Cases and Controversies

Lisa Montgomery was executed Jan. 13 by the lame-duck Trump administration despite her lawyers’ best efforts to save her. On the latest Cases and Controversies episode, veteran public defender Kelley Henry gives an inside look at those efforts, which, for Henry, led to contracting Covid-19 while working on the case. Henry talks about the “last-minute” litigation and her frustration at the governme...

The Supreme Court will hear just two arguments to wrap up the January sitting. But it has been busy—and divided— as it issued orders on executions and medication abortion access during the Covid-19 pandemic. The justices will hear arguments over FCC media ownership rules and climate litigation on Jan. 19 in a work week shortened by the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and presidential inauguration....

Supreme Court justices kick off the New Year with three arguments that they’ll hear remotely, continuing Covid-19 pandemic precautions. The court will hear disputes related to immigration, speech and religion, and the Federal Trade Commission the week of Jan. 11. Cases and Controversies hosts Kimberly Robinson and Jordan Rubin preview these cases and discuss the latest rejected Republican election...

From impeachment to historic pandemic-driven change to losing a justice to gaining a new one—it’s been an extraordinary year for the U.S. Supreme Court. Cases and Controversies hosts Kimberly Robinson and Jordan Rubin round up the biggest moments in their year-end podcast.

In a special Cases and Controversies episode, top Supreme Court lawyer Kannon Shanmugam talks about running a high court practice during a pandemic.  Shanmugam gives hosts Kimberly Robinson and Jordan Rubin an inside look at what it's been like running the practice at Paul, Weiss, a role he took on last year having no idea what Covid-19 had in store. The former Antonin Scalia clerk talks about arg...

The Supreme Court wrapped up its arguments for 2020, but there's still work to do before ringing in the new year. Bloomberg Law's Kimberly Robinson and Jordan Rubin detail Texas's last-ditch effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election, historic lame duck federal executions, and the court's first opinions in argued cases this term. And Goldstein and Russell's Sarah Harrington joins Cases and...

The Supreme Court will hear its final arguments of 2020, starting with a pair of cases seeking to reclaim Nazi-looted art. In those cases—Germany v. Philipp and Hungary v. Simon—the justices will consider whether Holocaust survivors and their families can sue former Axis countries in the U.S. or whether they must press their claims oversees. It's déjà vu for the remainder of the week, as the justi...

Despite decades of work to educate more Black lawyers, the percentage of Black associates and partners in firms across the U.S. remain very low, and well below those of other professional careers. Big Law firms across the board are ramping up social justice efforts as the nation engages in a renewed dialogue on race and equality. But some have accused firms of using minorities as “diversity props”...

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on a range of issues the week of Nov. 30, starting with a dispute over President Donald Trump’s attempt to keep non-citizens off the Census. The week will end with the latest appeal over non-unanimous jury verdicts. In between, the justices will hear an array of arguments over the scope of an anti-hacking law, the ability to sue the IRS to prevent enforce...

The Supreme Court still has high-profile cases involving President Donald Trump on its docket as his tenure comes to a close, including disputes involving the Mueller Report and the Census. On the latest Cases and Controversies episode, Bloomberg Law reporters Kimberly Robinson and Jordan Rubin talk about how that Mueller case could be wiped from the docket. They also discuss the latest Census cas...

The justices wrapped up their remote November sitting with one of the most anticipated cases before the justices this term—the challenge to the Affordable Care Act. Akin Gump’s Pratik A. Shah joined “Cases and Controversies” podcast hosts Kimberly Robinson and Jordan Rubin to game out the likely outcomes that include the justices leaving most of the law intact. The case, California v. Texas, deriv...

The Supreme Court will hear arguments over the fate of the Affordable Care Act—also known as Obamacare—on Nov. 10. It's a short argument week that also includes disputes over immigration and barriers to suing law enforcement. All ears will be on Justice Amy Coney Barrett in her second phone argument week as the justices remotely hear a Republican challenge to the healthcare law that dominated disc...

In the latest episode of Cases and Controversies, Bloomberg Law reporters Kimberly Robinson and Jordan Rubin bring listeners up to speed on one of the next cases to be heard remotely by phone, Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. This will be one of the first cases new Supreme Court justice Amy Coney Barrett will hear. Also this week, the court will likely continue fielding emergency requests ahead of...

The Supreme Court is gearing up to hear a heated dispute pitting religious rights against LGBTQ rights the day after the election, in what could be an early test for Amy Coney Barrett. William Haun with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty  joins Cases and Controversies hosts Kimberly Robinson and Jordan Rubin on this deep dive episode to break down Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. Haun’s group re...

The Supreme Court’s first argument session of the October 2020 term is in the books and two of the lawyers who argued in it join the latest episode of Cases and Controversies to share their virtual experiences. Ramzi Kassem of CUNY law school and Sean Marotta of Hogan Lovells recount everything ranging from missing Justice Ginsburg to technical issues to what to eat for breakfast ahead of a pandem...

The Supreme Court continues to hear remote arguments in the second week of the term as confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett are set to begin. Barrett’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearings kick off Monday, a federal holiday. But in the second and final week of the October argument session, the justices will hear disputes in cases involving military justice, bankruptcy, Fourth Amendment...

The Supreme Court term kicks off Monday after a shorter-than-usual summer break with only eight justices set to hear 10 cases this month. As in May, all arguments for the sitting will be conducted by phone due to social distancing demands of the coronavirus. A live audio feed will be provided by C-Span and other news outlets. This will be the first term in nearly three decades that the court will...

President Donald Trump nominated Seventh Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Sept. 26 to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Sept. 18. It's a move that could reshape the high court and the law for generations. On this special episode of Cases and Controversies, Bloomberg Law’s Kimberly Robinson, Jordan Rubin, and Madison Alder break down the nomination and what to expect in the weeks ahe...

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death has raised the Supreme Court’s profile as a confirmation fight over her successor and the presidential campaign converge. Kimberly Robinson and Jordan Rubin look at the future of the court, both in the near- and long-term, in this term preview episode featuring two guests. Weil’s Zack Tripp, a former Ginsburg clerk, joins the show to recount his experience at her memori...

Goodwin Liu, a California Supreme Court Justice, and former law clerk to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, remembers the late Supreme Court Justice on this special episode of Cases & Controversies. Liu talks about Ginsburg’s voracious editing style, and her most memorable opinions.

President Donald Trump announced 20 more potential Supreme Court justices for his "short" list, putting new attention on the high court as the 2020 election approaches. In the latest episode of Cases and Controversies, hosts Kimberly Robinson and Jordan Rubin discuss the list, which includes notable names in Republican political circles, like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and former U.S. Solicitor Gener...

Challenges to election laws have poured into the Supreme Court and more are likely as the 2020 election season really heats up after Labor Day. Election law expert Rick Hasen, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, joins Cases and Controversies to discuss how the justices will approach these questions and what it may mean for voters. And check out this Bloomberg Law video on election...

The Supreme Court keeps generating news despite it being in the thick of what should be a summer vacation. Some of that news involves yet more divided shadow docket orders related to Covid-19. On this episode of Cases and Controversies, hosts Kimberly Robinson and Jordan Rubin talk with Alliance Defending Freedom’s John Bursch. He’s one of the lawyers representing Calvary Chapel against the state...

After a wild term, the Supreme Court is finally starting to settle down a bit, so the hosts of “Cases and Controversies” are going to the movies! On the latest episode, they interview ACLU attorneys starring in the forthcoming documentary “The Fight,” out July 31, which tracks several high-profile legal battles against the Trump administration over the last few years. The guests talk about their c...

If you were excited about the new five-justice conservative majority, this just-completed term of the Supreme Court might have left you disappointed. But law professor Stephen Vladeck says that's not the full picture. A look at the so-called "shadow docket"—the work the court does without oral argument—suggests it was a much better term for conservatives and the Trump administration than it might...