Strict Scrutiny

Melissa, Kate, and Leah take a look back on this Supreme Court term as a whole. The hypocrisy, the racism, the sheer stupidity... it's all here! Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE on November 6th in Washington, DC: Crookedcon.com Buy Melissa’s book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader Buy Leah’s book, Lawless , now out in paperback Follow us on Instag...

In their second emergency episode in two days, Leah, Melissa, and Kate break down the Court’s final day of the term and folks, it’s a doozy. We’ve got America’s preeminent “father of daughters” Coach Brett Kavanaugh’s majority opinion allowing states to exclude trans women and girls from female sports teams, a massive blow to campaign finance law, and the survival of birthright citizenship by the...

In this emergency episode, Leah and Kate break down today’s incredibly consequential decisions in Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook , which followed the Project 2025 playbook to rewrite almost a century of precedent regarding presidential power. They also discuss how close the Court came to ruling that states can’t count absentee ballots that are cast by election day but received after election...

Melissa, Leah, and Kate briefly recap the Court’s two major immigration decisions last week (for a deeper dive, check out last week’s emergency episode ), before digging into the Second Amendment case, Wolford v. Lopez , which featured a cage match between private property rights and the right to bear arms, as well as Sam Alito’s funhouse-mirror version of history. Also covered: opinions involving...

In this emergency episode, Kate, Melissa, and Leah unpack the two major immigration opinions handed down by SCOTUS today. The brutal TL;DR, courtesy of Justice Sotomayor: “The consequences of today’s decision are predictable. More people will die.” Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE on November 6th in Washington, DC: Crookedcon.com Buy Melissa’s book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and A...

Leah, Melissa, Kate, and special guest Elie Mystal of The Nation speculate about why the Court is hoarding opinions this late into bad decision season before diving deep on the ruling in United States v. Hemani , which features drugs, the Second Amendment, and Amy Coney Barrett’s iconic Ambien jar. Plus: a new summer cocktail makes its debut, and no holds are barred, especially when it comes to Tr...

Kate and Leah cover this week’s three Supreme Court opinions—one featuring a killer Ketanji Brown Jackson dissent—before turning to legal news, where bad behavior is everywhere. We’ve got a violent judge who can’t park in Idaho, politically motivated prosecutors in Chicago, and Trump’s generationally incompetent personal lawyers failing to do basic lawyering. Finally, Leah speaks with Mary Moriart...

Leah and Melissa break down what may be a new low for the Court: granting Alabama’s request to reinstate racially discriminatory voting maps. Then, they turn to the big questions: how dead is Trump’s slush fund for insurrectionists? Just how awful are Acting AG Todd Blanche and Acting DNI Bill Pulte? Will Michigan’s Democratic senators stand up to Trump’s appalling nominee for a seat on the U.S. D...

Leah, Kate, and Melissa recap another busy week in legal news, covering the continued fallout from the Voting Rights Act case, Louisiana v. Callais , the ongoing saga of the DOJ’s insurrectionist slush fund, wild twists with the Broadview Six, more ballroom drama, the curious case of the Georgia judge who had loud sex in her chambers and then lied about it, and more. They also cover SCOTUS opinion...

Kate, Melissa, and Leah try to wrap their heads around Trump’s nearly $2 billion DOJ slush fund, which they agree may be—despite extremely stiff competition—the biggest act of trolling and self-dealing of his second term. The professors count the ways this is so, so illegal, and speculate on how it can be challenged (looking at you, Congress). They also cover other legal news and some SCOTUS opini...

Kate and Leah break down the Supreme Court’s extension of a stay allowing for continued mail-order access to mifepristone, from the Court’s unconscionable failure to meet its own arbitrary deadline to the unhinged dissents from Justices Thomas and Alito. They also cover last week’s other legal news before speaking with Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones, about the de...

Kate & Leah talk to Melissa about her new book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader , or, as we like to call it at Strict HQ, The Constitution (Melissa’s Version). Then all three unravel what happened with the Virginia Supreme Court invalidating voter-approved redistricting maps, along with other voting-related shenanigans in the wake of Callais . F...

The 5th Circuit gave us a doozy late on Friday night by tightening access to the abortion drug mifepristone—Leah and Melissa break it down. Then, the full crew dives deeper into the Court’s catastrophic Voting Rights Act decision in Louisiana v. Callais (for their initial reaction, check out last week’s emergency episode ). Next, they recap the troubling oral arguments in Mullin v. Doe , the case...

Kate and Leah are joined by Democracy Docket’s Marc Elias to break down the Supreme Court’s shameful assault on multiracial democracy in its ruling on the Voting Rights Act case, Louisiana v. Callais . Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2026!  6/20/26 – New York City Learn more: http://crooked.com/events Preorder Melissa’s book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and...

From the DOJ’s targeting of the Southern Poverty Law Center for its anti-KKK work to Kash Patel’s outrageous lawsuit against The Atlantic for its reporting on his unfitness for office to the Fifth Circuit’s legal contortions allowing Texas to mandate the Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms, it’s been a wild week in the law. Kate and Leah unpack it all before recapping the week’s oral argum...

Melissa, Kate, and Leah break down an absolute boatload of beefs: Trump vs. Pope Leo, Sonia Sotomayor vs. Coach Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas vs. progressives, and Ketanji Brown Jackson vs. the shadow docket, before covering some of the week’s other legal news, including the Harvard Crimson’s reporting on conservative judges’ ideological litmus tests for clerkships. Then, they break down the Co...

Even though the Supreme Court took a break from hearing oral arguments, there was still plenty of legal news breaking every day. Katie Phang joins Leah to recap that news, including Trump's threats against Iran, the overt Christian nationalist rhetoric coming from the Secretary of Defense, and a disturbing case that SCOTUS decided not to hear. Then, Emily Amick , joins Leah to talk all things 25th...

Last week saw oral arguments in the birthright citizenship case, Trump v. Barbara , and listeners, it finally happened: a legal argument so outlandish from the Trump administration that even this Court will have to rule against him. Leah and Melissa break down the back-and-forth and explain why this case will give SCOTUS credibility it doesn’t deserve. They also cover the President’s firing of the...

Today the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Chiles v. Salazer , the case involving a Colorado ban on conversion therapy. Leah is joined by Shannon Minter, Legal Director at the National Center for LGBTQ Rights , to break it down. Preorder Melissa’s book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader Buy Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conser...

Kate and guest co-host Ian Bassin of Protect Democracy kick off the show by covering the latest legal news, including developments at the Pentagon and Department of Justice, as well as Trump’s ominous threat to judges. Then, they recap the week’s opinions and oral arguments, focusing on Watson v. RNC, a case that could totally upend mail-in voting. Finally, Elora Mukherjee, director of the Immigra...

Leah, Kate, and Melissa preview this week’s arguments at the Court, including Watson v. Republican National Committee , a challenge over when election offices must receive absentee ballots in order for them to be counted. They also cover a flood of legal news, including the quagmire that is the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office, rulings from lower courts both encouraging (U.S. District Court for t...

Leah, Melissa and Kate go on Corruption Watch to catch up on all the sketchy things happening in the judicial and executive branches. Then, they cover some recent oral arguments and opinions from The Court before bringing you a conversation from last week’s live show in LA with Representative Jimmy Gomez of California’s 34th Congressional District. Favorite things: Kate : The Correspondent by Virg...

Kate, Leah, and Melissa break down the oral arguments in United States v. Hemani , a Second Amendment case which challenges a law prohibiting “unlawful users” of controlled substances from possessing a firearm. Then, they cover two truly heinous shadow docket rulings–a case out of New York where SCOTUS’s conservatives seem to have found an impermissible racial gerrymander they believe in, and anot...

International law expert Rebecca Ingber of Cardozo Law joins Leah at the top of the show to talk about the US and Israel's war on Iran. Then, Leah welcomes guest co-host Chris Geidner of Law Dork to run through domestic legal news, including the omission of allegations against Trump from the Epstein files, the President’s MAHA Surgeon General nominee Casey Means’s confirmation hearing, the adminis...

Kate is joined by Friend of the Pod Steve Vladeck ( One First ) to break down last week’s legal news, including developments around noncompliance in the lower courts and SCOTUS ethics. Then, Leah and Melissa join to preview upcoming arguments before the Court where the Justices will consider important asylum and Second Amendment cases, among others. Finally, Kate speaks with Elliot Williams about...