Supreme Court Brief

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Latest Episodes:

Supreme Court Debates Trans Athlete Laws, SCOTUS Lawyers Embracing AI Jan 15, 2026

On this episode of Supreme Court Brief, host Jimmy Hoover summarizes Tuesday's oral arguments over state laws that prohibit trans student athletes from competing in women's and girls' sports. Later, Jimmy interviews Supreme Court lawyer Adam Unikowsky on the promise and peril of using AI to litigate cases at the Supreme Court.

Host: Jimmy Hoover

Guest: Adam Unikowsky

Producer: Charles Garnar

Birthright Citizenship And 'The Dog That Didn't Bark Jan 08, 2026

On this episode, host Jimmy Hoover interviews law scholar Amanda Frost about her latest research on the original understanding of the Fourteenth Amendment's citizenship clause, and how it calls into question President Donald Trump's attempt to deny birthright citizenship to the children of immigrants. The Supreme Court will be weighing the constitutionality of Trump's policy this term, with a ruling expected by July

Host: Jimmy Hoover

Guest: Amanda Frost

Producer: Charles Garnar

Why It's So Hard To Hold ICE Agents Accountable Dec 18, 2025

On this episode of Supreme Court Brief, host Jimmy Hoover interviews the lawyer for George Retes, a U.S. citizen and veteran who was detained for three days by ICE following an immigration raid in California. Institute for Justice attorney Marie Miller explains how the Supreme Court's rulings have both fueled the administration's aggressive immigration crackdown and made it nearly impossible to hold officers accountable in court for alleged civil rights violations.

Plus, Jimmy talks through a new death penalty case taken up by the Supreme Court this week involving claims of racial discrimination during the jury selection process.

Supreme Court Brief will return to regular programming in January after the holiday break.

Host: Jimmy Hoover

Guest: Marie Miller

Producer: Charles Garnar

Former FTC Chief On What Justices Got Wrong About 'Independent Agencies' Dec 11, 2025

On today's episode of Supreme Court Brief, host Jimmy Hoover takes an inside look at Monday's blockbuster hearing on the fate of independent federal agencies and how it could vastly expand the powers of the presidency.

Plus: a breakdown of Tuesday's arguments on the constitutionality of a campaign finance law aimed at preventing public corruption by federal officials. Jimmy looks at why one key issue is whether Vice President J.D. Vance intends to run for the White House in 2028.

Today's guest is Bill Kovacic, a former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission during the late Bush and early Obama administrations. Kovacic speaks with Jimmy about the "disappointing" aspect of Monday's Supreme Court hearing in Trump v. Slaughter about whether President Donald Trump should be allowed to fire members of so-called "independent agencies" like the FTC.

The case centers around Trump's purported firing of Democratic FTC member Rebecca Slaughter. It could spell the end of roughly a century of Supreme Court precedent upholding removal restrictions for members of multi-member government commissions.

Supreme Court Brief will be back with another podcast episode next week. Listen and subscribe to the show on Apple and Spotify. The show is produced by Charles Garnar. For more of the latest news on the U.S. Supreme Court, go to Law.com.

Host: Jimmy Hoover

Guest: Bill Kovacic

Producer: Charles Garnar

Harvard Law Professor On The 'Realignment' Of Conservative And Liberal Justices Dec 04, 2025

On today's episode of Supreme Court Brief, host Jimmy Hoover breaks down the latest highlights from the courtroom as the justices considered copyright liability for internet service providers, and a pro-life group's civil rights lawsuit over a Democratic attorney general's subpoena.

Today's guest is Harvard Law Professor Richard Re, who joins Supreme Court Brief to discuss his latest scholarship on the "legal realignment" that has occurred between conservative and liberal members of the Supreme Court, and the federal judiciary writ large.

Host: Jimmy Hoover

Guest: Richard Re

Producer: Charles Garnar

Supreme Court Reviewing Gun Restrictions For Private Property, Drug Use Nov 20, 2025

On this episode of Supreme Court Brief, host Jimmy Hoover interviews Second Amendment scholar Haley Proctor of Notre Dame Law School on the major gun cases to be decided during the 2025-2026 term. Plus, a look at the court's decision this week to take up a case about the right of immigrants facing persecution to seek asylum in the U.S., and a recent trend of retired judges filing amicus briefs to the justices.

Supreme Court Brief will be back after the week of Thanksgiving with more news and analysis of the nation's top court.

Host: Jimmy Hoover

Guest: Haley Proctor

Producer: Charles Garnar

The 'Enormous Shift' That Explains Trump's Supreme Court Victories Nov 14, 2025

On this week's episode of Supreme Court Brief, host Jimmy Hoover discusses the court's intervention in a battle over food stamp benefits, new briefing over President Donald Trump's efforts to deploy the National Guard, and oral arguments in the case of a Rastafarian prisoner who was forcibly shaved by prison guards. This week's guest is law professor Carolyn Shapiro, who explains how the Supreme Court's under-the-radar shift in emergency docket cases is leading to a string of victories for the Trump administration. Shapiro argues that the court has quietly adopted the presumption that the government experiences "irreparable harm" any time a new policy is blocked by a federal court, essentially removing a crucial factor that the justices had long required all litigants to meet before awarding emergency relief. "It seems more and more clear that that is what the majority on the Supreme Court thinks: that it is just simply, by definition, 'irreparable harm' when the government is told it can't do what it wants," said Shapiro, who co-leads the Supreme Court clinic at the Chicago-Kent College of Law. "That's never been the standard before." "It is extraordinarily important and it is an enormous shift that the court is not even owning up to," argued Shapiro, a former clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer and the former solicitor general of Illinois. "It's acting as if that's always been the law and that has never been the law." Host: Jimmy Hoover Guest: Carolyn Shapiro Producer: Charles Garnar

Breaking Down The Supreme Court's Arguments On Tariffs Nov 06, 2025

On this edition of Supreme Court Brief, Jimmy analyzes Wednesday's lengthy hearing over the fate of President Donald Trump's tariffs, arguably the keystone economic policy of his second term. This weeks guest is Law.com litigation reporter Alyssa Aquino, who has closely followed the tariff cases since the challenges began. In their conversation, Jimmy and Alyssa highlight the most notable exchanges between the bench and the arguing attorneys, what they signal for the potential outcome of the case, and how a ruling against the administration could lead—as one justice put it—to a "mess" of lawsuits and refund claims. Host: Jimmy Hoover Guest: Alyssa Aquino Producer: Charles Garnar

Will Supreme Court Treat Trump Tariffs Like Biden Policies? Oct 30, 2025

On today's episode of Supreme Court Brief, Jimmy updates listeners on a significant development in the case over whether President Donald Trump can deploy the National Guard to Chicago. In an unusual order Wednesday, the court signaled that it is unlikely to take any action in the case until at least mid-November—despite Trump's desire for "immediate" permission to proceed with the deployment. Today's guest is law professor and legal commentator Dan Epps, who joins Supreme Court Brief for an in-depth discussion of next week's Supreme Court argument about the legality of President Trump's tariff policies. According to Epps, the hearing will be a revealing test of the conservative majority's commitment to a legal doctrine that they invoked to strike down several of former President Joe Biden's biggest policies, including his student debt relief plan in the 2023 case Biden v. Nebraska. Host: Jimmy Hoover Guest:: Dan Epps Producer: Charles Garnar

Supreme Court Weighing Fate of Independent Agencies Oct 23, 2025

On today's episode of Supreme Court Brief from Law.com, host Jimmy Hoover provides an overview of a major new Second Amendment case to be decided this term and breaks down the latest emergency case over President Trump's deployment of the National Guard to Chicago. Later on, Supreme Court lawyer Deepak Gupta joins the show to talk about the coming showdown at the court over the fate of independent federal agencies.

Host: Jimmy Hoover

Guest: Deepak Gupta

Producer: Charles Garnar

How Originalism Went From 'Fringe' Theory To Supreme Court Credo Oct 16, 2025

On today's episode of Supreme Court Brief from Law.com, host Jimmy Hoover breaks down the Supreme Court's Wednesday oral arguments in Louisiana v. Callais, involving a major challenge to the Supreme Court's Voting Rights Act cases.

Jimmy explains why, following Wednesday's hearing, the Supreme Court's conservative majority now seems poised to strike a significant blow to minority voting districts by narrowing a key provision of the landmark 1965 law.

Today's guest is conservative legal commentator and law professor Josh Blackman, who discusses his latest project as senior editor of the third edition of the Heritage Guide to the Constitution, which purports to supply an originalist understanding on the entirety of the U.S. Constitution.

Blackman charts the rise of originalism—a method of interpreting the Constitution as it was understood at the country's founding—from a little known legal theory to the dominant form of constitutional interpretation practiced by the Supreme Court today.

Host: Jimmy Hoover

Guest: Josh Blackman

Producer: Charles Garnar

For more legal news, visit Law.com.

Erwin Chemerinsky On How This Supreme Court Term Will Shape The Power Of The Presidency Oct 09, 2025

On the inaugural episode of Supreme Court Brief, constitutional law scholar and dean of Berkeley Law School Erwin Chemerinsky discusses the upcoming October 2025 term, which kicked off on Monday. Erwin explains how the Supreme Court will be considering cases that could shape the power of the presidency, and whether the court's conservative majority will continue to side with President Donald Trump in his bold assertions of executive authority during his second term.

Host: Jimmy Hoover

Guest: Erwin Chemerinsky

Producer: Charles Garnar

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