Supreme Court Brief

On this episode of  Supreme Court Brief , Jimmy Hoover interviews law professor Ilya Somin about his big takeaways from the October 2025 term, which served up several conservative wins across a range of areas, even as the court distanced itself from some of President Donald Trump's more controversial policies.   Host: Jimmy Hoover Guest: Ilya Somin Producer: Charles Garnar

interviews University of Chicago Law School Professor Curtis Bradley about the court's recent rulings in  Cisco Systems v. Doe I  and  Exxon Mobil v. Corporacion Cimex . Bradley, a well-known international legal scholar, explains how the  Cisco  decision spells the end of lawsuits from foreign nationals brought under the centuries-old Alien Tort Statute over human rights abuses. He also breaks dow...

This week on  Supreme Court Brief , Jimmy breaks down Thursday's unanimous decision barring prosecutions of recreational marijuana users for gun possession—a major victory for weed and gun rights advocates alike.    Also this episode: Law.com litigation reporter Alyssa Aquino returns to the show to break down a recent ruling curbing suits from activist investors seeking more voting power at hedge...

This week, a breakdown of the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Sripetch v. SEC, upholding the regulator's power to order disgorgement from fraudsters in insider trading and other complex fraud cases with no easily identifiable victims. Jimmy interviews Law.com and New York Law Journal litigation reporter Alyssa Aquino about what this means for the SEC's enforcement powers going forward.   Plu...

On this week's episode of  Supreme Court Brief , Jimmy speaks with Jennifer Bennett of Gupta Wessler on recent Supreme Court rulings in favor of workers, including her unanimous victory last week on behalf of a last-mile delivery driver in Colorado. Also, Jimmy breaks down the latest action from the justices affecting the midterm elections, and a recent ruling curbing the availability of "compassi...

On this episode of  Supreme Court Brief , Jimmy updates listeners about a recent decision from the Supreme Court exposing four major cruise lines to $110 million judgments for docking at Havana during a thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations. Plus, a look at the court's summary reversal ending a suit by immigration judges saying their free speech rights are being stifled by the federal government.   Host: Ji...

On this week's episode of Supreme Court Brief, Jimmy interviews Jeff Wall, who recently joined the law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher from Sullivan & Cromwell.   Wall talks about his time in the U.S. solicitor general's office and what he hopes to accomplish at his new firm, which he described as the "Yankees" of appellate lawyering.   Also this week: a look at a major new employment case at the Supr...

On this week's episode, Jimmy breaks down the latest election disputes to hit the Supreme Court's docket, including a last-ditch effort from Virginia Democrats to preserve the states new voter-approved map giving them five additional House seats. Plus, Jimmy talks through the Supreme Court's two unanimous rulings Thursday morning.   Host: Jimmy Hoover Producer: Charles Garnar

On this week's episode, Jimmy does a deep-dive on the Supreme Court's recent decision weakening the Voting Rights Act with UCLA Law Professor Rick Hasen, who explains why the case has left the justices' emotions "bubbling up to the surface." That was most evident from an extraordinary clash between Justices Samuel Alito and Ketanji Brown Jackson.   Plus, a look at the latest battle over the aborti...

On this week's episode, Jimmy breaks down Wednesday's decision in  Louisiana v. Callais  delivering a major blow to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. In an ideologically split-6-3 ruling, the court largely prohibited states from intentionally boosting minority voting representation through the redistricting process. The decision led to a forceful dissent from liberal Justice Elena Kagan, who sai...

On this week's episode of  Supreme Court Brief , host Jimmy Hoover touches on the recent leak of internal memos from a 2016 Supreme Court case, and previews an important First Amendment case set to be heard next term. This week's guest is Law.com and New York Law Journal reporter Alyssa Aquino, who joins the program to discuss Tuesday's Supreme Court hearing in a case over the SEC's power to order...

This week on  Supreme Court Brief , host Jimmy Hoover interviews Gabe Roth, the head of the judicial watchdog group, Fix the Court. They discuss Roth's latest findings about the justices' overseas travel activities from a Freedom of Information Act request to the U.S. State Department, documents his group had to sue to obtain.   Also on this episode: the Supreme Court's move clearing the way for t...

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday on the constitutionality of President Donald Trump's efforts to restrict birthright citizenship, a hearing in which the president himself was in attendance.    Joining host Jimmy Hoover to break down the arguments is former New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, who led a challenge to Trump's executive order during his time as the state's top law...

On this episode, Jimmy breaks down this week's oral arguments in major cases about the deadline for mail ballots, along with the ability of migrants to petition for asylum at the southern border. This week's guest is Saurabh Vishnubhakat, an intellectual property professor at Cardozo Law who joins Supreme Court Brief to discuss Wednesday's unanimous decision favoring internet service providers fac...

On this week's episode, a look at a major Supreme Court case set to be heard Monday that could upend mail ballot laws in over a dozen states. Host Jimmy Hoover interviews law professor Michael Morley of Florida State University's Election Law Center about the central issues in the case.   Also this week, Jimmy breaks down the court's recent action in a pair of cases involving the Temporary Protect...

This week on Supreme Court Brief, host Jimmy Hoover interviews Second Amendment scholar Haley Proctor on Monday's hearing about the constitutionality of the federal gun ban for drug users. The hearing featured colorful hypotheticals about ayahuasca users, weed gummies and the drinking habit of the nation's founders.    Also this week, Jimmy breaks down a pair of 6-3 emergency docket orders that de...

On this episode of Supreme Court Brief, Jimmy recaps an action-packed week at the court, highlighting a major new environmental case, a unanimous decision against an ICE contractor, and four justices' "night out" at President Donald Trump's state of the union address.   Later on, Jimmy interviews Law.com and New York Law Journal litigation reporter Alyssa Aquino about what comes next after Friday'...

On this episode, Jimmy interviews one of the creators of a new project that seeks to use artificial intelligence to create videos of the Supreme Court justices reading their opinions from the bench. The project, called "On The Docket," features strikingly lifelike visuals of AI-depicted readings of landmark Supreme Court opinions. Jimmy presses co-creator and law professor Timothy Johnson of the e...

On this week's episode, Jimmy highlights new data revealing the incredible success that a small group of elite lawyers are having in taking their cases to the Supreme Court, and what it tells us about who gets to influence the direction of U.S. law. Law professors Tracey George, Mitu Gulati, and Albert Yoon join the program to discuss the findings of their recent paper, "The Inside Track." Plus, a...

On this episode of Supreme Court Brief, host Jimmy Hoover interviews defamation lawyer Travis Chance on why a recent medical malpractice ruling from the Supreme Court could make it harder for news organizations to defeat frivolous libel lawsuits. Host: Jimmy Hoover Guest: Travis Chance Producer: Charles Garnar  

 On this episode of Supreme Court Brief, Jimmy interviews criminal defense attorney and Supreme Court advocate Jeff Green on the stark drop in the number of appeals being filed by indigent prisoners at the court, and how it could affect the development of the criminal law.   Host: Jimmy Hoover Guest: Jeff Green Producer: Charles Garnar  

On this episode of Supreme Court Brief, host Jimmy Hoover breaks down Wednesday's blockbuster hearing on whether President Donald Trump may fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Joining the program to discuss her original scholarship into "for cause" removal protections is legal historian Jane Manners, whose amicus brief was discussed in the courtroom on Wednesday. Plus, Jimmy recaps a notable...

On this episode of Supreme Court Brief, host Jimmy Hoover summarizes Tuesday's oral arguments over state laws that prohibit trans student athletes from competing in women's and girls' sports. Later, Jimmy interviews Supreme Court lawyer Adam Unikowsky on the promise and peril of using AI to litigate cases at the Supreme Court.   Host: Jimmy Hoover Guest: Adam Unikowsky Producer: Charles Garnar  

On this episode, host Jimmy Hoover interviews law scholar Amanda Frost about her latest research on the original understanding of the Fourteenth Amendment's citizenship clause, and how it calls into question President Donald Trump's attempt to deny birthright citizenship to the children of immigrants. The Supreme Court will be weighing the constitutionality of Trump's policy this term, with a ruli...

On this episode of Supreme Court Brief, host Jimmy Hoover interviews the lawyer for George Retes, a U.S. citizen and veteran who was detained for three days by ICE following an immigration raid in California. Institute for Justice attorney Marie Miller explains how the Supreme Court's rulings have both fueled the administration's aggressive immigration crackdown and made it nearly impossible to ho...