Live from Music Row, Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed attorney Braden Boucek of the Southeastern Legal Foundation in studio to weigh in on Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti’s recently filed amicus brief with the Department of Veteran Affairs.
Leahy: Right now in studio, all-star panelist, good friend, and litigation director for the Southeastern Legal Foundation, Braden Boucek. Braden, you have worked with the superstar attorney general that we have here in Tennessee, Jonathan Skrmetti in the past. He’s been here in studio. I’ve been very impressed by his legal acumen and his commitment to constitutional conservative principles.
Boucek: Couldn’t agree more. I think in General Skrmetti, we have the best attorney general in the entire nation.
Leahy: I agree with that. It’s sort of interesting because if you look at this, it’s an outgrowth of, I think we highlighted the need for transparency Supreme Court with selecting a new attorney general. We’re the only state in the union where the state Supreme Court selects the attorney general to an eight-year term.
And, you know, like, 44 other states have a direct election. I’ve been a critic of that process as a violation of the separation of powers. But you know what in this instance? The outcome has been spectacular.
Boucek: They nailed it. I don’t know that if you’re setting up a system from scratch, you would set up a system like we did where you say the state Supreme Court picks the attorney general, but it does offer certain advantages.
He’s insulated from the need to run from elections or raise money, and he can just focus on his core mission, which is upholding the constitution and laws of the state of Tennessee.
And he’s doing a very good job. He’s doing a fabulous job. The latest lead story at The Tennessee Star right now: Tennessee Attorney General Skrmetti Files Amicus Brief Against the Department of Veterans Affairs New Abortion Rule. Now, tell our listeners what an amicus brief is.
Boucek: Yes. Amicus just means friend of the court. So you’re not actually a person who’s a party to the proceedings. You’re just somebody coming to the court and saying, hey, we’ve got two or three things we think to say that might be helpful to you when you’re making this decision.
Leahy: The case is Carter v. McDonough, and it’s in the Western District of Texas. And in this, the Department of Veteran Affairs reversed a long-held agency practice and adopted a final interim rule in September of 2022 allowing taxpayer-funded abortions and abortion counseling for veterans and their beneficiaries. For decades, there’s been a law out there that says you can’t have taxpayer-funded abortions. The Hyde Amendment.
Boucek: Those norms have utterly been broken down. And, of course, Biden himself was a longtime champion of the Hyde Amendment. It’s important to clarify that when Dobbs was issued, it did not suddenly outlaw abortion.
Leahy: Yes, let me just stop for a moment. For those of you who are legal eagles, Roe v. Wade was decided back in 1973, and it was decided based on politics. Rights to abortion were invented out of thin air in the 14th amendment.
They stood for 49 years. Explain to our audience what the Dobbs decision did when it was released finally, I think in June of this year.
Boucek: Yes. Dobbs overruled Roe v. Wade in its subsequent case, Casey v Planned Parenthood. The practical legal effect was that abortion is no longer protected as a fundamental constitutional right. That does not mean, however, that abortion was outlawed.
It just returned the question of who decides whether or not you can have regulation of abortion from the judicial branch to the politically accountable branch. When I was lecturing on this for my law students, I said, you know what happens when Roe v. Wade gets overruled? Democracy breaks out.
Leahy: Uh oh. You teach at Belmont, right?
Boucek: I did last semester.
Leahy: You did last semester.
Boucek: A great experience.
Leahy: A lot of fun. And great students here as well. Yeah. This is interesting because now it is happening, as I think the founders would have intended. The discussion is going at the state legislative level. All across the country.
Boucek: Right. And the VA rule is a way to override that. It’s a way of bringing abortion into states where you cannot politically enact it through your legislatures.
Leahy: Yes. A little bit of Biden administration skullduggery. As if there wasn’t enough Biden administration skullduggery.
Boucek: Right. Yes. Instead of our orienting principle for government being liberty, it is abortion.
Leahy: There you go. Well, that’s a long list of the Biden administration’s disastrous decisions. (Boucek chuckles)
Listen to today’s show highlights, including this interview:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Braden Boucek” by Southern Legal Foundation. Photo “Jonathan Skrmetti” by TN.gov. Background Photo “Tennessee Capitol” by Kayfishup. CC BY-SA 3.0.
