Category: 3-LawSometimeCommentary

On September 22, Showtime and Paramount+ will release the first episode of Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court. And if you tune in, you might recognize a few faces and voices. Documentarian Dawn Porter joins Kate, Melissa, and Leah to talk about how the series came to be, and what she learned about the Supreme Court's evolution in the process.

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Liz and Andrew talk about the surprising acquittal of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on all 16 articles of impeachment before discussing the companion efforts to gum up the works in the attempt to hold Donald Trump and his co-conspirators responsible for trying to steal the 2020 Presidential Election.

In the Patreon Bonus, Liz and Andrew set the record straight on Michael Flynn in light of the government's recent motion to dismiss Flynn's attempt to sue for wrongful prosecution. (Hint: he was not wrongfully prosecuted.)

Notes Middlebrooks order dismissing Trump's motion to disqualify https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.610157/gov.uscourts.flsd.610157.342.0.pdf

DOJ motion to dismiss in Flynn v. US https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flmd.411523/gov.uscourts.flmd.411523.38.0.pdf

DOJ’s reply to Trump’s motion for Chutkan recusal https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149.54.0_2.pdf

Trump reply brief supporting DQ Chutkan https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.258148/gov.uscourts.dcd.258148.58.0.pdf

Clark reply sup removal https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.gand.319419/gov.uscourts.gand.319419.41.0.pdf

Meese amicus in lawsuit against MLB https://theacru.org/wp-content/uploads/Job-Creators-Network-Amicus-Brief.pdf

Axios, “Scoop: How GOP pressured Texas senators over Paxton's impeachment trial” https://www.axios.com/2023/09/17/ken-paxton-texas-impeachment-gop

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Dahlia Lithwick is joined by award-winning documentarian and lawyer Dawn Porter for a conversation about two projects shining a light on the law and how we can shape it: Porter’s new Showtime documentary series Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court, and the paperback release of Dahlia’s book Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America. 

Together they trace the political shifts and cultural earthquakes from the Warren Court to the Burger, Rehnquist and now Roberts Court, and they discuss how the courts current crisis of legitimacy cannot be cured with a moratorium on criticism. In both Lady Justice and Deadlocked a truth surfaces: when it comes to the rule of law, there is no “plan b”, so the challenge to Dawn’s audience, Dahlia’s readers and Amicus listeners is the same: to use the law as a tool for progress and justice. 

Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show. 

Dahlia’s book  Lady Justice: Women, the Law and the Battle to Save America, is now out in paperback. It is also available as an audiobook, and Amicus listeners can get a 25 percent discount by entering the code “AMICUS” at checkout. https://books.supportingcast.fm/lady-justice

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Hunter Biden was indicted; what does it mean? Liz and Andrew bring you that, plus an extra-length linkroll today to cover all the week's developments, all before tackling a listener question about the federal removal statute.

In the Patreon bonus, the two talk more about the social media case of Missouri v. Biden, which heads to the Supreme Court.

Notes SCOTUS administrative stay in Missouri v. Biden https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/63290154/333/missouri-v-biden/

Trump SDFL Docket https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652/

Cannon order granting protective order https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652.150.0.pdf

Willis brief on federal removal https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca11.84175/gov.uscourts.ca11.84175.20.0_4.pdf

2018 GAO gun report https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-18-440.pdf

 OA 778 https://openargs.com/oa778-geese-ganders-affirmative-action-are-we-overreacting-to-sffa-v-harvard-feat-guha-krishnamurthi/

OA 790 https://openargs.com/oa790-the-trump-prosecutions-a-tale-of-two-courtooms/

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Liz and Andrew begin with a discussion of Kevin McCarthy's efforts to impeach Ice Cream Joe before the linkroll roundup of all the major developments over the past few days.

Then, in the main segment, the two discuss the fate of the right-wing nonsense suit in Missouri v. Biden, in which a Trump-appointed judge essentially prevented the Biden administration from reporting nonsense on social media.

Did the Fifth Circuit save the day?? Listen and find out!

In the Patreon bonus, the duo dive deeply into the Fulton County Special Purpose Grand Jury report that Donald Trump tried so hard to disappear. What... good news for Trump might it hold??

Notes OA 713 https://openargs.com/oa713-state-ags-sue-anthony-fauci-for-booting-them-off-twitter/

OA 739 https://openargs.com/oa739-5-million-says-mike-lindell-is-full-of-stuffing/

OA 771 https://openargs.com/oa771-trump-judge-burns-down-first-amendment-to-save-free-speech/

In re Lindell Mgmt LLC Litigation Docket https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67410449/in-re-lindell-management-llc-litigation/?order_by=desc 

Trump DC Docket https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67656595/united-states-v-trump/ 

Trump Motion to recuse Chutkan https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149.50.0_10.pdf

Chesebro MTD Fulton County https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23972733-23sc188947-motion-13-chesebro-mtd

Missouri v Biden docket https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67563473/state-of-missouri-v-biden/

Missouri v Biden 5th Circuit opinion https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca5.214640/gov.uscourts.ca5.214640.238.1.pdf

Liz ATL on Trump’s Motion to Recuse Chutkan https://abovethelaw.com/2023/09/trump-quits-shitposting-about-federal-judges-to-demand-they-recuse-to-promote-faith-in-judiciary/

2019 OLC Memo on Impeachment https://www.justice.gov/d9/opinions/attachments/2020/01/20/2020-01-19-impeach-invest.pdf 

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Two recent major podcast themes - section 3 of the fourteenth amendment, and judicial ethics - echoed through the news this past week.  Wisconsin legislators seek to impeach a new state Supreme Court Justice before she even sits for a case; and in Washington, Justice Alito is asked to recuse himself because of an interview he gave. Meanwhile, Section 3 is addressed by a former US Attorney General, who says it is inapplicable to the President for reasons that may seem counterintuitive, even strange.  We analyze the claims as well as what lies behind them in our constitutional system. CLE credit is available from podcast.njsba.com.

Being a Supreme Court podcast means we spend much of the year in dystopia. So just this once, let's look at the silver lining that is Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Amir Ali, executive director of the MacArthur Justice Center, joins Melissa, Kate, and Leah to look back on Justice Jackson's first year on the Supreme Court.

• Listen back to our episodes on Justice Jackson's historic nomination and hellacious confirmation hearings
• 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

Liz and Andrew break down all the latest developments before taking a deep dive into the significance of Mark Meadows's stunning loss in trying to remove his criminal indictment from state court in Fulton County, Georgia to federal court. What does that mean for Donald Trump? Listen and find out!

In the Patreon bonus, Liz and Andrew discuss the testimony of a key upcoming witness who definitely has the goods on Donald Trump.

Notes OA 785 https://openargs.com/oa785-all-gerrymandering-is-local-feat-joe-dye/

Coomer v. Lindell Docket https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/63296393/coomer-v-lindell/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc 

State of GA v. Clark, Docket  https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67713789/the-state-of-georgia-v-clark/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc 

Order granting injunctive relief in Milligan v. Allen https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.alnd.179302/gov.uscourts.alnd.179302.272.0.pdf

Giuliani Motion for Indictment Perfect in Form https://cms.themessenger.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Giuliani-motion-9.8.23.pdf

Donaghue Jan 6th testimony https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000034600/pdf/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000034600.pdf

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Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Marc Elias, who has litigated more election and voting cases than almost anyone, to talk about Alabama’s disregard for SCOTUS’ decision in the big Voting Rights Act case of last term, and why the lawlessness is the point. They also delve into the dangers of tying the disqualification of former President Donald J Trump from office under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the outcomes in his criminal trials. And why, when it comes to defending democracy, depending on the courts may make sense in the short term, but faces serious problems in the long term.

In this week’s Amicus Plus segment, Dahlia is joined by Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern to discuss Justice Samuel Alito’s chosen venue to publish a love letter to Senator Dick Durbin, Chief Justice John Roberts’ chosen venue to publish a love letter to Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and why a major religious freedom case is looking more and more like a fake spike.  

Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show. 

Dahlia’s book Lady Justice: Women, the Law and the Battle to Save America, is also available as an audiobook, and Amicus listeners can get a 25 percent discount by entering the code “AMICUS” at checkout

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Liz and Andrew try a lightning round segment, answer a listener question, and then update you on the travails of Trump's lawyers as defendants in Fulton County, Georgia and as conflicted-out scoundrels in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Notes Hunter Biden Docket https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67511701/united-states-v-biden/?order_by=desc 

US v. Abbott Docket https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67630985/united-states-v-abbott/?order_by=desc

Rejection Trump Boys’ Motion for Stay  https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=7VeIswUTaqJ_PLUS_2jqwndUGqQ==&system=prod

Fulton County docket https://www.fultonclerk.org/DocumentCenter/Index/142

Chesebro Motion to dismiss https://www.fultonclerk.org/DocumentCenter/View/2159/MOTION-TO-DISMIS-UNDER-THE-SUPREMECY-CLAUSE---CHESEBORO

DA Fani Willis letter to Jim Jordan https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23941366/jim-jordan-letter.pdf

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-For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed!  @oawiki

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