Swear on the Stand

This episode from the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  details the court's decision to  suspend federal regulations  that allowed the abortion drug  mifepristone  to be prescribed online and delivered by mail. The state of  Louisiana challenged the FDA , arguing that the agency bypassed essential safety protocols and ignored the drug’s financial and legal impact on states with abortion bans. W...

This episode details the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’  decision to deny a rehearing for  Jamaion Wilson , who was convicted of possessing a machine gun. Although the court upheld the conviction, the judges issued conflicting opinions regarding the constitutionality of  18 U.S.C. § 922(o)  and the validity of existing circuit precedents.  Judge Willett  acknowledged potential issues with how th...

This episode details a  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  decision regarding a whistleblower lawsuit filed against  Tata Consulting Services  under the  False Claims Act . The plaintiff, Jack Palmer, alleged that the company committed visa fraud by applying for inexpensive, improper visas and underpaying foreign workers to avoid higher  federal fees and payroll taxes . However, the court upheld the...

This episode details a legal opinion from the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  regarding a high-profile dispute over  Texas Senate Bill 4 (S.B. 4) , a state law allowing local authorities to arrest and deport individuals for illegal entry. The court ultimately  vacates a preliminary injunction  that had blocked the law, primarily finding that the  plaintiffs lack legal standing  to bring the chall...

This episode details a  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  decision regarding a  medical malpractice  lawsuit involving a veteran's estate and the federal government. The case stems from an  unauthorized surgery  performed at a Veterans Affairs hospital in 2006, which the plaintiff argued was only discovered much later. The court focused on whether  Mississippi law  creates an absolute time limit...

This episode details a legal dispute involving  Scott Martin , a marketer who sued  Harris County officials  after they restricted public access to criminal defendants' personal contact information in bail records. Martin argued that the  administrative order  hiding this data violated his  First and Sixth Amendment  rights by damaging his business of providing leads to defense attorneys. The ...

This episode details an  en banc ruling  by the  United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit  regarding the constitutionality of  geofence warrants . The case,  United States v. Chatrie , examines whether law enforcement violated the  Fourth Amendment  by compelling  Google  to provide location data from all users near a 2019 bank robbery. The court ultimately  affirmed  the lower court&...

This episode outlines a  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  decision regarding  David Davalos , who challenged the legality of a  warrantless vehicle search  conducted in his driveway. Following a traffic stop for a minor violation, a state trooper discovered  marihuana and a firearm  inside the car's door panel, leading to Davalos’s conviction as a felon in possession of a weapon. The court exam...

This episode discusses a  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  opinion regarding a lawsuit filed by  Amanda Carter  against  Deputy Chad Dupuy  and  Sheriff Jason Ard  following a confrontation at a high school. The court addressed whether the officer's actions—which involved  briefly grabbing and pushing  Carter out of a school office after she refused to leave during a child custody dispute—const...

This episode presents a legal opinion from the  United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit  regarding the constitutionality of a Texas law,  S.B. 10 , which mandates the display of the  Ten Commandments  in public school classrooms. The court reversed a previous injunction, ruling that the statute does not violate the  Establishment Clause  or the  Free Exercise Clause  of the First Amen...

This episode from the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  reviews a civil rights lawsuit filed by  Daryl Davis  against various Texas officials following a 2019 traffic stop and drug arrest. While the court  upheld the dismissal  of Davis’s claims regarding  unlawful arrest ,  excessive force , and  malicious prosecution , it determined that some of these legal challenges failed due to  statute of li...

This episode details a  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  decision regarding an appeal filed by  Luis Alfredo Lezama-Ramirez  over his sentencing for unlawful reentry. The court primarily addressed  discrepancies  between the supervised-release conditions stated  orally at sentencing  and those listed in the  written judgment . While the majority upheld most conditions because they were included in...

The  Supreme Court of Louisiana  recently reversed the burglary convictions of  Michael Steven White  because the written verdict form provided to the jury failed to include a  "not guilty"  option. Although the trial judge gave correct verbal instructions, the written form listed only  guilty ,  guilty of attempted simple burglary , and  guilty  as the possible responses. The majority o...

This episode details the  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals'  decision to uphold a drug conviction against  Jesus Arturo Conchas-Mancilla . The defendant challenged the search of his vehicle, arguing that a drug dog's  instinctual alert  was insufficient to establish  probable cause  compared to a formal, trained indication. However, the court ruled that the  totality of the circumstances , i...

This episode details a  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  case regarding the validity of  construction liens  under Mississippi law. The dispute centers on whether  Cuevas Machine Company  properly established its liens against  Calgon Carbon Corporation  by attaching invoices rather than explicitly stating the final date of service within the lien filing. Because state statutes require the "la...

This episode details a  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  decision regarding the constitutionality of a long-standing federal ban on  at-home distilling  for personal consumption. A group of hobbyists and the  Hobby Distillers Association  challenged the statutes, arguing that the prohibition exceeds the legislative powers granted to  Congress . The court concluded that all plaintiffs have  standing...

This episode outlines the  Supreme Court's 2026 decision  in  Chiles v. Salazar , which addressed whether  Colorado's ban on conversion therapy  for minors violates the  First Amendment rights  of licensed counselors. Petitioner Kaley Chiles argued that the law unconstitutionally restricted her use of  "talk therapy"  to help clients achieve their personal goals regarding sexual...

In the case  RICO v. UNITED STATES , the  Supreme Court  ruled that a defendant’s term of federal  supervised release  does not automatically extend if the individual  absconds  or fails to report. The  Ninth Circuit  had previously held that such a term is "tolled" while a defendant is a fugitive, allowing for new crimes committed during that period to be treated as formal  release viol...

This Supreme Court opinion in  Olivier v. City of Brandon  addresses whether a person previously convicted of a crime can later challenge the constitutionality of that same law. The petitioner, a street preacher named  Gabriel Olivier , sought a federal injunction to prevent future enforcement of a city ordinance that restricted his speech near a public amphitheater. While lower courts held that t...

This episode is from a  Supreme Court of the United States slip opinion  from the 2025 term regarding the case  Urias-Orellana v. Bondi . In a unanimous decision authored by  Justice Jackson , the Court addressed whether federal appeals courts should use a  deferential "substantial-evidence" standard  or a  de novo  review when evaluating asylum denials. The petitioners, a family from  E...

This episode from  Galette v. New Jersey Transit Corporation  (2026) clarifies the criteria used to determine if a state-created entity qualifies as an  "arm of the state"  for  sovereign immunity  purposes. The Court unanimously ruled that  NJ Transit  is not entitled to immunity because it was structured as a  legally separate corporation  with the power to sue, be sued, and manage its...

This episode contains a  Supreme Court of the United States   per curiam  opinion and subsequent opinions from a  2026 case  regarding California’s school policies on  student gender identity . The Court  vacated a stay  issued by the Ninth Circuit, effectively reinstating a lower court's injunction that prevents schools from  withholding information  about a child’s gender transition from the...

This Supreme Court syllabus and opinion from  Villarreal v. Texas (2026)  examine whether a judge violates the  Sixth Amendment  by restricting a testifying defendant’s communication with their lawyer during an overnight break. The Court affirmed that while a defendant has a fundamental right to  legal counsel , they also assume the burdens of a witness when they choose to testify. Specifically, t...

This episode outlines an appeal by the  United States government  against a lower court’s decision to  suppress evidence  and statements in a criminal case against  Lexus Sanchez Weaver . The  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  overturned the initial ruling, finding that law enforcement acted in  good faith  when executing a search warrant based on a detailed affidavit involving  controlled drug purc...

This episode outlines a  Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals  decision regarding the Department of Justice’s prosecution of  Boeing  following two fatal  737 MAX airplane crashes . The court addressed petitions from the  victims’ families , who argued that the government violated the  Crime Victims’ Rights Act  (CVRA) by failing to properly consult them before entering into a  non-prosecution agreement...