OA72: Body Slamming Journalists PLUS Political vs. Racial Gerrymandering

In this episode, we revisit what Andrew has called the worst problem in American politics: gerrymandering — but this time with a twist.

We begin, however, with a listener question from Anna Bosnick, who is also our special guest for Law’d Awful Movies #7 – Legally Blonde! Anna watched the movie and listened to our intro and wants to know: what exactly is habeas corpus, anyway?

Then, we tackle the recent news about Montana Congressional candidate Greg “Body Slam” Gianforte. Can he really take office if he’s convicted of assault?

In the main segment, Andrew and Thomas walk through the recent Supreme Court decision in Cooper v. Harris and discuss what it might mean for the future of gerrymandering legislation.

After that, Andrew answers another listener question, this one from the exceptionally prescient Garry Myers, who wants to know whether corporations can assert 5th Amendment rights.

Finally, we end with a brand new Thomas Takes the Bar Exam question #25 about smoking pot and crashing cars. Remember that TTTBE issues a new question every Friday, followed by the answer on next Tuesday’s show. Don’t forget to play along by following our Twitter feed (@Openargs) and/or our Facebook Page and quoting the Tweet or Facebook Post that announces this episode along with your guess and reason(s)!

Recent Appearances:

None! But check out our Law’d Awful Movies guest, Anna Bosnick, and her amazing ukulele work over at worthyfools.com.

Show Notes & Links

Don’t forget to check out our prior Episode #54 on Gerrymandering.
In the case of Herrera v. Collins, 506 U.S. 390 (1993), Scalia opined that “of course” being actually innocent isn’t grounds for habeas corpus relief, although that was walked back by the Supreme Court in McQuiggin v. Perkins, 133 S.Ct. 1924 (2013).
You can also check out the Cooper v. Harris decision here.
Finally, the case discussed in the C segment is Hale v. Henkel, 204 U.S. 43 (1906).