Rebuttal

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON ⁠YOUTUBE⁠) The record for most helicopter escapes goes to convicted murderer Pascal Payet, who has used helicopters to escape from prisons in 2001, 2003, and most recently 2007.... Reb goes down a Wikipedia rabbit hole for this Thanksgiving episode. Happy holidays! See you next week!!!! REBUTTAL POD MERCH IS LIVE!: ⁠https://rebmasel.shop/⁠ *** ⁠⁠⁠⁠CLICK HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to PRE...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) “We walked straight into (Arizona Department of Corrections). We handed it to them. [S]he was kind of confused at first ... Two days later, instead of serving 22 more years, David Cramer walked out of Lewis Prison..." This is State of Arizona v. Cramer (2015), but mostly every bizarre twist that came after it. REBUTTAL POD MERCH IS LIVE!: ⁠⁠https://rebmasel.shop/⁠ *...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) The State of Connecticut charged Teresa Beatty $249 per day, every day, while she was in prison for a minor drug offense from 2000 to 2002—But she wouldn't discover this until 20 years later. When her mother died in 2020, the State of Connecticut filed a notice in probate court demanding approximately 35%—over $83,000—of Beatty’s inheritance. And it was perfectly le...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) “You’ve got an impressive slate of candidates,” Brian Manookian said to a panel considering applications for a Tennessee Supreme Court seat. “Judge [Kelvin] Jones is not one of them.” Why? Check his backyard. And his divorce transcripts. Reb reminds you to keep your mouth shut in Jones v. Jones (Ten. Ct. App. 2022). REBUTTAL POD MERCH IS LIVE!: ⁠⁠https://rebmasel.sh...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) BREAKING: If you arrest AND charge a man over a few (really funny) jokes, The Onion will probably file a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court to let you know how stupid you are. And yes, they'll call the Justices "total Latin dorks" on Page 4. This is Anthony Novak v. City of Parma, Ohio (2022). >>LINK TO THE ONION'S BRIEF REBUTTAL POD MERCH IS LIVE!: ⁠⁠https://rebmase...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) **LISTENER DISCRETION ADVISED, GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF TRAUMATIC DEATH INVOLVING CHILDREN** Shortly after 2:00 A.M. on July 23, 1982, actor Vic Morrow paced nervously in front of a mock Vietnamese village at the Indian Dunes park just north of Los Angeles. Morrow could not help but feel uneasy as he watched the Huey helicopter approach the village for a final rehear...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) How far would you go for your wardrobe? 16 years of litigation, perhaps? Witness the unraveling of Judge Roy Pearson in Pearson v. Chung (2007). *** CLICK HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠ to PREORDER Reb's book: The Book They Throw At You—A Sarcastic Lawyer's Guide* To The Unholy Chaos of Our Legal System, *God No, Not Actual Legal Advice *** Follow @RebuttalPod on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) “His statement was that [the other man] had summoned ‘Bigfoot’ to come and kill him. That’s why he had to kill [him first]. . . " Sasquatch is (somehow) always in court. Let's go hunting. These are the Bigfoot cases. *Reb's reference to an incomplete (but larger) list of Bigfoot case law: Click here *** ⁠⁠⁠⁠CLICK HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠ to PREORDER Reb's book: The Book They Throw...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) Do all 50 States (and their courts) agree on what IS and IS NOT a deadly weapon? Of course not. Ask the raccoons, honeybees, alligators, plastic chairs, ladles, shoes, bare hands, dogs, toy guns, teeth, and .....eggs. Reb tells you why the difference between simple assault and felony assault with a deadly weapon as a matter of law can get.....very confusing. LINK TO...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) Thinking of dabbling in a bit of crime? Annoying your neighbor? Getting back at a crazy ex? Scamming people? Couponing? Pulling a prank? Putting a piece of paper inside a mailbox? Dressing up as a USPS postal worker for fun? Wherever your criminal exploits may take you, try your very best to adhere to one not-so-simple rule: DO NOT MESS WITH THE MAIL. These are the...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) "Here, a husband and wife have been marinating in a mutual hatred so intense as to surely amount to a personality disorder requiring treatment." –Judge Joseph W. Quinn Divorce is messy. Bruni v. Bruni (2010) is messier. Listen to Reb raise a glass to the unholiest of matrimonies. (***You can find an extremely helpful diagram of the people involved in this case and t...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) In 1870, a dog named Old Drum is shot and killed by his owner’s neighbor in Missouri. In 1457, a sow and her piglets are put on trial for the murder of a child. In 2016, a parrot repeats the words “Don’t shoot!” in his murdered owner’s voice, and many more...Humans aren't the only ones contributing to chaos in our courtrooms. Animal (Court)House. Let’s get into it....

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) **CONTENT WARNING: GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF TORTURE** On March 15, 2025, President Trump announced the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua was conducting "irregular warfare" against the United States and that members would be deported under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The Trump Administration quickly began deporting people allegedly affiliated with the gang—wi...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) An Alcatraz Island kidnapper is hired by the child he kidnapped 30 years later. Listen to Reb snatch the (kinda heartwarming but mostly traumatizing?) details of Waley v. United States (9th Cir. 1949). *** CLICK HERE to PREORDER Reb's book: The Book They Throw At You—A Sarcastic Lawyer's Guide* To The Unholy Chaos of Our Legal System, *God No, Not Actual Legal Advic...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) Do cats have free speech rights? How did Blackie the Talking Cat cause this much (legal) trouble? Reb finds out in Miles v. City Council of Augusta, Georgia (11th Cir. 1983). Follow @RebuttalPod on Instagram and Twitter! Follow @Rebmasel on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter! Huge shoutout to Alyssa, our new Rebuttal Podcast editor! *** 0:00 - Intro 2:35 - CASE BEGINS 6...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) The FBI threatens to put innocent people on the No Fly List unless they agree to become unpaid FBI informants spying on their (also innocent) communities. Why? Because the FBI pretty much guarantees that random, erroneous, overinclusive, islamophobic nominations to the No Fly List will be approved, and since the process is cloaked in secrecy, there wasn't a clear wa...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) What do Henry Ford's Model-T car, banning alcohol in the United States, and the FBI have in common? We needed all three to (1) catch American gangster John Dillinger and (2) make it federally legal to steal planes...FOR 26 YEARS. Learn how to legally steal a plane in 1926 and destroy evidence in 2007! Don't believe it? Well, the U.S. Supreme Court already does! List...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) At 10:27PM on December 3, 2024, South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol went live on television while his country was sleeping to declare martial law. His country fought back. After all was said and done, Yoon's martial law proclamation lasted only 6 and a half hours. Hawaii's lasted three years. Internment camps, forced labor, military tribunals, and a pause on all c...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) Out of nowhere, your front door explodes. You see a man with a gun run through your door and up the stairs, firing shots at the police chasing after him. Luckily, you run for cover before a SWAT team begins their "protocol" to flush him out - explosives, toxic gasses, grenades, BearCat armored tanks, robots, and chemical weapons hit every inch of your home. Eventual...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) Reb hits you with rapid fire summaries of 13 lawsuits filed in 2003 that are unhinged enough to make it on Rebuttal (the legal sanctuary of chaos and calamity, of course). *** 0:00 - Intro / Life update 4:16 - The Docked Dog Tail Case 8:55 - The Condom Soup Case 10:48 - Port-A-Potty Prison 12:32 - Depose The Parrot 13:59 - Suing The Casino Instead of Your Husband 15...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) A chicken farmer, World War II, and 150 suicidal chickens were the only ones up to the task to answer this question for the Supreme Court. No, I'm not joking. This is United States v. Causby (1946). Follow @RebuttalPod on Instagram and Twitter! Follow @Rebmasel on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter! *** 0:00 - Intro 00:40 - Case begins 3:00 - The Takings Clause 3:30 -...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) Being a lawyer is a stressful job, and we all handle the anxiety of this high-pressure field in different ways. Some enjoy pilates, others indulge in junk food, a few find relief at the bottom of a liquor bottle. But in 2023, one lawyer's preferred method of "blowing off steam" made headlines. It read: "BREAKING: LAWYER SUSPENDED FOR POOPING IN A PRINGLES CAN AND TH...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) On December 31, 1918, Colonel Luke Lea of the 114th Field Artillery Regiment handed his commanding officer a request for leave from his post in Allied-occupied Luxembourg. He would not say where he was going or what he intended to do, though he assured the general he had nothing to worry about. General Spaulding called it the "strangest request for leave he had ever...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) In America, unaccompanied children are forced to represent themselves in immigration court. That's right. Children as young as infants to teenagers. Each year, thousands of immigrant children are placed into court proceedings in which government prosecutors seek to deport them unless those children can prove they have a right to stay in the United States. While the...

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) In 500 BC, corrupt judges were treated a little differently than the ones we have today. The punishments have changed, but one question remains the same: What do we do when judges can't stop taking bribes? Hold onto your birthday suit, Reb is slicing open The Judgment of Cambyses (~530 BC). (Side note: A 30-MINUTE EPISODE CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!) Follow @RebuttalPod on...