Boom! Lawyered

Texas resident and former Rewire News Group staff member Andrea Grimes joins Imani on the final episode of 2023. From Kate Cox to Texas' SB 8, they break down the confusing mess and nonsense going on in Texas' abortion landscape.  See you in 2024! Mentioned in this episode : Andrea Grimes for Rewire News Group Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means Boom! Lawyered is only...

You'll likely be hearing a lot more about L.W. v. Skrmetti, a trans rights case that the ACLU has requested the Supreme Court takes up. Jess and Imani get into the nuts and bolts of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that allowed Tennessee's gender-affirming ban targeting trans kids to take effect, breaking previous federal court consensus that these bans are unconstitutional. Led by Judg...

Jess and Imani will be back the next week for the final three episodes of 2023. Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means Boom! Lawyered is only made possible with the support of listeners like you! If you can, please join our team by donating here . And sign up for The Fallout , a weekly newsletter written by Jess that’s exclusively dedicated to covering every aspect of thi...

Meet Zackey Rahimi, someone who apparently has never met a situation he didn’t try to shoot his way out of, including family, random drivers, and Whataburger. Jess and Imani are back to break down last week's Supreme Court oral arguments in his case, United States v. Rahimi, which boils down to originalism on steroids. As Jess says Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar's oral arguments showed, "If...

The demise of the constitutional right to privacy, conservatives' attacks on birth control, and Jess and Imani's ol' pal U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk. What do these things all have in common? The case Deanda v. Becerra— about whether teens can get birth control from federally funded health centers without their parents' consent. Kacsmaryk, a Trump judge, has ruled that teens can't despite...

This week, Imani and Jess dive into civil procedure (sorry Jess) as they discuss whether the Supreme Court will kick a case that could interfere with enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act. They explain what civil rights testers do, what case mootness is, and why the Court should—and probably will—decline to rule in Acheson Hotels v. Laufer on standing. Rewire News Group is a nonprofit...

Imani and Jess are back to chat about the conservative assault on trans folks’ personhood. They get into the slew of attacks the community has faced this year alone, and Imani makes the case for equal rights protections for trans people. It's all part of our latest special issue, They the People . Mentioned in this episode: Here’s One Thing the Constitution Could Do to Protect Trans People It’s th...

In the meantime, catch up with our latest special issue, " They the People ," all about trans rights. Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means Boom! Lawyered is only made possible with the support of listeners like you! If you can, please join our team by donating here . And sign up for The Fallout , a weekly newsletter written by Jess that’s exclusively dedicated to coveri...

Smell that? It’s the stink of the Supreme Court’s corruption creeping closer. Before the Court’s next term begins Monday, Imani and Jess preview some of the upcoming cases it’s set or likely to decide, including lawsuits over access to mifepristone, racist gerrymandering, and insurance coverage for gender-affirming care.  Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means Boom! Lawye...

The Supreme Court's stink of corruption didn't take a summer break like we did. From everything going on with Ginni Thomas to Justice Samuel "the Leak" Alito and Federalist Society President Leonard Leo, Jess and Imani return and get you caught up with these democracy underminers. Can everyone get another hobby? Welcome to a new season of the Boom! Lawyered podcast. Thanks for joining us! Rewire N...

Well, it happened: The Supreme Court killed affirmative action, with all six conservative justices—yes, including so-called moderate Chief Justice John Roberts—ruling against the policy in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard/University of North Carolina . In the live season finale of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani break down the majority and dissenting opinions, and the impact it will have on...

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle didn't mince words in his barnburner of an opinion striking down Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' draconian anti-trans bill. In his opinion for Doe v. Ladapo , Hinkle wrote: "Pushing individuals away from their transgender identity is not a legitimate state interest." On a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani break down the decision and what's next for tr...

Jess and Imani are back with a rapid reaction analysis of  Brackeen v. Haaland , a case that threatened the Indian Child Welfare Act, which ensures that Indigenous children stay in their families and tribes. Just when we thought the Supreme Court couldn’t surprise us anymore, a majority of justices voted to protect tribal sovereignty, with Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissenting. Jess...

It's just Jess Pieklo on the podcast this week, and she's joined by a special guest: feminist author Jessica Valenti, who created the newsletter Abortion, Every Day .  This episode is part of our special issue, which you can view here . Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means that Boom! Lawyered is only made possible by the support of listeners like you! If you can, please...

It's June, which means only one thing: Sweaty SCOTUS Season is here. All month long, we'll be waiting on the Supreme Court justices to release their decisions on cases heard this term. In a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani take a closer look at the four cases we'll be keeping an eye on—and yes, will have live rapid reaction episodes once those decisions drop. Be sure to follow us on T...

Republican lawmakers in North Carolina are legislating a horrible abortion ban in the shadows that could eventually make its way up to the Supreme Court. And we know these justices just love to legislate on the shadow docket, so that's a bad sign. And the even bigger issue? The First Amendment violations.  Join Jess and Imani this week as they break down what's going on in North Carolina. Rewire N...

This week, Jess and Imani get into all clownery and corruption at the Supreme Court and what they learned from last week's Senate Judiciary Committee hearings over SCOTUS ethics (like Chief Justice John Roberts refusing to show up and testify). Mentioned in this episode: Rewire News Group's billboard in Memphis! Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means that Boom! Lawyered i...

Conservatives are trying their hardest to resurrect the Comstock Act as a way to ban mailing abortion pills. This week, Imani is joined by special guest and colleague Garnet Henderson , Rewire News Group 's senior multiplatform reporter and resident Comstock Act expert, to break down how we got here and where we're going. You won't be surprised to learn that there's someone familiar behind the pus...

Jess and Imani recorded this special episode of Boom! Lawyered in front of a live audience over the weekend at the Summit for Religious Freedom. Tune in for their expert analysis on the mifepristone lawsuit. Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means that Boom! Lawyered is only made possible by the support of listeners like you! If you can, please join our team by donating he...

Jess is out for this episode, so Boom! Lawyered welcomes back special guest and friend of the pod Elie Mystal, the Nation 's justice correspondent. It's a supersized episode about expanding the Supreme Court, abortion, judges, and just about everything else about the law that you need to know—with a healthy dose of laughter. Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means that Boo...

Abortion. Voting. Trans rights. Clean water. The Wisconsin Supreme Court race had all the rights on the line. And who showed up big at the polls? Gen Z. For the first time in 15 years, liberals won the Wisconsin Supreme Court race—and they won big. In a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani find a moment of joy to offer their analysis on a race that had a lot on the line, like the state's...

Two federal courts issued two different—and contradictory—rulings in the ongoing fight over approval of mifepristone, one of two drugs used for medication abortions. As yet another reminder: The FDA approved mife over two decades ago. Join Jess and Imani in this rapid reaction episode for some cathartic rage as they break down what it all means. Mentioned in this episode: Justice Samuel Alito Want...

A 12-year-old trans kid wants to run on her school's cross-country and track teams, but the state of West Virginia doesn't want to allow it. This anti-trans case, West Virginia v. BPJ, is on emergency application at the Supreme Court, which means—the shadow docket. Ugh. In a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani discuss how the conservative movement is taking draconian measures on a made-u...

A Texas woman's friends helped her self-manage an abortion. Now, her ex-husband is suing them. In a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani discuss the wrongful death lawsuit against three women who helped their friend get an abortion and leave her marriage. Not only is this alarming, but it's also part of a bigger campaign to eradicate medication abortion by any means necessary. Mentioned i...

Anti-trans advocates want to punish trans people for existing. To make life more difficult for trans kids. It’s pure cruelty for cruelty’s sake. From the hundreds of anti-trans bills being introduced in state legislatures and an ongoing fearmongering campaign by legacy media that refuses to temper their anti-trans coverage with some coverage from actual trans journalists to the right-wing extremis...