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Opening Arguments — News
Opening Arguments

Opening Arguments is a law show that helps you make sense of the news! Comedian Thomas Smith and lawyer Matt Cameron help you understand not only current events, but also deeper legal concepts and areas! The schedule is M-W-F, with the main show on Monday and Friday and Vapid Response on Wednesday!

Latest Episodes:

OA Bar Prep With Heather! T3BE34 Jul 31, 2024

Show notes

The answer for T3BE33 is coming your way, and we launch our next Bar Prep question with Heather!

Right now, the best place to play (if you aren't a patron...) is at reddit.com/r/openargs!

If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

Rap on Trial Jul 29, 2024

Show notes

OA1055

Charis Kubrin is a professor of criminology at University of California Irvine whose extensive analysis of rap lyrics has provided the basis for her expert testimony in cases around the U.S. in which an artist’s work has been used against them as criminal evidence. Professor Kubrin joins us to explain what brought her to this subject, the history of “rap on trial,” and her ongoing work with the defense bar to push back against this problematic and almost inevitably racist practice.

If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

Setting the Record Straight on Kamala's Record Jul 26, 2024

Show notes

OA1054

As the Democratic Party comes together around presumptive nominee Kamala Harris after Joe Biden's surprise exit, we take another look at the Vice President”s career and political record. Is she any more of a “cop” than any other career prosecutor? How will history remember this VP? What might we expect from a President Harris that we wouldn't from a second Biden term? And why did Matt just get kicked out of a library in Rhode Island? We take on all of these questions and many more in this rapid response episode, with much more to come as this unprecedented race continues to develop.

If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

OA Bar Prep With Heather! T3BE33 Jul 24, 2024

Show notes

The answer for T3BE32 is coming your way, and we launch our next Bar Prep question with Heather!

Right now, the best place to play (if you aren't a patron...) is at reddit.com/r/openargs!

If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

Biden is OUT! Republicans Cry Foul and Lie About the Law Jul 22, 2024

Show notes

OA1053

We had a different episode ready, but this development warranted an emergency episode. Matt answers many of the most pressing questions about what happens next. Can Harris get on the ballot? Does she get access to the funds Biden had? What happens with Biden's delegates? And is it illegal to drop out of a presidential race... for some reason... as many Republicans are saying?

If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

I Think This Judge Cannon Might Not Be on the Level Jul 18, 2024

Show notes

OA1052

CAAAANNNONNNNNBALLLLLL! Judge Aileen Cannon has just made a major splash in the Trump trials by dismissing the entire federal classified documents case based on her findings that special prosecutor Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed. We try our best to pretend that this 93-page decision is a regular order released by a normal judge, at least for a few minutes, before moving on to ask: Should we have seen this coming? Does this explain Clarence Thomas’s weirdly unprompted thoughts on the same subject in the Trump immunity case earlier this month? What happens next, and is there any chance it could happen without Fort Pierce, Florida’s best, worst, and only federal judge?

BONUS PATRON CONTENT: Patrons will also hear us listen to the New York Times rub its collective chin as its The Daily podcast considers Aileen Cannon’s mysterious ways and unknowable motives.

If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

OA Bar Prep With Heather! T3BE32 Jul 17, 2024

Show notes

The answer for T3BE31 is coming your way, and we launch our next Bar Prep question with Heather!

Right now, the best place to play (if you aren't a patron...) is at reddit.com/r/openargs!

If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

"Don't Say Gay" Bills Must Violate the 1st Amendment... Right? RIGHT?! Jul 15, 2024

Show notes

OA1051

In the wake of... one of the many moral panics likely started by Chris Rufo, many "Don't Say Gay" laws were passed. I don't know about you, but I had just figured these had to be unconstitutional. After all, we have freedom of speech, right? There's an Amendment about that, right? Well.......

Returning to the show to take us through this is the best namer of law review articles, Caroline Mala Corbin. Caroline is a law professor at the University of Miami, focusing on the First Amendment's speech and religion clauses, reproductive justice, and the principle of equality that should run through it all. Check out her paper "The Government Speech Doctrine Ate My Class" here!

If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

They Finally Killed Chevron Deference Jul 12, 2024

Show notes

OA1050

Legal podcaster Charles Star (ALAB, Mic Dicta) joins to share his administrative law expertise as we consider the end of the Chevron doctrine and what comes next. Why is everyone so worked up about the overturning of a ruling reached by a conservative SCOTUS at the behest of Ronald Reagan, Neil Gorsuch's mom, and one of the worst polluters in world history? Why are immigration lawyers (including Matt) quietly celebrating the end of deference to administrative agencies? And how might a lesser-noticed decision from the last day of the Supreme Court’s term fuel a new era of challenges to administrative regulations?

If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

OA Bar Prep With Heather! T3BE31 Jul 10, 2024

Show notes

The answer for T3BE30 is coming your way, and we launch our next Bar Prep question with Heather!

Right now, the best place to play (if you aren't a patron...) is at reddit.com/r/openargs!

If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

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