Strict Scrutiny

There are more red flags flying from House Alito! Plus, that same guy authored an opinion in a major voting discrimination case, and somehow it's worse than expected. Plus, Melissa and Kate talk with Shefali Luthra about her important new book, Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in Post-Roe America . New merch alert!! Our new t-shirts and mugs are just thing for the hellscape to come in the fi...

Leah and Melissa catch up on the Alitos' upside-down flag situation, an opinion preserving the funding structure of the CFPB, and a racial gerrymandering case out of Texas. Read Jodi Kantor's reporting on the Alitos' flag Revisit our episode recapping the oral arguments in the case challenging the CFPB We’re giving one lucky listener the chance to win a pair of tickets! Here’s how to enter: Subscr...

Victoria Wenger of NAACP-LDF joins Kate and Leah for an update on the four years of litigation trying to get fair voting maps for Louisiana residents. Then, a major update on a group of federal officials who plan to penalize a private institution for failing to censor certain speech-- you'll never guess who! If you would like to make a donation in honor of Brendan Jackson , Leah's student who rece...

Melissa, Leah, and Kate recap oral arguments in cases about unhoused people, immigration, and Starbucks unions. Then, it's our second annual listener mailbag episode! What's the best way to fight against usage of the Comstock Act? Should liberals be using law suits to troll conservatives? Why don't the Democrat-appointed justices speak out about their colleagues' poor behavior? You asked, we answe...

Melissa, Leah, and Kate recap the oral arguments in the Idaho case about the legality of abortions in emergency situations, and the case about whether former President Trump is immune from prosecution in the federal election interference case arising out of January 6. It's all very bleak! In better news, Strict Scrutiny will be live at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 13th! Tickets go on sale Tue...

Melissa, Leah, and Kate recap oral arguments in cases about January 6, political corruption, malicious prosecution claims, and the right to counsel. They also break down a batch of decisions, and look ahead to how SCOTUS may address state bans on gender-affirming care. Read Professor Caitlin Millat's op ed in the Los Angeles Times: " As a pregnant law professor in Arizona, I fear the abortion ban...

In the next two weeks, SCOTUS will hear arguments in cases on political corruption, criminalizing houselessness, whether a state abortion ban can override a federal policy permitting abortion in emergency medical care, the statute under which most January 6th defendants were convicted-- and if that weren’t enough, Donald Trump’s request for immunity in the January 6th case against him. After previ...

Kate and Leah break down the latest court news with Errin Haines , Editor-at-Large for The 19th and host of The Amendment , including developments in abortion access in Florida and the discourse around whether Justice Sotomayor should retire. Then, Jill Habig of the Public Rights Project and Tyler Yarbro from the Tennessee Freedom Circle join Melissa, Kate, and Leah to talk about the latest conser...

Melissa, Kate, and Leah recap the oral arguments in the case challenging the FDA's approval of mifepristone, one of the drugs used in medication abortion. They also recap arguments in cases about the Armed Career Criminal Act and Indian Health Services, and give some updates on cases they're watching in the lower courts, ranging from immigration, to guns, to Title IX. Get your tickets to Strict Sc...

Leah, Melissa, and Kate give a quick take on the bottom line from the oral arguments in the medication abortion case that is currently unraveling in the Supreme Court. Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!  3/6/26 – San Francisco 3/7/26 – Los Angeles Learn more: http://crooked.com/events Order your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservati...

Steve Vladeck joins Kate and Leah for the play-by-play of what happened with SB4, Texas's restrictive and extreme anti-immigration law that wound up on the U.S. Supreme Court's shadow docket. Kate and Leah also recap the oral arguments in cases about the First Amendment and social media, the NRA, and the types of evidence allowed in trials. Get your tickets to Strict Scrutiny Live HERE , or head t...

The Supreme Court will hear arguments this week on two First Amendment cases that ask whether the REAL victims of government coercion today are… conservatives with fringe views! Leah, Melissa, and Kate preview those cases, along with the mifepristone case the Court will hear next week. Plus, they do a deep dive on how SCOTUS uses the shadow docket to clear the way for executions. Strict Scrutiny i...

Our very own Melissa Murray has a new book out with co-author Andrew Weissmann-- The Trump Indictments: The Historic Charging Documents with Commentary -- and it was an instant New York Times bestseller. Melissa and Andrew talk with Kate and Leah about the book and what they hope readers take from it. Plus, for a special court culture segment, Leah talks with Barb McQuade about her book, Attack fr...

The Supreme Court released its opinion in Trump v. Anderson, saying Colorado and other states can't disqualify Trump from the ballot under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Kate, Melissa, and Leah break down the (expected) outcome, the (heinous) reasoning and what it means going forward. One guess as to which justice has BDUE (big Dolores Umbridge energy). Listen to our recap of the oral argu...

Leah and Kate analyze the ramifications of the Supreme Court agreeing to hear Trump's immunity case... seven whole weeks from now. They also recap the arguments in a case about whether the federal government can ban bump stocks, a device that turns a semi-automatic rifle into, essentially, a machine gun. Plus, evelyn douek joins the pod to recap arguments in a case about whether social media conte...

Looks like we have to add a new segment to the show: Fetal Personhood Watch. Leah, Melissa, and Kate break down the decision from the Alabama Supreme Court that ruled frozen embryos used in IVF treatment are "extrauterine children." They also recap the oral arguments the US Supreme Court heard last week, including a bonkers case about EPA regulations. And then, for a special Court Culture segment,...

Kate, Melissa, and Leah preview the cases the Supreme Court will hear this week, explain the latest news in the Trump criminal cases, and survey the significant decisions happening in lower courts. Read Melissa and Kate's article in the Harvard Law Review, " Dobbs & Democracy " Read Melissa's article from the Houston Law Review, " Children of Men: The Roberts Court’s Jurisprudence of Masculini...

The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case about whether Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment disqualifies Donald Trump from appearing on the presidential ballot or holding the office of the presidency because of his role in January 6th. Melissa, Kate, and Leah break down the arguments and what it will mean if the Supreme Court reverses the Colorado Supreme Court's decision.   Get tickets for...

This morning, the US Court of Appeals for the DC circuit ruled that Donald Trump doesn't have immunity in the D.C. election interference case. Kate, Melissa, and Leah break down the D.C. Circuit's decision, Trump's arguments and whether or not it was all worth the wait. Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!  3/6/26 – San Francisco 3/7/26 – Los Angeles Learn more: http...

This week the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case about whether Donald Trump is eligible to run for president, or whether he's disqualified from doing so by a provision of the 14th Amendment that prevents individuals from holding public office if they've engaged in insurrection. As part of the preview of the arguments, Kate, Melissa, and Leah welcome Rick Hasen , author of A Real Right T...

E. Jean Carroll and attorney Robbie Kaplan join us to share the process and aftermath of Carroll's defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump-- in which a jury just awarded her $83.3 million. What was Trump's vibe in the courtroom? Will he actually pay up? And what does E. Jean plan to do with all that money? Melissa, Kate, and Leah get all these answers and more. Read the NYT's piece on Robbie Kapla...

Kate, Melissa, and Leah break down the legal fight in Texas at the U.S.-Mexico border, and the Supreme Court's take on it all. Plus, Melissa and Kate do a deep dive on another outlandish era in the Supreme Court's history with Cliff Sloan, author of The Court At War: FDR, His Justices, & The World They Made . Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!  3/6/26 – San Fra...

Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a pair of cases that threaten to topple four decades of precedent about federal agencies' authority to interpret statutes. Leah, Melissa, and Kate recap the arguments and outline the Koch-funded basis for the Supreme Court's latest power grab. Read the NYT's reporting on the funding behind the conservative quest to overrule Chevron Get tickets f...

Melissa, Kate, and Leah recap oral arguments in cases about the No Fly List, the confrontation clause, and what qualifies as a government taking. They also preview the cases the Supreme Court will hear this week about Chevron , the doctrine that gives federal agencies the authority to interpret statues. Plus, they recap the arguments in the DC Circuit in which Trump argues he's immune from crimina...

We're only one week into 2024, and there's so much news to catch up on! Melissa, Leah, and Kate discuss ProPublica's reporting about rich guys giving Justice Thomas money when he hinted at retiring because his salary as a justice was too low. Then, they look to the latest in state courts, which are deciding issues such as Donald Trump's presidential eligibility, women's access to emergency abortio...