The Citizen's Guide to the Supreme Court

This week's podcast covers the case of MNH Government Services v. Zaborowski, which determines whether or not mandatory arbitration clauses violate California laws on unconscionability.  Brett and Nazim discuss how this case plays into contract law and federal preemption, all continuing their transformation into a food podcast while eating dessert on the air.

This week Brett and Nazim take a break from reviewing individual SCOTUS cases in order to help you decide which bozo you should vote for president this November.  Instead of giving specific suggestions or candidates, Brett and Nazim discuss the jobs, authority, and powers held by the President under the Constitution and important Supreme Court case law to help you decide who to vote for based on w...

This week's episode covers the cases of Bernard v. Minnesota, Beylund v. North Dakota, and Birchfield v. North Dakota, which deal with whether or not State statutes that punish a suspected drunk driver's refusal to take a blood or breath test are constitutional under the 4th amendment.  Full disclosure, there's a good chance that if you are a 4th amendment advocate or an advocate of the Lord of th...

This week's episode starts with discussing the recent opinion in Hurst v. Florida, the case which considered whether the Florida Death Penalty procedure was Constitutional.  After that, Brett and Nazim go through listener emails, which cover Wisconsin third-party liability evidence procedure, how much the 4th Amendment should coincide with how we feel about police, communist punitive damage theori...

The case of Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Vital has two primary issues, which involve whether the legal concept of Double Jeopardy applies to cases tried in Puerto Rico and whether or not Puerto Rico is a separate and distinct sovereign from the Federal Government.  By coincidence (!!we swear!!) the words "double jeopardy" led to more than one tangent about game shows, so get ready to also hear about Ale...

Today we're talking jobs, specifically why some jobs, like Hollywood shows like Game of Thrones, can require people to get naked while other jobs, like yours probably, is not allowed to make those requirements.  Within the scope of employment law, Brett and Nazim discuss why Hooters get sued by its employees, the Steve Sarkisian/USC lawsuit,  and the current Supreme Court case of Green v. Brennan.

The Christmas episode of the Citizen's Guide to the Supreme Court takes a few detours before getting into Foster v. Chatman, including playing Price is Right with the Dean and Deluca catalog and talking about why Brett hates tiny airplanes.  Once that's out of the way, Brett and Nazim discuss the merits of the Foster case and read emails from people within the criminal justice system about how eff...

Welcome to the Second Annual Summit on Guns, where Brett and Nazim take a yearly look at the Court's view on the Second Amendment and D.C. v. Heller.  This episode is focused specifically on the rejected petition of Friedman v. City of Highland Park, where the Court refused to hear a case contesting a ban on assault weapons.  In addition to discussing guns, Brett and Nazim also discuss Scalia's mo...

In 2012, Congress passed the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act, which allowed the Plaintiffs in Bank Markazi v. Peterson to obtain Iranian funds held in New York to satisfy a judgment rendered in U.S. Courts.  This action created a host of issues which are dealt with in this week's episode, including why judgments are the most important part of every civil case, the Court's view on...

There are a lot of cases and issues that fall through the cracks; so this week Brett and Nazim cover the following issues in timed intervals:  Bill Simmons' comment that Obama should be a Supreme Court Justice, Hurst v. Florida, Ke$ha, Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual, the future president's views on gun rights, France's ban on head scarves, Alabama's refusal to admit certain kinds of immigrants, Federa...

To celebrate the one year anniversary of this podcast, Brett made a dance mix of all of the outtakes he saved over the last year for Nazim.  Instead of hogging this present for the two of us, we figured we'd share it, even though it probably doesn't make sense to anyone but us.  Either way, enjoy and thanks for listening.

This week's case is Fisher v. University of Texas, where a rejected applicant seeks to declare the school's affirmative action program a violation of the Constitution and Equal Protection.  In addition to the Supreme Court precedent that brought us here, Brett and Nazim also discuss their own experiences applying for law school and how they ended up at the same place at the same time.

This week covers Spokeo v. Robbins, a case where one intrepid, mischaracterized plaintiff attempts to take down Big Credit Report under an poorly-written Congressional statute (stop us if you've heard this before).  The key legal concept here is Standing, which covers who can bring claims in our judicial system, and Brett and Nazim use an example which deals directly with someone's poor spelling.

This week's episode covers Montgomery v. Louisiana, which discusses whether or not a rule that bars automatic life sentences without parole for juveniles convicted of murder should apply retroactively to a juvenile given life without parole 40 some odd years ago.  Brett and Nazim also discuss the differences between the juvenile justice system and the adult juvenile justice system, and whether or...

The Supreme Court's review of Duncan v. Owens is a great example of a easy-sounding case that may have long lasting effects on how the Court views criminal law.  Brett and Nazim talk about why the 7th Circuit granted habeas corpus seemingly out of no where and why this case could be a martyr for broader change.

In a vacuum, the issue in Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez, which is whether or not a plaintiff can pursue a lawsuit after the defendant has fully settled the claim, sounds ridiculous.  Although this seems like a straight forward answer, the added element of class action makes this case a rich topic for this week's episode, where Brett and Nazim discuss how to file a class action, why class actions exist,...

Free Speech is a many-faceted concept that usually results in the Supreme Court making impractical decisions on seemingly arbitrary law.  This week, Brett and Nazim discuss the case of Heffernan v. City of Patterson, which talks about whether the Government can discipline you at work when they think you are engaged in free speech, but you argue that you are not.  That is, until lawyers get involve...

This week's podcast covers police searches under the 4th Amendment in two different regards.  First, Brett and Nazim take a closer look at dog sniff searches and the 4th Amendment, and specifically whether dog sniffs are a flawed practice and what could be done if they are.  Then the case of Utah v. Strieff is covered, where the Court decides whether or not an officer who makes an illegal search i...

This week's episode about the criminal elements needed to convict someone is the converse to last week's episode about Constitutional elements that protect criminal defendants.  In addition to talking about how criminal law works at a fundamental level, Brett and Nazim also cover inchoate crimes, why learning about criminal law is boring, why How to Get Away With Murder on ABC sucks, Ocasio v. U.S...

This week's episode is in response to an email we received in response to the "When Can Police Search Your Car Episode", which addressed reasons why giving police too much discretion to invade privacy has practical consequences.  Going off that point, Brett and Nazim explain why the criminal justice system has significant punishments against the State when a person's Constitutional rights are viol...

This week ends the three-part discussion on abortion and the Supreme Court, discussing cases that have shaped the Court's undue burden test that evaluates State laws that attempt to regulate or embolden a woman's right to choose.  Brett and Nazim also discuss two cases which will likely go before the Supreme Court this term, which deal with a continuation of the Hobby Lobby decision and heightened...

This week's podcast attempts the inenviable task of discussing Roe v. Wade without upsetting anybody.  This week covers Roe, Webster v. Planning Services, and Planned Parenthood v. Casey to outline what rights we have under the Constitution following the cases and under what grounds the Supreme Court tied abortion in to the Constituion.  If that all seems to dark for you, we also propose a Supreme...

Your boys are back and discussing the wild world of substantive due process.  After recounting their short break and sharing what vegetables they learned were gross in the last two weeks, Brett and Nazim begin a three-part discussion on substantive due process, abortion, and Roe v. Wade .  This week covers the background of the right to privacy we have in the Constitution, even though those words...

In the season finale of the 2014/15 term, Brett and Nazim discuss the cases that were not selected for the 2015/16 term and also go over some superlatives from the last year.  To tide everyone over for the two week break, Brett and Nazim also discuss dinosaurs, tattoos, rap icons, LOST, and being old.  The Citizens Guide to the Supreme Court will be back on September 13, 2015.

We're getting to the end of the relevant cases for the 2015 term, so this week ties up the loose ends that haven't been covered so far.  In particular, Brett and Nazim discuss Kimble v. Marvel, a case patent case by day that serves as an interesting comment about precedent by night.  The case of Bullard v. Blue Hill Banik is also covered along with a general overview about what happens in bankrupt...