Radiolab Presents: More Perfect: The Imperfect Plaintiffs

July 2, 2016 11:08 AM

On this episode, we visit Edward Blum, a 64-year-old “legal entrepreneur” and former stockbroker who has become something of a Supreme Court matchmaker — He takes an issue, finds the perfect plaintiff, matches them with lawyers, and works his way to the highest court in the land. He’s had remarkable success, with 6 cases heard before the Supreme Court, including that of Abigail Fisher. We also head to Houston, Texas, where in 1998, an unusual 911 call led to one of the most important LGBT rights decisions in the Supreme Court’s history. (The overriding theme of this episode is the creation of test cases.)

The key links:

• The website Edward Blum is using to find plaintiffs for a case he is building against Harvard University
• Susan Carle’s book on the history of legal ethics
• Ari Berman’s book on voting rights in America
• An obituary for Tyron Garner when he died in 2006
• An obituary for John Lawrence when he died in 2011
• Dale Carpenter’s book on the history of Lawrence v. Texas
• A Lambda Legal documentary on the story of Lawrence v. Texas

The key cases:

• 1896: Plessy v. Ferguson
• 1917: Buchanan v. Warley
• 1962: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button
• 1986: Bowers v. Hardwick
• 1996: Bush v. Vera
• 2003: Lawrence v. Texas
• 2009: Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder
• 2013: Shelby County v. Holder
• 2013: Fisher v. University of Texas (1)
• 2016: Evenwel v. Abbott
• 2016: Fisher v. University of Texas (2)

posted by Going To Maine