Tag: Masterpiece Cakeshop

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OA218: Ashers Baking Co., Net Neutrality & Stormy!

Today’s (thankfully) Kavanaugh-free episode — in honor of Thomas’s appearance at QED in Manchester — takes an in-depth look at the Ashers Baking Co. case, as well as developments at the state level to push for Net Neutrality.  Oh, and we revisit OA’s favorite legal genius, Stormy Daniels.  Strap in, it’s going to be a fun ride!

We begin with a lengthy discussion of the UK Supreme Court’s ruling in Ashers Baking Co., which has been called the “Masterpiece Cakeshop of the UK.”  Is that accurate?  Listen and find out!

Next, we walk through California’s effort to protect Net Neutrality in that state, and the lawsuits filed by parties on all sides.  What’s going to happen?  We tell you!

Finally, we take a brief look at Stormy Daniels and update you on the status of her lawsuit in California.

And then, of course, we end with an all new Thomas (and Chad) Take The Bar Exam #97 regarding the tort of negligent misrepresentation.  Remember to follow our Twitter feed (@Openargs) and like our Facebook Page so that you too can play along with #TTTBE!

Recent 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

  1. Click here to read the UK Supreme Court’s ruling in Ashers Baking Co.
  2. We first discussed the Trump FCC’s decision to roll back Net Neutrality in Episode 125.  You can read the 22-state lawsuit challenging that order here.
  3. This is California’s Bill SB-822, and you can also check out the industry brief filed in the lawsuit challenging it.  Oh, and if you need more Hobbs Act (28 U.S.C. § 2342) in your life, we’ve got you covered.
  4. Finally, click here to check out Trump’s motion to dismiss Stormy’s lawsuit, and here to read her interview in “The Cut” (??) where she regrets body-shaming Trump.

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/law

Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

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

Don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!

For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki

And email us at openarguments@gmail.com


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OA205: More on Masterpiece, Younger & the Catholic Church (w/guest Andrew Seidel)

Today’s episode tackles two big church/state separation stories currently circulating right now:  the recent lawsuit filed by the owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop, and the Pennsylvania grand jury  investigation of the Catholic Church.  And, of course, there’s no better guide to these issues than friend of the show and Director of Strategic Response for the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Andrew Seidel.

We begin the Masterpiece, going in depth on the case we first discussed back in Episode 201.  Find out what the Andrews think will happen to this case — and along the way, you’ll learn something about Younger abstention!

After that, we turn to the Pennsylvania grand jury investigation regarding the Catholic Church, discuss statutes of limitation, and learn what we can do about it going forward.

Finally, we end with an all new Thomas (and Andrew!) Take The Bar Exam #91 involving — by sheer coincidence! — the First Amendment and prayers at a student graduation.  If you’d like to play along, just retweet our episode on Twitter or share it on Facebook along with your guess and the #TTTBE hashtag.  We’ll release the answer on next Tuesday’s episode along with our favorite entry!

Recent 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

  1. To sign up for the FFRF’s action alerts, text FFRF to 52886.
  2. We first discussed the new Masterpiece proceeding in Episode 201; you can also check out the case we discussed on Younger abstention, Ohio Civil Rights Commission v. Dayton Christian Schools, 477 U.S. 619 (1986).
  3. You can click here to read the full Pennsylvania grand jury report.
  4. Please read Andrew Seidel’s article, “It’s Time To Quit the Catholic Church.”

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/law

Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

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

Don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!

For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki

And email us at openarguments@gmail.com

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OA201: Follow Up Friday!

Today’s Rapid Response Friday is actually a Follow Up Friday!  We revisit four stories from recent episodes and go into more depth on each one, particularly in light of recent developments.

We begin with our most recent story regarding reporter’s privilege in Episode 200.  What’s the other side of the argument?  Find out why friend of the show Randall Eliason thinks that reporter’s ought not to have the right to keep their sources confidential!

After that, we move back one more episode to Episode 199 and tackle some important listener questions about asbestos.  Along the way, we discuss the difference between strict liability and negligence and delve into theories of market share liability.

Our main segment covers the unsurprising fact that Masterpiece Cakeshop is back in the news.  What does this mean?  How has the Supreme Court’s decision changed the landscape for religious exemptions to laws?  Listen and find out!

After that, we go back to Yodel Mountain and check in with the conclusion of the Manafort trial.  Phew!

And if all that wasn’t enough, we end with an all new Thomas (and Yvette) Take The Bar Exam #89 involving the appropriate damages for breach of contract. If you’d like to play along, just retweet our episode on Twitter or share it on Facebook along with your guess and the #TTTBE hashtag.  We’ll release the answer on next Tuesday’s episode along with our favorite entry!

Recent 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

  1. We discussed reporter’s privilege in Episode 200; for the other side, check out this 2007 article by Randall Eliason on the BALCO scandal or this law review article in the American University Law Review.
  2. Of course, we discussed asbestos in Episode 199, but we first broke down the law of negligence way back in Episode 29.  We cite to the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 520 and Sindell v. Abbott Labs, 607 P.2d 924 (1980).
  3. Click here to read the new Masterpiece Cakeshop complaint.

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/law

Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

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

Don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!

For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki

And email us at openarguments@gmail.com


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OA187: Lowering the Lukumi Bar?

Today’s Bonus Episode asks if there’s a way to make sense of the Supreme Court’s Lukumi jurisprudence in light of this week’s rulings in Trump v. Hawaii (the Travel Ban), Masterpiece Cakeshop, and the somewhat surprising decision to remand the Arlene’s Flowers case back to the state of Washington.

We begin, however, by checking in with the Southern District of New York’s Order approving the Taint Team’s review of documents seized from Michael Cohen’s offices by the Department of Justice.  How many documents did the Team recommend the Court withhold as privileged?  The answer may surprise you!

After that, we revisit the thesis advanced by Andrew Seidel in Episode 180 that the Supreme Court’s decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop might result in a more vigorous application of its 1993 decision in Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993).

Next, we break down the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in NIFLA v. Becerra, in which the Court struck down a California law regulating so-called “crisis pregnancy centers.”

After all that, we end with an all new Thomas Takes The Bar Exam #82 involving the legality of a search for heroin.  If you’d like to play along, just retweet our episode on Twitter or share it on Facebook along with your guess and the #TTTBE hashtag.  We’ll release the answer on next Tuesday’s episode along with our favorite entry!

Recent 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

  1. Check out the Southern District of New York’s Order regarding Cohen’s meager haul of privileged documents.
  2. Andrew Seidel set forth his “Lukumi bar” thesis in Episode 180; you can read Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993) for yourself and then compare it with both Trump v. Hawaii and Masterpiece Cakeshop.
  3. We discussed Planned Parenthood v. Casey at length in a two-part series:  Episode 27 and Episode 28; you might want to compare the statute approved in that case with the one struck down by the Court in NIFLA v. Becerra.

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/law

Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

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

Don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!

And email us at openarguments@gmail.com


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OA180: Masterpiece Cakeshop

Join us for an early Rapid Response Friday, in which we break down the Supreme Court’s decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.  To tackle a topic this big, we needed a little extra help, so we brought back our favorite guest, Andrew Seidel, attorney with the Freedom From Religion Foundation.  But that’s not all!  We recorded so much information that we decided to do a crossover episode with Serious Inquiries Only, so you can have over two hours of Andrew-on-Andrew (and Thomas!) action.

We begin, however, on Yodel Mountain, with two pieces of news arising out of Paul Manafort’s criminal trial.  Is Paulie M going to jail?  Did he engage in illegal witness tampering?  Did he back up his encrypted WhatsApp messages on an unencrypted iCloud?  Listen and find out!  We also delve into Manafort’s response to the press’s motion to unseal the Mueller investigation documents first discussed in Episode 168.  And, as long as we’re yodeling, we might as well catch up on what’s going on in the Summer Zervos lawsuit first discussed in Episode 176.

After that, it’s time to figure out exactly what’s going on in Masterpiece Cakeshop.  Is this a narrow decision?  Is it a win for anti-LGBTQ forces?  Is it a nothing-burger?  Listen and find out!

Finally, we end with an all new Thomas Takes The Bar Exam #79 about the real property conveyance to a church.  Yes, it’s more 13th-Century Saxony law!  And if you’d like to play along , just retweet our episode on Twitter or share it on Facebook along with your guess and the #TTTBE hashtag.  We’ll release the answer on next Tuesday’s episode along with our favorite entry!

Recent Appearances

Andrew and Andrew continued to talk Masterpiece Cakeshop on Serious Inquiries Only, and Andrew was a guest talking the same thing on Episode 177 of The Scathing Atheist.

Show Notes & Links

  1. Here’s the government’s motion to revoke Paul Manafort’s pretrial release.  Witness tampering is a crime under 18 U.S.C. § 1512.
  2. We first discussed the press’s motion to unseal the Mueller investigation documents in Episode 168, and the Summer Zervos lawsuit back in Episode 176.
  3. We’ve uploaded Supreme Court’s decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission so you can read it for yourself.
  4. If you love Andrew Seidel, you might want to go back to his  FIVE previous appearances on the show, Episode 82 (on Trinity Lutheran), Episode 85 (which was originally a Patreon-only exclusive),Episode 111, Episode 131, and most recently, Episode 171.
  5. Finally, please consider supporting the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/law

Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

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

Don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!

And email us at openarguments@gmail.com


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OA171: Andrew Seidel Joins the Five-Timers Club

Today’s episode welcomes back one of our favorite guests — and the show’s only five-time guest, Andrew Seidel, attorney with the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Together, Andrew, Andrew, and Thomas tackle a bunch of church and state separation issues.  First, they break down Andrew Seidel’s recent success in convincing the New Jersey Supreme Court to strike down a grant program that spent taxpayer dollars rebuilding churches and saved the citizens of New Jersey more than a quarter of a billion dollars!

Then, the gang does a deep dive into a pending law in Kansas that would permit adoption agencies within the state to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation (or anything else that offended the organization’s… wait for it… sincerely-held religious beliefs).

Finally, we end with the answer to Thomas (and Andrew!) Take The Bar Exam question #74 about the admissibility of evidence.  Don’t forget to following our Twitter feed (@Openargs) and like our Facebook Page so that you too can play along with #TTTBE!

Recent Appearances

Andrew was the recent guest masochist on Episode 141 of the God Awful Movies podcast, reviewing “Cries of the Unborn.”  Check it out!

Show Notes & Links

  1. Click here to read the Morris County Opinion discussed during the “A” segment.
  2. And if you want to see the legislative notes from the Kansas adoption bill, you should click here.
  3. We broke down the Masterpiece Cakeshop case in Episode 105, and you can follow along with the guys by reading the transcript of the Masterpiece Cakeshop oral argument before the Supreme Court!
  4. If you love Andrew Seidel, you might want to go back to his  FOUR previous appearances on the show, Episode 82 (on Trinity Lutheran), Episode 85 (which was originally a Patreon-only exclusive),Episode 111, and most recently, Episode 131.
  5. Finally, please consider supporting the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/law

Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

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

Don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!

And email us at openarguments@gmail.com


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