Ep 133 — The Supreme Court is LAWLESS (feat. Leah Litman)
Today, Liz and Andrew interview Prof. Leah Litman about her book Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes. And, as if to prove the point, the Supreme Court today entertained absolutely nonsense arguments in the birthright citizenship cases about how district courts can’t issue the kind of injunctions they’ve issued for the past two centuries because it would make Trump sad. Links: Leah Litman’s Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes https://www.amazon.com/Lawless-Supreme-Conservative-Grievance-Theories/dp/1668054620/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
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Ep 132 — For My Friends, A Plane. For My Enemies, The Law.
Meta thinks that if you steal tens of millions of books, the value of each individual theft rounds down to zero. Is that the law? (No.) Also, the Qatari Royal family wants to give Donald Trump a half-billion-dollar plane and make the US government pay to renovate it. Turns out, that hasn’t been legal for more than two hundred years, but who’s counting? Oh, and the administration arrested the Mayor of Newark. Rumeysa Ozturk is free, though, so it’s not all bad news. Links: Ozturk v. Hyde https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69845539/ozturk-v-hyde/ W.M.M. v. Trump (Alien Enemies Act case in Northern District of Texas) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69898198/wmm-v-donald-j-trump US v. Baraka https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70242142/united-states-v-baraka/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
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Ep 131 — Trial Judges Know What’s Up
While SCOTUS is MIA, trial judges across the country are stepping up. The full Circuit Court in DC leaps in to save Voice of America from the May hell panel hearing emergency appeals. A judge in Maryland orders the government to facilitate the return of a man wrongly deported to the Salvadoran gulag. No, not Kilmar Abrego Garcia — another one! In New York, a third trial judge rules that we are NOT under invasion by Venezuela. And in Alabama, trial judges ordered the state to fix its racist maps again. Links: DHS Courts Contempt In Its Zeal To Deport As Many Harmless Grannies As Possible https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/dhs-courts-contempt-in-its-zeal-to Widakuswara v. Lake [Circuit Court Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69940505/patsy-widakuswara-v-kari-lake Dragon Law Docket https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69837453/jane-doe-no-2-v-clinton-county-of/ J.O.P. v. Department of Homeland Security [District Court Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/15867241/jop-v-us-department-of-homeland-security U.S. v. Watkins (SDNY 1946) https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2209995717379331353 G.F.F. v. Trump [SDNY Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69857769/gff-v-trump/ Milligan v. Allen Docket https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/61494291/milligan-v-allen/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
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Ep 130 — The Justice Department Is Borked
On today’s episode, we break down how Radio Free Europe just might be the key to preserving the separation of powers in America. We talk the Tucker Act and all of the pretextual, vapid, and/or just plain wrong arguments coming out of Trump’s Department of Justice. Perkins Coie wins their case in front of Our Favorite Beryl, a dingus is trying to sue Chief Justice John Roberts, and Maine’s Governor Janet Mills promised the President she’d see him in court. Four days later, the administration caved, meaning Maine kids will get to eat their school lunches after all. Links: Trump Admin Unveils Exciting Plan To Magic Away Impoundment Lawsuits https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/trump-admin-unveils-exciting-plan RFE/RL v. Lake (USAGM) D.D.C. docket [via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69752936/rferl-inc-v-lake/ US Agency for Global Media DC Circuit docket [via Court Listener] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cadc.42001/ America First Legal Foundation v. Chief Justice Roberts [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69924761/america-first-legal-foundation-v-roberts/ Perkins Coie LLP v. Dept. of Justice [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69725919/perkins-coie-llp-v-us-department-of-justice/ US v. Kirk [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69580642/united-states-v-kirk/ US v. Smirnov https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68254959/united-states-v-smirnov Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
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Ep 129 — No, We Are Not At War With Venezuela
Well, it’s finally happened. A federal judge has finally ruled that we are not being invaded by Venezuela and so the president can’t just shout “ALIEN ENEMIES ACT” as an excuse to kidnap people and send them to a torture gulag in El Salvador. And it was a Trump appointee who did it! Also, Mike Lindell is somehow still here. Links: Conservative Judge Saves VOA, Savages SCOTUS https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/conservative-judge-saves-voa-savages J.A.V. v. Trump [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69862833/jav-v-trump ‘Historical loss’: Alleged gang leader evades US justice with deportation to El Salvador https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/24/politics/ms-13-leader-deported-el-salvador-boasberg-order/index.html Madawhi v. Trump [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69888582/mahdawi-v-trump/ Eric Coomer: Pawn Plant or Perp? https://www.scribd.com/document/511804143/1-5019632676605264266 Dominion v. Lindell DC Docket (Judge Nichols) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59670901/us-dominion-inc-v-my-pillow-inc/ Coomer v. Lindell Colorado Docket https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cod.215068/ Redline of “draft” versus final opposition filed in Colorado https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cod.215068/gov.uscourts.cod.215068.311.2_1.pdf Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
Ignorance of the law is no excuse! That’s true for a traffic stop, and it’s true if you want to participate in whatever’s left of American democracy. If the events since the 2016 election taught us anything, it’s that tuning out is not an option. Legal journalists Liz Dye and Andrew Torrez break down the week’s most important courtroom stories, so you can keep on top of this crazy news cycle. Whether it’s Texas giving two middle fingers to the Supreme Court, or Donald Trump in all the courts at once, we’ve got you covered.
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