5-4

What is the greater crime? Missing a recording and pushing an episode back by a week … or using the full power of the state to prosecute a man for something he did not do, confining him in solitary as he awaits execution, and then appealing the remedy that he is awarded when exculpatory evidence (that the prosecution probably hid from the defense) resurfaces? Anyway, here's an encore of Connic...

Recorded live at Harvard Law School's Corporate Capture of the Legal System conference, we're talking about Jones Day. The law firm jumps into bed with all manner of villains with the justification that "everyone deserves representation." But as David Enrich, business investigations editor at The New York Times writes in his new book “Servants of the Damned: Giant Law Firms, Donald...

In this case from 1944 the Court decides that arresting someone on "suspicion of being Japanese" and putting them in a concentration camp is not racially motivated. And while we're at it, don't call it a "concentration camp," that makes the justices feel icky. 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh and Andrew Parsons provide edit...

Here at 5-4 HQ we get a lot of questions. And while we can't answer the ones from our parents, about what we're doing with our lives, we CAN answer your questions about the law. The full version of this premium episode is available exclusively to our subscribers. To join, visit https://www.fivefourpod.com/support. 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon...

Don't get it twisted: "the point" whizzing high over the heads of Supreme Court justices is a tradition as old as the Court itself. This case, where the Court holds that it cannot declare discriminatory voter registration unconstitutional because that would "legitimize it," proves our case. Tickets are selling fast for our Austin live show on Friday, February 24th! Get yours he...

The dictionary defines "quid pro quo" as "when a businessman walks up to a Congressman in the Capitol and hands him a check with the words 'bribe for doing a favor for me' written on the memo line." Nothing else constitutes bribery. It is so ordered. We've got an upcoming premium episode answering your questions. If you're dying to know something about the Court, th...

This week, 5-4 invites you to check out an episode of If Books Could Kill, featuring Michael Hobbes, of Maintenance Phase , and 5-4 's own Peter. If Books Could Kill deconstructs the airport bestsellers that captured our hearts and ruined our minds. From The Game to Freakonomics , if an idea is bad enough, someone has written a book about it, and Peter and Michael are here to rip it to shreds....

We spend the better part of the year bumming you out about the many ways the law fails to actually provide justice. Thankfully, there are organizations that provide mutual aid and support to right some of the wrongs committed by our judiciary. Here are some of our favorite orgs that are offering healing, advocacy and care, to build the future that we want. https://reprolegaldefensefund.org/ https:...

For some strange reason, there aren't many thrillers about the Supreme Court. The Pelican Brief remedies this obvious oversight by Hollywood. If you'd like to option 5-4 for film and television, we're all ears. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To get exclusive Premium-only episodes, discounts on merch, access to our Slack community, and more...

Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor is undoubtedly one of our faves. But "no robes, no masters" still applies. The full version of this premium episode is available exclusively to our Patreon supporters. To join, visit  www.patreon.com/fivefourpod . 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh and Andrew Parsons provide editorial support. Our production...

This episode contains graphic depictions of an execution. Please take care while listening. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To get exclusive Premium-only episodes, discounts on merch, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support. 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh and Andrew P...

The Fourth Amendment protects you from unreasonable search and seizure by the government. Unless the government wants to unreasonably search and/or seize. In that case, the Supreme Court says "go for it babes!" If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To get exclusive Premium-only episodes, discounts on merch, access to our Slack community, and more, jo...

The full version of this episode is available now to our 5-4 Premium supporters. To join, visit www.fivefourpod.com/support 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh and Andrew Parsons provide editorial support. Our production manager is Percia Verlin, and our assistant producer is Arlene Arevalo. Our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by...

Justice Samuel Alito is deeply contemptuous of those who don't share his worldview, where abortion is murder, and the cops can do whatever they want, and Jesus would have ruled against the FEC in Citizens United. If hell is real, plan to see Alito there. The full version of this premium episode is available exclusively to our Patreon supporters. To join, visit  www.patreon.com/fivefourpod . 5...

This episode quotes outdated language about homosexuality that maybe painful to hear. Please take care while listening. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To get exclusive Premium-only episodes, discounts on merch, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support. 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our produce...

The first time the Supreme Court flirted with Independent State Legislature doctrine, George W. Bush wound up in the presidency. Next time, if conservatives on the court get their way in an upcoming case, your vote - depending on where you live - could lose all meaning. You can now get 5-4 Premium on Spotify by visiting our website fivefourpod.com/support. There, you can sign up to join 5-4 Premiu...

The hosts have some ~personal~ news. The full version of this premium episode is available exclusively to our Patreon supporters. To join, visit https://www.fivefourpod.com/support/ Follow Peter (@The_Law_Boy), Rhiannon (@AywaRhiannon) and Michael (@_FleerUltra) on Twitter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Our Sponsors: * Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/five...

The state of legal discourse is bad. There's an entire ecosystem of talkers that need the Court to exist so they have something to talk about. Which naturally warps the way they talk about the Court. But the Court's blatant political maneuvering over the last term is impossible to ignore - and it looks like there may be a shift happening in the ecosystem. The full version of this premium e...

Fun party idea: convene 11 strangers, get zooted at lunch, deal some weed, do a little coke in the bathroom of a courthouse, then determine whether or not you're going to put a human in a cage for a substantial chunk of their life. 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh and Andrew Parsons provide editorial support. Our production manager is Percia V...

Having accomplished their big goals of overturning Roe and giving a praying football coach back a job he never actually lost and apparently does not want to anymore, conservatives are now looking to the next Supreme Court term. This year, as part of their continued campaign to prove that racism does not exist, they'll try to eliminate affirmative action and federal Indian Law. Follow Peter (@T...

The Supreme Court term begins next week and for the first time in American history, a Black woman will sit among the justices. Here's everything you need to know about Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's background, judicial philosophy, and approach to haters. The full version of this premium episode is available exclusively to our Patreon supporters. To join, visit  www.patreon.com/fivefourpo...

Welcome to citizenship in the United States of America - you knew that you weren't guaranteed to get health care, housing, economic security, or education … but did you know that you ALSO aren't guaranteed the right to vote?! Follow Peter (@The_Law_Boy), Rhiannon (@AywaRhiannon) and Michael (@_FleerUltra) on Twitter.   If you're not a Patreon member, you're not hearing every episod...

Cops have to read you your Miranda rights. If they don't … nothing happens, according to this recent Supreme Court ruling. Probably nothing to worry about here. Follow Peter (@The_Law_Boy), Rhiannon (@AywaRhiannon) and Michael (@_FleerUltra) on Twitter. If you're not a Patreon member, you're not hearing every episode! To get exclusive Patreon-only episodes, discounts on merch, access t...

Oh my god, MORE of you decided to go to law school? Even after we released this episode last year? Welp. We can't stop you. But we can offer you an encore of our Welcome to Law School episode, where we break down why it's not you - it's law school. Get the support of likeminded law students, lawyers, and law lovers (or haters) in our Slack community, by joining our Patreon at the $10 a...

Harriet Miers was a lawyer and advisor in the Bush Administration. But what she was NOT was reliably conservative enough to pass Federalist Society muster. Her failed nomination was the first breath of a new era in Court politics: where you toe the line or you gtfo. The full version of this premium episode is available exclusively to our Patreon supporters. To join, visit  www.patreon.com/fivefour...