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Law and Disorder is a weekly independent civil liberties radio program airing on more than 150 stations and on Apple podcast. Law and Disorder provides timely legal perspectives on issues concerning civil liberties, privacy, right to dissent and practices of torture exercised by the US government and private corporations.
Law and Disorder July 6, 2026
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U.S. Supreme Court Decisions July 2026
Last week, the US Supreme Court ended its 2025-2026 Term with a barrage of long-awaiting blockbuster decisions altering the entire structure of the American government and seriously undermining the crucial separation of powers between Congress, the President, and the courts. The Supreme Court, which is dominated by a conservative super-majority of Republican justices – including 3 justices appointed by Donald Trump – confronted such important issues as Birthright citizenship; whether the President can fire the heads of independent agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve; whether states can count mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day; whether states can ban concealed weapons on private property; and whether Trump can expel hundreds of thousands of migrants and turn others away at the southern border.
To help us understand what the Roberts Court is up to and what it means for our constitutional democracy, we’ve invited Law and Disorder co-host Steve Rohde to switch seats and serve as our guest today.
Guest – Stephen Rohde is a journalist, lecturer and political activist. For almost 50 years, he practiced civil rights, civil liberties, and intellectual property law and has won significant First Amendment victories in state and federal appellate courts.Steve is past chair of the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and Chair Emeritus of Bend the Arc, a Jewish Partnership for Justice. He is a founder and current chair of Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace; and a member of the Board of Directors of Death Penalty Focus. He is the Special Advisor on Free Speech and the First Amendment for the Muslim Public Affairs Council.Steve is the author of the books American Words of Freedom: The Words That Define Our Nation and Freedom of Assembly and numerous articles and book reviews on civil liberties and constitutional history. He is co-author of Foundations of Freedom published by the Constitutional Rights Foundation.In addition to being a co-host of Law and Disorder Radio, Steve is also the host of a10 episode podcast called Speaking Freely: A First Amendment Podcast exploring the most important Supreme Court cases in the area of free speech and free press. It is produced by Ms Studios and is streaming online at Spotify, Apple, and I Heart Radio.
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Draconian Sentencing Of Prairieland Nine Case
We look at a staggering display of judicial overreach coming out of a federal courtroom in Texas. On June 23 and July 1, 15 individuals were handed prison sentences totaling centuries. That followed a July 2025 demonstration outside the Praireland Detention Center. Among those condemned to spend the rest of her natural life behind bars is Maricela Rueda. She received a 70-year sentence. Her husband, Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada, wasn’t even present at the protest. Yet, he was sentenced to 30 years.
The core of the conspiracy charge against Daniel ties directly into Maricela’s sentence. It centers on a recorded jailhouse phone call. The government alleged Maricela asked her husband to move items from her house and car. Surveillance footage also showed Daniel dropping off a cardboard box, though that was prior to his call with Mariela.
Inside that box? Not weapons. Not explosives. Just politically charged, constitutionally protected independent pamphlets and zines, all belonging to Mr. Sanchez himself.
Joining us to dissect this draconian sentencing is Sufia Khalid. Sufia is the Deputy Director of the National Security Criminal Defense Center at the Muslim Legal Fund of America. There, she represents defendants in federal national security prosecutions nationwide. She took on Maricela’s case for sentencing and currently represents her on appeal. Sufia has exclusively worked on national security prosecutions and appeals, FBI Counterrorism investigations, and terrorism sentencing and their associated constitutional issues for 8 years
Guest – Sufia Khalid is the Deputy Director of the National Security Criminal Defense Center at the Muslim Legal Fund of America. There, she serves as Senior Staff Attorney, representing defendants in federal national security cases. She currently represents Maricela Rueda in the “Praireland Nine” case. Before joining the MLFA, Khalid worked with the United Nations, including the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Cambodia and the UN Development Programme in New York.
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Law and Disorder June 29, 2026
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U.S. Supreme Court Decisions Resetting Precedent
There have been several major U.S. Supreme Court decisions issued under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts. These decisions include abortion rights cases, anti-immigrant cases, cases enhancing administrative or executive power and, of course, voting rights cases. We’ll also learn about the role of the shadow docket. This is known as the emergency docket with a range of uses such as for routine procedural matters and last-minute requests. The cases we examine impact the fabric of democracy in the United States. We’ll talk about broader implications with our guest Professor Ellen Yaroshefsky.
Guest – Ellen Yaroshefsky is the Howard Lichtenstein Distinguished Professor of Legal Ethics, Maurice A. Deane School of Law, at Hofstra University. She is a leading educator and expert in ethics law and serves as an expert witness and advisor to lawyers and law firms. Prof. Yaroshefsky is a former Commissioner on the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics. She has previously worked at the Center for Constitutional Rights and has been in private practice. Prof. Yaroshefsky has received numerous awards, including the New York State Bar Association’s honor for Outstanding Contribution in Criminal Law Education.
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Grito 2048
Ursula Leguin is one of the most admired writers of speculative science fiction in America. Her work challenges the rationality and desirability of our capitalist system. LeGuin has written “We live under capitalism. Its power seems indestructible. So did the divine right of kings.“
Our guest today is Brooklyn based writer Maritza Arrastia, who has just had published her climate science fiction novel Grito 2048. Her novel is set in the last remaining Caribbean colony of the collapsing empire of the Diez Familias, where climate catastrophe and colonial extraction have reached their limits. As imperial elites prepare to abandon Earth for replica planets, beyond the reach of ruin, those left behind must decide whether the planet can still be reclaimed.
The novel follows the central figure Marina and others as they leave the imperial city for Palenque, a seaside encampment where rebels, families of the disappeared, and youth organizers are rebuilding life amid rising seas. It is there that Marina gathers the Grito Chronicles – war cries, threaded through centuries of Caribbean resistance – while the youth lead movement Todx prepares for the last Grito,, an uprising planned for 2048 to take back Earth.
Guest – Maritza Arrastia is a Cuban – Puerto Rican writer whose literary life spans five decades. She was a reporter and editor at Claridad, A bilingual newspaper of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party. Ms. Arristia has published poetry, drama, fiction, journalism, and essays. She has taught literacy in English as a second language through collaborative, community-pedagogy. Her work explores climate futures, colonial afterlives, and insurgent memory.
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Law and Disorder June 22, 2026
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Communities Nationwide Unite Against Data Center Resource Grab
Across the nation, communities are becoming ground zero in a growing fight over data centers. The explosive growth of AI, cloud computing, and cryptocurrency has triggered a massive boom in their construction. These sprawling facilities often cover hundreds of acres and consume enormous amounts of electricity and water. Residents from Virginia to Pennsylvania, Georgia to Arizona, are asking a simple question: who benefits, and who pays the price?
The answer has sparked one of the fastest-growing grassroots movements in the nation. In the past year, local campaigns have blocked or delayed dozens of proposed centers worth billions of dollars. Citizens are challenging developers over rising electricity costs, water consumption, noise pollution, loss of farmland, and the construction of new fossil-fuel infrastructure designed to power these facilities. Nationally, more than 230 organizations have joined calls for stronger regulation and even a moratorium on new large-scale data centers until environmental and community protections are in place.
Guest – Jim Walsh, Policy Director at Food & Water Watch in Washington, DC. It’s one of the leading organizations helping coordinate community resistance to the rapid expansion of data centers. Since joining Food & Water Watch in 2009, Jim has focused on energy, climate, and public water policy. He is a prominent advocate for policies prioritizing environmental protection and community control, from campaigns to ban fracking and challenges to carbon capture projects. Jim worked has also worked with New Jersey Citizen Action and the Progressive Action Network.
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The Anti-Defamation League and the Racial State
Here at Law and Disorder we’ve been exposing how efforts that claim to be combating antisemitism have been weaponized in a concerted effort to silence criticism of Israel and demonize support for the Palestinians. One organization that is playing a leading role in these efforts is the ADL, the Anti-Defamation League.
Many people, including many Jews, may think of the ADL as a long-established civil rights organization that is known for opposing racism in general, and antisemitism, in particular. But as we’ll learn from our guest today, there’s a lot more we need to know about the ADL.
Guest – Emmaia Gelman is the author of the new book The Anti-Defamation League and the Racial State, and co-editor of The Anti-Defamation League: A Critical Reader. She also co-hosts the podcast Unpacking Zionism. Emmaia is co-chair of the American Studies Association Caucus on Academic and Community Activism, and is the founding director of the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism, which examines the political and ideological work of Zionist institutions in Palestine and transnational contexts. She has taught social and cultural analysis at NYU and social sciences at Sarah Lawrence College. Her writing appears in Jewish Currents, Boston Review, The Forward, and elsewhere.
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