Advisory Opinions

Latest Episodes:

Supreme Court Hears Texas Abortion Law Arguments Nov 02, 2021

Show notes

On today’s episode, David and Sarah react to the oral arguments in the Texas abortion law cases. The Supreme Court heard three hours of arguments in two different cases and from four different advocates. But after all of it, Sarah and David agree: it’s a mess…and it still doesn’t have anything to do with Roe v. Wade. They also discuss the latest grants, denials, and opinions coming down from the Court.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Parental Rights in Public Schools Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

On today’s show, it's a battle of Generation X versus millennials versus Generation Z as Sarah and David shout, "You kids get off my lawn!" But before the cultural rant, they explore parental rights in public schools, discuss the mixture of church and politics, and talk about the Kyle Rittenhouse case and the law of self-defense. Then, and only then, does Sarah lament "kids these days."

Show Notes:

-TMD on ‘gain of function’ research

-NPR “The Johnson Amendment In 5 Questions And Answers”

-French Press “When the State Kinda Sorta Parents Your Child”

-Andrew Fleischman Twitter thread on the Rittenhouse case

-New York Times “The 37-Year-Olds Are Afraid of the 23-Year-Olds Who Work for Them”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Texas Abortion Law Gets Supreme Court Date Oct 26, 2021

Show notes

On today’s episode, David and Sarah celebrate the Supreme Court finally bending to their will and then preview the upcoming oral arguments regarding SB 8, the Texas abortion law. They then move on to a discussion of a wild case involving videotaping police, highlight Liberty University's problems with sexual assault, and then wonder whether an important free speech case is dead or just "mostly dead."

Show Notes:

-United States v. Texas

-SCOTUSblog on oral arguments in the Texas abortion law case

-303 Creative v. Elenis

-Kristen Waggoner letter

-ProPublica “The Liberty Way”

-Sarah’s piece in Politico

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Biden’s Supreme Court Commission Part II Oct 21, 2021

Show notes

It’s weeping and gnashing of teeth for David in today's podcast as the Supreme Court deals a devastating blow to his dreams of abolishing qualified immunity. But Sarah saves the AO crew from despair by conducting another Supreme Court symphony regarding the Biden commission. Come for the despair, stay for the analysis, and relish a deep dive into Supreme Court reform.

Show Notes:

-Supreme Court order list

-Presidential Commission on SCOTUS

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Biden’s Supreme Court Commission Said What? Oct 18, 2021

Show notes

What do court packers have in common with Hugo Chavez? Take a listen to this action-packed pod to find out. Sarah conducts a symphony of Supreme Court commission analysis, including guiding a walk through American legal history to explain the commission’s surprisingly conservative comments. David discusses the legal issues roiling the nation’s most controversial school district.

Show Notes:

-Presidential Commission on SCOTUS

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Curious Case of Jailing Children Oct 15, 2021

Show notes

On today’s episode, we get a Supreme Court update from Sarah and not one but two entire Ted Talks from David. They cover a very obscure (yet interesting!) constitutional case, and then discuss two viral stories--one involving an elementary school and juvenile justice system in Tennessee, the other involving an absurd act of unfairness at Yale Law School. Our hosts talk poverty and privilege in the same pod. Oh, and Sarah winds it all up with a discussion of laches and estoppel that you don't want to miss.

Show Notes:

-ProPublica “Black Children Were Jailed for a Crime That Doesn’t Exist. Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge.”

-Washington Free Beacon “A Yale Law Student Sent a Lighthearted Email Inviting Classmates to His ‘Trap House.’ The School Is Now Calling Him To Account.”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

January 6 and Executive Privilege Oct 11, 2021

Show notes

It's executive privilege day on Advisory Opinions! After a brief update on the Texas abortion litigation, David and Sarah "dive right in" to a discussion of the January 6 commission subpoenas and the power of Donald Trump to use executive privilege to block testimony. Our hosts also talk about how "parents and pals" help debunk a Brett Kavanaugh conspiracy theory. And they wind up with a crazy clemency case that's likely to leave a man in prison because a Donald Trump sentence was just too ambiguous.

Show Notes:

-5th Circuit abortion ruling

-POGO “The Limits of Executive Privilege”

-Nixon v. Administrator of General Services

-Harvard Law “Can Donald Trump still assert executive privilege?”

-2007 OLC memo

-Don McGahn opinion

-Mother Jones “Here’s the Truth About Brett Kavanaugh’s Finances”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Manners Maketh a Pod Oct 07, 2021

Show notes

In today's pod David and Sarah discuss a federal district court injunction against Texas's heartbeat bill, dive into the deep waters of Mississippi's unbearable aquatic greed, and discuss whether ten robberies is one "occasion" for crime or, well, ten. But that's not all! They also engage in a brief but spirited debate about whether the DOJ's letter about threats against school board members. The pod finishes by talking about manners. In an interesting way. We promise.

Show Notes:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Supreme Court is Back Oct 05, 2021

Show notes

On this week’s episode, Sarah is back from the Galápagos Islands just in time for the Supreme Court’s fall term. David and Sarah jump right in, starting with a rather spicy speech from Justice Samuel Alito. Our hosts also discuss a case with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, a professor who is suing UCLA, and the high court’s upcoming cases.

Show Notes:

-From SCOTUSblog: Alito blasts media for portraying shadow docket in “sinister” terms

-Why I Am Suing UCLA, by Gordon Klein at Common Sense with Bari Weiss

-Justices add five new cases to their docket from “long conference,” including Cruz campaign case

-SCOTUS oral argument schedule

-Wikipedia page on Baphomet

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nerds with Strong Opinions Sep 27, 2021

Show notes

In a special edition of the podcast, David interviews his former colleague Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. The two discuss the state of free speech on college campuses and why it’s not just a higher education issue, but one that also impacts workforces and the United States in general. And of course, lacking Sarah’s moderating influence, there are also some (relatively minor) descents into nerdery over Star Trek.

Show Notes:

-The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure

-Scholars Under Fire Database

-FIRE’s 2021 College Free Speech Rankings

-Undoctrinate: How Politicized Classrooms Harm Kids and Ruin Our Schools―and What We Can Do About It

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices