National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen leads a special panel discussion with Federal Judges Association President Judge J. Michelle Childs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; Judge M. Margaret McKeown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and past president of the Federal Judges Association; Judge Beth Bloom of the U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida; and Judge Stephen R. Bough of the U.S. District Court Western District of Missouri. The judges explore threats to the judicial branch and the importance of judicial independence and civic education in maintaining the rule of law. This program was presented in partnership with the Federal Judges Association.
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This episode was produced by Samson Mostashari and Bill Pollock. It was engineered by Bill Pollock, Kevin Kilbourne, and Greg Scheckler. Research was provided by Samson Mostashari.
Participants
Judge J. Michelle Childs serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She is also the president of the Federal Judges Association. Judge Childs previously served on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina from 2010 to 2022.
Judge M. Margaret McKeown is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She serves on the board of the World Justice Project and was the chair of the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative. She has worked with judiciaries around the world on ethics, transitional justice, equal rights, human trafficking, and intellectual property. She is the chair of the Ninth Circuit Pacific Islands Committee, which provides judicial education to U.S. territories and former trust territories.
Judge Stephen Bough serves on the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Bough served in the Missouri National Guard from 1989 to 1995, attaining the rank of sergeant. He received a Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law in 1997. Bough served as a law clerk to Judge Scott Olin Wright of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. From 1999 to 2002, he practiced law at Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman and from 2002 to 2006, he practiced at Henning & Bough. From 2006 to 2014, he owned a private law practice. From 2011 to 2014, Bough served on the board of governors of Missouri State University. Bough was nominated to the Western District of Missouri by President Obama in 2015.
Judge Beth Bloom has served as a United States District Judge in the Southern District of Florida since 2014. Judge Bloom is past chair of the judiciary division board of the Federal Bar Association, previously serving as chairperson of the Article III Trial Judges Committee. She serves as the 11th Circuit representative to the board of directors of the Federal Judges Association and is a board member of the South Florida chapter of the Federal Bar Association. She chairs the Southern District of Florida’s Local Rules Committee and is an active member of the Southern District’s Ad Hoc Committee on Rules and Procedure.
Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.
Additional Resources
- Michelle Childs, Justice Jackson Lecture: “The Republic is Safe as Long as the Courts Remain Open” (April 1, 2025)
- Code of Conduct for United States Judges
- John Roberts, 2024 Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary (December 2024)
- Federal Judges Association Civics Challenge
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