Marginalization Of Women, Supreme Court Funding, Synthetic Life

Air Date:
Heard On Central Time

Veronica Rueckert and Rob Ferrett talk to an author who argues that a war is being waged on women, check in on Supreme Court funding, and then look at the eemerging field of synthetic genomics.

Featured in this Show

  • Report Raises Questions About Independence Of Wisconsin Supreme Court

    Rulings by the Wisconsin Supreme Court tend to favor attorneys who are donors to the justices’ political campaigns, according to a report released on Sunday by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism.

    According to Jake Harper, the author of the report, the findings raise many questions.

    “Across the board, attorneys who had given to the Supreme Court before — about 60 percent of the time — received a favorable ruling from the justice that they contributed to,” Harper said.

    Harper said the percent of favorable ruling varied by justice, but that “by far the largest recipient of that money was Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson.”

    He said that her rulings favored those who had donated 58 percent of the time — a likelihood that went up with larger donations, according to Harper.

    The report looked at correlation, not causation, and Harper reiterated that it’s possible that attorneys give to justices who have opinions similar to their own.

    Regardless of causation, the report could raise questions about public perception of the court. Numbers like these could lead the public to believe that the court is being bought by attorneys through campaign donations.

    Some groups in the state have proposed restrictions on justice campaign donations, including the League of Women Voter of Wisconsin, which in 2008 asked that the court adopt a standard of requiring recusal in any case involving a contributor of $1,000 or more. That proposal was declined.

  • The Myth of Female Ascendance

    According to current statistics about the large number of women in the labor force and women with advanced degrees, this should be a golden era for women. But our guest today says the statistic mask a surprising truth: women still lag well behind men in terms of money and influence.

  • Creating Synthetic Life

    Renowned biologist J. Craig Venter shares the dramatic account of how he led a team of scientists in an effort to create the first synthetic life.

  • Report Raises Questions About The Independence Of Wisconsin's Supreme Court

    The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism published a report showing that Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices tend to rule in favor of attorney donors, raising questions about the independence of Wisconsin’s highest court. We hear from the author of that report.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • Galen Druke Producer
  • Jake Harper Guest
  • J. Craig Venter Guest