Category: 3-LawSometimeCommentary

Dahlia Lithwick welcomes retired federal judge Mark Wolf for his first ever podcast interview. The Reagan-appointed jurist made headlines last week with his searing indictment of the threat posed to the rule of law and democracy by the current administration. Judge Wolf opens up about his decision to leave the bench after decades of public service and the challenges faced by judges in the face of a president and a Justice Department showing scant regard for the rules. 

Next, Dahlia is joined by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who tells her, “If Trump breaks the law and hurts our state, we sue him.” Together, they discuss the urgency of justice in response to the tactics employed by the Trump administration. As Democratic AGs band together to sue against unlawful executive actions, Bonta explains their strategies in securing injunctions against the administration. 

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OA1207 - We record a late-breaking reaction to the recent massive round of documents released from Jeffrey Epstein's estate and discuss how Trump may have just reached his most impeachable moment so far. Matt then shares some incredible news about how the end of Chevron deference has allowed federal judges to frustrate the administration's detention and deportation policies, and Jenessa gets into a lawsuit which challenges RFK Jr's replacement of the CDC’s vaccine advisory board with people who don't advise vaccines. Finally, a footgoat [sic] on how one woman’s quest to keep an unusual pet in Wyoming is running cover for some of the worst people on Earth. 

1. Google Drive link to House Oversight Committee's release of documents from the Epstein estate (11/12/25)

2. Massachusetts federal court's class certification in Guerrero Orellana

3. Matter of Yajure-Hurtado 26 I&N Dec. 2016 (BIA 9/5/25)

4. Complaint in Bontadelli v. City of Powell (D.WY 11/4/25)

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

Kat Abughazaleh spent years reporting on right-wing media and movements, and she is now running to represent Illinois's 9th District in Congress on an explicitly anti-authoritarian platform. Kat joins to talk about her uniquely candid platform and community-based campaign, the state of the Democratic Party, how ICE is terrorizing Chicago during the most intensive urban immigration enforcement operation in US history, and much more.

1. Kat Abughazalah's campaign page

2. Kat Abughazaleh's author page at Media Matters for America

The economy, trillions of dollars, and consequences unknown are on the line in the tarrifs case, Learning Resources v. Trump.  We present the justices and the advocates in their own voices from the oral argument, and Akhil reacts in real time as he hears the clips for the first time.  It’s a three hour argument, so this is the first of a two-parter.  The Court’s recent doctrines, including major questions and non-delegation are in play, perhaps, and therefore many are watching this case closely for consistency vs politics in the Court itself.  And of course there’s history and constitutional issues at stake, so we are right at home.  Join us! CLE is available for lawyers and judges from podcast.njsba.com.

In our continuing Still Good Law series, Jenessa explains how a dispute arising from a parking garage in Wilmington, Delaware became the foundation for one of the most important concepts in civil rights: determining that a private or quasi-public individual or entity is operating “under color of law.” How does this concept help to hold law enforcement and other governmental agencies accountable, and how is it holding up in 2025?

1. Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority, 365 U.S. 715 (1961)

2. Monroe v. Pape, 365 US 167 (1961)

3. 42 USC 1983

Live from Crooked Con in Washington, Leah, Kate, and Melissa unpack the surprisingly not-awful oral arguments for Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, which put the president's tariffs in the hot seat. Then the hosts are joined by Representative LaMonica McIver of New Jersey to discuss the bogus charges against her for “assaulting” federal agents while conducting an oversight visit of an ICE detention center. Finally, friend of the pod Steve Vladeck joins Leah to break down the 3D chess behind Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Friday night order granting an administrative stay in a case about the funding of SNAP benefits. Read Steve’s excellent piece on the subject here, and enter Leah’s Lawless giveaway here.

Favorite Things:

• Kate: Judge Sara Ellis’s reading of Chicago by Carl Sandburg; How to Be a Good Citizen When Your Country Does Bad Things, M. Gessen (NYT); The 25 Young(ish) New Democrats to Watch, Matt Stieb and Kaleigh Rogers (New York Magazine)
• Leah: Zohran Mamdani’s Victory Speech
• Melissa: The Can’t Win Victory Fund

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

• 3/6/26 – San Francisco
• 3/7/26 – Los Angeles

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

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The Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices have been treating the Trump administration with such extreme deference that we were honestly a little flummoxed listening to this week’s arguments over his “Liberation Day” tariffs. Shockingly, during Wednesday’s arguments in Learning Resources v. Trump and Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, it seemed like the justices were in fact, concerned with presidential overreach. But was this a true bridge-too-far-moment, or were they more concerned about their own pocketbooks? This week, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern discussed the arguments with Marc Busch, the Karl F. Landegger Professor of International Business Diplomacy at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Busch is an expert on international trade policy and law, and signed onto an amicus brief on behalf of trade scholars explaining the history and context of IEEPA. 

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OA1205 - It’s another good news Friday! Voting rights expert Jenessa runs down some of the highlights of the off-year blue sweep in this week’s elections, as well as some recent unsung national victories for voting and disability rights. Matt then checks in on the Supreme Court’s oral arguments from the challenge to Trump’s unprecedented tariffs and why it is looking like he might actually lose his administration’s first attempt to defend one of his second administration’s policies on the merits. 

Finally, in today’s footnote: Why a federal judge recently decided that a lawsuit brought by the man whose penis was once featured on the cover of the most important albums of 1990s smelled like summary judgment. 

1. Supreme Court oral arguments in Learning Resources, Inc  v. Trump (11/5/2025)

2. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977

3. “Regulating Imports with a Reciprocal Tariff to Rectify Trade Pratcies that Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits,” The White House (4/2/2025)(executive order on tariffs)

4. Solicitor General John Sauer’s brief in Learning Resources 

5. Plaintiff’s second amended complaint in Elden v. Nirvana LLC et al

6. D.C. federal judge Coleen Kollar-Kotelly’s opinion in combined litigation challenging Trump’s executive order on citizenship requirements for voting (10/31/25)

7. DC federal judge Amir Ali’s order in National Association of the Deaf v. Trump  (11/4/25)

8. Order granting defendants’ motion for summary judgment in Elden v. Nirvana, LLC (9/30/2025)

California.  Meanwhile, the tariff case is about to come before the Supreme Court for oral argument.  So it’s timely indeed that Vik Amar joins us with expertise on both topics.  In fact, Vik has submitted an amicus brief in the tariff case. The “brothers in law” take us deep into the gerrymandering world, the major questions doctrine, and we also pause to reflect on the career of former Vice President Cheney who passed away this week.  Insights galore await.  CLE credit is available for lawyers and judges at podcast.njsba.com.

VR12 - Yes, we absolutely thought this was coming out pre-Halloween. Halloween may be over, but NEVERTHELESS THE SPOOKTACULAR PERSISTED!

In this Vapid Response double feature, Thomas, Matt, and Lydia are haunted by two ghoulish takes from the past: 

1. FEATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON: Politico’s insanely longform access journalism piece from August 2024 on how Project 2025 was so totally over, just never happening, nothing to see here

2. EROSSERHEAD: New York Times resident traditional conservative Ross Douthat’s 2015 analysis of why Donald Trump is definitely not a fascist

We then screen a short horror film recently shot at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

1. “The Inside Story of How Project 2025 Fell Apart,” Ian Ward, POLITICO (8/2/2024)

2. Project 2025 Tracker - Home

3. “Opinion | Is Donald Trump a Fascist?,” Ross Douthat,  The New York Times  (12/3/2015)