Opening Arguments

Latest Episodes:

The First Openly Autistic Lawyer in Florida on What Law Firms Get Wrong Sep 07, 2026

Show notes

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 Talk About Autism: How to Share & Tell Your Story, Haley Moss (2024)

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Most Lindsay Clancy Coverage Has the Law All Wrong Sep 04, 2026

Show notes

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 did a white British man who was one of Trump’s most obnoxious supporters in 2016 end up in deportation proceedings--let alone detained by ICEand swiftly deported? Did Milo Yiannopolous really buy a ticket to fly into the major airport closest to one of the country’s largest ICE detention centers without knowing that he would almost certainly be detained and sent back to the UK ASAP? Matt shares what he has pieced together beyond the headlines, with more to come on next week’s Vapid Response Wednesday.

Finally, in today’s footnote: an upstart new social media platform is taking on Elon Musk’s X by calling itself... Twitter? Can they do that?

Video and transcript of Lindsay Clancy jury instructions and closing arguments (8/28/26)
“When Jurors Can Not Agree,” Massachusetts Jury Instruction #2.460 (2009 Edition)
“The reidentification of Milo Yiannopolous’s court data,” Jonathan Gerhardson (8/30/2026)
“Here’s How Milo Yiannopolous and White Nationalists Smuggled Hate Into the Mainstream,“ Joseph Bernstein Buzzfeed News (10/5/2017)

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ICE Went Undercover To Expose a Vast Antifa "Conspiracy" Sep 02, 2026

Show notes

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 overt acts include renting a U-Haul, exchanging Signal messages, and being introduced to someone named Sam.

Part 2 gets into the HSI undercover memos and the defense's discovery motion. You can get it right now at patreon.com/gavelpod.

Cases discussed:

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Supreme Court Says Why Prevent Trump Violating the Constitution Before It Even Happens? Aug 31, 2026

Show notes

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 the most important thing you read this election season.

Cases discussed:

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Meta Must Pay, Bannon's Judge Pushes Back, and a Dolly Parton Shoutout from the Bench Aug 28, 2026

Show notes

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.

Order on government’s motion to dismiss indictment in U.S. v. Bannon (8/26/26)
U.S. v. McIver, Nos. 25-3573 & 26-1122 (3rd Cir. 8/26/26)
Supplemental Findings and Conclusions of Law & Amended Order of Permanent Injunction in Extragrams et al v. Paxton,
Order in Doe v. Guadian, N.D.MD (8/26/26)
Video for Dolly Parton’s cover of Collective Soul’s “Shine”

Stephen Miller's America First Legal Has a YouTube Show (and it sucks real bad) Aug 26, 2026

Show notes

VR42 - Today on Vapid Response Wednesday: Lydia, Thomas, and Matt check in on the official podcast of Stephen Miller's America First Legal, and Matt brings the receipts to show just how bad its recurring "Bad Legal Takes" feature truly is. How is an organization with this much dark money behind it so consistently terrible at producing the MAGA version of our very own Vapid Response? Plus in today's amuse douche: toad and toady are reunited when Michael Cohen's former boss stops by his podcast and Cohen finally gets to stop pretending that he ever actually disagreed with Donald Trump.

Cases and sources discussed:

Website for the America First Legal podcast The Arena
Text of Virginia HR333ER (signed into law 3/6/26)
Order on Defendant’s motion to dismiss in F.F. v. Valley View School District
History and case documents from Pablo Sequen v. Albarran from the ACLU website
Thomas & Alito dissent from SCOTUS majority’s denial of motion for leave to file a bill of complaint in Florida v. California and Washington (5/26/26)

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A Mayor Declared a State of Emergency to Save Flock Cameras Aug 24, 2026

Show notes

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:

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Trump Messed With the Mouse. Now He Gets the Ears. Aug 21, 2026

Show notes

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 (4/28/2026)
Complaint in ABC et al v. FCC et al, filed 8/18/2026
User manual for Compliant Technologies’s G.L.O.V.E.
The Kentucky Hammer’s 2020 Super Bowl commercial
Complaint in White v. Isaacs & Isaacs, filed 6/2/2026

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Baseball Crank Asks "What Have Refugees Done for Me Lately" Aug 19, 2026

Show notes

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.

Police Sued for Blatant Misuse of Facial Recognition. It's NUTS. Aug 17, 2026

Show notes

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.