Advisory Opinions

Sarah and David discuss the legal arguments and media spin around the Mifepristone abortion pill case. The Agenda: —Mifepristone at the Supreme Court —SCOTUS and the 5th Circuit —Arresting a 72-year-old woman —The "Burning Man" festival of Alaska —Red brief, green brief, orange brief too —The stigma of the green bubbles and the DOJ's antitrust case against Apple Show Notes: —Oral argument transcript, FDA v. Alliance Hippocratic Medicine —Federal Judge Roy J...

In this double-guest special, David Lat shares his original reporting on the exodus of Judge Aileen Cannon’s clerks and its implications for Trump's classified documents case. Judge David Proctor of the Northern District of Alabama then joins to explain the history and function of the federal judiciary and its committees, including the Judicial Conference...

Sarah and David dive into the battle (one that at times stumps our resident SCOTUS wonks) between the 5th Circuit and the Supreme Court on Texas’ deportation legislation. The Agenda: —Texas’ SB4, explained —Important legal glossary —The issue with administrative stays —Why the delay at the Fifth Circuit? —Opinion in chambers from Justice Roberts —FBI No-Fly List Case —First Amendment and Government Coercion —NRA free speech battle —Listener feedback Learn more about your ad choices...

Sarah and David discuss Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s opinion in Lindke v. Freed—released last week by the Supreme Court—and the test for state action on social media. Is there a constitutional right to commenting on state officials’ accounts? The Agenda: -Predicting SCOTUS votes for Net Choice -Slime in the ice machine -Justice Elena Kagan’s compelling reasoning for saying “and” means “or” -Terrorism distortion and special needs exceptions to the Fourth Amendment -The 5th U.S...

Sarah and David react to the Robert Hur’s congressional testimony, but first Sarah responds to a recent article that claimed she was assisting Hur in his testimony (and thanks the loyal listeners who came to her defense)...

Despite a slow start to the week in legal news, Sarah and David have a tightly packed episode today starting with a dissent from denial from Justice Thomas on bias response teams at a Virginia university. The Agenda: —Bias response teams —ACLU vs...

David takes the first ten minutes to respond to Twitter trolls over his latest New York Times article before he and Sarah revisit their arguments over the Supreme Court’s per curium ruling on the Trump-Colorado case. The Agenda: —Defending the Supreme Court —Erasing the Constitution —Confusion over the Trump ruling —Consequentialism vs...

The Supreme Court issued an unanimous decision on Monday dismissing efforts to block Trump from the Colorado ballot. Sarah and David review the ruling and then go on to  disagree about pretty much everything. Stay tuned for a feisty debate...

Sarah and David have some legal catch-up to do but first on the docket is some rank punditry on Donald Trump's endless legal saga. The Agenda: —Why is there a delay on Trump’s cases? —David explains NetChoice v. Paxton —McElrath v. Georgia update —No Labels considers Nikki Haley —Dr. Phil’s our guy —Home Depot and free speech —NCAA name, image, likeness rules —AO dating app update Today's episode is supported by Burford Capital. Follow the link to learn more: http://burfordcapital...

Former U.S. Assistant Attorneys General Stephen Boyd and Jody Hunt, as well as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Prim Escalona join Sarah Isgur for a live recording of Advisory Opinions at the University of Alabama. The Agenda: —An update on the Alabama IVF ruling —To go to law school or not to go? —Private practice vs public service —Relationship and mom advice in high-stressed jobs —Audience QA Show Notes: —Chevron Deference discussed on Advisory Opinions...