Author: Opening Arguments Media LLC

OA1138 - Is a federal judge really about to sign off on dismissing the federal corruption charges against New York City mayor Eric Adams even in the face of everything that we now know about the corrupt deal which led to DOJ’s request? Why did appointed attorney Paul Clement recommend dismissing the case with prejudice, and what might it mean for future prosecutions by Trump’s DOJ if Judge Ho agrees? Superstar NYC public defender Liz Skeen returns to go beyond the headlines with some local perspective on the current state of one of the most important federal criminal cases in our lifetimes. 

• Paul Clement’s brief in support of dismissing charges with prejudice

• Rinaldi v. United States | 434 U.S. 22 (1977) 

• Rule 48. Dismissal | Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 

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OA1137 - The arrest and detention of U.S. lawful permanent resident Mahmoud Kahlil in direct retaliation for his Constitutionally-protected speech and association as a campus organizer at Columbia University is the single greatest violation of any one individual’s right committed by the second Trump administration to date. Matt explains how an obscure Cold War-era provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act is being used for in one of the only times in modern history to justify the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke Kahlil’s residency, and why this unprecedented assault on Khalil’s most basic civic and political  rights should concern us all.

Finally, in today’s footnote: A January 6th defendant who has won so much that he is truly tired of winning.

1. DHS Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar defends Mahmoud Khalil arrest : NPR (3/14/25)

2. “The Allegation Here is Not That He Was Breaking the Law,” Matt Cameron DEPORTNATION (3/12/25)

3. “Everything That Just Happened to Mahmoud Khalil Might (But Should Not) Be Legal,” Matt Cameron DEPORTNATION (3/11/25)

4. “Reply to the Government’s Opposition to Sanctions,” U.S. v. Pope (3/6/25)

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OA1136 and T3BE62- Matt swings by a Wednesday episode, and we welcome Dr. Jenessa Seymour as well! Jenessa is a disability voting access advocate and New York attorney, and she's here to break down the SAVE Act. What exactly is it supposed to be "saving" for voting rights, who is going to be most impacted by its provisions, and do we have any chance in stopping this thing?

Professor Heather Varanini joins after, of course, to share the answer to T3BE61 and present the next question in the Bar Exam!

If you'd like to play along with T3BE, here's what to do: hop on Bluesky, follow Openargs, find the post that has this episode, and quote it with your answer! Or, go to our Subreddit and look for the appropriate T3BE posting. Or best of all, become a patron at patreon.com/law and play there! 

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! 

To support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

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OA1135 - Even with everything that Trump has already done to raise consumer prices, contribute to mass unemployment and inflation,  and stress-test the market, many people still believe that Trump and MAGA conservatives are “better for the economy.” The Groundwork Collaborative is a nonprofit organization which helps to build the kind of messaging that we need to show a better way . Executive director Dr. Lindsay Owens joins to discuss–among many other things–what we talk about when we talk about “the economy,” the DOGE crisis, the true causes of inflation, and what the loss of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau means for us all.

• Groundwork Collaborative website

• U.S. and Plaintiff States v. RealPage, Inc.

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OA1134 - Mere hours after a literal pat on the back from Donald Trump on live TV, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts delivered a 5-4 decision against him in the emergency litigation over Trump’s unconstitutional efforts to eliminate foreign aid funding. How much of a win was this really, and why did Samuel Alito spend eight pages in dissent pretending to be “stunned” by the majority’s radical assertion that the federal government should pay out debts incurred by valid acts of Congress? We then turn to a less-noticed recent Supreme Court decision with concerning implications for the future of civil rights litigation before appreciating recent Congressional wins: blue city mayors schooling the House Oversight Committee without ever giving up even a  single point in six hours, and Senate Democrats taking a meaningful united stand for trans lives.

• U.S. Supreme Court’s order in Department of State et al v. AIDS Vaccine Coalition (3/5/25)

• Lackey v. Stinnie, Supreme Court #23-621 (2/25/2025) 

• Full video of House Oversight Committee’s hearing with mayors of Boston, New York, Denver, and Chicago, Associated Press (3/5/25)

• Boston Mayor Michelle Wu performs George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with the Boston Pops (9/22/2024)

• “Senate Dems Show Spine, and National Sports Bill Dies,” S. Baum, Erin in the Morning (journalist Erin Reed’s Substack)(3/3/25)

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OA1133 and T3BE61 - Lydia joins today to discuss Trump's 3/4/2025 address to Congress regarding his vision for the next 4 years. Leading up to the evening, there were reports that quite a few Democrats would opt to not attend. We highlight the different approaches folks in the party took to resist in the face of chaos and authoritarianism, and discuss what we might do if we were in that position.

After that, Professor Heather Varanini comes in to share the answer to T3BE60 and present the next question in the Bar Exam!

If you'd like to play along with T3BE, here's what to do: hop on Bluesky, follow Openargs, find the post that has this episode, and quote it with your answer! Or, go to our Subreddit and look for the appropriate t3BE posting. Or best of all, become a patron at patreon.com/law and play there! 

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

To support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

OA1132 - We resume our regularly scheduled rapid response to law in the news, starting with some good news (really) from the Supreme Court! Then: some-not-so-good news from the Supreme Court on the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the US Agency for International Development. Why did a federal judge need to issue an order confirming that he really meant it when he told the new administration to resume paying out the funds that Congress intended, and why does John Roberts seem to be taking this nonsense seriously? Matt then provides some context for a recent announcement regarding the Trump administration’s intention to require all undocumented people to register with DHS before dropping a footnote with recent developments in the unbelievable story of the most (allegedly) felonious Supreme Court litigator in modern US history.

•  Glossip v. Oklahoma (Feb. 25, 2025)

• Complete docket for Global Health Council v. Trump 

• Letter to the editor of the New York Times from NY Congressional representative Emmanuel Celler opposing alien registration (May 25, 1925)

• Alien Registration Act of 1940

• Indictment in U.S. v. Goldstein(1/16/25)

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That's right, we interrupt your regularly scheduled rapid response Friday (sorry...) to give you the first episode in the new Gavel Gavel series!!! And, Gavel Gavel is now PUBLIC!

The legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni might feel like just "celebrity gossip," but there is so much here. It has fiercly divided the internet, with one group certain that Justin Baldoni is a sexual harsser, and the other group certain that Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are devious plotters who lied about an innocent man in order to take over a movie. How are we to know the truth? Well, fortunately there are going on thousands of pages of legal documents to comb through. The answers are there, for the few among us that are willing to actually read them. This series will do just that.

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OA 1130 and T3BE60 - We're so excited to kick off this episode with an interview with Amanda Litman, the co-founder and President of an amazing organization called Run for Something. We discuss who they are and how they support folks in state and local races in all 50 states, answer questions for those who may be listening and considering throwing their hat in the ring to run for political office, and get energized from Amanda's contagious hope for what can very much come in 2026 and 2028 if we put in the work now.

After our chat with Amanda, Thomas meets up with Professor Heather Varanini to reveal the answer to T3BE59, and tackle the next question! Be sure to stick around for our T3BE winners and patron shoutouts!

If you're feeling inspired and hopeful after today's show, consider making a donation to Run for Something to help elevate progressive leaders in state and local elections across the country! And if you're thinking you might Run for Something, check out their resources to help you along every step of the way!

If you'd like to play along with T3BE, here's what to do: hop on Bluesky, follow Openargs, find the post that has this episode, and quote it with your answer! Or, go to our Subreddit and look for the appropriate t3BE posting. Or best of all, become a patron at patreon.com/law and play there! 

OA1129 - From the Department of Justice to DOGE to elected officials around the US, attorneys who swore to uphold and defend the law are working overtime on the bureaucratic front lines of Donald Trump’s campaign to actively degrade and destroy it. But what if those lawyers knew that there could be real consequences for their ability to practice law in the future for illegal, bad faith, and/or unethical conduct?

That question is at the heart of the 65 Project, a non-profit organized to introduce real consequences to the kind of lawyering which is greasing the skids in our long slide into authoritarianism. Managing Director Michael Teter joins to explain how the Project came together, how they decide whether misconduct merits a bar complaint, and how their mission has changed since the 2024 election.

• Donation page for the 65 Project

• Ethics complaints filed by the 65 Project

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