The legal podcast that helps you make sense of the news.
Here’s the extra bonus we promised you! As always, Andrew is terrible at lightning rounds so we might not have gotten to the quantity of questions that we’d hoped, but the quality is fantastic and as always, you’ll learn a ton!
Listen to the episode and read the show notes
Topics of Discussion:
[Show Intro]
Thomas: Hello and welcome to Opening Arguments, this is episode 349. I’m Thomas Smith, that’s Andrew Torrez. How’re you doing, sir?
Andrew: I am fantastic, Thomas, how are you?
Thomas: I’m good but I’m just realizing does this mean new intro quotes soon?
Andrew: Ooooh!
Thomas: Is that how the numbers work? I can’t remember.
Andrew: Yeah, it is how the numbers work.
Thomas: Okay.
Andrew: Yeah, we’ll have to get that up and running awfully quickly over at patreon.com/law where people can submit their own 15 second intro quotes for the show.
Thomas: It’s definitely a lot shorter than 15 seconds, but that’s okay!
Continue reading “Transcript of OA349: Bolton Will Testify; Iran, Soleimani & So Much More”Today’s episode takes on (some of) the two biggest pending news stories right now: (1) the U.S. assassination of Iranian Gen. Soleimani, and (2) the pending impeachment of President Trump. Oh, and we also cover a bunch of other things along the way, including the latest CNN settlement regarding the kid from Covington Catholic, and, well, you’ll just have to listen to find out everything!
We begin with a pre-show grab bag of mini-stories, including the “drain the swamp” news that outgoing Energy Secretary Rick Perry has joined the board of a holding company that owns a pipeline company. Is this 100% the same scandal as Burisma hiring Hunter Biden? (Hint: yes.)
Then, we delve into some disturbing background information on the Solemani strike and answer the first of many listener questions about it: was the strike arguably justified by the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) against the 9/11 hijackers?
After that, it’s time for some Yodeling! We look at the current state of the House/Senate standoff on articles of impeachment and what the likely way forward will be. You’ll learn that former NSA Director John Bolton is willing to testify; the question is whether two more Republicans care about that at all.
Finally, we cover the latest news that CNN settled the defamation lawsuit brought by Nick Sandmann of Covington Catholic relating to the video shared by CNN nearly a year ago.
After all that, it’s time for a brand-new #T3BE 161 — this one is a constitutional law question regarding anti-discrimination laws. Can Thomas get it right??
Appearances
None! If you’d like to have either of us as a guest on your show, drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com.
Show Notes & Links
-Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/law
-Follow us on Twitter: @Openargs
-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/openargs/, and don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!
-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!
Listen to the episode and read the show notes
Topics of Discussion:
[Show Intro]
Thomas: Hello and welcome to Opening Arguments, this is episode 348. I’m Thomas and you know what? I know what day it is now!
Andrew: [Laughs]
Thomas: I finally figured it out, I had to regroup. How’s it going, Andrew?
Andrew: It’s going fantastic, Thomas, how are you?
Thomas: Ah, back on a regular schedule. I’m so excited.
Andrew: Oh yeah!
Thomas: I’m also excited to have Alison Gill, Vice President of Legal and Policy over at American Atheists coming on today, she’s going to discuss the State of the States Report that they have put out all about religious freedom and religious freedom laws, which is to say oftentimes those are kind of named misleadingly.
Continue reading “Transcript of OA348: The State of the Secular States, with Alison Gill”Today’s show features an interview with American Atheists’ National Legal and Policy Director Alison Gill! American Atheists has just released their 2019 State of the Secular States Report, which you can find here. With how much the Trump Administration and the Christian Right have tried to enshrine conservative Christianity into our nation’s laws, American Atheists has worked hard to bring us this comprehensive report detailing which states have good laws in place to protect the separation of Church and State. Some states are doing better than others, and some states might surprise you! The report provides a great blueprint of action for how we can work to fight the theocrats on a state by state basis.
-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
Listen to the episode and read the show notes
Topics of Discussion:
[Show Intro]
Thomas: Hello and welcome to Opening Arguments, this is episode 347, I’m Thomas, that’s Andrew. How’re you doin’ Andrew?
Andrew: I am fantastic, Thomas, how are you? Did you have a good holiday?
Thomas: Okay, I’ll bite. What day is it?
Andrew: [Laughs]
Thomas: I don’t – I have no idea. We’re recording so I guess we both must think it’s Thursday to some extent, right? But is it Thursday?
Andrew: [Laughs]
Thomas: My kids were home yesterday, doesn’t that mean it’s Monday? I don’t [Sighs]
Andrew: I think “what day of the week is it?” is gonna replace “I keep writing 2019 on my checks”
Thomas: [Laughs]
Andrew: Because nobody writes any checks anymore.
Continue reading “Transcript of OA347: Pennhurst and the Voter Purge in Georgia”Today’s episode tackles a bunch of important developments in the new year — and not all of them are even Trump-related! Our main segment features a deep dive into the recent voter purge decision in Georgia and what that has to do with the Eleventh Amendment and the Pennhurst doctrine. We also tackle the latest scare meme regarding 2020 and update you on all the developments in pending litigation regarding Donald Trump. Buckle up, it’s going to be a fun ride!
We begin with a quick off-the-white-board note about the “$100,000 verdict” in the Alex Jones defamation lawsuit that isn’t what it appears to be.
After that, we take a look at a recent meme that’s circulating regarding 2020. Should you be concerned about the legal implications of writing 1/1/20 on your documents?? Why or why not?
Then it’s time to check in on the status of several pending cases involving Congressional subpoenas, including a decision that’s being mischaracterized as a setback for impeachment (it isn’t), and a bunch of irons that are still in the fire.
Then it’s time for our deep dive into Pennhurst and the recent denial of injunctive relief to Stacey Abrams’s organization dedicated to restoring the voter rolls in 2020 in Georgia. Find out what happened & what’s going to happen next.
After all that, it’s time for a brand-new #T3BE in the New Year: can a bakery tell a flaky flour supplier to go clownhorn itself? Don’t forget to play along via social media!
Appearances
None! If you’d like to have either of us as a guest on your show, drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com.
Show Notes & Links
-Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/law
-Follow us on Twitter: @Openargs
-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/openargs/, and don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!
-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!
Listen to the episode and read the show notes
Topics of Discussion:
[Show Intro]
Thomas: Hello and welcome to Opening Arguments, this is episode 346. I’m Thomas, that’s Andrew, how’re you doin’ Andrew?
Andrew: I am fantastic and I’m full of holiday cheer. I had a lovely Christmas, I assume you did the same?
Thomas: I assume I did too!
Andrew: [Laughs]
Thomas: Tell you what, probably enjoyed several fine Italian bottles of wine from our new first annual wine exchange that we’re now doing between Andrew and I.
Andrew: [Laughs]
Thomas: It was meant to be, I’m glad we’re doing this.
Andrew: And I actually did crack open the now six year old aged eggnog that I’ve had in my fridge.
Continue reading “Transcript of OA346: Faithless Electors (w/Lawrence Lessig)”
Today’s episode features an in-depth interview with Prof. Lawrence Lessig, counsel for the Colorado faithless electors, about the electoral college system.
We also go through the answer to last week’s #T3BE about the differences and similarities between burglary and larceny. You won’t want to miss it!
Appearances
None! If you’d like to have either of us as a guest on your show, drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com.
-Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/law
-Follow us on Twitter: @Openargs
-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/openargs/, and don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!
-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!
Listen to the episode and read the show notes
Topics of Discussion:
[Show Intro]
Thomas: Hello and welcome to Opening Argument! This is episode 334, I’m Thomas Smith, that’s Andrew Torrez! How’re you doing Andrew?
Andrew: I am doing fantastic Thomas! We just recorded episode 35 of Law’d Awful Movies!
Thomas: Ha-hah!
Andrew: We watched the pilot of Bluff City Law and, you know, they’re all great.
Thomas: [Laughs]
Andrew: All of our Law’d Awful Movies are great, I dunno, I felt like this was a pretty good episode.
Continue reading “Transcript of OA334: IVF, LIHEAP & the Russians”