Good Law | Bad Law - Aaron Freiwald

Latest Episodes:

Good Law | Bad Law - Scientific Evidence and the RoundUp Cancer Trial w/ Dr. Ed Cheng Mar 29, 2019

Show notes

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast, Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Vanderbilt Law Professor Dr. Edward Cheng, to discuss the ins and outs of the Monsanto RoundUp litigation.

Once thought of as the “billion-dollar baby” of one of the largest chemical companies in the world, the ubiquitous weed killer RoundUp has recently been found to directly cause cancer after a jury unanimously decided in a federal court case. Dr. Cheng and Aaron breakdown the case and talk specifically about the complex scientific questions that had to be answered throughout the trial, the questions of scientific evidence that these presented, and the broader implications that these challenges may have.

With a Ph.D. in statistics from Columbia and a law degree from Harvard, Dr. Cheng is an expert on the intersection between law and science. His research and teaching focus on the issues of evidence and science in the court room. How do experts interreact with the court? How do lay people make decisions that need to be based on specialized understanding and expertise?

At one point in time RoundUp was probably in everyone’s garage or garden shed. It was a staple lawn care item. But this week at jury ordered the chemical giant to pay $80 million after they found the weed killer caused a man’s cancer. Listen in to find out more on the case and to get Dr. Cheng’s expert opinion. To learn more about Dr. Cheng and the intersection between law, stats, and science check out his podcast, Excited Utterance.

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: Ed Cheng

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Good Law | Bad Law - Can the police really do that? w/ Louis Rulli Mar 22, 2019

Show notes

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast, Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by University of Pennsylvania Law Professor Louis Rulli, to discuss a landmark Supreme Court case on the issue of civil forfeiture.

Imagine being pulled over and having the police take all of your money before sending you on your way. It doesn’t sound like something that would happen here in America but it does. It’s called civil forfeiture and our guest, University of Pennsylvania Law Professor Louis Rulli, joins us today to talk about it. Aaron and Professor Rulli discuss the ins and outs of civil forfeiture including a recent Supreme Court case that examined the law under the 8th and 14th Amendments.

The Supreme Court case specifically looked at a case where a man, Tyson Timbs, was convicted of selling $225 worth of heroin to undercover police officers. In addition to one year of house arrest, five years of probation, and $1,200 in fees and fines, Mr. Timbs’ $42,000 Land Rover was confiscated even though it was purchased with the inheritance from his father’s life insurance policy. There are also concerns that asset forfeiture has a racial component because minorities are more often subjected to these “fines.”

This is a fascinating, albeit scary, discussion with Professor Rulli about Civil Forfeiture and the role it plays in our criminal justice system.

Host: Aaron Freiwald Guest: Louis Rulli

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Good Law | Bad Law - Are We Underreporting the Scope of the Opioid Crisis? w/ Dr. Victor Weedn Mar 15, 2019

Show notes

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by George Washington University Professor and Forensic Pathologist, Dr. Victor Weedn, to discuss the ongoing opioid epidemic and the important role forensic pathologists play in battling the crisis.

A public health emergency, the opioid crisis continues to plague the nation. Aaron and Dr. Weedn talk about the epidemic and the specific challenges that intersect between science and law. Dr. Weedn explains how forensic pathologists are on the front line of the crisis, discussing how overwhelmed these doctors are and how important they are in helping to identify the real issues at the heart of the crisis.

Throughout the episode, Dr. Weeden, a renowned pathologist who worked on the OJ Simpson case, the identifying of Tsar Nicholas’ remains and other high-profile cases, describes that the “plethora” of designer drugs available is “enormous” and explains the role of forensic pathologists in identifying and combating these drugs. Dr. Weedn believes that every overdose should be diagnosed by a forensic pathologist and further contends that an autopsy and toxicology report should always be performed.

An incredibly important issue, Aaron and Dr. Weedn discuss this national crisis as well as what needs to happen in order to help stop the suffering. According to Dr. Weedn there is a new drug that comes on to the market every week or two. Despite the resources and the news coverage being devoted to stopping this epidemic it is important to continue to talk about and bring attention to.

A fascinating episode, we hope you enjoy. Do you think that autopsies should always be performed in drug overdose cases? What about toxicology reports?

Host: Aaron Freiwald Guest: Victor Weedn

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Good Law | Bad Law - How to Beat Measles, Again w/ Nicholas Diamond Mar 08, 2019

Show notes

Outbreak outrage!

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast, Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Georgetown University Law Professor Nicholas Diamond to discuss the anti-vax movement, the surge in measles around the country, and compulsory vaccination.

It seems like every day more and more people are being diagnosed with illnesses we thought were eliminated years ago. Illnesses like mumps, measles, and whooping cough have all started appearing again in recent years and can be tied back to unvaccinated children. Some may ask, “if the vaccines are so effective, why wouldn’t everyone get one?” It’s a valid question, but it has a complicated answer.

Professor Diamond, who also teaches at George Washington University in D.C. and is also a consultant to pharmaceutical companies, walks us through the reasons some people don’t get their children vaccinated, including religious objections and studies that concluded vaccines caused autism in young children. Although these studies have been disproven time and time again, many still rely on misinformation about vaccines circulated on the internet.

This is a very timely topic as just this week there were congressional hearings on compulsory vaccination and an announcement from the FDA that the health agency was going to look for ways to crack down on states that take a lax approach to enforcing vaccination regulations.

Now we ask you, how do we prevent the spread of these preventable diseases? Is it education, compulsory vaccination, or another solution we haven’t mentioned?

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: Nicholas Diamond

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Good Law | Bad Law - What Is Truth? w/ Sophia Rosenfeld Mar 01, 2019

Show notes

Fake News, the calling card of a presidency?

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast, Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by University of Pennsylvania History Professor Sophia Rosenfeld to talk about the tenuousness of the truth in democracy.

In Professor Rosenfeld’s new book, “Democracy and Truth,” she tells readers about the peculiar and fragile relationship between democracy and the truth. While it certainly feels like we live in a very unique time, and, in many senses, we do, Trump’s attacks on the media and his inability to remain truthful may not be that different after all. Just as she does in her book, Professor Rosenfeld walks us through the erosion of trust and truth, which has led to our current political climate and the rise of “Fake News”. Aaron and Professor Rosenfeld go on to discuss the potential solutions to the issues at hand.

This is an extremely timely conversation as President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, takes center stage to provide a deeper look into the President’s past, his campaign and the current administration.

To purchase Professor Rosenfeld’s book visit: https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Truth-History-Sophia-Rosenfeld/dp/0812250842

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: Sophia Rosenfeld

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Good Law | Bad Law #122 - Can We Discriminate Against the “Unhealthy”? w/ Elizabeth Weeks Feb 22, 2019

Show notes

It’s ok to discriminate? Well…. Not exactly. Well…..Maybe.

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast, Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Elizabeth Weeks, co-author of a new book called “Healthism: Health-Status Discrimination and the Law” and Professor of Law at the University of Georgia. Professor Weeks joins the show today to talk about healthism, discriminating on the basis of health status.

Aaron and Elizabeth discuss what healthism means, what it looks like in practice, and, most importantly, when companies can and cannot discriminate based on a person’s health-status.

If a person smokes at home, should they be penalized at work? What if the employer provides that employee health insurance? How about if someone is overweight? These are just some of the questions Elizabeth addresses in today’s episode and in her new book. Professor Weeks explains the differences between acceptable and unacceptable healthism practices and takes us through several examples of each. It’s a conversation that really makes you question your stance on discrimination.

Tell us, do you agree with Professor Weeks? Are there times employers or companies should be allowed to discriminate based on a person’s health status?

To purchase Professor Weeks’s book visit: https://www.amazon.com/Healthism-Health Status-Discrimination-Jessica-Roberts/dp/1107160383

Host: Aaron Freiwald Guest: Elizabeth Weeks

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Good Law | Bad Law #121 - The Constitutional Rights of . . . Corporations? w/ Adam Winkler Feb 19, 2019

Show notes

Do corporations have rights?

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast, Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Adam Winkler, a UCLA law professor and author of the new book “We The Corporations.” Aaron and Adam discuss the constitutional rights of corporations in America.

Wait, the what? The First Amendment is often thought of as protection for citizens; it guarantees freedom of religion, speech and freedom of speech. We don’t often think about those rights being extended to corporations. The same is true for many of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Of course, that is exactly what happened in 2010 when the Supreme Court decided the controversial Citizens United case, allowing corporations to donate vast sums to political campaigns because, the Court found, corporations have speech rights. As Adam explains, this case has a very long history. Indeed, the Supreme Court has been protecting the rights of corporations for longer than the rights of many individual Americans. Citizens United, Masterpiece Cakeshop and Hobby Lobby, are just a few cases that have passed through our court system addressing the issue of corporate rights.

To learn more about these cases visit the links below:

Hobby Lobby Case: http://hobbylobbycase.com/

Citizens United: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/08-205.ZS.html

Masterpiece Cakeshop Case: https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/masterpiece-cakeshop-ltd-v-colorado-civil-rights-commn/

To purchase Professor Winkler’s book visit: https://www.amazon.com/We-Corporations-American-Businesses-Rights/dp/0871407124

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: Adam Winkler

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Good Law | Bad Law #120 - Should we change the way we vote for President? w/ Robert Hardaway Feb 15, 2019

Show notes

Is it time to say goodbye to the Electoral College?

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Robert Hardaway, a professor at the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver and, the author of a forthcoming book called “Saving the Electoral College”. Richard joins the show today discuss a movement by some states to disregard the electoral college and cast their votes in-line with the nationwide popular vote.

Calls to eliminate the Electoral College intensified following the 2016 elections when Donald Trump won the Electoral College but lost the national popular tally by more than 5 million votes. Just last month the Colorado State Senate passed a bill that that would allow Colorado to cast its votes to whomever wins the national popular vote. Eleven states and the District of Columbia have already passed bills in their legislatures to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would lead to a disregarding of the Electoral College.

Professor Hardaway joins us today to explain this hugely controversial national movement – one most of us probably have never even heard of – and to make the case for preserving the Electoral College.

What you do you think, is it time to re-evaluate our election process?

To purchase Professor Hardaway’s book visit: https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Electoral-College-Undermine-Democracy/dp/1440869952/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1550240488&sr=8-1&keywords=saving+the+electoral+college

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: Robert Hardaway

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Good Law | Bad Law #119 - The Real Immigration Crisis? w/ Paul Schmidt Feb 08, 2019

Show notes

What is actually happening in our immigration courts? And more importantly, what isn’t?

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Paul Schmidt, a recently retired U.S. Immigration Judge and an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown law School, to discuss the immigration crisis, specifically the backlog of cases that persists in our immigration courts and the problems these could cause. With an extensive and varied background in immigration – he was general counsel to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the predecessor of ICE and he worked on the last big federal immigration legislation, all the way back in 1986 – Judge Schmidt joins the show today to talk about the immigration courts and how he fears that a backlog of cases could cause a civil rights disaster.

Judge Schmidt notes that the government shutdown only made matters worse. If Congress and the President fail to reach a compromise in the coming days and weeks, tens of thousands of additional immigration cases will be put on hold, further clogging the system.

Judge Schmidt has an informed perspective on the immigration crisis and he believes that the pile up of cases in our immigration courts is an injustice, a due-process issue, that could have dire consequences. Judge Schmidt explains that this is an “absolute mis-management of the whole system,” and breaks down the real issues that surround this aspect of the immigration crisis.

A crucial problem of the immigration crisis that rarely gets talked about, the issue of the backlog of our immigration courts, is something that absolutely needs more attention. What do you think of the status of our immigration courts? Do you agree with Judge Schmidt? Let us know in the comments below and thanks for listening!

To learn more about Judge Schmidt and the immigration issues visit his blog: www.immigrationcourtside.com.

Host: Aaron Freiwald Guest: Paul Schmidt

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Website: https://www.law-podcast.com

Good Law | Bad Law #118 - Is Reefer Madness for Real? w/ Alex Berenson Feb 01, 2019

Show notes

What’s the real story with marijuana in America?

Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Alex Berenson, author of a new book, “Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence”. Alex joins the show today to talk bring a new perspective to the marijuana debate that is happening in our country right now.

Alex Berenson is a former New York Times reporter and author of several best-selling fiction novels. But recently Alex’s attention has shifted away from the world of spy-thrillers and towards another, possibly even more danger-filled topic, the legalization of marijuana in America. Alex explains he’s not necessarily against legalizing marijuana, or at least certain aspects of marijuana like CBD oil, but he does want us all to have a better understanding of the drug and its effects before we allow everyone to light up. Bring his journalistic skills to the subject, Alex corrals all the available science from around the world on marijuana to explore questions, including: Is marijuana addicting? Is marijuana a gateway drug? Is marijuana a medicine? Is marijuana use linked to mental illness? And violent crime?

The answers to these questions is eye-opening. And important, as more states open the door to more people, especially more young people, to high-potency pot. The mantra of many on the pro-marijuana side when confronted with the science and statistics is to argue that correlation is not causation and Alex doesn’t deny that. But, if the science has merit, then shouldn’t we do more research before legalizing cannabis?

What you do you think? Do you think we have enough information to legalize cannabis or should we allow scientists to study the drug longer before making that decision? Let us know in the comments below.

To purchase Alex’s book visit: https://www.amazon.com/Tell-Your-Children-Marijuana-Violence/dp/1982103663/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1548968099&sr=1-1&keywords=alex+berenson+books+in+order

Host: Aaron Freiwald Guest: Alex Berenson

Follow Good Law | Bad Law: YouTube: Good Law | Bad Law Instagram: @GoodLawBadLaw

Website: https://www.law-podcast.com

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