Advisory Opinions

Sarah Isgur and David French discuss Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Justice Elena Kagan’s testimony in front of Congress, an Alaska Airlines forum argument about religious issues, and President Donald Trump’s various legal battles—from the War Powers Resolution to sanctioned lawyers to law firm subpoenas.

The Agenda:

–Supreme Court Justices testify before Congress

–Canceling the Shadow Docket

–Alaska Airlines and its employee forum

–Recession of Wokeness

–Trump Bait: War powers, slush fund, and law firm deals collapsing

Show Notes:

–Trump notifies Congress of new war against Iran

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Sarah Isgur and David French preview the next Supreme Court term, discuss a dissent from a cert denial on defamation, and consider a few think pieces on the court: Are any of the justices political? Finally, the circuit decision heard ‘round the world: Florida’s Stop WOKE Act, stopped by an 11th Circuit panel decision.

The Agenda:

–Every rose has its thorn

–Not-A-Ban on assault weapons coming next term

–Text vs. Precedent, field prevention, and climate change-related injuries

–A little boring Title IX is nice for change

–Back to Colorado’s anti-discrimination cases

–An easy parental rights case?

–A headline-generating case but a not-so-important legal case

–12-person juries and felonies

– Actual malice and Alan Dershowitz

–How Political Is This Supreme Court?

–STOP Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees

Show Notes

–October Term 2026

–Watch Zachary Shemtob’s interview with the National Legal Director of the ACLU, Cecillia Wang, from our term recap event.

Order Sarah’s book here.

Advisory Opinions is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of our articles, members-only newsletters, and bonus podcast episodes—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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Live from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., Sarah Isgur and David French review the OT25 term with Akhil Amar, professor of law and political science at Yale University, and David Lat, author of Original Jurisdiction. The four break down the most consequential cases of the past term—from the tariffs case to Humphrey’s Executor, birthright citizenship, and what it all means for President Trump’s relationship with the court.

The Agenda:

–Thank you to the ACLU for sponsoring our SCOTUSblog Summit at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center

–Getting deep into trucking Twitter

–How the culture war is shifting toward separation-of-powers fights

–Counting jelly beans and winning heifers

–The demise of Humphrey’s Executor in Slaughter

–Did Trump win or lose this term?

–What even makes a “big” case?

–Previewing OT26
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Sarah Isgur and David French slow things down with an overview of the yearly Stat Pack released by SCOTUSblog, look at the dissents in the birthright citizenship case, and answer listeners’ questions about everything from the 14th Amendment being sex-blind to whether independent agencies could be recreated within the legislative branch. 

The Agenda:

–Stat Pack: Findings

–Trump v. Barbara could have been a book

–Birthright citizenship dissents

–Is the 14th Amendment sex-blind?

–Get rid of rulemaking authority in the executive branch

–Choose only three justices

–Getting up close to the financial disclosures

Order Sarah’s book here.

Advisory Opinions is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of our articles, members-only newsletters, and bonus podcast episodes—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.
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SCOTUS strikes down a Donald Trump executive order ending birthright citizenship, reshapes campaign finance law, and rules that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports teams. Sarah Isgur and David French discuss in a marathon end-of-term episode. 

The Agenda”

–The pre-apology

–Trump v. Barbara

–Wow, we were wrong

–Et tu, Barrett? (No, not really)

–What is the purpose of the 14th Amendment?

–The hive mind has broken down

–National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission 

–Transgender athlete cases
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