Welcome to today's episode of Sisters Sidebar with Joyce Vance and me, Jill Wine-Banks. If you have a question for us, please email us at sistersinlawatpoliticon.com or tag us on social media using hashtag sistersinlaw. But don't just type them. We love hearing your voice. It's really important to us, which is why we want to hear them. So please use a voice memo with one of your notes apps and we might play it on the show. We're going to use some of those today. Before we get started, we are delighted to share that we have some live shows coming up. We'll be in Denver, Colorado tomorrow, April 23rd at the Cervantes Masterpiece Theater. Then we head over to Atlanta, Georgia for a show at the Buckhead Theater on May 3rd. Tickets are available at politicon.com slash sisters. Only a few left for the show in Denver. We can't wait to see you there. Let's get started with the questions for today's show. Joyce, I have an audio question for you from Patricia. Greetings, sisters in law. I have an ask of you, not really quite a question. You have spoken several times now about how important it is for citizens to call their members of Congress. Many of my friends, though, who readily participate in things like rallies and marches, become completely frozen when asked to call their Congress critters. Now, I really want to share what you have said with my friends, but I can't find transcripts of your episodes. So I wonder, would you tell us all once again about the importance of calling your representatives and senators? No, really, seriously. And how easy it is and important? That way, I would know for sure which episode to direct my friends to listen to, and maybe I could quote you. I really think that your words on this topic would at least get them leaning more toward making calls. They really don't want to hear it from me yet again, I promise. Thanks for considering this request, and thanks for your podcast. Well, Patricia, thanks for this question. I think it's a question that so many people have on their minds. You know, we live in a moment where we don't always feel like our elected officials are responsive to us. Sometimes they don't even want to listen to us. They might even refuse to take meetings. We've had that problem a time or two in Alabama with our senators. So let's talk plainly about how government works. These people, politicians, we elect them. We, the people, have the power in this democracy. We can elect and we can unelect. And for far too long, we've thrown our hands up in the air with senators and other elected officials who aren't responsive. And we've just said, well, that's how people who go to Washington are, or that's how a governor is. And, you know, I think that we are in a moment where we can no longer afford to have that sort of attitude, where we have to insist that they're responsive. And so call your senators, send letters to your representatives. There are people in their staff that are charting how many times their offices get touched on these issues. They're paying attention even when they don't look like it. And, you know, you might need to get a little bit creative. I'll just point to this fabulous collective of women in Birmingham who, when they found that they weren't able to get in and have an in-person meeting with their senators, took to funding billboards on the main stretch of highway into downtown Birmingham, telling, for instance, their elected officials how fed up they were with their approach towards the Epstein files. So look, I mean, this is our moment. We are fighting for this democracy, not on the battlefields in Normandy like our grandparents did, but in the voting booths and in our polling places come the midterm elections. And let's get on with it. Tell your friends who think that they can't make a difference, they absolutely can. When 8 million Americans marched for No King's Day, I promise you all those representatives and senators were paying attention. Hey, Jill, there's a question for you from Michelle in Northern California. Michelle here, calling back in from Northern California. And once again, I can't think of a better question for the former U.S. General Counsel of the Army under President Carter, Jill Wine Banks. War crimes. Here I was thinking Trump's dance with the felon, sexual predator, grifter card was all full up. Guess there's always room for more crime. This time, crimes against humanity. Could you outline what constitutes a war crime and how Trump has vowed to annihilate an entire civilization? That he intentionally put himself in the crosshairs of committing such blatant atrocities against Iran. Like Batman's Sky Signal, we need a calling, all-Hag, and Geneva Convention night-late beacon. He and Putin could have a double conviction. As always, thank you for keeping us so well informed. Yours, Michelle. Thank you for that question. It is of grave concern to me that we are ignoring what war crimes are and that we have a president who not only commits them, but announces that he wants to commit even more. A war crime is a serious violation of international humanitarian law and of domestic law as well. The Geneva Conventions say that you cannot do certain things which involve, for example, willful killing or torture or hostage targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure Remember Donald Trump said he was going to take out the electric grid and do all sorts of things that clearly target the civilian infrastructure rather than legitimate military targets. And so those are what are considered war crimes under international law. But we also have war crimes under our own law. For example, one of the examples in the manual for military officers is killing a shipwreck victim. And that's what's happened, at least in one situation, in the international waters where our troops are taking down ships that are allegedly carrying drugs with no evidence that in fact they are, and where there have been survivors. In the first case, they picked them up and then released them because there was no legitimate grounds for holding them for trial in America. And in the second case, because they knew they couldn't take them to America for trial, they killed the survivors. That is a clear war crime. It fits any definition and is a violation of the morality of America. And I am sorry to say that we are doing it. And I hope that a new administration, as Joyce was just answering in the last question, it's up to us as voters to change how things are done. And this is one of the things that must change. After doing some spring cleaning, you realize which things were clutter and what really adds to your home. 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Plus, they offer a 90-day risk-free trial. So if you don't absolutely love it, you can just send it back. Since it's Earth Month, now is the perfect time to try Mill risk-free for 90 days and get $75 off at mill.com slash sisters and use code sisters. That's $75 off at mill.com slash sisters and use code sisters. The link is in our show notes. Joyce, we have a question for you from Late Bloomer 2023 on Threads. She asks, if Trump gets away with limiting voter registration and vote by mail, do people still have the right to cast a provisional ballot? Can they then sort out the validity later? You know, this is a very timely question because we know that the president, the president's party, they're making efforts to suppress the vote. In other words, they want to keep American citizens who are eligible and qualified to vote from voting. And provisional ballots are actually designed for that situation. And the answer to your question is yes, Trump can't do anything to do away with provisional ballots. This is how they work. The practice varies a little bit from state to state, but in their most basic form, if you're a voter and you go to your precinct polling place and your name doesn't appear on the voter registration list, but you believe that you're in fact registered, then you can be offered a provisional ballot. You mark it. It's placed in a special secrecy envelope rather than in the ballot box. And after the polls close your registration status is determined Now look that often means that you have to jump through hoops You may have to take proof of your identity and status down to the county registrar by the end of the week So if you a working person or what have you that just an additional barrier to making sure that your vote is getting counted But if you are an eligible voter and you been wrongfully denied that permission to vote this is the curative method that you been able to use in the past and can still use You know, something that really interests me here is that the rates of casting provisional ballots have been pretty static across elections. Usually it's about the same percentage in all midterms, the same percentage in all presidential years. We'll all be interested to see if there's a sudden skyrocketing in the use of provisional ballots this year, but they'll still be around for us. Hey, Jill, this next question is a lot of fun because it's coming from someone who's attending our live show in Denver. This is from Tamara in Colorado. Hey, sisters-in-law. I was hoping to get some of your thoughts regarding the Colorado appeals court throwing out Tina Peters' sentence for tampering with the 2020 election. Thank you very much. I'll definitely see you in Denver. Hi there, Tamara. I can't wait to meet you at our show. Make sure you're there and come up to say hello to us, and especially because you asked a really good question. And I'm not as upset about the court throwing out the sentence because they upheld the conviction. And that's what's really important, is that there was a serious felony committed in allowing access to voting records. And there is an allegation that the judge had some bias that may have influenced the harshness of the sentence. So she will be resentenced, but her conviction stands, and that is the important thing to me. 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The only way to get 20% off is to go to joindeliteme.com slash sisters and enter code sisters at checkout. That's joindeliteme.com slash sisters code sisters. And the link is in our show notes. Joyce, I want to ask you a question that comes from Steve in Washington, D.C. Do you think Trump will get another Supreme Court pick? If so, who do you think would retire? And who are the most likely picks as a replacement? Oh, my. Well, you've come to the right place, Steve, if you want to spill a little bit of tea. here because it's getting to be that time of year. Traditionally, when Supreme Court justices announce retirement, it's as the term comes to a close. And then, of course, the president has an opportunity to appoint their successor. There has been a lot of buzz this year about the possibility that Justice Alito and or Justice Thomas might take this opportunity to resign. You know, there's always a lot of buzzes as judges get up in years. We've not really seen any indication that either one of these justices is interested in setting aside the power and the robe, but we shall see. One part of the political dynamic that could be at play here is Donald Trump is down in the polls, right And he looking at what happened in Hungary where a strong authoritarian figure just lost as the country went out and voted for democracy And so we know that Trump is trying to do whatever he can to shore up the margins that his party will face. And one great way of doing that, because Republican voters have historically been very loyal on this issue, is that Republican candidates have run pointing out that it's the president who selects federal judges and, of course, Supreme Court justices. And so if Donald Trump were looking at two looming Supreme Court vacancies, well, you can only imagine the political hay that he would make out of that. There's no doubt in my mind that Trump would be very interested in having at least one, possibly two appointments that he could make. Whether or not the justices are ready to play pool in that regard is an entirely different matter. And then there's one sort of final issue to consider here. You know, the resignation of Justice Kennedy did not happen on this timeline. It happened long after the point in the judicial calendar where we typically expect to see a Supreme Court justice step down. I sort of remember this moment with spectacular clarity because I was in New Hampshire with my youngest child who was sort of being punished for underperforming at school that year by being sent to a summer program where they focused on education and academics. Happy ending. It actually really worked out well for him. So it was a good investment of time and resources. But we're sitting at this diner in New Hampshire. I'm getting ready to drop him off. And I just see Fox News because it's New Hampshire. So there's Fox News on the TV in this deli and I see the chyron and it says, Justice Kennedy announces resignation. And my son tells me, mom, I was looking at you and all of a sudden you had just gone slack jawed and you were just like staring at the TV like you had lost your mind. And I sort of did. I had a little bit of an out of body experience. I mean, we all know how badly that ended up and that Donald Trump has continued to play politics with the Supreme Court. So I'm sorry if I dredged up bad memories for everybody else. I sort of got lost in that moment. But even if we get to the end of the term without an announced resignation, it doesn't mean that we couldn't have one of these weird off-cycle ones. Maybe that'll be the October surprise that Donald Trump will try to play. Wow, you've brought up a lot of bad memories from me. Sorry, I'm so sorry. Oh, my God. And it's not just this one, but it's the, oh, we can't confirm Merrick Garland because it's an election year. But, oh, yes, we can do the next one within days of the election. Right. It's like Amy Coney Barrett gets confirmed after Donald Trump has lost. I will never forget that. Yeah. Exactly. Well, Jill, do you want to do another question? Sure. So, Jill, there's a question for you from Marco, and it's a simple question. He says, why are NDA's nondisclosure agreements not considered a violation of free speech? I love the question, and it's actually a pretty simple answer. It's a contractual relationship that you voluntarily enter into. It is not a government-enforced thing. It's not the government forbidding you to talk. Most NDAs are between private parties settling a lawsuit. I saw that there was a question also about freedom of religion, and I was thinking, oh, I have a great pin for that. So I wanted to answer that. But I think that we need to save time, and so I'm just going to answer this one question. Well, thank you for listening to Sister Sidebar with Jill Winebanks and me, Joyce Vance. Keep sending in your great questions for next week's show, And if you send in a voice memo, we'll try to play your question during our next episode. We hope we'll see you at our live shows in Denver, Colorado, tomorrow, April 23rd at the Cervantes Masterpiece, and in Atlanta, Georgia at the Buckhead Theater on May 3rd. Tickets are available at politicon.com slash tour, so make sure you get them before they sell out. Follow Sister Sidebar and hashtag SistersinLaw wherever you listen, and please give us a five-star review. It really helps others find the show. Show some love to this week's sponsors, Mill and Delete Me. The link is in the show notes. Your support for them really makes this podcast possible. Don't forget to pick up your hashtag SistersInLaw merch and other goodies at politicon.com slash merch. And we will see you every week on Wednesdays and Saturdays for new episodes of Sisters Sidebar and hashtag SistersInLaw. I have to point. You eat with a different hand. Which is the hand you're supposed to use? Oh, shoot. I did it with my right. Okay. Well, everybody only has one left. Yes. My left. Yeah. Welcome to... Okay. Welcome to hashtag sisters-in-law. Starting a business means wearing many hats. designer, marketer, manager, while chasing your vision. Shopify powers millions of businesses with tools to build beautiful stores, create content, and market with ease. From inventory to shipping, everything runs smoothly. If you're ready to sell, you're ready for Shopify. Sign up for your one-euro trial today at shopify.nl. That's shopify.nl.
