Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - MAGA SCOTUS Is Back

This episode is a part of Opinionpalooza. Slate’s coverage of Supreme Court decisions. We consider this coverage so essential that we’re taking down the paywall for all of it. If you would like to help us continue to cover the courts aggressively, please consider joining Slate Plus. And sign up for the pop-up newsletter to see the latest every week in your inbox.


As the Supreme Court’s June term wraps up with a slew of awful decisions, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Slate’s own Mark Joseph Stern to analyze 303 Creative LLC v Elenis, a case with startling implications for the dignity and equal treatment of LGBTQ couples and families. They also discuss the new reporting that shines light on the hall of mirrors that brought the case to court. Then, Dahlia and Mark are joined by Dalié Jiménez, Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, and Director of the Student Loan Law Initiative at UCI Law to discuss the court’s decision to strike down the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness program.

Finally, Dahlia turns to Michaele Turnage Young of the NAACP LDF to take a closer look at Thursday’s affirmative action decision, which outlawed race-conscious admissions in most higher education contexts. 


In this week’s Amicus Plus segment, Dahlia is joined by Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern to answer a listener question about something that has us all scratching our heads in the wake of Moore v Harper, and look ahead to some gun safety litigation that’s winding its way up to the High Court.


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Strict Scrutiny - Student Debt Relief Bad, Bigotry Good

The Supreme Court ended its term today with a double whammy, issuing opinions in the 303 Creative case and the student debt relief cases. In the former, the majority creates "a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class." And in the latter, the majority invalidate's the Biden administration's student debt relief program because, well, they had feelings about it.

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Opening Arguments - OA769: Rudy Leaks, Trump Freaks, and … Jack Smith Just Keeps Showing Up and Building His Case

Liz and Andrew catch you up on all the news breaking surrounding the Trump indictments, including potential new charges, new cooperating witnesses, and much, much more.

Notes Trump docket https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67490070/united-states-v-trump/

Indictment https://www.justice.gov/storage/US_v_Trump-Nauta_23-80101.pdf

Kastigar v. United States, 406 U.S. 441 https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=4825377966245261401

NARA statement https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2022/nr22-001#June-9-2023-statement

Giuliani Jan 6 depo https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23559233/transcript-of-rudy-giulianis-interview-with-house-january-6-committee.pdf

Independent article re superseding indictments https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-giuliani-more-charges-b2366597.html

Exclusive: CNN obtains the tape of Trump’s 2021 conversation about classified documents https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/26/politics/trump-classified-documents-audio

Trump weighs in on recording of him showing off 'secret' government info: 'It's bravado' https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-weighs-recording-showing-off-secret-government-info/story?id=100420427 

Inner City Press reporting on Motion to Remand https://www.innercitypress.com/sdny107fhellersteintrumpbraggicp062723.html

Top Trump campaign aide identified as key individual in classified docs indictment https://abcnews.go.com/US/top-trump-campaign-aide-identified-key-individual-classified/story?id=100452600 

Trump 2024 aide who allegedly saw classified map works for China lobbying firm https://nypost.com/2023/06/29/trump-aide-who-allegedly-saw-classified-map-works-for-lobbying-firm-that-serves-china/ 

Exclusive: Rudy Giuliani interviewed in special counsel’s 2020 election interference probe https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/27/politics/rudy-giuliani-special-counsel-meeting/index.html 

Giuliani Sat for Voluntary Interview in Jan. 6 Investigation https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/28/us/politics/giuliani-jan-6-investigation.html 

Investigation of Trump Documents Case Continues After Former President’s Indictment https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/29/us/politics/trump-documents-indictment-subpoenas.html 

The Attention Was All on Mar-a-Lago. Some of the Action Was at Bedminster. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/27/us/politics/trump-investigation-bedminster.html 

Bloomberg FOIA  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-29/doj-odni-have-no-record-of-trump-standing-order-to-declassify

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Strict Scrutiny - The End of Affirmative Action

Today the Supreme Court delivered its opinion in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, declaring admissions programs that consider race to be in violation of the 14th Amendment. Melissa, Kate, and Leah break down the Chief Justice's opinion, Justice Thomas's galling concurrence, and the brilliant dissents by Justice Jackson and Justice Sotomayor.

  • Listen to our recap of the hours and hours of oral arguments in these cases: "Affirmative Action Reaction"
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Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - The End of Affirmative Action

This episode is a part of Opinionpalooza. Slate’s coverage of Supreme Court decisions. Thank you to our Slate Plus members for making this episode available to all listeners. The full version of this episode is now exclusively available to our Slate Plus members. If you want to have access to bonus content like this, go to slate.com/amicusplus to become a member.

In an emergency episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Slate’s own Mark Joseph Stern to analyze SCOTUS’ decision to wipe out affirmative action in college admissions. They find Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion has some curious carve-outs that will keep lawyers busy, and college admissions tutors and applicants… baffled. 

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Opening Arguments - OA768: Moore v. Harper and the Permanent Republican Minority

Today, Andrew and Liz take a deep dive into the Supreme Court's recent decision in Moore v. Harper rejecting the independent state legislature theory & why we still need to be on guard against John Roberts and the Supreme Court.

Notes Moore v. Harper https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/21-1271_3f14.pdf

OA 618 https://openargs.com/oa618-the-case-that-could-allow-republicans-to-steal-2024/

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Amarica's Constitution - Four Clauses, Two Juries

It’s Supreme Court opinion season, and just before this week’s upload came the happy news of the Moore v. Harper decision.  We’ll be back with details on that soon enough, of course.  Prior to that, however, the Court issued some fascinating decisions last week, including in the case of Samia v. United States.  This confrontation clause/Sixth Amendment case happens to hit one of Professor Amar’s many sweet spots; he has written on the subject in numerous forums over years and is a true expert.  You will have a complex set of facts made legible, and a confusing set of key constitutional principles sculpted into an elegant formulation.

Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Moore v Harper Was a Win for Democracy, A Big Loss For Donald Trump

This episode is a part of Opinionpalooza. Slate’s coverage of Supreme Court decisions. Thank you to our Slate Plus members for making this episode available to all listeners. The full version of this episode is now exclusively available to our Slate Plus members. If you want to have access to bonus content like this, go to slate.com/amicusplus to become a member.

In deciding against the bonkers (technical legal term) “Independent State Legislature Theory” in Moore v Harper, the Supreme Court chose not to take a wrecking ball to American democracy. Judge Michael Luttig, a counsel of record in the case, is relieved but not surprised. In this emergency episode of Amicus, Judge Luttig tells Dahlia Lithwick that Tuesday’s decision may have big repercussions at the Department of Justice, in Jack Smith’s investigation of former President Trump’s role in January 6th.

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Strict Scrutiny - Is ISL dead? IDK.

The Supreme Court handed down its decision in Moore v. Harper today, saying that state legislatures can’t actually make up whatever rules they want around federal elections, without oversight from anyone. But is this a victory for our democracy, or should we still be freaked out? Kate, Leah, and Melissa break down the opinion and the questions it leaves open.

We'll be around all week pushing out emergency episodes as the Supreme Court continues to do... whatever it does. Be sure to subscribe in your podcast app of choice so you don't miss it!

Listen to our previous episodes on the independent state legislature theory/fan fiction/thingamajig: "Debunking the Independent State Legislature Fantasy" with Carolyn Shapiro and Jamelle Bouie, and "Turning Fan Fiction Into Reality."

Follow @CrookedMedia on Instagram and Twitter for more original content, host takeovers and other community events.

Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025! 

  • 6/12 – NYC
  • 10/4 – Chicago

Learn more: http://crooked.com/events

Order your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes

Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky