In Saturday’s edition of the Austin-based PBS talk show Overheard With Evan Smith, Smith and his guest, NYU law professor and author Melissa Murray, fretted about the state of the Constitution in the face of supposed threats posed by the Trump Administration, revealing their contempt for the Supreme Court in the process.
Murray, who clerked for liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, also hosts at left-wing cable network MS NOW and co-hosts the Strict Scrutiny Podcast for the left-wing podcast network Crooked Media. Smith himself is cofounder of the liberal nonprofit news organization The Texas Tribune.
As the smug twosome made clear before a like-minded audience in Austin, only liberals like themselves truly respect and understand the Constitution. With mock stupefaction, Smith set up his simpatico guest:
Evan Smith: We really have to explain the Constitution to people?
Melissa Murray: I think we do.
Smith: Really?
Murray: Have you seen what's going on?
After relaying some high-toned history about the Founders' genius in construction such a flexible document, Murray revealed herself to be a radical, despite her dubious, fashion-centric denials. But first she suggested that principled opposition to abortion was merely a “wedge issue” among conservatives like the civil rights issue had been before, noting the blue-blood Bush family’s early involvement with Planned Parenthood in Connecticut.
Murray admitted there’s no explicit right to abortion in the Constitution, but uncovered one anyway.
Murray: ….I think there's a very good argument to be made that the liberty guarantee in the 14th Amendment is capacious enough to include bodily autonomy, reproductive freedom, especially if you consider the fact that when the framers of the 14th Amendment were drafting it, they understood liberty in juxtaposition to its antithesis, which was enslavement….
The discussion moved to the First Amendment, which Trump has somehow put under siege with his attempts to ban certain news organizations from the White House.
Smith: This is on the heels of him constantly attacking reporters, particularly women reporters.
Murray: Black women.
Smith: And particularly women of color, calling them names and doing all kinds of things. A court has subsequently said, "You can't do that." And those news organizations that were banned are, as of the time we're sitting here, back in the White House for the moment. This is not done. So what do we do about a president who doesn't think that the Constitution applies to him?
To applause from the liberal audience, Murray replied, “We vote him out.”
The conversation took a radical and ridiculous turn egged on by the host:
Smith: You think they need to expand the court? There's obviously a political conversation going on about more than nine. What do you think?
Murray argued the female equivalent of “How could I be a radical, I’m wearing a tie!” (see Jesse Jackson and Sen. Bernie Sanders for counterexamples). “I’m not a radical....I taught at Berkeley” is pretty good too.
Murray: So, I am not a radical, Evan. I taught at Berkeley for 12 years. For all of those 12 years, I taught in a blazer. I don't think any of my colleagues owned a blazer.
Smith: Exactly.
Murray signed on for “court reform,” which included the concept of court-packing, which even generations of liberal history teachers have pointed to as a mistake when pushed by liberal hero President Franklin Roosevelt in 1937 to overcome a Court majority striking down New Deal legislation.
Law prof/MS Now host Melissa Murray on PBS: "So, I am not a radical, Evan. I taught at Berkeley for 12 years...I taught in a blazer....This term of the Supreme Court completely radicalized me. And so I am in favor of court reform, and I think everything should be on the table." https://t.co/Ej4t1VBcaF
— Clay Waters 🇮🇱 (@claywaters44) October 27, 2026
Murray: So I'm not a radical, I'm just saying that. This term of the Supreme Court completely radicalized me. And so I am in favor of court reform, and I think everything should be on the table. And, you know, when you hear these various candidates from all different ideological stripes talking about the things they want to do, Medicare for all, all... Neil Gorsuch, Sam Alito, Clarence Thomas will punt Medicare for All into the sun. Like your policy prescriptions for a more progressive America will die at the Supreme Court if you're not thinking about court reform.
Smith: Can't fix this unless you fix the court.
Murray: The court is the central problem. The court is the greatest impediment to democracy and democratic government that we have right now.
Catch that? Murray admitted that in her view “democracy and democratic government” is synonymous with passing radical programs like banning private health insurance for “a more progressive America.” Over a year after losing taxpayer funding, PBS remains a progressive playpen.
