Swear on the Stand

This episode details a decision by the  United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit  regarding an immigration appeal filed by  Claudia Marilyn Saravia Martinez . The court dismissed her petition for review as  untimely , determining that the mandatory  30-day filing deadline  cannot be extended through  equitable tolling . In a concurring opinion, Judge Ho argues that the  text and histor...

This court opinion from the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  addresses an appeal by former officer  Samantha Liedtke  against the  City of Austin  regarding claims of  sex discrimination, retaliation, and a hostile work environment . While the court rejected the  hostile work environment  claim due to poor briefing, it overturned the lower court’s dismissal of the  discrimination and retaliation  ...

This episode details a  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  decision regarding a fatal collision involving a commercial tractor-trailer. The court addressed whether  Penske Logistics , as the primary carrier that outsourced a delivery, could be held  vicariously liable  for the negligence of a driver employed by a third-party subcontractor. Reversing a lower court's ruling, the appellate judges de...

This  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  opinion addresses a high-profile  qualified immunity  case involving Officer Felipe Gallegos and the fatal 2019  Harding Street raid . The court reviewed whether Gallegos used  excessive force  when he shot and killed Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas during the execution of a  no-knock warrant  that was based on  falsified police affidavits . Although the di...

In the legal case  United States v. Arrieta , the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  affirmed a sentencing decision regarding a  mutiny  at an  ICE detention facility . The defendant,  Jhonaker Manuel Arrieta , participated in a  three-and-a-half-hour standoff  where detainees occupied a roof, leading to a  six-hour facility lockdown  and the deployment of  specialized law enforcement teams . The ce...

This episode contains a  judicial opinion  from the  United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit  regarding a lawsuit filed by  Christopher Dilworth  against  Officer Landon Tucker . The court  affirmed a summary judgment  dismissal of Dilworth’s claims for  false arrest and excessive force , which originally stemmed from an incident where he was  tased and detained  on his own property....

This episode details the landmark  Supreme Court case  Garrity v. New Jersey , which addressed whether the state can force public employees to choose between their  Fifth Amendment rights  and their livelihoods. In this case, police officers under investigation for ticket fixing were told they would be fired if they refused to answer questions that might incriminate them. The  majority opinion , a...

This episode from the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  details the dismissal of an appeal by  Munson P. Hunter, III , who challenged a  supervised release condition  requiring him to take prescribed mental health medication. Following a  Supreme Court remand , the court applied a new  "miscarriage of justice"  standard to determine if Hunter’s  appellate waiver  should be bypassed due to...

This episode contains a  Supreme Court opinion  from the 2026 case  Wolford v. Lopez , which addresses the constitutionality of Hawaii’s firearm regulations. Following the landmark  Bruen  decision, Hawaii enacted a law prohibiting licensed individuals from carrying firearms onto  private property open to the public  unless they obtained express authorization from the owner. The Court’s majority r...

This episode discusses a 2026 opinion from the  United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit  regarding the capital murder case of  Irving Alvin Davis . The court reviewed Davis’s appeal to overturn his death sentence, which followed the brutal sexual assault and killing of a teenage girl. The primary legal issues involved whether the state violated Davis’s  First Amendment rights  by intr...

This episode from the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  outlines a lawsuit brought by  Weston Merriott  against the  City of Bossier City  regarding speech restrictions at public meetings. The court examined whether the city's  "Decorum Policy,"  which forbids "personal, impertinent, or slanderous remarks," violates the  First Amendment . In its ruling, the court found the p...

The  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  upholds the  FDA's  decision to block the sale of  menthol-flavored e-cigarette products  manufactured by  VDX Distro . The court rejected several constitutional and procedural challenges, ruling that the  Food and Drug Administration  has the legal authority to regulate vaping products under the  Tobacco Control Act . Central to the ruling is the  "co...

This legal ruling from the  United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit  addresses challenges to the  Texas SCOPE Act , a law designed to protect minors from harmful social media content. The court determined that the  Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT)  plaintiffs lacked  standing  to challenge the law because they are not directly regulated by it and failed to show a substantial...

This episode discusses is an opinion from the  United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit  regarding the case of  Talanzo Debrow , who challenged his conviction for  felon in possession of a firearm . Debrow argued that the federal ban on firearm possession is  unconstitutional as applied to him  because his previous felony for  aggravated criminal damage to property  was a non-violent p...

This episode from the  United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit  details the appeal of  Trayvon Murphy  regarding his criminal sentence for conspiracy and robbery. While the court upheld the district court’s decisions on  drug quantity calculations ,  witness credibility , and the  standard of proof , it ultimately  reversed the sentence  based on a technical application of the  Senten...

In the case of  United States v. Palomares , the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  addressed whether a  felon  convicted of  transporting illegal aliens  can be permanently barred from  firearm ownership . While a lower district court initially dismissed the gun possession charges as unconstitutional, the appellate court  reversed  that decision. The judges determined that  alien smuggling  constit...

In this episode, the  United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit  affirms the convictions and multi-year sentences of  Michael and Tiffany Fullerton  for their roles in a  $3 million COVID-19 relief fraud . The couple conspired to submit  fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan applications  by using defunct businesses, fabricated tax records, and stolen identities. The court details...

This episode is a  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  opinion regarding a dispute between  Exxon Mobil Corporation  and the  Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) . The court addressed whether federal law permits OSHA to compel employers to record  work-related mental illnesses , specifically focusing on a  post-traumatic stress disorder  diagnosis following a refinery explosion. After...

This episode discusses a  legal opinion  from the  United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit  regarding a high-stakes  personal injury lawsuit . The case involves a  multi-vehicle collision  caused by a  KJ Win, Inc.  tractor-trailer, resulting in a  $2.8 million default judgment  after the trucking company failed to respond to the initial suit. The appellate court  affirmed  the lower...

This judicial opinion from the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  reviews a lawsuit involving a  deputy sheriff  accused of using  excessive force  against a detained motorist. The court describes how the officer discharged a  high-velocity pepper spray  device directly into the plaintiff’s eye at a dangerously close range, resulting in  permanent blindness . Although the officer claimed  qualified...

This episode from the  United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit  details a judicial review of labor dispute findings involving  Starbucks Corporation  and the  National Labor Relations Board . The case centers on allegations of  anti-union misconduct  at a California store, including claims that management used  coercive threats  and  interrogations  to discourage employees from organi...

This legal document detail an  appellate court ruling  regarding Brenda Brenyah’s lawsuit against  Corpus Christi Medical Center  for various forms of workplace discrimination. The court  affirmed the dismissal  of most of her allegations, including those involving disability discrimination and retaliation, finding a lack of evidence or procedural failures. However, the judges  reversed the summar...

In the 2026 case of  Cisco Systems, Inc. v. Doe , the  Supreme Court of the United States  addressed whether American corporations and their executives could be held liable for  aiding and abetting human rights abuses  abroad. The plaintiffs, practitioners of  Falun Gong , alleged that Cisco developed  surveillance technology  specifically designed to help the  Chinese government  identify and tor...

This episode from the  United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit  details a lawsuit filed by  Jennifer Thompson  against the  City of Godley  and its officials. Thompson, a former city councilwoman, alleges her  constitutional rights  were violated when she was arrested for  tampering with government records —an act she claims was  retaliation  for her political opposition to the mayor....

In the 2026 case of  Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Corporación CIMEX , the  Supreme Court of the United States  ruled that the  Helms-Burton Act  allows American nationals to sue  Cuban government-owned entities  for trafficking in confiscated property without needing to satisfy the specific exceptions of the  Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) . Writing for the majority,  Justice Kavanaugh  argued th...