Hour 1: The SAVE Act Showdown | Prof. David B. Oppenheimer on Diversity and Democracy
Podcasts > Shake It Off with Mert & Lucas
Tune in each week, as an established lawyer, and a self- proclaimed “man of the people,” debate some of the hottest issues impacting our city, state and nation.
Monday, February 23, 2026
Episode 85 opens by drawing a clear line between traditional voter ID laws — which most Americans already support and easily satisfy — and the SAVE Act’s stricter requirement for documentary proof of citizenship. The hour unpacks the political, constitutional, and logistical stakes of that shift, framing the bill as a national fight over access, federal power, and who ultimately gets to participate in American democracy. The hour concludes with an interview featuring Prof. David B. Oppenheimer, a Clinical Professor of Law at Berkeley Law and one of the world’s leading scholars on discrimination, civil rights, and comparative equality law. He is the author of The Diversity Principle: The Story of a Transformative Idea, a sweeping historical and legal examination of how diversity became a defining framework in American public life.
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