Opening Arguments - OA396: Happy Juneteenth from the Supreme Court!

Today's episode might have been titled "Andrew Was Really, Really Wrong," as we break down this rather surprising week in the Supreme Court, including the Title VII cases, the Court's refusal to grant cert on any gun case, and the DACA decision.

We begin with a quick Happy Juneteenth!

From there, we tackle the ways in which Andrew Was Wrong, starting with the Court's decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, the consolidated case in which the Court has now held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects sexual orientation and gender identity. We promise you it isn't a poison pill; it's an unambiguously good decision.

After that, it's time to talk about another thing Andrew was wrong about that's kind of flown under the radar -- the fact that the Supreme Court denied certiorari in all 10 of the pending gun cases, allowing some good rulings to stand and forestalling some bad new law on the Second Amendment.

Then, it's time to break down the Court's ruling in Regents of the University of California v. Trump, the case involving whether the Trump administration can unilaterally end DACA. The Court ruled they can't -- but this decision has a number of red flags in it that we discuss on the show.

After all that, it's time for a brand-new #T3BE about constitutional law and whether a religious university can fire a professor for what she writes in an op-ed?

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Appearances

None! But if you’d like to have either of us as a guest on your show, event, or in front of your group (virtually!), please drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com.

Show Notes & Links

  1. Make sure you check out the Opening Arguments Amicus Brief if you haven’t yet.
  2. You can read the Court's decisions in Bostock v. Clayton County, and Regents of the University of California v. Trump.
  3. We discussed the importance of the Kolbe v. Hogan way back in Episode 47, and the Trump administration's approach to DACA in Episode 102.
  4. Finally, check out the Trump administration's scorecard (6-79!) in administrative actions.

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Strict Scrutiny - Josh Hawley’s Tears

Leah, Melissa, and Kate are joined by Luis Cortes-Romero to recap the DACA-licious DACA opinion that dropped today!

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The Gist - Confronting a White Supremacist

On the Gist, Trump’s ignorance.

In the interview, Mike talks with Josh Levin, Slate’s national editor. A co-host of the sports podcast Hang Up and Listen, Levin is also the author of The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth. Mike and Josh discuss Levin’s latest audio project as host of Season 4 of Slow Burn, which over the course of several episodes, dissects David Duke’s rise into the political mainstream and explores how Duke maintained his status as one of the most famous white supremacists in the U.S.

In the spiel, impediments to true justice.

Email us at thegist@slate.com

Podcast production by Margaret Kelley, Daniel Schroeder and Joel Patterson.

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Consider This from NPR - Restaurants Are Closing. Again.

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration's plan to end DACA — Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals — was "arbitrary and capricious." The ruling is welcome news for recipients of the program, some of whom are essential workers on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19.

As areas reopen, officials are working to ensure businesses are adopting safety precautions to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. Officials in Los Angeles found that half of the restaurants they surveyed violated rules and safety standards.

Plus, NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin with an update on which communities across the country have sufficient staff in place for contact tracing. Check out the state-by-state breakdown here.

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Pod Save America - “Juneteenth.”

Color of Change Chair Heather McGhee joins as a guest host to talk about Trump’s speech on police reform, the Senate Republican bill, where Joe Biden and the Democrats stand, and how we can ensure that this moment becomes a durable political movement to fight systemic racism. Then Reverend William Barber talks to Dan about the Poor People’s Campaign and this weekend's Moral March on Washington.

Science In Action - Covid -19 hope for severe cases

A multi arm trial testing a range of drugs has shown that readily available steroids can be lifesaving for people severely ill with Covid-19. Max Parmar, head of the UK Medical Research Council’s clinical trials unit says the trial design, where many potential drugs can be tested against the same controls, is key to producing results quickly.

As it spreads around the world SARS-CoV-2 is mutating. But what does this mean? These mutations are part of a natural process and some researchers are finding they make no real difference to patient outcomes so far, but others are concerned the virus may become more dangerous. Neville Sanjana from New York University has been running lab tests on the mutant virus.

Measles mutated from an animal virus, developing the ability to jump from cattle to human around 2,500 years ago. Sebastien Calvignac-Spencer from Germany’s Robert Koch Institute tracked its origins using preserved lung samples from centuries old measles victims.

Covid -19 has become a magnet for conspiracy theorists. A common unfounded claim is that the virus was deliberately manufactured. During the boredom of lockdown such ideas have taken off online, with conspiracy videos receiving millions of views. We speak to scientists who have been targeted, and become the subject of this online misinformation.

(Image: Doctor examines Covid-19 virus patient. Credit: Getty Images)

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Julian Siddle