{"podcast":{"title":"Unwritten Law","slug":"unwritten-law-7233280","podcast_index_feed_id":7233280,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/unwritten-law/","website_url":"https://nclalegal.org/media/unwritten-law/","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/4e6a8de9-fe92-45b5-9f8f-906c310aa90c/8tfnSzWGybasy_xFa3_tP4Hx.jpg","author":"Mark Chenoweth & John Vecchione","episode_count":129,"summary":"Every day, unelected federal agencies make decisions that affect your job, your business, your speech, your property, and your constitutional rights—often without Congress ever voting on them. From the rules that govern small businesses to the regulations that shape everyday life, the modern administrative state reaches further than most Americans realize. On Unwritten Law, constitutional lawyers Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione break down the biggest legal battles involving federal agencies, government overreach, and the Constitution. Each episode explores real cases challenging the expanding power of the administrative state, explaining how these disputes affect ordinary Americans, businesses, and the future of limited government. Whether the topic is the Supreme Court, free speech, property rights, due process, jury trials, executive power, or the separation of powers, Unwritten Law explains the legal issues behind today's biggest constitutional debates in clear, accessible language. You'll hear directly from the attorneys litigating landmark cases, as well as clients whose lives and livelihoods have been changed by unlawful government action. Produced by the New Civil Liberti…","last_synced_at":"2026-08-01T16:20:49.476532+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/unwritten-law-7233280"},"episode":{"title":"The Fight Over Who Decides Constitutional Claims","slug":"the-fight-over-who-decides-constitutional-claims","published_at":"2026-06-18T13:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/unwritten-law-7233280/the-fight-over-who-decides-constitutional-claims","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/unwritten-law-7233280","url":"https://unwritten-law.captivate.fm/episode/the-fight-over-who-decides-constitutional-claims","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/6893e6b1-4d36-4ade-a20a-efe3e1beb01f.mp3","summary":"In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by Senior Litigation Counsel Alana Black to discuss NCLA's amicus brief in Johnson v. United States Congress , a case asking whether constitutional challenges to federal statutes must be heard by Article III courts. The case involves a disabled veteran challenging a federal law affecting veterans benefits. Rather than allowing his constitutional claims to proceed in federal district court, lower courts relied on the Supreme Court's Thunder Basin and Elgin precedents to route the dispute through an administrative review process. Alana explains why NCLA believes those precedents are inconsistent with Congress's longstanding practice of ensuring that constitutional challenges to federal laws receive direct judicial review. Drawing on more than a century of statutory history, she shows how Congress repeatedly treated constitutional challenges as a special category of cases deserving heightened judicial attention—not administrative adjudication. The discussion also explores the relationship between Thunder Basin , Axon , Cochran , Loper Bright , and Relentless , as well as broader questions about separation of powers, judicial authority, and whether administrative tribunals should play any role in deciding constitutional claims.","meta_description":"In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by Senior…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1395,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/unwritten-law-7233280/episodes/the-fight-over-who-decides-constitutional-claims/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/unwritten-law-7233280/the-fight-over-who-decides-constitutional-claims.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}