Boom! Lawyered

Welcome to the re-release of We’ll Hear Arguments, a mini-series from the Boom! Lawyered team that dives into the dramatic arguments of the most important Supreme Court cases in history. When is a case not a case? When the plaintiff doesn't have a right to sue! And would you believe that Texas tried to argue that Jane Roe didn't even have a right to be in court? Buckle up for episode three of our...

Welcome to the re-release of We’ll Hear Arguments, a mini-series from the Boom! Lawyered team that dives into the dramatic arguments of the most important Supreme Court cases in history. Our third episode on Roe v. Wade puts the ol’ magnifying glass on a simple but messy question: what gives a state the right to regulate what kind of medicine someone accesses?   Expert Repro Journalism That Inspir...

Welcome to the re-release of We’ll Hear Arguments, a mini-series from the Boom! Lawyered team that dives into the dramatic arguments of the most important Supreme Court cases in history. Today, our two legal heroines embark on part 2 of their five-part dive into Roe v. Wade to answer the age old question: what's more important, a living pregnant person or a group of cells that exist inside them? I...

Welcome to the re-release of We’ll Hear Arguments, a mini-series from the Boom! Lawyered team that dives into the dramatic arguments of the most important Supreme Court cases in history.   You see, our greatest courtroom dramas aren’t streaming on Netflix or Hulu or even HBOMax! They happened in the hallowed halls of the U.S. Supreme Court. And We’ll Hear Arguments breaks down all the juiciest, mo...

Last year, we made a thing we love: a mini-series all about the surprisingly dramatic Supreme Court arguments of Roe v. Wade.   The show is called We’ll Hear Arguments, and we originally released it as its own podcast. But now that the Boom! Lawyered community has grown so much, we decided to re-release it here and unite the feeds. If you’ve never heard We’ll Hear Arguments, check out this trailer...

We have a big end-of-year campaign underway, and your generous donations make our podcast possible! If you can, please support Boom! Lawyered at https://rewirenewsgroup.com/give2020. Donald Trump spent his entire presidency mangling the courts and the law, and Rewire News Group's Jessica Mason Pieklo and Imani Gandy covered every major moment of it. But the last four years weren't all bad!  A few...

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in a case that could ultimately decide if the Trump administration can rig the census by excluding undocumented people. On this episode of Boom! Lawyered, Imani Gandy and Jessica Mason Pieklo recap today's events and break down everything you need to know about this latest battle in the right to be counted as a person.  Expert Repro Journalism That Insp...

Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that threatens to finally do what conservatives have spent the last ten years failing at: striking down the Affordable Care Act. On this episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jessica Mason Pieklo and Imani Gandy break down the key battles and what they portend for the future of our health-care system. If you’d like to support Boom! Lawyered, please do s...

Today, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia —a key case in the conservative strategy to dismantle laws that protect LGBTQ people. At the core of the case is a chilling question: Under the guise of "religious freedom," does the Constitution mandate government discrimination? On this episode of Boom! Lawyered, Imani Gandy and Jessica Mason Pieklo break down the argumen...

Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court on Monday evening. Imani Gandy and Jessica Mason Pieklo use her first day on the job to take stock of her wildly inappropriate appearance with Trump last night during her swearing-in ceremony, the effectiveness (or lack thereof?) of Senate opposition, and how the mainstream media handled itself during this unprecedented power-grab. Rewire News G...

It's official. With the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court today, conservatives now have a 6-3 majority and a death-grip on the institution and the law. But as grim as things seem, all is not lost. On this special episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jessica Mason Pieklo and Imani Gandy explain how Barrett's appointment will impact our rights immediately and what progressives can do to f...

Jessica Mason Pieklo and Imani Gandy recap the third day of Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court confirmation hearing. On Wednesday, Barrett flubbed the basics of the First Amendment, refused to denounce poll taxes, and couldn't confirm that a right to privacy exists. Oh, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) seemed nostalgic about segregation? Join Jess and Imani as they wade through it all on our final...

Jessica Mason Pieklo and Imani Gandy recap the second day of Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court confirmation process. On Tuesday, she refused to answer a lot of questions but still managed to make some pretty wild statements on health care, the LGBTQ community, and more. How did senators respond to them? And is any kind of meaningful opposition strategy emerging from the Democrats? Find out all of...

Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court confirmation process is officially underway. On Monday, we heard opening statements first from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and then Barrett—and the day was almost too normal. Did Democrats do themselves a disservice by playing along? Did Barrett acknowledge any of the outrageous circumstances of her nomination? And what's next in the wild week ahead?...

As Boom! Lawyered returns for its fifth season, #TeamLegal has come to the inexorable conclusion that it's time to expand the courts. But is there a non-messy way to do that? How much math has to be involved? And what can be done about the conservative radicalization of the lower courts? Jessica Mason Pieklo and Imani Gandy dive into all of that and more. If you'd like to support Boom! Lawyered, p...

Trump's newest Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, has challenged marriage equality, opposed abortion rights, misgendered transgender people, and so much more. How likely is she to join the Court? And what's being done to block her nomination? #TeamLegal experts Imani Gandy and Jessica Mason Pieklo walk you through of that and more on this special episode of Boom! Lawyered. If you'd like to...

RIP, Justice Ginsburg. Nothing will be the same. Expert Repro Journalism That Inspires.  Episodes like this take time, research, and a commitment to the truth. If Boom! Lawyered helps you understand what’s at stake in our courts, chip in to keep our fearless legal analysis alive. Become a member today .   B*itch, Listen now has its own dedicated feed on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , and whe...

Employers who love to wield religious freedom as a cudgel scored a couple big wins at the U.S. Supreme Court today, including a decision allowing employers to meddle with the birth control of their employees based on "conscientious objections." Jess and Imani explain what happened and whether there's any logic to this expansion of your employer's power over your health-care decisions. If you'd lik...

Julie Rikelman of the Center for Reproductive Rights did the unthinkable in 2020: As the lead attorney representing June Medical in June Medical Services v. Russo , she convinced Chief Justice John Roberts to sign onto a decision protecting abortion rights! She joins Jessica Mason Pieklo and Imani Gandy to discuss what it's like to argue before the Supreme Court, to try and get some sleep the nigh...

The June Medical Services v. Russo decision is in, and it's 5-4 in favor of the very obvious truth:  Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt already decided this shit. Chief Justice John Roberts is forced to concur, but his dissent lays out a troubling roadmap for the next round of anti-choice restrictions. Jess and Imani explain all of this and more. And on Tuesday June 30 at 11am ET, join Jess and I...

For the second time in a week, the Supreme Court came down on the side of justice! On Thursday morning, it blocked the Trump administration's efforts to rescind DACA in a 5-4 decision . In this episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jessica Mason Pieklo and Imani Gandy explain the decision, how Justice Sotomayor added an extra dollop of truth, and whether Trump has any hope of finding a workaround. If you'd l...

A big Supreme Court decision just arrived, and it's comprehensively awesome. In a 6-3 ruling , the Court confirmed that "an employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law." In this emergency episode of Boom! Lawyered, Imani Gandy and Jessica Mason Pieklo react to the decision—written by Neil Gorsuch, of all people—and the extremely salty dissent. If you'd like...

Racism is baked into the U.S. model of policing. More and more people are starting to believe that no amount of "reform" will help; a full tear-down is required. But what does "defunding the police" actually mean? What would happen to people who need to report a crime? And are we sure the police have ever actually been effective at any of the services they're supposed to provide? Imani Gandy and J...

Gavin Grimm has been challenging a policy at his former high school that requires transgender students to use separate bathroom facilities. On Tuesday, the case landed in federal appeals court. Jess and Imani break down the arguments and explain why the school's pleas to keep discriminating are so horribly misguided. If you'd like to support Boom! Lawyered, text "BOOMGIVE" to 44-321 or go to https...

The Daily Beast just reported that the upcoming FX documentary AKA Jane Roe reveals that Norma McCorvey, aka "Jane Roe" of Roe v. Wade, admitted on film that her anti-choice conversion was "all an act." On this emergency episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani react to the shocking news and what it means for the abortion rights fight ahead. For more on  Roe v. Wade,  check out #TeamLegal's other...