Opening Arguments

Latest Episodes:

Law on the Spectrum, with Peter O'Neil Jul 20, 2026

Show notes

OA1280 - Peter O’Neil was preparing for retirement after decades of practicing law when he learned that he was autistic at the age of 65. This realization inspired his memoir My So-Called Disorder: Autism, Exploding Trucks, and the Big Daddy of Rock and Roll, in which he looks back at his life and legal career to better understand how his neurodiversity played a role in both his most significant personal challenges and the unique professional talents which helped him to take on some of the largest corporations in the US as a products liability attorney. In this unusual intergenerational exchange between lawyers on the spectrum, Peter and Matt discuss their experiences and appreciate the ways that these so-called “disorders” have made them who they are.

Peter O'Neil is the author of My So-Called Disorder, Autism, Exploding Trucks, and the Big Daddy of Rock and Roll, this month's OA Book Club pick. Join him live for book club on July 26th at 4:30pm Eastern, for patrons at any level at patreon.com/law.

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What Happened to You, Todd Blanche? Jul 17, 2026

Show notes

OA1279 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: A federal judge rips up the corrupt “settlement” Trump reached with his own IRS at the unprecedented request of a group of 35 former federal judges just in time time for aspiring Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing, humanizing the latest victims of ICE, and a metafootnote about a DC judge who hates footnotes nearly as much as Matt loves them.

The Agenda:

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Nancy Mace Thinks Anyone With a Foreign Name Is Disloyal Jul 15, 2026

Show notes

VR38 - This week in Vapid Response Thomas, Lydia, and Matt review some truly awful takes from a MAGA economist on the true cause of low crime rates, Rep. Nancy Mace on her extremely real and not-at-all-racist concerns about the dangers of judges with dual citizenship, and a then-20-year-old Rolling Stone columnist in 1969 on his immediate disdain for what would become one of the greatest rock albums of all time.

“Trump’s Immigration Enforcement Really is Slashing Violent Crime,” John R. Lott, Jr, The Federalist (July 9, 2026)
FBI’s National Crime Victims Survey data
“Governing America means loyalty to America,” Rep. Nancy Mace, Newsweek (July 4, 2026)
Judge Sparkle Sooknanan’s preliminary injunction order in League of Women Voters v DHS
Judicial nominee Sparkle Sooknanan’s responses to Sen. Lindsay Graham’s judicial questionnaire (March 20, 2024)
“The Top 15 Bullshit Album Reviews That Rolling Stone Magazine Had the Balls to Publish,” Reel Harmonies (July 14, 2014)

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The MAGA Justices Get Torched by... Amy Coney Barrett?! Jul 13, 2026

Show notes

OA1278 - On its face, the decision in Watson is a pretty narrow ruling. Some states allow ballots postmarked on or before election day, but arriving after election day, to be counted. The court decided they can continue to do so.

But at stake was so much more. Bubbling under the surface, election deniers were trying to open a door to far more aggressive limitations on voting rights. With this decision, that door is quite firmly shut… by Barrett? Come hear Jenessa try to survive the cognitive dissonance of finding an ACB opinion extremely well-written, thorough, and appropriately critical of out-of-context half-assed attempts at historical analysis in the dissent.

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It's Not Just Prairieland and Broadview. More Lives Are Being Ruined by Unjust Prosecutions. Jul 10, 2026

Show notes

OA1277 - We continue our coverage of the Trump administration’s criminalization of dissent with a brief update on the sentencing of the last remaining Prairieland defendant and a closer look at similar federal prosecutions of ICE protesters in Minneapolis, Spokane, and a number of other jurisdictions. Matt then explains how the DOJ just complicated a case against someone alleged to have leaked the second Jack Smith report in the funniest possible way. Finally, in today’s footnote: that one time that Dan Crenshaw and William Shatner tried to make Starfleet happen.

“Final federal Prairieland ‘antifa’ defendant sentenced to six years after helping shooter evade arrest,” The Dallas Morning News (6/6/2026)
Indictment in United States v. Stuckart et al., Eastern District of Washington (7/9/2025)
“DOJ Targets Anti-ICE Demonstrators with Conspiracy Charges,” PBS Newshour on Instagram (3/31/2026)
Indictment in United States v. Sant et al., District of Minnesota (6/11/2026)
Trump’s Spaghetti-Against-the-Wall Indictment Against ICE Protesters — and How to Fight It, The Intercept (6/17/2026)
“As ICE protesters like ‘Spokane 3’ are targeted, many still stand up,” Seattle Times (6/15/2026)
“In-Your-Face DOJ Aide Rides Prosecutors for ‘Chief Client’ Trump,” Bloomberg (2/19/2026)
‘Go Big and Go Loud’: Inside the Justice Dept.’s Push to Prosecute Protesters, New York Times (3/19/2026)
Indictment in United States of America v. Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, Southern District of Florida (5/19/2026)
“William Shatner Wants to Know: What the Heck is Wrong With You, Space Force?” William Shatner, Military Times (8/26/2020)

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Ben Shapiro is having AI write his columns, and apparently not even the good models Jul 08, 2026

Show notes

VR37 - Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh both wrote furious, error-riddled columns attacking the Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling in Trump v. Barbara. And so Thomas, attorney Matt Cameron, and producer Lydia ran the columns through an AI detector and their BS detectors to see just how fake and how BS they were. Spoiler: it's a lot.

Trump Is Once Again Trying to Change the Law With Memos Jul 06, 2026

Show notes

OA1276 - Who could have predicted this? Us! The Trump administration has made their complete disdain for people with disabilities clear since day one. We’ve called it out before, and the natural progression of those efforts came to a head mid-June when they announced their intention to turn over governance of special education to RFK Jr in HHS (least trusted man in America when it comes to the needs of your child with a disability), continue dismantling the Department of Education overall, further reduce their investigations of educational discrimination, and, just two days later, their commitment to overturning major protections against forced institutionalization. What’s happening, how did we get here, why does it matter, and what can anyone do about it? Tune in to find out.

OA episode callbacks:

1238 Deep dive on Olmstead
1180 the history of forced institutionalization and “ugly laws”, and the executive order “Ending crime and disorder on America’s streets”
1141 The Section 504 protests
1171 A.J.T. v Osseo area schools (rights to accommodations for students with disabilities)

Part 1; attempted dismantling of Olmstead:

Olmstead v. L.C. ex rel. Zimring, 527 U.S. 581 (1999)
28 C.F.R. § 35.130(d)
Exec. Order No. 14321, 90 Fed. Reg. 35817 (Jul 24, 2025)
Application of the Rehabilitation Act and Americans with Disabilities Act to State Institutionalization of Patients with Severe Mental Illness or Disabilities, 50 Op. O.L.C. __ (June 18, 2026)

Part 2; the dismantling of the Department of Education:

Exec. Order No. 14242, 90 Fed. Reg. 13679 (Mar. 20, 2025)
Compl., State of New York v. McMahon, No. 1:25-cv-10601 (D. Mass. amended 01/09/2026)
McMahon v. New York, 606 U.S. ___ (2025)
Interagency Agreement Between the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Labor Relating to the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) (plus addendums)
Christy Wolfe (Dec. 16, 2025), Transferring K-12 Programs to Labor: Why Costs and Logistics Could Be a Problem for States and Schools, Bipartisan Policy Center
Jennifer Smith Richards & Jodi S. Cohen (Mar. 2, 2026), ProPublica Sues Education Department for Withholding Records About Discrimination in Schools, ProPublica.
U.S. Government Accountability Office (Feb. 2, 2026), Department of Education:
Full Costs and Savings Estimate Needed for Reduction-in-Force and Restructuring of the Office for Civil Rights.
U.S. Dept. of Education (June 16, 2026). U.S. Department of Education Announces Additional Partnerships to Strengthen Coordination for Individuals with Disabilities Programs, Bolster Civil Rights Enforcement.
A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools, Independent School Dist. No. 279, 605 U.S. 335 (2025)
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973: 29 U.S.C. § 794
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: 20 U.S.C. § 1400-1409

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Matt's Complete Supreme Court Term Recap Jul 03, 2026

Show notes

OA1275 - As June ends and another Supreme Court Season wraps, it is time to look back and survey the damage: significant blows to voting and trans rights, harder times for immigrants throughout the system, and a vast expansion of executive powers. But we also go beyond the headlines to see what has been going on with some of the Court’s more routine business. What can we learn from their more mundane 9-0 decisions--and can we actually find some good news here among the wreckage? Matt does his best. Finally, in today’s seasonal footnote: why the world believed for exactly five minutes that Samuel Alito had closed Supreme Court Season by announcing his retirement on Tuesday, and what we can learn from this weird mistake about how mainstream media covers the Supreme Court.

Executive Power / Immigration

Trump v. Barbara — 25-365 (June 30, 2026)(birthright citizenship)
Learning Resources v. Trump — 24-1287 (Feb. 20, 2026) (IEEPA tariffs)
Trump v. Cook — 25A312 (June 29, 2026) (Fed removal)
Trump v. Slaughter — 25-332 (June 29, 2026) (FTC removal)
Mullin v. Doe — 25-1083 (June 25, 2026) (TPS)
Mullin v. Al Otro Lado — 25-5 (June 25, 2026) (asylum at the border)
Blanche v. Lau — 25-429 (June 23, 2026)(LPRs at the border)
Urias-Orellana v. Bondi — 24-777 (Mar. 4, 2026) (asylum standard of review)

Criminal Law

Barrett v. United States — 24-5774 (Jan. 14, 2026) (§924(c)/(j) stacking)
Bowe v. United States — 24-5438 (Jan. 9, 2026) (successive §2255 petitions)
Ellingburg v. United States — 24-482 (Jan. 20, 2026) (restitution / Ex Post Facto)
Chatrie v. United States — 25-112 (June 29, 2026) (geofence / 4A)
United States v. Hemani — 24-1234 (June 18, 2026) (cannabis & 2A rights)
Hunter v. United States — 24-1063 (June 18, 2026) (appeal waivers)
Pitchford v. Cain — 24-7351 (May 28, 2026) (Batson / AEDPA challenge)
Olivier v. City of Brandon — 24-993 (Mar. 20, 2026) — (§1983 rights with prior conviction)
Case v. Montana — 24-624 (Jan. 14, 2026) (emergency-aid / 4A)
Villarreal v. Texas — 24-557 (Feb. 25, 2026) (counsel during recess)
Clark v. Sweeney — 25-52 (Nov. 14, 2025) (habeas / new-trial reversal)

Civil/Voting Rights

Landor v. Louisiana DOC — 23-1197 (June 23, 2026) (RLUIPA damages)
Louisiana v. Callais — 24-109 (Apr. 29, 2026) (Voting Rights Act §2)
West Virginia v. B.P.J. — 24-43 (June 30, 2026) (trans student athletes)
Wolford v. Lopez — 24-1046 (June 25, 2026) (2A concealed carry)
Chiles v. Salazar — 24-539 (Mar. 31, 2026) (conversion therapy)
NRSC v. FEC — 24-621 (June 30, 2026) (1A / campaign finance)

Procedural Issues

Enbridge Energy v. Nessel — 24-783 (Apr. 22, 2026) (removal deadline)
Coney Island Auto Parts v. Burton — 24-808 (Jan. 20, 2026) (Rule 60(b)(4) finality)

Other

SCOTUSblog Stat Pack (2025-2026)[PDF]
“NPR retracts story about Alito retirement,” Kelly McBride, NPR (June 30, 2026)

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The New Cover on Alito's TPS Reports Is for Racism Jul 01, 2026

Show notes

VR36 - In Mullin v Doe, Samuel Alito just proudly stripped Temporary Protected Status from more than one million people who were lawfully living and working in the US as of the time of the decision--and all on the shadow docket, without even waiting for the full merits of the case to be heard. We go deep today on what may go down as his single worst majority opinion to consider Alito’s explanations of how some of the most disgustingly racist things a sitting US president has ever said in public (most of which were in support of his decision to terminate TPS for Haitians) couldn't have possibly related to why Trump decided to terminate TPS for Haitians. We close with a quick look at Clarence Thomas's concurrence iin which he yearns for a return to simple times when the federal government was not expected to provide equal protection under the law to anyone--but most especially not immigrants.

Mullin v. Doe (June 25, 2026)(Alito, J.)
Appendix with emails filed into Mullin v. Doe (June 16, 2026)
Mullin v. Doe oral argument transcript (April 29, 2026)
Memorandum Opinion, Miot v. Trump, D.C. Dist. Ct. #25-cv-02471 (Feb 26, 2026)(Reyes, J.)

Worst Dude Hires Even Worse Lawyer to Legally Harass Woman Who Posted About Him Jun 29, 2026

Show notes

OA1274 - Can you sue if someone posts something nasty about you online? I mean maybe, but not like this. In today’s episode, Lydia introduces us to the wild world of “Are We Dating the Same Guy?” and Jenessa walks us through a lawsuit that trips over its own feet while trying to take them down. It’s a great opportunity to learn about some interesting Illinois laws against doxxing and your right to your likeness, and why the plaintiff failed miserably at mobilizing those laws in his favor. …Also, it wouldn’t be a modern drama-filled lawsuit without attorneys using AI and failing to fact check. Tune in to hear a judge rage against the lying machine, and the lawyers that used it.