Opening Arguments

VR47 - Federal agents raided Ilhan Omar's house this week, possibly over a decades-old conspiracy theory. Matt Explains what the media are getting wrong about the incident. Along the way we hear from Russian foreign correspondent Benny Johnson and his "deep research."

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OA1304 - Qualified immunity does not strike again! In a case out of the 10th circuit, with the same plaintiff from last week's Rosales v. Lewis/Terrell, the court once again refuses qualified immunity to an officer who was wildly out of line. Learn about immunity for municipalities and standing rules, the multi-factor tests for excessive use of force against an armed civilian, and a unique alternative perspective on how qualified immunity should work from the concurrence.

Cases and sources discussed:

OA1303 - Rapid Response Friday kicks off with two major under-the-radar stories that you may not hear anywhere else about major federal decisions out of Florida and Massachusetts which may remove two important tools from Trump's fascist toolbox. We also explain how the subject of Matt's exclusive OA report from the front lines of deportation defense last July on how ICE was trying to rewrite the law of mandatory ICE detention has just become the single most important immigration case in the Supreme Court's coming term.

Finally, Matt goes gorilla mode for today's footnote to share the...

VR46 - This week on Vapid Response Wednesday: A Bari Weiss double feature! We kick off with an amuse douche from CBS News's chill hang with a cool guy from Trenton. Samuel Alito grew up with a dream: doing incalculable damage to women's healthcare by destroying the Constitutional abortion rights previously guaranteed by Roe v. Wade, apparently because no one was really using them anyway? Does Samuel Alito even hear himself talk anymore?

We then take up the closest thing the Trump era has seen to an intellectual case for mass deportation from one of its poshest...

OA1302 - Qualified immunity can be overcome! In the fifth circuit?! Come hear the good news, and learn some fourth amendment traffic stop rules along the way.

CHECK YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION. Deadlines for your state can be found here.

Cases discussed:

USPS v. California et al.

Check out the OA Linktree...

OA1301 - IT'S FASCISM RESPONSE FRIDAY, and it's a lot. DOJ just filed a complaint trying to get every single active federal judge in Minnesota booted off immigration cases, and the "evidence" is a judge telling the New York Times the truth. The Supreme Court just let deportations to countries people aren't even from happen again. And we cannot stop laughing about the executive order that just declared this the "era of superintelligence." There's good news too, but you'll have to listen for that.

Cases discussed:

Complaint Against Judges of the U.S. District Court...

VR45 - Today on Vapid Response: 25 years after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, we look back on the Forrest Gump of monstrously bad legal takes: former DOJ lawyer and current UC Berkeley law professor (!) John Yoo. We go back to the primary sources to show how the Office of Legal Counsel explicitly authorized torture, indefinite detention in Guantanamo Bay, and warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens before giving Secretary of State Marco Rubio a chance to explain why the world should never hold the United States accountable for any of it.

Cases and sources discussed:

OA1300 - The “insanity defense” might sound like a relic of a time when mental illness was viewed through the lens of demons and witches, and it turns out it is… but also maybe it’s kind of woke? Jenessa walks us through the history of Old English and Early American iterations of the defense, various tests that are applied today, and what happens afterwards that most people don’t get to see.

Cases and sources discussed:

Chris Liberati-Conant “It’s Time To Take ‘Hygiene’ out of the Mental Hygiene Law”

Legal Information Institute summary of...

OA1299 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: what crimes might Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) have been complicit in, and why won't she ever be prosecuted for any of them? We go deeper into the law behind the facts exposed in ProPublica's outstanding investigation into her SuperPAC's coordination of illegal campaign contributions from a naval defense contractor.

We then take a closer look at another damning investigation, this time of the Florida state-run immigration facility formerly known as "Alligator Alcatraz" from a surprising source: the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General. We already knew...

Coyote vs. Acme is such a fun movie. Thomas and Lydia saw it with the kids, Matt tried to borrow some kids to see it with, and has some fun legal observations for us.

BUT! Before that, it's a special series premiere of ACCOUNTING'ed AWFUL MOVIES! Because there is some real financial shenanigans with this movie. Everyone says it got shelved for tax reasons. But that's wrong! It's actually so much worse than that...

$2+ Patrons already have the full episode at patreon.com/law.

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places...

OA1298 - Voting rights attorney Jenessa is back with a sprawling tour of election chaos, starting with the Supreme Court's unsigned order in USPS v. California: nobody knows the vote count, and the real fight on the merits waits for 2028. Then: the USPS whistleblower letter reveals a system built on oral-only instructions and batch ballot rejection for any single problem, from a mismatch to a misscanned barcode. Meanwhile, a district court in DSCC v. Trump adds another layer: an injunction that even bars states from volunteering. Next, a USCIS whistleblower letter exposes an unlawful voter-fraud investigation targeting naturalized citizens...

OA1297 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: SCOTUS once again confirms the color of the sky, the latest failures in DOJ’s attempts to prosecute Trump’s political opponents, why the most important immigration agency you’ve never heard of has decided as a matter of law that Trump fixed Venezuela by illegally kidnapping its president, and how NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani is  trying to stop Trump 2.0 from bringing new life to one of the worst failed immigration policies of 1.0.

Finally, in today’s footnote: Kash Patel screws the pooch while trying to explain the FBI’s bizarre n...

VR44 - This week on Vapid Response: we survey some of MAGA’s worst takes on the recent mistrial of Lindsay Clancy, all the way from “women are too woke and emotional to be on juries," to “the man who acted out of emotion to ignore the law is the true hero.” Also: the manosphere’s casual endorsement of domestic violence against women who want to talk about their own mental health, and a quick refresh on the incredibly nuanced reality of a mental health defense in Massachusetts.

You can watch the episode here!

Jury instruction...

OA1296 - Dave Wedge is a veteran Boston reporter and New York Times bestselling author who covered (among many other things) hundreds of murder trials as a reporter for the Boston Herald and other local outlets. Dave joins OA to discuss his new book Blizzard of Lies, the definitive account of the prosecution and two unsuccessful attempts to prosecute Karen Read for the still-unexplained death of Boston police officer John O’Keefe. Beyond its excellent coverage of one of the most infamous prosecutions in modern Massachusetts history, Dave’s book takes an objective look at the case for a fasc...

OA1295 - Today on Rapid Response Friday: your questions about the Lindsay Clancy mistrial, actual justice for the Tate brothers, Trump’s mystery meat, and the Fifth Circuit’s extremely normal holding that there is no cognizable Constitutional right to clean water and/or honest government.

Finally, today’s footnote recognizes the 60th anniversary of the original Star Trek series with a five-minute mission to boldly go where no podcast has gone before: the strange new world of a poorly-drafted clause in creator Gene Roddenberry’s divorce settlement which was more trouble than a cargo hold full of Tribbl...

VR43 - Today on this special edition of Vapid Response: ICE boot enthusiast Milo Yiannopolous is not a particularly interesting person, but his recent unexpected removal to the UK makes for quite a teaching moment. Matt brings 20 years of instincts and experience as a deportation defense attorney to some of the more mysterious questions surrounding Yiannopolous’s recent encounter with the realities of immigration enforcement and ensuing swift removal to the UK. How did someone on an “extraordinary ability” visa (lol) who was married to a US citizen end up with a removal order? How did he hold down this s...

OA1294 - Haley Moss was the first openly autistic woman to practice law in Florida, and she is now an advocate for disability, autism, and neurodiversity in the workplace. She joins Matt and Thomas to discuss what law firm hiring managers need to know about autistic lawyers, why people in a profession which attracts neurodiversity are still so reluctant to disclose it, and the kinds of simple accommodations which can help lawyers on the spectrum thrive. 

Haley Moss’s website

Great Minds Think Differently: Neurodiversity for Lawyers and Other Professionals, Haley Moss (2021)

Talking the...

OA1293 - In this extra-special Rapid Response Friday, Thomas visits Boston to record live in Matt’s office and talk out two very different legal stories in the news that the media aren’t quite getting right this week.

THE TRIAL OF LINDSAY CLANCY: Why were the defense and the prosecution both talking past each other in their closing arguments, and what is everyone missing about why Massachusetts law makes it nearly impossible for Clancy to present the defense that most people seem to believe that she is putting on?

THE DEPORTATION OF MILO YIANNOPOLOUS: How...

Hey folks, no VR this week because Lydia and I are traveling. (We're in Boston, going to record RRF live together with Matt!) But folks NEED to hear this episode of Gavel Gavel we did. It's so absurd.

Gavel Gavel Episode 83:

Thomas, Lydia, and Matt dig into a newly released federal indictment out of Minneapolis, where ICE's undercover operation, officially named Operation Puppet Master, has charged roughly 15 protesters under the same statute as the sandwich guy. The conspiracy map names a boxing club, a bike club, and some of the largest unions in America. The...

OA1292 - Jenessa takes us through the Supreme Court's 6-3 shadow docket ruling in Trump v. California, which lifted a preliminary injunction blocking Trump's executive order directing the U.S. Postal Service to gatekeep mail-in ballot delivery before the midterms. Is this a procedural technicality or a five-alarm fire for November? And what does it mean that the Postal Service published its final rule on a Friday night, in apparent violation of an injunction, right before the Court's Monday ruling? Jenessa walks through the chaotic docket, Judge Talwani's genius pivot, and why Justice Jackson's 20-page solo dissent might be...

OA1291 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: the single biggest consumer protection settlement ever reached with any U.S. company puts new guardrails on younger social media users, a federal judge refuses to let Steve Bannon off the hook just because DOJ asked him to, an under-the-radar example of ICE’s determination to get around federal court orders, and Trump’s new war on how law schools are accredited. Finally in today’s footnote, we honor absolute legend Dolly Parton with a cosmic coincidence: a special shoutout in a federal judicial decision published on the day we lost her.<...

VR42 - Thomas, Matt, and Lydia take a long, hard look at America First Legal's podcast "The Arena," hosted by Gene Hamilton, Stephen Miller's longtime ally. AFL runs a segment called "Bad Legal Takes," complete with the silliest jingle for a fascist outlet anyone has ever heard. Also none of the takes are even takes. And they aren't bad. Nor legal.

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

OA1290 - Jenessa returns with a surveillance grab bag: a New York mayor declares a bizarre "emergency" to keep her city's Flock cameras running after the city council said no, and a state lawsuit arguing license plate readers are flatly unconstitutional, no federal court needed. Plus a federal bill that could make biased AI hiring and healthcare tools very expensive, and the surprisingly deadly reason some camera poles might already be illegal.

Cases discussed:

Common Council of Troy v. Mantello

Umamoto v. Westchester County

AI Civil Rights Act

Check...

OA1289 - Is Disney/ABC’s bold new legal action against the Trump administration one of the most important First Amendment challenges  of our lifetimes, or just another Mickey Mouse operation? Matt explains. Also an explainer on the legally questionable end of Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador, a new ICE purchase that will truly shock you, and a footnote on how the lawyer who put himself in a fancy Star Wars-themed Superbowl ad turned to the Dark Side.

FCC order to ABC affiliates noting that ABC is under investigation for violations of FCC rules and “discriminatory” hiring...

VR41 - What does a “moderate conservative” sound like in August 2026? Thomas and Matt take a closer look at two very different self-proclaimed “moderates” representing the best and brightest in MAGA apologism. We begin with some low points from Tim Pool’s recent appearance on the gimmicky “Surrounded” debate series before taking on our main story:  a National Review cover piece by Dan McLaughlin on the “broken” asylum system which demonstrates exactly the kind of finely nuanced understanding of U.S. immigration policy you might expect from the man better known to golden-era Twitter users as The Baseball Crank.

OA1288 - What happens when a hotheaded cop who isn’t interested in putting in much effort to solve a crime meets up with another cop who thinks computers are infallible? A man with no criminal record who lives 300 miles from the crime scene and has no conceivable connection to the crime gets arrested. Hear the ACLU lay out the case for strict guardrails on the use of facial identification software, and training officers to… like do their job at all. Bonus: Learn about Jenessa’s doppleganger / who to blame if she ever gets arrested.

Compl., Dillon v. Cit...

OA1287 - Today on Rapid Response Friday:  Todd “Two Taints” Blanche flexes his new freedom as two Tates blanch at the loss of theirs, and a lawsuit over a cinematic heist starring Nicolas Cage.

Applicability of Executive Privilege to Presidential Communications with Private Advisers, Office of Legal Counsel (8/10/2026)

Second Superseding Indictment in United States of America v. Southern Poverty Law Center Inc. and Heidi Beirich, Middle District of Alabama (8/11/2026)

Secretary Rubio Terminates Green Cards of Foreign Nationals Tied to Infamous Iranian Regime Propagandist, U.S. Department of State (4/11/2026)

One Woman’s Message...

VR40 - This Vapid Response Wednesday, we note the end of Ross Douthat’s 17-year run as the resident New York Times conservative columnist with a drive-by review of some of his most willfully clueless work--and a closer look at his recent farewell message in which he provides a fitting capstone to a long career of willfully ignoring everything about how and why the American right went full MAGA.

You can WATCH this episode, too!

“Europe’s Minaret Moment,” Ross Douthat, New York Times (12/6/2009)

“Confessions of a Columnist,” Ross Douthat, New York Times (1/2/2016)

“The...

OA1286 - NYU Law professor and Strict Scrutiny co-host Melissa Murray joins to discuss (among many other things) her new book, Sonia Sotomayor’s dance moves, and why actually reading the Constitution matters now more than ever. 

Professor Murray’s book The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader is this month’s OA Book Club selection, and we’ll be meeting to discuss it via Zoom on August 30, 2026 at 4:30 PM EST. This is a perk available to patrons at ALL tiers!

The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for...

OA1285 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: regulators, mount up! We take a closer look at the actual documents provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee by Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche which convinced John Cornyn and Thom Tillis to change their votes, how deregulation caused a national cyclospora outbreak (and the legal response to it), and state efforts to stop the “prediction market” racket which the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been all too happy to ignore. And in today’s footnote: three very different cases which prove why prediction markets shouldn’t be a thing at all.

VR39 - Vapid Response Wednesday returns with a tasteful pairing of stories about alleged anti-Italian discrimination that go together like chianti and red sauce.

Today's specials include:

Aperitivo: a tasteless morsel from the least deserving recipient in the history of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor

Primo: a chef’s kiss Washington Examiner oped on how NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani “erased” Little Italy

Secondo: a spicy molto grosso meatball of a Boston lawsuit over alleged anti-Italian-American discrimination gives a federal court indigestion

Dolce: our patrons! Listen ad-free and suppor...

OA1284 - Can a modern court implement modern solutions? It really depends on your perspective. Despite some baffling misconceptions about how… anything works, the Justices seem to be doing a pretty good job of ultimately deciding that yes, police do in fact need a warrant to deeply invade your digital privacy. While Kavanaugh appears to have the entire concept of data storage and search queries upside down and backwards, Gorsuch asks complex questions about metadata versus true content, how data is stored in individual accounts, and what other types of data would be exposed if police were allowed to se...

Apologies for being a little late on this one!
Donald Trump sued the IRS, an agency he currently runs, for leaking his own tax returns, and asked for a cool $10 billion. Thomas, Lydia, and Matt dig through the actual complaint and a judge's increasingly suspicious rulings, all timed suspiciously close to Todd Blanche's confirmation hearing. It is dumber, and more corrupt, than it sounds.

Cases discussed:

Trump v. IRS

Littlejohn leak case

Patrons at patreon.com/gavelpod can listen to Part 2 right now!

LAM1015 - Jimmy Smits stars as a gambling, sports-shooting Supreme Court Justice with a law clerk paid to fend off his advances, in NBC's forgotten 2010 flop Outlaw. Thomas, Matt, and Lydia can barely get through a single scene without stopping to ask what this show thinks a Justice actually does. This free 45-minute preview only scratches the surface of how bad it gets.

$2+ Patrons already have this full episode, plus an early part 2 of Jenessa's 4th Amendment privacy deep dive, at patreon.com/law. Friday brings a Gavel Gavel crossover on the ruling that blew up Trump...

OA1282 - Is anything private any more? Depends which Supreme Court Justice you ask. To kick off a series of episodes around data privacy and the law, first Jenessa walks us through a string of Supreme Court cases addressing 4th Amendment rights and technology. In part 1, we cover landmark cases with wiretapping, beepers, GPS trackers, thermal imaging, and more. Stick around for part 2 to hear how the modern composition of the court is responding to the proliferation of new technologies.

Cases discussed:

Olmstead v. United States

Katz v. United States

United...

OA1281 - As we wait on the final vote tally for Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche, we take a look at written responses which he recently provided into the record to answer a wide range of Senate questions the day after his hearing concluded. We also take a closer look at how the 5th Circuit is trying to make a recent Clarence Thomas concurrence into law, and how Thomas’s retrograde reading of the Constitution’s Commerce Clause could end federal firearms charges and potentially take one of the pillars of the entire federal criminal punishment system along with them...

Peter O’Neil was preparing for retirement after decades of practicing law when he learned that he was autistic at the age of 65. This realization inspired his memoir My So-Called Disorder: Autism, Exploding Trucks, and the Big Daddy of Rock and Roll, in which he looks back at his life and legal career to better understand how his neurodiversity played a role in both his most significant personal challenges and the unique professional talents which helped him to take on some of the largest corporations in the US as a products liability attorney. In this unusual intergenerational exchange between la...

OA1279 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: A federal judge rips up the corrupt “settlement” Trump reached with his own IRS at the unprecedented request of a group of 35 former federal judges just in time time for aspiring Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing, humanizing the latest victims of ICE, and a metafootnote about a DC judge who hates footnotes nearly as much as Matt loves them.

The Agenda:

Williams' IRS ruling

Blanche confirmation hearing

Salgado Araujo shooting

Duran Guerrero shooting

Boasberg's footnote crusade

Che...

VR38 - This week in Vapid Response Thomas, Lydia, and Matt review some truly awful takes from a MAGA economist on the true cause of low crime rates, Rep. Nancy Mace on her extremely real and not-at-all-racist concerns about the dangers of judges with dual citizenship, and a then-20-year-old Rolling Stone columnist in 1969 on his immediate disdain for what would become one of the greatest rock albums of all time.

“Trump’s Immigration Enforcement Really is Slashing Violent Crime,” John R. Lott, Jr, The Federalist (July 9, 2026)

FBI’s National Crime Victims Survey data

“Gover...

OA1278 - On its face, the decision in Watson is a pretty narrow ruling. Some states allow ballots postmarked on or before election day, but arriving after election day, to be counted. The court decided they can continue to do so.

But at stake was so much more. Bubbling under the surface, election deniers were trying to open a door to far more aggressive limitations on voting rights. With this decision, that door is quite firmly shut… by Barrett? Come hear Jenessa try to survive the cognitive dissonance of finding an ACB opinion extremely well-written, thorough, and ap...