the use of governmental power to violate the essence of the Bill of Rights. From the torture of prisoners after 911 to the massive racial profiling by the New York Police Department, Michael’s voice and vision continue to resonate. This book provides a powerful testament to the spirit of this extraordinary man.

– Attorney Bill Goodman

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Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times – A Guide for All of Us: How to Reclaim Your Power, Fight for Freedom, and Reimagine Democracy

We’re joined by Skye Perryman, the author of a new book, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times – A Guide for All of Us: How to Reclaim Your Power, Fight for Freedom, and Reimagine Democracy.

Skye opens her book this way: “I know how you feel – because I’ve been there to … On a bad day, and there are many bad days, our nation’s backslide from democracy into autocracy accelerates….Untrained, masked federal agents are running roughshod in our streets, terrorizing communities. Peaceful protesters have been killed. The government has been weaponized, and the Supreme Court feels stacked. It is harder and harder for many to make ends meet….We are all so tired. And many of us are numb…. It’s almost impossible to keep up; even harder to know what to do.”

Guest – Skye Perryman is the President and CEO of Democracy Forward, a national legal organization that advances democracy and progress in the courts. Named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, she is a leader in the largest affirmative litigation effort against executive branch overreach in United States history. In reviewing her new book for Ms Magazine, I called it “timely, hopeful, and practical. She is the author of a new book, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times – A Guide for All of Us: How to Reclaim Your Power, Fight for Freedom, and Reimagine Democracy.

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A Real Right To Vote: How A Constitutional Amendment Can Safeguard American Democracy

From Donald Trump’s dangerous Executive Orders imposing restrictions on voting to the Supreme Court’s dismantling of the Voting Rights Act and all the efforts at voter suppression in Congress and state legislatures, the right to vote in America is under assault. The Midterm Elections are less than 90 days away and many people are asking whether free and fair elections will even take place this November, and if they do, whether Trump and the Republicans will try to block the results in races they lose.

To help us understand what is going on, we’re very pleased to be joined by an internationally recognized expert in election law, Rick Hasen.

Guest – Rick Hasen is the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law, and Director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA School of Law. He is co-author of leading casebooks in election law and served in 2022 and 2024 as an NBC News/MSNBC Election Law Analyst. He was a CNN Election Law Analyst in 2020. From 2001-2010, he served as founding co-editor of the quarterly peer-reviewed publication, Election Law Journal. He is the author of over 100 articles on election law issues. His latest book, A Real Right to Vote, was published by Princeton University Press in February 2024.