Advisory Opinions

Will there be a legal and cultural consensus on transgender affirming healthcare? Why don’t female deputies get a full weekend in Dallas County? And what will Sarah’s baby’s name be? Sarah and David explore these questions and a smorgasbord of legal topics in a end of summer circuit round-up, including: -Merit based and race neutral admissions process in Fairfax County -Law firms discriminating on...

Can Donald Trump be disqualified from holding public office? Sarah and David host a friendly debate with Michael McConnell, a former circuit judge and current Stanford law professor, over whether Donald Trump “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or not. Also: -Hunter Biden plea deal update -Removal jurisdiction Show notes- -Prof. Michael McConnell, Responding About the Fourteenth Amendment, "In...

Professor Bradley Rebeiro joins Sarah and David to examine Frederick Douglass and the political theories that influenced his thinking. But, before the interview, the two go through a docket of trending political topics, including: -DC’s picky protest arrests -A 96-year-old judge’s continued tenure -Hunter Biden: Deal or no deal? -Trump’s Georgia troubles, revisited (already) Show Notes: -Bradley R...

A grand jury out of Fulton County, Georgia has brought RICO charges against Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants. Sarah and David explain the 98-page indictment, how it holds up to the others, and Trump's interesting defense strategy. Plus: -David issues a very important correction -Will Trump be able to pardon himself? -Georgia RICO vs. federal RICO -Will this case stay in Georgia? -What if Trump wa...

First Amendment attorney Ari Cohn joins Advisory Opinions to present the complexity of age restriction policies. But first, Sarah and David update listeners on a barrage of legal activity, including: -Section 3 of the 14th amendment and the GOP’s saving grace? -Kansas newspaper suing over police raid -Hunter Biden’s special counsel (and horrible parenting) -What can and cannot Trump say? Show Note...

David and a particularly congested Sarah plan to forward this especially packed AO straight to the Supreme Court. Does the Eighth Amendment enshrine a felon's right to vote and do people really think Jews have horns? Plus: -Trump protective order battle -Ghost gun regulation -Southwest Airlines attends religious liberty training -Butterfly knives and commercial firearm sales -Ohio ballot initiativ...

UC Berkeley law professor Orin Kerr joins David and Sarah to explain how Fourth Amendment jurisprudence applies to a digital age. Do you have an expectation of privacy online? Can terms of services null your right against unreasonable searches and seizures? But first Sarah generously offers David time to rant about certain legal takes surrounding Trump’s most recent indictment. Plus: -David’s (rec...

Special counsel Jack Smith brings another round of charges against Donald Trump, this time concerning the former president's attempts to subvert the results of the 2020 election. How does this indictment compare with the previous two? Will prosecutors be able to prove Trump was knowingly lying about the election? Does the indictment change anything for Trump? And is the country ready for this tria...

Justice Samuel "Spicy" Alito returns to the pages of The Wall St. Journal with a flaming-hot interview and Sarah and David are here to unpack it. (And we all thought this is going to be a short pod!) Plus: -The rise of judicial voters -Why flying United is bad (according to Hugh Hewitt) -Who's paying for Trump's legal fees? Show Notes: -Alito's interview in the Wall Street Journal -Original Jurisd...

Sarah Isgur and David French answer questions around the legal troubles of Donald Trump and Hunter Biden, including: -Drained swimming pools and deleted documents -How is Hunter Biden in good standing with the DC Bar? -David’s 10PM runs Show Notes: -"It's Seven Grandkids Mr. President" -Has the Supreme Court fixed qualified immunity doctrine yet? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...

Three qualified immunity cases are thoroughly analyzed in a particularly depressing AO episode, but first David and Sarah talk through an injunction on asylum seekers some are calling “Trump-Lite”, plus: -Broken immigration systems -Say it with me folks, “Congress, do your job.” -Too much too soon too fast -Courts not complying with qualified immunity statutes -Does Congress have better things to...

It is NOT the doldrums of this podcast. Sarah and David have prepared a sufficiently full pod starting with Trump's looming federal indictment. Also: -Alabama's creative response to SCOTUS -Did Alabama defy the ruling? -New study of college admissions: being rich might be helpful -Listener questions about the Two Bronze Doors  -We'll see you in a few minutes... This episode is sponsored by FIRE. F...

Sarah and David reach peak AO and fulfill their promise of delivering something stratospherically nerdy. Judge Charles Eskridge for the Southern District of Texas has written a 56-page history of the Supreme Court building... and specifically its 17-foot, 13-ton bronze doors. Judge Eskridge tells the story depicted on the door's eight panels and what it says about our history of ordered liberty. T...

Amanda Tyler, the Shannon C. Turner Professor of Law at Berkeley, joins Sarah and David for post-SCOTUS term talk. They finally give Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co. some love, and also: -General jurisdiction and interstate commerce -Graphics in opinions -Habeas Corpus: Is Lincoln the good guy or the bad guy? -Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg -Advisory Opinions spinoff? -Amanda Tyler's profile a...

Kannon Shanmugam rejoins Sarah and David for another SCOTUS opinion wrap-up and barbecue showdown for this live taping in front of a lucky audience of summer associates. The trio discuss the implications of SCOTUS cases versus the notoriety of them and: -Sarah and David’s SCOTUS beefs -Sarah’s impasse for longer arguments and more cases -Attire for oral arguments (don’t forget the lucky suspenders...

Sarah and David catch-up with non-SCOTUS cases starting with... -A multi-million dollar lawsuit involving Musk's Twitter deal -A bold move by a judge blocking state actors and social media workers meeting over protected speech -Tennessee’s latest push in the culture war with a ban on gender-affirming care -A bullied child, a MAGA hat, and the First Amendment Show Notes: -David French for The Dispa...

In this special episode of Advisory Opinions, Sarah follows Judge Alan Norris, a Sixth Circuit judge, on a trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Legal Eagles, a group of Judge Norris' colleagues and law clerks, accompany him on an annual trip to relive the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Advisory Opinions' purposes, the Supreme Court term is over. Sarah and David return to share their end-of-term thoughts and feelings, David's crankiness about the student loan forgiveness commentary, look to the next term and: -Student loan forgiveness is dead -D.O.E. v. Brown -Compelled speech in Colorado -NYT: I Teach at an Elite College. Here’s a Look Inside the Racial Gaming of Admissions...

In a contentious decision, the Supreme Court shuts down affirmative action in universities... or does it? How impactful, really, is the decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard? It's complicated. After weeks (months? Years?) of anxious anticipation, Sarah and David dig into this term's blockbuster decision: -Is this a big deal? -They justices can't agree about the universe of facts -Har...

As the term rushes to an end, the Supreme Court wades eagerly into a mooted case in order to close the door on the "independent legislature doctrine." But does it matter? David and Sarah disagree. Also: -Nobody expects the Marbury v Madison citations -What counts as threats online? (Or: Is recklessness subjective?) -NYT v Sullivan holds strong -Supreme Court bingo: The Countdown -Supreme (court) i...

Sarah Isgur and Guest-host David French return from the Advisory Opinions live event for some Supreme Court bingo. Plus: -Opinion lightning round -Justice Alito's Op-Ed in the WSJ -Transgender care for minors at the District Courts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did Hunter Biden receive a sweetheart deal from the DOJ? How are other people treated under similar circumstances? And what’s with DOJ’s timing? In this live recording among the young scholars at American Enterprise Institue, Sarah Isgur and David French ponder these questions and: -Donald Trump’s “with hunt” versus Biden investigations  -Indictments as instruments of intimidation  -David and Sara...

Judge Amul Thapar joins Sarah to discuss his book: The People’s Justice: Clarence Thomas and the Stories That Define Him.  While today's SCOTUS decisions won't be discussed (snoozers!), the two have a lot of ground to cover: -Odessa Pink perseverance, legal hardships, and keepsakes -Mary Jane Smoking Hippies -Is Trump The Most Popular Person in the World Ever? -AO in Dehli -Scalia v Thomas -Legal...

Should Judge Cannon recuse herself from the Trump case? What's the legal standard on willful retention of documents? Will the Finding Nemo Seagull defense serve Trump? What about gag orders? Sarah Isgur and David French keep you up to date on the trials and tribulations of Donald J. Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did Alabama violate the Voting Rights Act? How do you pronounce Gingles? And what are the tea leaf predictions for the Harvard discrimination case? Join Sarah and David to answer these questions and: -Who’s the lucky dog in the Jack Daniels case -Is Justice Gorsuch overcharging his friends on Venmo? -What happens when David puts on his woke hat? -Will there be an emergency pod coming up? -Who the...