Constitutional Chats Live Podcast

Hosted by Janine Turner and Cathy Gillespie

Join Janine Turner, Cathy Gillespie, and Constituting America’s Student Ambassadors, Tova Love Kaplan, Dakare Chatman, Jewel Gilbert and Jorne Gilbert chat with Constitutional experts on hot-topic issues via Zoom!

You are not on camera, but may ask questions via Q&A!

Topic: The Size Of The Supreme Court
When: Tuesday 5/18/2021 at 2:00pm Eastern

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Meet Our Guest

Thomas L. Jipping is a senior legal fellow for the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, which is part of the Institute for Constitutional Government at Heritage.

Tom joined Heritage in May 2018 after 15 years on the staff of U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), including several as his chief counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He spent the previous 13 years at two public policy organizations: Concerned Women for America, where he was senior fellow in legal studies; and the Free Congress Foundation, where Tom served as Vice President for Policy and Director of the Center for Law and Democracy.

Tom has developed a national reputation, among both liberals and conservatives, as an expert in the federal judiciary and, in particular, the appointment of federal judges. The Nation magazine, for example, has dubbed him “the right’s ablest analyst of confirmation fights.” At Tom’s final meeting of the Judiciary Committee in April 2018, Senator Hatch said that Tom is a “true expert” who “knows everything there is to know about nominations.”

Tom’s scholarship includes articles in law and public policy journals as well as hundreds of op-eds and articles in both print and online publications. He has presented papers at conferences including the American Political Science Association and testified before legislative committees in the U.S. Senate and House and in several states.

Tom received a B.A. with honors from Calvin College and both an M.A. in political science and a J.D., cum laude, from the State University of New York at Buffalo. While at SUNY-Buffalo Law School, Tom was a founding member of the Buffalo Federalist Society and served as the Head Note and Comment Editor of the Buffalo Law Review. Before coming to Washington, Tom clerked for Judge William D. Hutchinson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Tom lives in Fairfax, Virginia, and is an active member of New Hope Presbyterian Church.

Meet the Hosts

Janine Turner

Actress Janine Turner is famous for her role as Maggie O’Connell in televisions’ Northern Exposure. She is the Founder and Co-President of Constituting America which launched in 2010. She is still acting but she is also actively teaching kids about the U.S. Constitution given over 540 speeches to classrooms across the country.

Cathy Gillespie

Cathy Gillespie is the co-president of Constituting America and one of 16 private citizens serving on the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, helping organize the celebration of our country’s 250th birthday in 2026! She is a former Congressional Chief of Staff and former Commissioner of the White House Fellows Commission.

Tova Love Kaplan

Tova Love Kaplan is seventeen years old and lives in Chicago, Illinois. She currently serves as the National Youth Director for Constituting America, and runs the National Youth Advisory Council. She is a three-time winner of the “We the Future” contest and is passionate about educating and empowering young people to use their constitutional rights!

Jewel Gilbert

Jewel Gilbert is Executive Producer of Sing for America, a family based company that he founded with his brother Jorne. Sing For America seeks to show the art of Truth and Light through live performance. Both Jewel and his brother are proud former We The People contest winners! Sing For America is an actor-run theatre company which specializes in semi-professional musicals, private training in the arts, school drama solutions, and public entertainment events all while revealing a colorblind world onstage. Jewel and his brother are graduates of Moravian College, where they each earned a BA in Musical Performance and Dramatic Production.

Jorne Gilbert

Jorne Gilbert is Operations Director of Sing for America, aa family based company that he founded with his brother Jewel. Sing For America seeks to show the art of Truth and Light through live performance. Both Jorne and his brother are proud former We The People contest winners! Sing For America is an actor-run theatre company which specializes in semi-professional musicals, private training in the arts, school drama solutions, and public entertainment events all while revealing a colorblind world onstage. Jorne and his brother are graduates of Moravian College, where they each earned a BA in Musical Performance and Dramatic Production.