Opening Arguments

As we say often… there’s no sugar coating this one. Alito and Thomas shouted their pathetic homophobia from the bench in a concurrence recently. What was the ruling, you ask? No ruling. It was a concurrence on a denial of cert for a case involving – wait for it – Kim Davis. Yes, that Kim Davis. The case was so stupid that not even Alito and Thomas could get behind it, but they went out of their way to yell the quiet part as loudly as they could. Andrew has the full breakdown of what happened. Oh, uh, apropos of nothing… WE NEED TO WIN THE PRESIDENCY AND THE SENATE BACK.

In happier news, Naomi Andrews is here to tell us all about the Access for All Conference Andrew will be speaking in! (Use code: openargs)

Links: Obergefell, Kim Davis’s Idiot Case, Zablocki v. Redhail (1978).

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The government has been caught doing some really absurd things to the benefit of Michael Flynn, including sneaking in post-it notes and lying on Brady material. Andrew’s got the full breakdown for us. After that, we talk about Trump losing again in court in Trump v. Vance!

Links: Access for All Conference, code: openargs, Whitmer kidnapping complaint, Goelman and gov lying on notes, more lying on McCabe, sticky notes, lying on Brady material, exhibit, yes tweets are official, DC cir en banc ruling, Trump v. Vance 2nd cir, Mazar’s briefing schedule, US v R Enterprises.

-Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/law

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

-And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com

No matter how many Republicans get COVID, McConnell will still find a way to confirm his new justice. So, Andrew has a signature deep dive on Barrett’s most significant cases. The news, as always, isn’t good.

Links: ACB Questionnaire, ACBarrett supported group that said life begins at fertilization, Doe v. Purdue, Understanding Judge Barrett’s Opinion in Doe v. Purdue, Rainsberger v. Benner, 913 F.3d 640 (2019), Grussgott v. Milwaukee Jewish Day School, 882 F.3d 655 (7^th Cir. 2018), Wallace v. Grubhub, 970 F.3d 798 (7^th Cir. 2020), AF Moore & Associates v. Pappas, 948 F.3d 889 (7^th Cir. 2020), Casillas v. Madison Ave Assocs Inc., 926 F.3d 329 (2019), EEOC v. Costco, 903 F.3d 618 (7^th Cir 2018).

-Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/law

-Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

-Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/

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

-And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com

We’re still mad about Breonna Taylor’s killing, and you should be too. A juror has come forward to say that the AG misrepresented the deliberations. We’re like to get the tapes soon, but as of now we don’t have them. We clarify and expand on a few things from our previous Breonna episode. Andrew also does a mini dive on the disproportionate racial breakdown of our prison population.

In our main story, we talk about the blockbuster story by the NYT on Trump’s tax returns. Andrew answers whether the NYT is in any legal trouble for the article, and we go into the horrifying contents of Trump’s returns.

Links: Breonna’s family’s civil suit, BOP Statistics: Inmate Race, Gap between number of blacks, whites in prison narrows, Imprisonment rate of black Americans fell by a third from 2006 to 2018, How to reduce the federal prison population, Trends in US Corrections, Immigration sends more people to federal prison, 21 US Code § 841, OA45: What Could Donald Trump’s Tax Returns Tell Us?, OA46: What Could Donald Trump’s Tax Returns Tell Us? part 2, Trump Paid $750 in Federal Income Taxes in 2017, 1st Presidential Debate Transcript 2020, trump public disclosure 1, 2, 26 US Code § 172 – Net operating loss deduction, 2017 tax bill, NYT v. US, Bartnicki v. Vopper (2001), OA200: Reporters and Confidential Sources, OA201: Follow Up Friday!, The BALCO reporters shielded a lying lawyer. They are no heroes., Absentee and Mail Voting Policies in Effect for the 2020 Election.

-Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/law

-Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

-Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/

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

-And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com

Let’s talk about that Atlantic article that has really been scaring people. Andrew brings us his signature deep-dive, and why he’s slightly optimistic that the fears in the article won’t ultimately be borne out.

Up first, we preview a topic for another time, this really interesting lawsuit against Facebook regarding the Rittenhouse shootings.

Links: Trump will see what happens, Presidential Emergency Action Documents, OA370: Can Trump Cancel the Election? and Other COVID-19 Questions!, 19-465 Chiafalo v. Washington (07-06-2020), Faithless Elector State Laws, Trump’s Upcoming Refusal to Leave Office: The Good News, Trump’s Upcoming Refusal to Leave Office: The Very Bad News, Vox Will Trump leave office if defeated?, law review: preparing for a disputed election, 3 U.S. Code § 2 – Failure to make choice on prescribed day, 3 U.S. Code § 5 – Determination of controversy as to appointment of electors, 3 US Code § 15 – Counting electoral votes in Congress, Atlantic The Terrifying Inadequacy of American Election Law, Bush v. Gore.

-Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/law

-Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

-Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/

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

-And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com

The law worked… how it’s designed to work. Andrew gives us the breakdown on what happened, and what didn’t happen.

After that, Andrew has the deepest of dives on Amy Coney Barrett, the odds-on favorite to be the next fundamentalist Justice on the Supreme Court.

Links: Your homework for next episode What If Trump Refuses to Concede?, Hankison indictment, Kentucky Penal Code § 508.060, 431.073 Certain felony convictions may be vacated, Coney Barrett cult People of Praise, Catholic Judges in Capital Cases, Transcript: JFK’s Speech on His Religion, Kanter v. Barr Addition Coney Barrett stuff: US Equal Emp’t Opportunity Comm’n v. AutoZone, Inc., 860 F.3d 564, EEOC v. AutoZone, Incorporated – CourtListener.com, Schmidt v. Foster, 891 F.3d 302.

-Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/law

-Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

-Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/

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

-And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com

*note that this episode was recorded before RBG’s death and the resulting tenfold increase in existential doom feelings*

If you’re a keen listener, you might remember last time we had Prof. Randall Eliason on, he teased his forthcoming Great Courses Course! Well, it has now forth-come. Here’s his new course! It’s on White Collar Criminal Law, and boy does that sound relevant to.. *gestures broadly at the entire current administration*.

In the first segment we answer whether or not Trump could be charged with manslaughter for all the slaughtering of man he did by lying about COVID-19.

-Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/law

-Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

-Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/

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

-And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com

RBG has died. This is terrible. Absolutely, unambiguously terrible. We were already recording something else when the news broke, so we decided to stop that recording, and give you our live, unfiltered reaction to the news. This is not a tribute to RBG. We are going to regroup and make sure we properly honor her immense legacy at a later time. This is a very human, fearful reaction to the awful news. Andrew breaks down the situation, and what is likely to happen. Keep in mind, he successfully predicted the last two Supreme Court appointments before they happened.

We hope this episode helps you process. Let’s all be a little kinder to each other today. We truly love our OA community and we are so unbelievably thankful for the great work so many of you are doing to fight for a better future.