Advisory Opinions

Latest Episodes:

Maskgate at the Supreme Court Jan 20, 2022

Show notes

On today’s podcast, David and Sarah break down "Maskgate," the claim that Justice Neil Gorsuch refused to show basic courtesy to Justice Sonia Sotomayor by refusing to wear a mask and find the claims wanting. They ask, "When a report seems to fall apart, what should a reporter do?" They also talk about how Sarah is setting Supreme Court precedents, wonder if a Satanist flag will soon fly over Boston, and discuss for just a few seconds Ted Cruz's very, very boring case at the Supreme Court. They close, however, with a dash of English cultural history that you won't want to miss.

Show Notes:

-Nina Totenberg’s mask story at NPR

-Statement from Justices Sotomayor and Gorsuch

-Statement from Chief Justice Roberts

-Trump v. Thompson

-Advisory Opinions: “January 6 and Executive Privilege”

-Shurtleff v. Boston oral argument transcript

-Federal Election Commission v. Ted Cruz for Senate oral argument transcript

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Amending the Constitution with Professor Levinson Jan 17, 2022

Show notes

On today’s episode, David and Sarah take a quick look at an intriguing cert grant at the Supreme Court and then dive into a fascinating discussion about amending the Constitution with University of Texas law professor Sanford Levinson. He thinks the Constitution has some structural problems, and David and Sarah walk through his critiques. By the end, they ask, is there any constitutional reform that can save us if we’re determined to be dysfunctional?

Show Notes:

-Sarah in Politico: “It’s Time to Amend the Constitution”

-Levinson: “The Iron Cage of Veneration”

-Levinson explains The Democracy Constitution project

-Democracy: “A New Constitution for The United States”

-Levinson: “The Price of an Unchanging Constitution”

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Supreme Court Blocks Vaccine Mandate Jan 14, 2022

Show notes

It's an emergency podcast! (Well, at least in part). David and Sarah recorded a mailbag podcast Thursday morning, complete with fretting about when the Supreme Court would rule in the vaccine mandate cases. Then, SCOTUS ruled! So this podcast keeps the mailbag and cuts the fretting. Instead David and Sarah spend the first half walking through the vaccine opinions. It's exactly the kind of conversation that everyone loves, a deep discussion of administrative law.

Show Notes:

-NFIB v. OSHA

-Biden v. Missouri

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Inside a Supreme Court Argument Jan 10, 2022

Show notes

On today’s episode, David and Sarah do a deep, deep dive into the vaccine mandate oral arguments at the Supreme Court. Sarah walks us through the HOP's (husband of the pod) arguments, and she and David decide the vital question of which basketball analogy to use to describe the likely outcome. They also take a quick look at the health care worker mandate and make their predictions.

Show Notes:

-Biden v. Missouri oral argument

-Nat. Fed'n of Indep. Bus. v. Dept. of Labor oral argument

-Wall Street Journal article with sketch of Scott

-SCOTUSblog: “Court seems poised to block vaccine-or-test policy for workplaces but may allow vaccine mandate for health care workers”

-Reason: “Sloppy Arguments Over COVID Mandates at SCOTUS”

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Revisiting the Electoral Count Act Jan 06, 2022

Show notes

On today’s episode, David and Sarah start with a husband-of-the-pod update, debate a federal district court judge’s ruling temporarily granting more than two dozen Navy SEALs a religious exemption from the Navy’s COVID vaccine mandate, and spend the lion’s share of their time talking about the infernal Electoral Count Act and saving America from electoral chaos.

Show Notes:

-U.S. Navy SEALs 1-26 v. Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

-French Press: “Stop Screwing Around and Reform the Electoral Count Act”

-Reason: “How Justices Scalia, Sotomayor, and Breyer Inscribed Books to RBG”

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Welcome to the Goat Rodeo Jan 03, 2022

Show notes

David and Sarah talk about everything from COVID, to goat rescues, to the Supreme Court, to TikTok in this wide-ranging first pod of 2022. Do you wonder how you rescue a goat? Why is John Roberts the most popular federal official in the land? Is it lawful to discriminate on the basis of race in medical treatment? What's it like to live with a person who's set to argue the biggest SCOTUS case of the new year? Are kids on TikTok fair game for the media? If these are your questions, this podcast has the answers.

Show Notes:

-NY State Department of Health eligibility for Paxlovid or Monoclonal Antibody Treatment

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Live from the Mayflower Hotel: An AO Holiday Special Dec 23, 2021

Show notes

On our last podcast of the year, Sarah takes you to the 2021 National Lawyers Convention at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., and introduces you to a dozen judges from all levels of the judiciary. You get a little law, singing, bourbon and bullets, and some important advice for law students. Did you expect David and Sarah to end the year any other way?

Show Notes:

-Give someone a Dispatch subscription this Christmas

-"We'll Be Back" by Judge Elrod and Judge Eskridge

-Read David in The French Press

-Read Sarah in The Sweep

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Vaccine Mandate Reaches Supreme Court Dec 20, 2021

Show notes

On today’s podcast, David and Sarah dive back into vaccine mandates, as the CMS mandate for health care workers and the OSHA guidelines for private businesses head to the Supreme Court. Then it’s First Amendment and compelled speech time at the 5th circuit with a student from Sarah’s rival high school from back in her football orchestra days. This case has it all: free speech, communists, and Bruce Springsteen. It's also a conversation about the similarities— and differences—with one of David’s long-time favorite cases: West Virginia v. Barnette.

Show Notes:

-6th Circuit upholds vaccine mandate

-Reason: “Biden Administration Imposes Vaccine Mandate on Health Care Facilities that Participate in Medicare or Medicaid”

-Reason: “Health Care Worker Vaccine Mandate Reaches the Supreme Court”

-Oliver v. Arnold

-Born in the U.S.A. lyrics

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Is the ERA part of the Constitution? Dec 17, 2021

Show notes

In today’s episode, Sarah and David discuss the Supreme Court's decision not to enjoin the New York vaccine mandate for health care workers and focus on a very interesting, super-intriguing dissent. Then, they have a conversation with Virginia Solicitor General Michelle Kallen about the Equal Rights Amendment, its ratification by Virginia, and whether the ERA is now part of the Constitution. Finally, with the help of a listener, they finally realize that Sarah's name is a sentence.

Show Notes:

-Dr. A v. Hochul

-Virginia v. Ferriero

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Supreme Court Texas Abortion Law Ruling Said What? Dec 13, 2021

Show notes

If you woke up this morning thinking about Jussie Smollett, the Texas abortion law, California gun rights, and California vaccine mandates, then this is the podcast for you. David and Sarah dive into a legal issue that might overturn Smollet’s conviction, analyze the Supreme Court’s decision to permit a very narrow facial challenge to S.B. 8, discuss Gavin Newsom’s swing-and-miss, and wrap up the main portion of the pod with a discussion of vaccine mandates in San Diego schools.

Show Notes:

-Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson

-9th Circuit vaccine mandate ruling

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