Category: 3-LawSometimeCommentary

Leah, Melissa, and Kate wade through more election fallout, including President-elect Trump’s proposed use of recess appointments to jam his cabinet picks through. Also covered: this week’s SCOTUS arguments, the tryhards auditioning to be Trump Supreme Court nominees, and why everyone should shut up about Justice Sotomayor retiring.  

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

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Leah, Melissa, and Kate wade through more election fallout, including President-elect Trump’s proposed use of recess appointments to jam his cabinet picks through. Also covered: this week’s SCOTUS arguments, the tryhards auditioning to be Trump Supreme Court nominees, and why everyone should shut up about Justice Sotomayor retiring.  

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

Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

Trump’s announcement of Matt Gaetz as his pick to head the Justice Department was met with gasps around the Capitol. Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Slate’s senior legal writer Mark Stern to, yes, gasp together, but also to dig into what this stunt Attorney General appointment means for the law and the rule of law. 

Next, Dahlia talks to Dr. Mary Anne Franks, author of Fearless Speech about the new era of censorship we are entering under the unprecedented power of Elon Musk and the oligarchs screaming “free speech” as they sue in their forum-shopped court of choice. 

Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen.

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OA1087 - We examine how the incoming President and his administration are already breaking the law with his transition team before taking on his announced intention to subvert the Constitution--and his own political party--through an unprecedented clown car of forced recess appointments. From the Defense Secretary the National Guard determined they couldn’t trust with a gun around Joe Biden to the Attorney General who just resigned from Congress to avoid the details of what he has been doing with high school students to the deputy chief of staff who is Stephen Miller, there are plenty of good reasons these freaks might not clear even a Republican Senate. Could this one weird Constitutional trick force them through? 

Finally, the world’s richest man wants to tell the federal government how to spend its money. What’s the deal with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency?

1. Harris-Walz Transition Team Ethics Plan

2. “Will Trump Pursue a Bonkers Plan to Adjourn Both Houses of Congress?,” Ed Whelan, National Review (11/13/2024)

3. House Ethics Rules (2024)

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The election is behind us, and foreboding fills the air.  We are live at the Yale Club of New York City for a live recording, addressing some of the many constitutional matters that are or soon may be front of mind as the seemingly inevitable challenges to norms, rules, and laws await.  Matters as wide-ranging as the implications of undivided government; the significance of state constitutional amendments on abortion; Justice Sotomayor’s future; recess appointments - and much more are on our plate this week.  CLE credit is available for lawyers and judges at podcast.njsba.com.

OA1086 - We're modifying the schedule a little! Introducing fash-watch with Lydia. We're going to keep a very watchful eye on Trump's incoming government. We're starting this week with the EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and UN Ambassador Elise Stefanik.

But don't worry! After that, we're still on with Heather and the regularly scheduled bar exam failure! Make sure to find openargs on Bluesky and play T3BE there!

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

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OA1085 - Matt has put together a preliminary list of things Joe Biden can and should do in the lame duck period. Will he? Let's make him.

After that, we examine something that he should absolutely not do courtesy of the aspiring fascists of the National Review. As a little treat.

• Trump has made more than 100 threats to prosecute or punished perceived enemies," NPR News  (10/22/22)

• “Biden Should Pardon Trump,” Mark Antonio Wright, National Review (11/6/24)

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

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After processing the election and thinking through what it means for the future of the Supreme Court, Kate and Leah dig into a Voting Rights Act case newly added to SCOTUS’s docket. They also tackle this week’s cases on the False Claims Act, compensation for hospitals that treat low-income people, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and federal securities law.

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

We are, most of us, still very much in the post-election fog. It’s early days and while the fog persists, some of the shape of the future is very clear: despite his felonies, his lies, his promised mass deportations and threats of vengeance, President Donald J Trump will re-enter the White House in 2025 better organized, with a clearer mandate, and with the seal of approval of the popular vote. On this week’s Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Protect Democracy’s Ian Bassin to discuss navigating the challenges that lie ahead for American democracy, as we collectively struggle to make sense of this pivotal moment and to emerge from the fog with a flicker of hope.  

Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen.

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OA1083 - What does it mean to be a legal podcast at a time when the rule of law itself is in play? We reflect on this moment before answering a few patron questions and taking a closer look at the current state of each of the three criminal cases against Donald Trump as of this week.

• “A Sitting President’s Amenability to Indictment and Criminal Prosecution,” DOJ memo dated 10/16/2000. 

• Docket for Jack Smith’s appeal of Judge Cannon’s  11th Circuit

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

If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!