law

Law School Doesn't Have to Suck

T3BE 25

I am pleased to introduce you all to Heather Varanini! In her role as Director of Academic Achievement, Heather spends her days helping students succeed in law school and prepare for the Bar. She's onboard to serve as the Official Opening Arguments Bar Tutor and teach us a lot along the way! In this episode we'll hear more about her journey and the values that she brings to her work; for this week, we do a full Bar Question and Answer to give a sense of what we're in for wi...

Benjamin Netanyahu: International Fugitive?

OA1035

A second Alito flag has hit the news, we have election results out of Fulton County, and the jury is nearly out in Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial. Matt also answers patron questions about how things could go wrong with the jury between now and the verdict, as well as why juries everywhere are so rarely sequestered anymore.

After a brief detour past a very important class-action suit against Hershey’s for the insufficient jauntiness of its Halloween candy, we tur...

What Should OA Cover This #RapidResponseFriday?

It's that time again! What do you want to hear OA cover for Friday?

Please let us know! And also, please use that heart button on comments to give us an indication of numbers, so we can gauge interest!

And, if you have specific legal questions on a given topic, feel free to comment with them!

Why Is Alito Like This

OA 1034

With the recent news that a sitting Supreme Court justice was publicly displaying support for Trump’s attempted coup in the days between January 6, 2021 and Joe Biden’s inauguration, it’s time to ask: Is Samuel Alito actually worse than our very low opinion of him? Also who could have possibly known that a hard-right Reagan/Buckley conservative who has been publicly advocating for ending abortion rights since 1985 would turn out to be the ultra-...

Liz Warren's CFPB Saved By... Originalism?

OA1033

We begin with a quick check-in on Trump’s trial in New York, from the recent appellate ruling on his gag order Todd Blanche's bizarrely personal  start to his cross-examination of the most important witness in one of the most important criminal trials in US history. Matt then explains why it might be a felony to run for governor in Washington State if your name is Bob Ferguson. 

Then: Clarence Thomas just rejected an originalist 5th Circuit ruling to save the 2024-05-17 08:45:42 +0000 UTC View Post

What Should OA Cover This #RapidResponseFriday?

We're back at it! We've got a Rapid Response coming up fast; what do you want to hear OA cover for Friday?

Please let us know! And also, please use that heart button on comments to give us an indication of numbers, so we can gauge interest!

And, if you have specific legal questions on a given topic, feel free to comment with them!

Need your opinion

Hey folks!

I badly want to change the OA artwork and I wanted to know how you all feel about it. I have the best podcast art guy in the world, I swear. And though he can be tough to get ahold of, I'm confident he'll want to work on a new thing. But I also saw someone say the other day they loved the art, and I wouldn't want to change something that people liked if I was in the minority on it. So as I see it, there are 3 main options, let me know what you think!

Steve Vladeck's Taxonomy of Court Reform

OA1032

We're very pleased to welcome Steve Vladeck on the show to talk about what's going on with the Supreme Court these days, and how shadowy their docket has been recently. We then dig into (and debate a touch) a recent piece he wrote regarding a different way to conceptualize about court reform, and what he personally sees as viable and appropriate among the various propo...

Cannabis Rescheduling; Judge Cannon Stops Trump Trial

OA1031

First up, BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS!!! The Trump Trial Transcript readings will now only be available on patreon.com/gavelpod! Details inside.

Then: the Biden administration is moving forward with rescheduling marijuana to a lower federal classification--and Matt is not happy about it? Find out why this long-overdue acknowledgment of the over-criminalization of cannabis may not only be too little too...

Ask Me Anything About the Whole Thing

Hey folks, no regularly scheduled #rapidresponseFriday thread this week, for a number of reasons. Let me update you a little!

The transcript trial coverage stuff is valuable enough, fun enough, and in demand enough that I 100% want to do it. However, it's going to either have to be the only thing we do for OA for the foreseeable future, or else we somehow need to do that massively labor intensive thing PLUS keep up old OA. I have a solution and I'm very excited about it. Hopefully I ca...

Trump's Attorney Fails To Impeach Witness So Badly He's Forced To Apologize

OA1030: It's more Trump Trial Transcripts! Go easy on Mr. Bove, it's his first day...

This episode centers around David Pecker's testimony and it's basically rock solid. Trump's attorneys are desperate, so Mr. Bove goes for the juggler! And then everyone has to explain it's actually "jugular" why in the world would you go for the "juggler?" Why would that be the idiom? In what world are jugglers like, crucial components of anything, at which you would want to go in order to really hurt ...

It's Over. It's Finally Fucking Over.

Big announcement! Finally.

Heads up, if you're a new listener or just here for the law pod, you may want to skip. Or listen at your own risk.

tl;dr: Smith v. Torrez is settled. Andrew is out of the company. Permanently and completely. I have not signed any NDA.

Judge Merchan: I Have Nothing BUT Contempt for This Trump

OA1029: Trump Trial, Week 2, Part 1!

Lordy, there are tapes! Our special coverage of People v. Trump continues, now with readings from Juilliard-trained, Tony-winning actors Thomas and Lydia Smith! (none of that is true except possibly our names.)

Donald Trump is now the first U.S. President ever to be held in contempt of court. Exactly how criminal is "criminal contempt" in New York, and what does this mean for the rest of the trial? Also, Matt takes us on a fascinating mini-dive...

Episode Delay Because Massive

Hey folks! So, as you all know, this Trump Trial Thursday format is completely brand new. That is - to cover the trial, provide transcript reads, and provide analysis. Oh and tack on T3BE.

Well, my current theory is that Matt reads stuff SO quickly that he may have underestimated how much transcript equals how much time... As a result, we bit off a LOT more than we could chew for this particular episode on what's supposed to be a very short turnaround. So, it's going to have to wait un...

What Should OA Cover This #RapidResponseFriday?

You know the drill, what do you want to hear OA cover for Friday?

However, ALSO, Now with this new Monday-Thursday-Friday schedule, this also gives you folks the chance to ask questions about the Trump Trial as well! More transcript readings are coming, haha.

Please let us know! And also, please use that heart button on comments to give us an indication of numbers, so we can gauge interest!

And, if you have specific legal questions on ...

Just How Bad Were the Oral Arguments Re: Presidential Immunity?

Episode 1028

Can a former President of the United States be prosecuted for trying to overturn a democratic election? The Supreme Court just spent two hours and forty minutes (!) hearing a case in which they were supposed to be reviewing this simple question and Donald Trump’s claims of total immunity. We review the last oral argument of this term and try to cut through the bad faith, irrelevance, and misdirection to understand what is actually happening here and where it all might be ...

Your Guide to The People v. Trump

As the first week of the first criminal trial of a former President in U.S. history wraps up, we prepare for our special coverage of People v. Trump by stepping back to remember how we got here. Why is Donald Trump being prosecuted for paying off Stormy Daniels, anyway? Who are all of these people? How good is the prosecution’s case, really? And what can we expect from the defense? 

We also answer a few patron questions about the trial, after which subscrib...

The Usual #rapidresponse Friday Post, Except Different

Hey folks, this time you DON'T know the drill. This week's Friday episode is going to be Matt's ultimate guide to the NY Trump trial. And so, this week, if you have any questions whatsoever about the trial, post them here so Matt can answer them on the show!

Also, if you do still want to post episode ideas, that's never a bad idea and we'll always take a look at them!

Also also, we're covering some SCOTUS cases soon, probably the immunity and the homelessness one, so any questions...