JUSTUS with Jack & Gonzo

We’re joined by Bailey Culp of the Ohio Federation of Teachers and Hannah Haubert of Policy Matters Ohio. We discuss why rural districts struggle and what it would take to fix the state’s funding system, which was declared unconstitutional in the DeRolf decision.

Bailey and Hannah explain that traditional public schools rely heavily on local property taxes plus state funds and that the state’s share of funding education has fallen from about 47% to roughly 32.2%. The decrease in state funding has resulted in school districts pushing for more local levies and competing for funds with other...

Jack and Gonzo discuss how President Trump has breached so many political and societal norms.

They cite Trump’s vulgar, disparaging rhetoric and argue he has normalized denigrating language and fractured society. Trump has disregarded the traditional separation between the President and the Department of Justice and uses the DOJ as his personal law firm to attack his political enemies. They also criticize Congress for its performative and vitriolic hearings.

Trump has also permitted law enforcement to act in ways we have never seen before. ICE agents are masked, do not wear name tags and dr...

Jack and Gonzo are joined by retired Columbus trial lawyer Rick Topper, who now spends a significant amount of time testifying about and working to protect voting rights.

Topper talks about in-person ID checks, the use of provisional ballots and the four-day deadline to cure them, and how absentee voting is verified through identifying information and bipartisan signature review. He makes clear that voting fraud is virtually nonexistent in Ohio.

The conversation covers legislative efforts to require photo ID copies with mail ballots (vetoed by Governor Mike DeWine), reductions in absentee ballot grace periods and...

Jack and Gonzo are joined by journalist Ray Marcano and examine the judiciary’s growing political role and the frequent litigation that occurred during Joe Biden’s and now in Donald Trump’s administration.

They debate whether courts should consider real-world ramifications, contrasting the Brown v. Board of Education decision, Second Amendment expansion, and the overturning of Roe v. Wade. All three see the need for greater diversity of background and thought among the justices and note how politics have overtaken Ohio judicial races and court decisions.

Ray explains how anti-CRT and anti-DEI messaging was politi...

Today we welcome constitutional law professor Mark Brown to review recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions and their implications for social justice. Brown first discusses the close 5–4 birthright citizenship decision and criticizes the Court’s dissenters for adding an unsupported domicile requirement, while also noting limited historical exceptions for birthright citizenship.

Brown next reviews the Court’s decision that allows states to ban transgender girls from girls’ sports and his own concerns about the Court ignoring the factual record in cases like voting rights. Brown argues the Court historically favors the wealthy and powerful, praises Justice Jackson’s dissents...

We talk with immigration lawyer Emmanuel Olawale about the consequences facing immigrants after the Trump administration abruptly ended the Temporary Protected Status program. TPS was designed to provide temporary protection for people from countries experiencing disaster, conflict or severe instability, but it did not create a direct path to permanent residency or citizenship.

The shortcomings of TPS are confronting some 250,000 to 300,000 immigrants in the U.S. whose lawful status has abruptly ended, including about 20,000 to 30,000 Haitians who have lived, worked, built businesses, and raised children in Springfield, Ohio, for years and are now at risk of being...

Today we discuss the tension between social justice and politics by examining whether voters expect too much honesty from politicians or tolerate too much dishonesty. When we hear that a candidate hasn’t accurately presented his background, are we hearing a simple mistake as to the facts or an intentional misrepresentation?

And if it was an intentional misrepresentation, what do we do about it? Balance that misrepresentation with the candidate’s qualities? Reject him outright? How much of a misrepresentation is required before we reject a candidate?

Maryland Governor Wes Moore claimed in 2006 to have rece...

Based on the law it passed in 2025, the statehouse seems to believe that college professors have the power to indoctrinate students, and so SB 1 limits what college professors can teach. The reality is, students’ views are shaped largely by peers and broader experiences.

Our guest today is Pranav Jani, an Ohio State University Associate Professor of English and the producer of the podcast “Together We Rise: Solidarity Stories from Central Ohio.” Jani disagrees with the view espoused by the law’s sponsors. As Jani sees it, students seldom adopt wholesale what they hear from their professors. If anything...

Health care systems can tie up their physicians for years though noncompete agreements which preclude them from moving to a competitor. For rural health care systems where there are not enough physicians to begin with, this is a big recruiting problem.

Our guest today is Paul Westbrook, Vice President and General Legal Counsel for Memorial Health System.

Paul explains that physicians who sign noncompete agreements and want to relocate—for whatever reason—are stuck. A noncompete agreement will generally preclude them from working for another system for a year or two and within a certain radi...

How did the phrase, “diversity, equity and inclusion”—DEI—which sounds like a positive thing, get such a bad rap? The answer lies in how the concept has often been introduced.

Our guest, Dr. Melissa Crum, explains that most people aren’t reacting to the actual idea of DEI; they’re reacting to how the idea was introduced. Instead of hearing, “Let’s look at systems that create problems,” people hear, “Oh, I’m the problem?!” And once that happens, people shut down.

Dr. Crum helps people separate themselves as individuals from the systems they live in. She’s not telli...

What has caused the rise in political violence in the United States that culminated with the January 6 insurrection? In part, our government’s uneven and counterproductive responses to jihad terrorism.

After 9/11, U.S. policy was disproportionately harsh toward Muslims while being comparatively lenient toward violence committed by far-right actors. This imbalance, according to our guest, Laura Dugan, Ph.D., professor of sociology at The Ohio State University, created both backlash and blind spots.

On one hand, aggressive policies—mass detentions and heightened surveillance—fueled resentment and contributed to the global spread of extremist movements. On the ot...

Today, we look into the world of conservative political commentary and focus on Ben Shapiro. At the heart of Shapiro’s approach to messaging is a bent for spouting more fiction than fact and more emotion than reason.

We listened to a Shapiro podcast in which he explains why he doesn’t regret voting for President Donald Trump. After hearing Shapiro, we have to wonder if he aligned himself with Trump, not out of conviction, but because doing so yields financial or other rewards.

There’s a big difference between fact‑based analysis and persuasive advocacy...

We’re joined by Reverend Derrick Holmes, pastor of the Union Grove Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio, to explore the intersection of faith, justice and civic responsibility in one of the most divided moments in modern American life.

Reverend Holmes compares today’s political and social climate with the civil rights era of the 1960s, arguing that the moral urgency of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s time is very much alive today. Drawing on the Black prophetic tradition, he challenges the idea that pastors should remain silent on political or civic issues, insisting that Christianity—when studied...

Some years back, Connie Cherin was a guest on our podcast and talked about the non-profit she started, Partners for Care. Having supported PFC since then, I thought it was time to travel to Kenya and see firsthand the work PFC does.

Connie arranged for the Kenya staff to take me to various locations where PFC provides services. While most of our trips were centered in Nairobi, PFC's presence extends to other counties across Kenya.

The trip made me reflect on a comment by NYU professor Scott Galloway, who said the best decision he ever...

Chris Vineis, founder of Unite for Safe Social Media, talks with us about the risks that social media presents for kids. The philosophy at Unite for Safe Social Media centers on collaborative action among parents in limiting their children’s access to social media. The group provides a wealth of free resources, focuses on the risks associated with artificial intelligence, and advocates for political action to challenge media influences.

Excessive use of social media can lead to changes in behavior, such as withdrawal from family and friends, poor academic performance, and increased anxiety when devices are removed. Th...

Article II allows the president to grant pardons for any offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. The presidential pardon power is among the most absolute authorities granted in the Constitution, and President Donald Trump has abused it.

The pardons Trump issued to the 1500 people who took part in the January 6th insurrection have rightfully generated outrage. Those pardons are unprecedented and deeply troubling—particularly in light of the injuries suffered by more than 140 Capitol Hill police officers during the insurrection.

Some have argued the pardons were warranted due to supposed unfair pr...

Today, we are joined by Jeff Wenninger, a retired LAPD Lieutenant, a nationally recognized law enforcement expert and author of “On Thin Ice,” an analysis of how poor leadership and entrenched mindsets have eroded public trust in police.

Good policing requires standardization and training. The lack of standardized training nationwide is evident. Police academies across the nation vary significantly in required training hours, with the national average being about 800 hours. For context, a cosmetology license requires 1,500 hours of training. In contrast, Nordic countries train their police for two to three years and continuously monitor candidates to ensure they...

While only about 13% of the nation’s population is Black, the percentage of incarcerated Blacks can be as high as 50 %. The proportion of Black men on death row is significantly higher than that of whites.

Our guest, Courtney Teasley, a criminal defense lawyer, emphasizes the responsibility that defense attorneys have in contributing to incarceration rates. Some lawyers fail to communicate with clients, push plea deals without proper consultation, and neglect to use available court resources or file necessary motions.

This lack of diligence can result in missed opportunities for discovering evidence that could change the ou...

As part of a reciprocal exchange sponsored by the Columbus Rotary Club, educators from São Paulo, Brazil, were welcomed to Ohio. This group included college professors and English teachers at both primary and secondary levels. Their itinerary included visits to several public and private schools.

We talk with two of the educators, Amanda Piovezani and Elaine Berges. Tracy Najera, a previous podcast guest and Rotarian, joined us.

Amanda and Elaine observed that while multilingualism is common in Europe due to proximity to various countries, it is less prevalent in the United States. They were i...

A visible law enforcement presence, like the National Guard, may deter crime, but Professor Laura Dugan, of the Ohio State University Department of Sociology, explains that deploying the Garud will not reduce crime in the long term. The first step in reducing crime is to understand the crime dynamics within a city and then make strategic decisions to address not only the crimes themselves but also their underlying causes.

Research has shown that simply increasing patrols or random police presence does not effectively deter crime in the long term. While deploying military personnel with visible weapons might...

Neil Clark’s perspective as an Ohio lobbyist revealed the pervasive influence of money in politics. By wearing a “DeWine for Governor” t-shirt when he died by suicide, Clark appeared to question why lobbyists and others were being prosecuted for actions that were common throughout Ohio’s political system. The distinction between legitimate lobbying and illegal “pay-to-play” schemes is nearly indistinguishable, a point emphasized in Larry Householder’s appeals.

Today, we talk with Catherine Turcer, executive director, and Mia Lewis, associate director, of Common Cause Ohio about dark money and its role in politics.

Dark money refers t...

The First Amendment guarantees both freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and both are under attack. These protections apply universally, ensuring that anyone can express themselves without prior restraint, though certain limitations exist through laws addressing harm or falsehoods.

Professional journalists adhere to a clear ethical code: never knowingly publish false information. This principle is at the core of responsible journalism and shapes the profession’s commitment to truth. Intellectual honesty and a commitment to factual reporting are key.

We talk with Marty Schladen, a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal, about the ch...

There's been a push in recent years by Ohio legislators to accommodate religious education in public schools. We talk with Gary Daniels, lobbyist for the Ohio ACLU, about this movement.

Most recently, Republican state reps. Gary Click and Mike Dovilla introduced Ohio House Bill 486, also known as the Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act, which promotes teaching in public schools the positive impact Christianity has had in America.

“What it does is it removes the invisible shackles that often hinder a full transparency in the teaching of American history,” Click said during his sponsor testimony. “We are no...

The New York Times Editorial Board published a piece on October 31, 2025, about a variety of indicators that should alarm everyone about the threat President Trump poses to our democracy.

The first is Trump’s effort to stifle dissent, something we haven’t seen before with other presidents. The Associated Press has been denied access to the White House because the AP prefers the name “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America.”

To get access to the Pentagon, journalists have been told they must sign a pledge that limits their access to information. Even Fox refused to s...

The term “shadow docket” is a name given to the U.S. Supreme's Court emergency docket and reflects that decisions are made quickly with little explanation.

This isn’t a new concept. Historically, it was used for urgent matters like death penalty appeals, but its use has expanded significantly in recent years. The shadow docket now addresses a variety of urgent issues, many of which have been triggered by unprecedented actions taken by President Donald Trump.

The shadow docket allows the court to issue stays or injunctions, often altering the course of ongoing cases, but with l...

If you’re like us, you’ve had your fill of people saying stupid stuff publicly. Some of it is just so stupid it bears repeating, if only as a reminder for the rest of us that saying stupid stuff accomplishes nothing—except providing a platform for outrage. As if we need more of that.

Let’s begin with Cracker Barrell updating its logo. The C suite execs thought it would be a good idea to ditch the old guy who’s leaning on a barrel. You would have thought Cracker Barrell was promoting sorcery. People were in arms. N...

How does a gang member make the transition from life on the streets to earning a doctorate in public policy? It’s not exactly an everyday event.

Terence Lester was born into a two-parent household, but his parents later separated. In search of safety and stability, his mother moved Terrence and his sister from place to place. Carrying the weight of that early trauma, Terence turned to gangs, became a juvenile delinquent, experienced homelessness, and at one point lived out of his car. He dropped out of high school.

But Terence’s story doesn't end ther...

  Some people don't believe the Holocaust actually happened or that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. And some people don’t believe that 26 children and adults were massacred at Sandy Hook Elementary school in 2012.

And the man best known for creating the Sandy Hook conspiracy is conflict entrepreneur and InfoWars star, Alex Jones, who called the massacre a “fake” and a “hoax.”

Josh Koskoff, the lawyer for the families of the Sandy Hook victims, who obtained a $73 million settlement, also brought a successful legal action against Jones, who profited from the false narrative he created. Jones is a ski...

Josh Koskoff, the lawyer for the families of the Sandy Hook victims, did what most thought was impossible. He prevailed in a lawsuit against Remington Arms, the company that manufactured and marketed the AR-15 rifle that was used to murder 20 children, between six and seven years old, and six staff members at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. But obtaining justice for the families wasn’t easy.

In part 1 of our conversation with Josh, we talk about the lawsuit. In part 2, we talk with Josh about the lawsuit he brought against Alex Jones of Info Wa...

Is money the determining factor to school districts producing students who perform well? Surprisingly, the answer is no. If money alone were the key, a small town like Steubenville, Ohio, in Jefferson County on the Ohio River and part of the Rust Belt, would not perform as well as Upper Arlington, Ohio, an affluent community.

No doubt, adequate funding is important, but other factors are equally important, such as whether a child’s basic needs in order to thrive and succeed in the classroom are met. Many children are part of families that live in a van or...

Statistics show that between two and five percent of those incarcerated were wrongly convicted and are actually innocent. Can you imagine?

How do the wrongly convicted win their freedom? It’s a long and arduous process that begins with a committed attorney and, often, those attorneys are assisted by the nationwide organization, the Innocence Project.

One of those committed attorneys is our guest Charlie Weiss, a long time civil law lawyer in St. Louis, who later in his career was drawn to this work. Often the wrongfully convicted have been in prison for 20 years or mo...

We continue our conversation with MAGA faithful Chuck Cordit about why he thinks Donald Trump's first 100 days in office have been successful.

Donald Trump has the lowest 100-day job approval rating of any president in the past 80 years, with public pushback on many of his policies and extensive economic discontent, including broad fears of a recession.

The concept of the "First 100 Days" refers to the early period of a U.S. president’s new term, typically seen as a symbolic window to set the tone, push key policies and demonstrate leadership. It represents a kind of political version of a first impression.

In the United States, no one talked that much about the importance of a president’s fi...

In 1974, Ohio’s prison population was 8,400 Ohioan. By 2011, the number grew to 51,000. Are we any safer as a result? Do all these inmates need to remain behind bars?

Are we just locking up people without adequate attention being paid to things like education, drug treatment, mental health treatment and cognitive therapy? Our guest, Gary Mohr, former Director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, wanted to know, and so he called on the late Edward Latessa, PhD, of the University of Cincinnati’s Department of Criminal Justice to find out.

Latessa spent three years visi...

It’s not intuitively obvious, but discarding DEI can result in even fewer medical professionals serving already underserved communities in rural Ohio. The Trump administration is doing its level best to eliminate DEI on the premise it fosters unlawful discrimination, but as Abraham Graber, Ph.D, points out, DEI promotes diversity and equity so as to achieve better outcomes, and that includes better outcomes in terms of getting more medical students interested in practicing medicine in rural Ohio.

There's been a longstanding problem in rural Ohio suffering from inadequate healthcare. Some counties have just a handful of do...

Bhuwan Pyakurel, a former refugee from Bhutan, resettled in the United States in 2009. He and his family moved to Ohio in 2014 and he became a U.S. citizen in 2015. They bought their first home in Reynoldsburg and immediately became involved in the community. Bhuwan and his wife, Dil, have been married for 14 years and they have two children, Aditi and Dev, both who attend Reynoldsburg Public Schools. Aditi loves reading and volunteers her time to raise funds to protect the environment. Dev loves sports and plays basketball and soccer, and enjoys skateboarding, karate, chess, and solving the Rubik’s Cu...

If the mob were doing what President Donald Trump is doing, we’d call it a shakedown. By way of several executive orders, he has accused some of the largest law firms in America of unlawful misconduct and, on his own, determined they violated the law and issued punishment. But if the firms capitulate to his demands, they won’t be punished.

Joining us in this discussion is our friend and fellow lawyer, Jim Meaney.

The targeted firms are guilty of simply representing causes Trump can’t stand and represent some of the largest businesses in Ame...

Almost 200,000 Franklin County residents experience poverty every year. That’s enough to fill the Ohio State University football stadium twice. These residents face myriad challenges, among them: medical debt, lack of access to healthcare, adequate and affordable housing, and affordable childcare.

Danielle Sidner, CEO of Rise Together Innovation Institute, explains that RISE is on a mission to harness the collective power of people and systems to overcome structural racism in Franklin County that contribute to poverty. RISE was created by the Franklin County Board of Commissioners and business and community stakeholders and seeks to achieve equity for ev...

President Trump has signed more executive orders in his first 10 days and in his first month in office than any recent president has in their first 100 days. Trump critics say the orders greatly exceed his constitutional authority.

Those orders range from tariffs on Mexico, China and Canada, to pauses on foreign aid and crackdowns on illegal immigration to bans on transgender people serving in the military and the use of federal funds for gender-affirming medical care for minors.

Court challenges to Trump’s policies started on Inauguration Day and have continued at a furious pace since...

Most Americans go to church expecting to hear about salvation, morality and scripture. They don't anticipate hardball political endorsements. But some churches thrive on delivering politics from the pulpit.

Sure, pastors are citizens, too. And so in other venues, such as op-eds, blogs, books, and other places of influence, a pastor may speak his mind. Even so, he must jealously guard that influence and always speak winsomely. As a gospel minister, he shouldn’t make politics more important than his pastoral duties. 

The tax code prevents religious institutions from serving as political machines, a concept in...