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Advisory Opinions

Advisory Opinions is a legal podcast by The Dispatch. Hosts David French and Sarah Isgur meet twice a week to talk about the law, the courts, their collision with politics, and why it all matters.

Copyright: © 2022 The Dispatch

Latest Episodes:

Will President Biden Pardon His Son? Jun 04, 2024

Show notes

Sarah and David detail Hunter Biden’s legal predicament and discuss the impact it will have on the political landscape. Is this coercive bargaining in action?

The Agenda:

—Food poisoning etiquette

—Hunter Biden's federal case

—Prosecuting Donald Trump

—Abortion opinion out of Texas Supreme Court

—Insights into the Supreme Court’s decision-making process

—SCOTUS watch

Show Notes:

—Steve Calabresi for the Volokh Conspiracy

—Sarah's piece for the New York Times

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The Rights the Constitution Doesn’t Tell You About May 31, 2024

Show notes

Akhil Amar, Sterling Professor of Law at Yale University, joins Sarah and David to read between the lines of the Constitution to find and define unenumerated rights. Be sure to check out his books, America's Unwritten Constitution: The Precedents and Principles We Live By and The Words that Made Us: America's Constitutional Conversation, 1760-1840. And stick around after the interview for a brief Alito flag update.

—Akhil Amar’s two-tier theory of jurisdictions

—AO episode with Judge Newsom mentioning unenumerated rights

—Ezra Klein's article on the Second Amendment

—District of Columbia v. Heller

—McDonald v. City of Chicago

—New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen

—Akhil Amar's podcast

—NRA v. Vullo decision

—Casey Mattox's tweet on NRA v. Vullo

—SCOTUS clears the way for Louisiana to use a new congressional map

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Indictment Watch Live: Trump's Guilty Verdict May 31, 2024

Show notes

In an emergency live dispatch, Sarah and David discuss the historic verdict in Trump's New York hush money case. Expect to hear sentencing expectations, appeal efforts, and how voters will reach.

Show Notes:

-Mike and Sarah’s Collision newsletter on the outcome of the case

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On Racial Redistricting May 23, 2024

Show notes

Sarah gives us a taste of her interview with retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer before she and David dive into the latest SCOTUS ruling on racial gerrymandering.

The Agenda:

—Justice Breyer and the Major Questions Doctrine

—Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP

—Conduct vs. speech and Morgan Wallen’s Nashville bar

—Random swipes at text, history, and tradition from David

—Approving a SCOTUS nominee from opposing parties?

—Amending the amendment process

—Codifying the judicial filibuster

—Justice Samuel Alito flag watch

Show Notes:

—Previous AO episode on voting rights in Alabama

—City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising of Austin, LLC

—Equal Protection Clause

—Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act

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When to Recuse May 21, 2024

Show notes

Is Justice Alito a secret election denier? Is his wife chronically online? Were these allegations the point of a New York Times article about hanging the American flag upside down? Or is this a nothingburger? Sarah and David discuss.

The Agenda:

—Appearances of impropriety

—Husbands: What would you do if someone called your wife the C-word?

—Asserting executive privilege over audio recordings

—No, Zina Bash did not make a white power symbol

—Nixon tapes and Biden’s interview

—The opposite of a nationwide injuction

—Tacos are sandwiches

—Tacos are not sandwiches

—David on how to deal with bullies

Show Notes:

—Results: ACLI Capital Challenge

—Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Trump's taxes

—Judge Stephen Reinhardt refuses to recuse in 9th Circuit case

—"Trump faker" accusation

—Hur/Biden transcripts

—Akhil Amar: "Second Thoughts"

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Should Judges Get Political? May 16, 2024

Show notes

Do judges have an important role to play in society beyond judging? Judge Lee Rudofsky takes the affirmative, while Orin Kerr disagrees in this special AO episode debating this topic. Sarah and David also discuss the latest SCOTUS cases.

Show Notes:

—Judges write letter saying they won't hire law clerks from Columbia

—Kerr: Do Judges "Have an Important Role to Play in Our Society" Beyond Judging?

—Code of Conduct for United States Judges

—Staying Off the Sidelines: Judges as Agents for Justice System Reform

—Appearances by Sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justices at Congressional Committee and Subcommittee Hearings (1960-2022)

—Drops in Jewish enrollment in elite universities

—CFPB v. Community Financial Services Association of America, Limited

—Are tacos and burritos sandwiches?

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Presidential Stakes May 14, 2024

Show notes

Sarah and David start things off with a discussion of Trump’s trials and how he might respond to the outcome of the election. Are David’s concerns overblown?

The Agenda:

—Trump’s New York trial

—Chilling speech over anti-Israel protests and one law school dean's private dinner party

—Mocking Michael Cohen

—Civil forfeiture SCOTUS ruling

—When prison guards shave a Rastafarian's dreads

—Firing gay teachers

Show Notes:

—Trial of Ted Stevens

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Class in Session: Jurisdiction Stripping May 09, 2024

Show notes

Eleventh Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom takes over the role as professor to teach Sarah and David the implications of jurisdiction stripping and the balance of power between the branches of government. We’ll sum the lesson up as … Congress, do your job.

The Agenda:

—Judges say they won’t hire from Columbia Law School

—Explaining the exceptions clause

—Constraints over jurisdiction stripping by Congress

—Marbury powers

—Congress taking a more active role in constitutional interpretations

Show Notes:

—David for the NYT: The Magic Constitutionalism of Donald Trump

—Felker v. Turpin

—Sheldon v. Sill

—Judge Newsom's mention of Bruen in the AO episode from June 2022

—Judiciary Act of 1979

—Akhil Amar's two-tier theory of jurisdictions

—Daniel Epps' article in Columbia Law Review

—Monday’s AO podcast

—Henry Hart’s dialogue with self in the Harvard Law Review

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Originalism v. Common Law May 07, 2024

Show notes

Judge Edmund Sargus from the Southern District of Ohio joins Sarah and David to take on originalism and different means of constitutional interpretation.

The Agenda:

—Brown v. Board of Education and the different judicial philosophies that can be applied to the case

—Originalism vs. common law traditionalism

—Challenges and limitations of textualism and originalism

—Landmark cases and the Supreme Court’s decisions shaping societal progress

—Interpreting ambiguous constitutional terms like ‘equal protection’ and ‘due process’

—Thus ends DEI

Show Notes:

—Plessy v. Ferguson

—Rutan v. Republican Party

—Bostock v. Clayton County

—Loving v. Virginia

—A blast from the past: Rep. James A. Traficant found guilty of corruption

—David for the NYT: The Magic Constitutionalism of Donald Trump

—Seceding from Secession: The Civil War, Politics, and the Creation of West Virginia

—Fifth Circuit opinion from Judge Andrew Oldham

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Tears of Scrutiny May 02, 2024

Show notes

It’s a silent spring in Texas as Pornhub pulls out of the state in an act of protest over a law requiring age verification measures. Sarah and David go through the legal battle between the explicit site and Texas AG Ken Paxton.The Agenda:

—Sarah’s high

—Texas law requiring age verification to access pornography online

—The tiers of scrutiny in constitutional law

—The role of text, history, and tradition

—Going through the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023

—Understanding the differences between Medicare and Medicaid can be challenging, even for lawmakersShow Notes:

—Sarah’s Remnant episode

—Jacobellis v. Ohio

—Ginsberg v. New York

—Ashcroft v. ACLU

—Child Online Protection Act

—Wickard v. Filburn Wilker

—United States v. Carolene Products Company

—David for NYT: Ban Online Porn for Kids

—David for NYT: One Party Has a Serious Foreign Policy Problem. The Other Has a Tantrum.

—A class-action lawsuit against Columbia

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