Ep 135 — Deadpool Teaches Civ Pro & Church And State Are Still Separate (For Now!)
It’s been another wild week of injunctions, executive orders, and just plain insanity from the Trump administration. Then, we’ll let Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni teach us about civil procedure. And for a deep dive, we discuss a surprising recusal from Justice Barrett that preserves what’s left of the separation of church and state. Links: How Trump Officials Debated Handling of the Abrego Garcia Case: ‘Keep Him Where He Is’ https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/us/politics/trump-abrego-garcia-el-salvador-deportation.html Judge James Ho Public Meltdown https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca5.224134/gov.uscourts.ca5.224134.25.1.pdf D.V.D. v. Department of Homeland Security [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69775896/dvd-v-us-department-of-homeland-security/ Somerville Public Schools v. Trump [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69778837/somerville-public-schools-v-trump US v. McIver [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70317726/united-states-v-mciver/ Trump v. Wilcox [Supreme Court order granting stay] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a966_1b8e.pdf Oklahoma Statewide School Board v. Drummond [Supreme Court per curiam order] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-394_9p6b.pdf Lively v. Baldoni (SDNY) [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69510553/lively-v-wayfarer-studios-llc/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc&page=2 We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine, New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/21/business/media/blake-lively-justin-baldoni-it-ends-with-us.html Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
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Ep 134 — Everybody Hates Sam (and ChatGPT)
The Supreme Court does one good thing on immigration, which made Sam Alito BIG MAD. And although the administration has been stymied (for now) in its efforts to rendition detainees out of the country with no notice, the Supreme Court did allow the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans. Then, since we all need a good chuckle, we spend some time pointing and laughing at California’s plan to outsource the bar exam to an AI chatbot. And in the patreon bonus, we describe how one of America’s worst trial court judges just tried to overrule the Supreme Court. Links: Alito Gets Fragged in Supreme Court Order https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/alito-gets-fragged-in-scotus-order New York Times, “Emil Bove, Top Justice Dept. Official, Is Considered For Circuit Court Nomination” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/us/politics/emil-bove-circuit-court-federal-appeals.html?unlocked_article_code=1.IU8.KLV8.yndwN6PJV_HE Noem v. National TPS Alliance et al. [SCOTUS Miscellaneous order] https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/051925zr1_5h26.pdf Washington Post, “Trump Justice Dept. considers removing key check on lawmaker prosecutions” https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/05/17/trump-justice-department-prosecutions/ State of Texas v. EEOC order (Kacsmaryk) https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.393489/gov.uscourts.txnd.393489.59.0.pdf DOJ OCR Letter Harmeet Dhillon to Brandon Johnson https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1400811/dl?inline Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
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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
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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