Tag: SCOTUS

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OA209: Kavanaugh’s Confirmation

Today’s Rapid Response Friday is all about the conclusion of the Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings for Brett Kavanaugh.  What did we learn?  What’s still outstanding?  Are liberals really guilty of trying to bribe Susan Collins?  And, most importantly:  what can we do about any of this??  Listen and find out!

We begin, however, with an important Andrew Was Wrong.

After that, we delve into all the week’s issues surrounding the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, including:  (1) the status of Kavanaugh’s nomination; (2) whether liberal crowdfunding efforts really count as efforts to “bribe” Republican Sen. Susan Collins; (3) an in-depth look at Kavanaugh’s written answers to the Senate Judiciary Committee; (4) a shockingly misleading question from Opening Arguments’s good friend, Sen. Ted Cruz; and finally (5) a preview of next Tuesday’s discussion of a weird case called Glucksburg.  Phew!

After all that, we end with an all new Thomas Takes The Bar Exam #93 regarding double jeopardy.  Did Thomas learn enough from the Ashley Judd Law’d Awful Movie of the same name??  We’ll find out!  And, of course, if you’d like to play along with us, 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!

Appearances

Andrew will be debating originalist (and Kavanaugh clerk!) Justin Reed Wilson in Louisville, Kentucky on September 27 at Impellizzeri’s Pizza.  Be there and be square!

Show Notes & Links

  1. This is the (ugh) Newsmax exclusive about Collins’s accusations of “bribery;” you can click here to see what Ad Fontes thinks about Newsmax as an organization.  The bribery law, of course, is 18 U.S.C. § 201., and the court decision we discuss is McDonnell v. U.S., 136 U.S. 2355 (2016).
  2. Here’s the late-breaking Feinstein letter.
  3. We strongly recommend reading Kavanaugh’s answers.  If you can stomach his misuse of the word “precedent” every few lines.
  4. This is the transcript of Ted Cruz’s “Washington Generals” questions of Kavanaugh, and if you want a head start on next week, you can start reading Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702 (1997).

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OA191: Fact and Fiction About Brett Kavanaugh

Today’s Rapid Response Friday does not take a victory lap about our successful prediction that Brett Kavanaugh would be Donald Trump’s next nominee to the Supreme Court (but seriously, we called that right, y’all.)  Instead, Andrew and Thomas break down some of the current stories surrounding Kavanaugh to separate  fact from fiction and try and articulate the best mainstream case against confirming Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

In the pre-show, we give a shout-out to everyone who made the Opening Arguments Wiki possible — go check it out!  It’s amazing!

After that, Andrew Was Wrong returns with a clarification from Episode 187 where Andrew misspoke.  And also, the guys have a slight laugh at Andrew’s inability to pronounce locations of things.

The main segment tackles a bunch of current stories surrounding Judge Kavanaugh, including:  (1) the allegation that Judge Kavanaugh has concluded that sitting Presidents can’t be indicted; (2) the Yale open letter opposing his nomination; (3) a truly stupid article in The Hill arguing for a lawsuit to block Kavanaugh; (4) the potential conflict of interest with Kennedy’s retirement; and (5) the notion of “packing the Court” in 2020.  Phew!

Next, Andrew gives us an eight-second sneak peek at a court’s refusal to permit the Trump administration to modify the Flores settlement and why that’s good news.

Finally, we end with an all new Thomas Takes The Bar Exam #83 involving spousal privilege.  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 was just a guest co-host on Episode 75 of the Skepticrat podcast; go check it out!  Also, Andrew will be discussing Judge Kavanaugh with conservative talk show host Chuck Morse.  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. For starters, here is the Tweet from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez we criticized, along with the pretty funny humor piece from Andy Borowitz.
  2. You should definitely read Kavanaugh’s 2009 Law Review article “Separation of Powers During the Forty-Fourth Presidency and Beyond” in the Minnesota Law Review.
  3. This is the Yale Open letter.
  4. This is the dreadful Ken Levy article in The Hill that Andrew debunks.
  5. These are the actual Senate Rules, and remember that we broke down the “nuclear option” way back in Episode 59.
  6. On Anthony Kennedy’s negotations, check out Rule 3(C)(1) of the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges, which we previously discussed in Episode 129.
  7. As homework for next week, read the Court’s order denying the Trump Administration’s request to modify the Flores settlement, which we first covered in Episode 184.
  8. Finally, NEVER ENDING FAME AND FORTUNE goes to:Paul Duggan, Zach Aletheia, Eric Brewer, Teresa Gomez, Andrew Hamilton, Robin Hofmann, and Beverly Karpinski-Theunis for creating the OA Wiki!

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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OA189: Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh

Today’s Rapid Response Friday gives you a sneak preview of what to expect from the person we predict will become Donald Trump’s next nominee to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

We discuss:

  • Why it’s likely to be Kavanaugh and not any of the other rumored contenders, especially flavor-of-the-minute Amy Coney Barrett
  • Kavanaugh’s view of the First Amendment’s establishment clause and the future of Lemon v. Kurtzman
  • Kavanaugh’s views on abortion
  • How Kavanaugh differs (and how he doesn’t!) from Neil Gorsuch when it comes to Chevron deference
  • The weird conservative hit squad out to get Kavanaugh
  • And much, much more!

After all that, we end with an all new Thomas Takes The Bar Exam #83 involving assault with an unloaded gun.  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

Thomas was just a guest on Episode 421 of the Cognitive Dissonance Podcast.  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. If you want a head start on Tuesday’s show, check out the just-released Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report.
  2. This is the Notre Dame speech/law review article in which Kavanaugh lays out his judicial philosophy and essentially auditions for the Supreme Court.
  3. We discussed the following cases:  Good News Club v. Milford Central School, 533 U.S. 98 (2001), Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, 530 U.S. 290 (2000), Priests for Life v. Department of Health & Human Services, 808 F.3d 1 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (en banc), Garza v. Hargan, 874 F.3d 735 (D.C. Cir. 2017) (en banc), United States Telecom Ass’n v. FCC (D.C. Cir., 2017) (en banc), PHH v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 881 F.3d 75 (2018) (en banc), Seven-Sky v. Holder, 661 F.3d 1 (D.C. Cir 2011), and Heller v. D.C., 670 F.3d 1244 (D.C. Cir. 2011)!
  4. Right-wing weirdo roundups:  Here’s the National Review endorsement of Kavanaugh; this is the truly bizarre Jacobs piece in The Federalist; and here is the Federalist Society’s own rebuttal.
  5. Finally, a preemptive Andrew Was Wrong:  Here’s Raymond Kethledge’s University of Michigan address on how bad Chevron deference is.

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/law

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OA183: Dissenting on the Supreme Court

**Today’s episode is brought to you by Framebridge! To custom frame your favorite things, go to framebridge.com promo code: OA**

Today’s episode takes a deep dive into two recent 8-1 decisions by the Supreme Court:  Collins v. Virginia and Sveen v. Melin.  What makes a decision nearly unanimous, and what causes that lone Justice to dissent?  Listen and find out!

Our first 8-1 case involves two unique aspects of the 4th Amendment:  the “curtilage” exception and the “automobile” exception.  Which one takes precedence, why, and which Supreme Court justice vehemently disagreed?  Find out if you agree with Thomas — and whether the law is “a ass.”  (Seriously!)

Our second 8-1 case is Sveen v. Melin, which involves whether the state of Missouri can legislate certain presumptions regarding “governing instruments.”  It’s the Contracts Clause!  Seem arcane?  It won’t after you listen to our breakdown!

After that, we answer a fun listener question about how a law firm makes someone a partner in light of our assessment of the Eagan Avenatti law firm in Episode 181.

Finally, we end the answer to Thomas Takes The Bar Exam #80 regarding negligence per se and an impromptu ice rink.  Remember to follow our Twitter feed (@Openargs) and like our Facebook Page so that you too can play along with #TTTBE!

Recent Appearances

Andrew was recently a guest on the David Pakman Show, with a two-part appearance discussing whether President Trump can be indicted and if so, whether he can pardon himself.  You can watch the video on YouTube.

And 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 Supreme Court’s opinion in Collins v. Virginia, and here to check out Sveen v. Melin.
  2. The other decision Andrew referred to was the landmark case of Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948).

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/law

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