As Joyce Vance sees it, America's political institutions have one fundamental responsibility. It is about ensuring that its operations are as transparent and blameless as possible.
But Vance, a former top federal prosecutor in Alabama under President Barack Obama and current podcast host, Substack Newsletter author, and MSNBC contributor, examined these same agencies. When I looked into it, I realized that they were severely lacking.
This is especially true for the U.S. Supreme Court, where political decisions such as Justice Clarence Thomas' ethical woes and political rulings like the 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which sparked a wave of abortion bans across the country, are particularly true. Because of the ruling, its reputation has suffered.
“Courts have a responsibility to protect the public's trust and uphold the rule of law,” Vance, who is also a professor at the University of Alabama School of Law, told MassLive this week.
“I do not and should not agree with every judgment,” she continued. “But we bring the most difficult issues to the courts for judgment. As long as we follow the rule of law and apply it consistently, we'll be fine. If we don't, there's no problem there. There is.”
In a critical election year, these issues and many more will be on the agenda as Vance and his colleagues from the #SistersInLaw podcast visit Boston's Shubert Theater on May 30th as part of a live national tour. There is a good chance that it will be a fair fight.
Now in its fourth year, the podcast also features veteran Watergate prosecutor Jill Wynne Banks, former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuaid, and Boston Globe senior opinion columnist Kimberly Atkins Stoll.
Vance told MassLive that the podcast's roots go back to a conversation she and her colleagues had while waiting in an MSNBC dressing room to go on air.
- If you go: Tickets for the #SistersInLaw tour can be purchased here.
“At some point, it just evolved,” she said. “We wanted to pull back the curtain and let people see what prosecutors sit together and discuss over the weekend.”
Vance and colleagues launched “several test balloons” including a conversation with the host of the podcast “Talking Feds” harry littmanShe said the former federal prosecutor and legal commentator was a “dear friend.”
“We provide a lot of varied and informative content to people who want it,” she said.
Unsurprisingly, the latest episode of the podcast mostly delves into former President Donald Trump's first criminal trial, which begins this week in Manhattan.
With polls showing public trust in institutions declining and the Jan. 6, 2021, sacking of the U.S. Capitol still fresh in the nation's memory, American democracy is in decline. Vance said he believes the country is at a “moment of great crisis.”
“As someone who studies and teaches in the field of democratic institutions, I understand the broad history and challenges to our republic,” she said. “I think we need to be honest about the situation we're in. This is a moment of great crisis.”
Voters this year will “decide whether the American experiment continues,” she said. “We are on the precipice of authoritarianism, and Donald Trump is leading the way.”
Trump has the constitutional right to express his opinions on current issues, but the former president, who has been impeached twice and indicted four times, does not have the “right to incite violence.”
A recent GBH News/Commonwealth Beacon poll shows a majority of Bay State voters are concerned that the violence that negatively impacted the days after the November 2020 election will return this year. This is important because it shows that
And last month, President Trump spoke at a rally in Ohio and said it would be a “disaster” if he lost to Democratic President Joe Biden in November.
The comments came as President Trump was discussing the possibility of an escalating trade war with China over auto manufacturing, according to NBC News. The Biden campaign condemned President Trump's “threats of political violence.”
Trump: “You can quickly end the situation by saying: [violence] say it's never acceptable [his supporters] We should not engage in violence,” Vance told MassLive.
He continued that Republicans in Congress, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have a similar obligation to “take a principled stand and that violence will not be tolerated.”
If they don't, “they're at fault and complicit in what they're doing.” [Trump] And Vance said the responsibility for ensuring public safety ultimately lies with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
But despite increasing political polarization and blockbuster movies depicting the American Civil War in theaters, Vance said Americans can still find a way back from the brink.
“I’m a big fan of civil discussion,” she said. “I believe Americans can come together. People have to take responsibility for how we got here.”
And with this, Mr. Vance returned to his starting point: that America's leaders and their institutions be fully transparent and accountable to the people they serve.
“All of our institutions feel the need to convince the public of their legitimacy over and over again as part of their fundamental responsibility,” she said.
