Boom! Lawyered

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...

A Florida attorney is trying to free his client from jail. His client? A fetus. In a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani break down a case that could open the floodgates for "fetal personhood"—but, it's a little more complicated than that. Expert Repro Journalism That Inspires.  Episodes like this take time, research, and a commitment to the truth. If Boom! Lawyered helps you understand...

Charter Day School in North Carolina requires girls to wear skirts in order to "preserve chivalry" based on its belief that "every girl is a fragile vessel." Is it the 1950s? In a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani get into the case, Charter Day School v. Peltier, which the Supreme Court is thinking about taking—despite the fact that the Court has never weighed in on dress codes. We kno...

The future of abortion is medication abortion. Anti-abortion activists know this. That's why they're coming after abortion pills—and  fighting hard to get it banned nationwide. In a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani dive into Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA , the case before a Trump judge that could ban mifepristone, one of the two pills used in medication abortions. Mentioned...

In this post- Roe world, we're at the intersection of the criminalization of pregnancy and the future of abortion access—and that's by design. In a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, co-hosts Jessica Mason Pieklo and Imani Gandy discuss how medication abortion—which is safe, effective, and lets people manage their abortion at home if they choose—is being targeted (like it is in Alabama, where the atto...

What a surreal  moment. This should be the week of Roe 's 50th anniversary. But like the planet Alderaan, it's been blown away by the Death Star (aka the Supreme Court). Jess and Imani discuss the future of abortion rights and what abortion access will look like in our new post- Roe reality. Mentioned in this episode: SCOTUS Gutting Native Families Will Usher In Cultural Genocide Rewire News Group...

As Jess predicts, “Conservatives will really go for it in terms of the wild restrictions and trying to push fetal ‘”personhood.'” Jess and Imani reflect on a wild and devastating year and put their prediction hats on for next year. The TL;DR: With this Court, it's not great. Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means episodes like this are only made possible by the support of...

Jess and Imani are back with their rapid reaction analysis of Moore v. Harper , the case heard today before the Supreme Court that that could forever change how elections are run in this country. It involves the absurd independent state legislature theory that claims the elections clause of the Constitution allows state legislatures to run their federal elections with unchecked power. Rewire News...

In this rapid reaction episode, Jess and Imani get into today's Supreme Court oral arguments in a case about a web designer who argues free speech extends to hypothetical website design for a hypothetical same-sex couple. In other words, it's about weaponizing the First Amendment to refuse services based on personal belief. And in his questioning, Justice Samuel Alito had some things to say about...

Jess and Imani get into the heart of the New York Times' bombshell reporting over the weekend that alleges Justice Samuel Alito leaked a 2014 opinion on a big contraception case. So, just how corrupt is Alito, and can anything be done about it? As Jess says, "The allegations in the New York Times piece are absolutely extraordinary. They totally paint this picture of Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas a...

If the midterms solidified anything, it's this: The Supreme Court is a vehicle for how the white supremacist project of dominance—the relegation of women and other potential pregnant people to second-class citizenship and erasure of marginalized people—will be implemented. Jess and Imani get deep into how the election showed we’re in a battle between the democratic will of the voters and a capture...