Category: 3-LawSometimeCommentary

On March 30th, the Court heard oral argument in Viking River Cruises, Inc. vs. Moriana, a case which concerned whether the Federal Arbitration Act requires enforcement of a bilateral arbitration agreement providing that an employee cannot raise representative claims, including under the California Private Attorneys General Act. With a decision likely to be rendered in the coming weeks and months, Theane Evangelis, partner in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn and Co-Chair of the firm’s global Litigation Practice Group, joins the program to give analysis.

In April, 2022, the Court heard arguments in Siegel v. Fitzgerald, a bankruptcy case concerning fee increase exemptions in two states. Joining today to discuss the argument is Allyson Ho, partner in the Dallas Office of Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher and co-chair of the Firm’s nationwide Appellate and Constitutional Law practice group.

Stay tuned for the post-decision episode of this case!

As the nation continues to reel after the massacre at Uvalde, we are joined by Professor Adam Winkler, the leading expert on gun policy and gun laws, who takes us through the range of the possible when it comes to gun legislation.  What might Congress do, what are the limitations, political and constitutional, and what is the significance of the upcoming Supreme Court decision in Bruen?  Professor Winkler also offers a primer of sorts on the terminology and landscape of this highly contentious, highly fraught area of law and policy and a crucial time.

About a week ago, there was yet another smoking gun document trove delivered to us by the Jan. 6 Committee in relation to the Eastman trial. Andrew gives us the full breakdown, including a couple new insurrectionist characters we haven't yet been introduced to. All of this, plus the first primetime Jan 6. Committee hearing is this Thursday! Listen and be primed for what's coming.

Melissa interviews Elie Mystal about his new book, Allow Me To Retort: A Black Guy's Guide to the Constitution.

P.S. Melissa, Kate, and Leah will be on The Problem with Jon Stewart this Thursday, June 9th! Don't miss it.

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

• 6/12 – NYC
• 10/4 – Chicago

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Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Mark Joseph Stern to tee up the final weeks of the Supreme Court term. Several blockbusters are still to come, from abortion to gun rights to religious liberty to climate action—and then there’s the shadow docket. Mark and Dahlia break it all down with insights into what to expect and what to watch for. 

Dahlia also spoke with former Attorney General Eric Holder this week, and he made the clear and urgent case that if you want gun reform, you need to work on democracy reform. Attorney General Holder will be back on Amicus in July to talk about his book for our summer reading series. 

In this week’s Amicus Plus segment, as the Supreme Court investigates clerks over the Dobbs leak, and in the wake of the revelations of Ginni Thomas’ involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Dahlia is in conversation with Noah Bookbinder of CREW about how to fix judicial ethics. 

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The way you know the Supreme Court is ruining the law in this country is if their lips are moving. Well, this time they've decided that a 10 year old precedent is already too old for them, and that if you were given a terrible lawyer by the state, you should have thought of that before you decided to be poor. Shinn v. Ramirez Also, check out Thomas's new podcast Dear Old Dads, with Eli Bosnick and Tom Curry!

The nightmare of gun violence haunts America today. What can be done? So many Americans are aghast at assertions of gun rights in the face of absolute evil. It seems incomprehensible.  Our job it to render this domain legible, navigable, and at least potentially solvable. We begin in this episode with a review of the Constitutional landscape of rights in general, gun rights in particular, and we put an imminent Supreme Court decision on carrying arms in perspective. We also preview our next episode, which will feature an important guest who will do much the same clarification of the legislative world we will soon enter.

In the wake of the pathetic police response to the Uvalde shooting, you have likely come across posts and memes talking about how police don't actually have any obligation to protect you or really do anything. Is this true or is it overblown internet leftist hyperbole? Well, it's true, and it's infuriating. Andrew breaks down the case in question. THEN! A special episode 600 celebration!!! We asked our patrons what terms/phrases/references/inside jokes they wanted us to explain, and we've got a fun list of 20! It's a fun stroll down memory lane as we talk the oranges of motions in lemonade, clownhorning, Konrad Michaels, and more!

Links: Castle Rock v. Gonzales, 545 U.S. 748 (2005)

Investigative journalist Liliana Segura joins Kate, Melissa, and Leah to tell the story of Barry Jones, who was the center of one of the cases in Shinn v. Martinez Ramirez [3:30]. The Supreme Court released an opinion in the case last week, and it's bad. There is a miniscule moment of joy, though, in the recap of the opinion in Morgan v. Sundance, which is about arbitration and also Taco Bell [51:58]. Finally, we do a quick round-up of other court-adjacent news, including the fever dream that is Ginni Thomas's email signature, and theories as to why the Court is being so unusually quiet for this late in the term [59:28].

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