Swear on the Stand

This  Supreme Court decision  details the legal standards of the  Rooker-Feldman doctrine , which prevents federal district courts from acting as appellate bodies for state-court decisions. The case involves  T.M. , a petitioner who sought to void a state-sanctioned medical consent order in federal court while her state appeal was still pending. In a majority opinion authored by  Justice Sotomayor...

The provided episode discusses a  Supreme Court of the United States opinion  from the June 2026 case  Hunter v. United States . The Court addressed whether a  knowing and voluntary appeal waiver  in a plea agreement is enforceable if the resulting sentence involves an  egregious judicial error . Delivering the majority opinion,  Justice Kagan  established a  "miscarriage of justice" exc...

This episode details a  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  decision regarding whether a lawsuit was filed and served within the required  statute of limitations . The court reversed a lower court's dismissal of the case, ruling that the plaintiffs demonstrated sufficient  diligence in effecting service  despite a 50-day delay. The opinion clarifies that under  Texas law , plaintiffs are held to a...

·Jun 19, 2026 The  United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit  recently affirmed a lower court's decision to uphold a  New Braunfels, Texas , zoning ordinance that restricts  short-term rentals  in residential areas. Property owners challenged the law, arguing that it violated their  due process  and  equal protection  rights under both federal and state constitutions. The court dete...

In the case of  United States v. Comeaux , the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  officially determined that  firearm silencers  qualify as  "Arms"  protected by the  Second Amendment . The court reasoned that these devices facilitate  armed self-defense  by making firearms safer and more effective for lawful use. Despite this landmark classification, the court upheld the defendant’s convi...

This episode examines the functional role of  problem-solving courts , specifically focusing on  drug courts  and the  containment model  for sex offender management. The materials explain how these specialized legal venues utilize  polygraph testing  as a clinical and supervisory tool to encourage  offender honesty  and monitor program compliance. While typically inadmissible in standard trials,...

In this episode, the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  affirms a district court decision regarding  maritime liens  and unpaid towage services. The dispute arose when  Louisiana International Marine (LIM)  sought payment for towing two barges owned by  Trailer Bridge , which had been chartered to a third party that subsequently went bankrupt. The court determined that a  valid maritime lien  attach...

This episode is a  formal opinion from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit  regarding the consolidated appeals of James Baldemoro. After serving a  ten-year maximum sentence  for child pornography, Baldemoro challenged two subsequent  revocations of his supervised release  that resulted in additional prison time. He argued that these further periods of incarceration were  unco...

This episode contains a  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  opinion that reverses the dismissal of a  RICO lawsuit  filed by  EnvTech, Inc.  against  Patrick DeBusk , the CEO of USA DeBusk (USAD). EnvTech alleges that DeBusk orchestrated a  systemic pattern of trade secret theft  by hiring competitors' key employees to steal proprietary chemical cleaning formulas for oil refineries. While a lower...

This episode details a  Supreme Court of the United States  decision to vacate a lower court's ruling in the capital case of  Gary Richard Whitton . The central dispute involves a  Giglio violation  concerning a jailhouse informant who provided false testimony about his criminal history during Whitton’s murder trial. While the  Eleventh Circuit  acknowledged the testimony was false, it denied...

This episode presents the  United States Supreme Court’s 2026 decision  in  Chatrie v. United States , a landmark case concerning the constitutionality of  geofence warrants . The Court ruled that law enforcement conducts a  Fourth Amendment search  when it acquires a person's  Location History data  from private companies like Google, as individuals maintain a  reasonable expectation of priva...

·Jun 16, 2026 In the  2026 Supreme Court case  Rutherford v. United States , the Court addressed whether  nonretroactive changes to sentencing laws  could qualify as an "extraordinary and compelling reason" to grant  compassionate release . The legal dispute focused on the  First Step Act of 2018 , which reduced mandatory penalties for certain firearm offenses but did not automatically a...

The Supreme Court case of  Fernandez v. United States  addresses whether a prisoner can seek a sentence reduction through  compassionate release  by challenging the  validity of their underlying conviction . In a 6-3 decision, the Court held that  extraordinary and compelling reasons  for release under 18 U. S. C. § 3582(c) must relate to a defendant’s  personal circumstances , such as illness or...

This episode contains a  Supreme Court opinion  from June 2026 regarding the case  Abouammo v. United States , which centers on the legal requirements for  criminal venue . The dispute arose after Ahmad Abouammo, a former Twitter employee, was convicted of  falsifying a document  with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation under  18 U. S. C. §1519 . Although the investigation was based in ...

This episode is a  Supreme Court syllabus and opinion  from the case  United States v. Hemani , which addresses the intersection of  Second Amendment rights  and federal drug laws. The Court ruled that  18 U. S. C. §922(g)(3) , a statute disarming "unlawful users" of controlled substances, is  unconstitutional  when applied to individuals based solely on regular  marijuana use . Justice...

This 2026 ruling from the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  evaluates the constitutionality of the  Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)  following a previous remand from the  Supreme Court . The court concludes that while recent legislative amendments successfully cured  nondelegation  issues regarding the  Authority’s rulemaking  by granting the  FTC  final policy oversight, the statute&#3...

In  Landor v. Louisiana , the Supreme Court ruled that the  Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA)  does not permit inmates to sue prison officials for  money damages  in their  individual capacities . The majority opinion, authored by  Justice Gorsuch , grounded this decision in the  Spending Clause , explaining that federal statutes tied to funding are akin to  contracts ....

This episode contains a  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  opinion affirming a district court's decision to  enforce a settlement agreement  between the United States and  Ma Acupuncture Center . The government initially sued the defendants under the  False Claims Act  for allegedly defrauding the  Department of Veterans Affairs  through inflated billing practices. Although the parties reached a...

This case, from the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  examines whether oilfield workers are entitled to  overtime pay  under the  Fair Labor Standards Act . The defendant,  Schlumberger , utilized a "hybrid" payment model that combined a fixed  biweekly salary  with variable  daily rates  for field work. The court determined that because the employees received a  guaranteed minimum salary...

In this legal opinion, the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  reviewed a dispute between a  dental clinic  and  Ameritas Life Insurance Corporation  regarding discounted reimbursement rates. The plaintiffs alleged that Ameritas used a third-party network to pay lower rates without proper disclosure on  patient benefit cards , violating the  Louisiana Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) Act . The a...

This case, from the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  details a dispute between  John Gannon, Inc.  and the  Texas Department of Transportation  regarding billboard permit cancellations and administrative fines. After failing to meet state court filing deadlines, the plaintiff sought relief in  federal court , alleging constitutional violations and challenging the state's authority to impose pe...

This episode consists of a legal opinion from the  United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit  regarding the criminal conviction of  Dr. Shiva Akula . The court  affirmed  his conviction on twenty-three counts of  healthcare fraud  related to a massive scheme involving his company,  Canon Healthcare , which bilked  Medicare  for millions of dollars. Dr. Akula’s appeal focused on the excl...

This episode is an opinion from the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  regarding a dispute between the  Estate of Anne Milner Fields  and the  Internal Revenue Service . The court examined whether  $17 million in assets  transferred into a  limited partnership  just before the decedent's death should be taxed at their full value or at a discounted partnership rate. Ultimately, the court  affirme...

This episode details a  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  ruling regarding a tragic case of  mistaken identity  involving a police shooting. After a homeowner disarmed a violent intruder and exited his house while holding the suspect's rifle, a responding officer  shot and severely injured  him. The court examined whether this use of  deadly force  constituted a violation of the victim's  Fourth Ame...

This  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  case details a legal decision to grant a  stay pending appeal , allowing Texas to enforce the  App Store Accountability Act (SB2420) . The court suggests that the legislation, which mandates  age verification  and  parental consent  for app downloads, likely regulates  commercial speech  rather than protected expression. By applying  intermediate scrutiny , th...