Ep 127 — You get a TRO! And you get a TRO! Everyone gets a TRO!
After burning down its credibility with every judge in the country, the Trump administration finds itself slapped with injunctions in every courtroom. Coincidence? Plus, the Department of Homeland Security discovers one weird trick to get around court orders barring deportations. And it is … to stand back and let the Defense Department do it for them! Links: MTA v. Duffy (NY Congestion Pricing) [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69652290/metropolitan-transportation-authority-v-duffy House Dems Demand Letters to Vichy Bar https://min.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/min.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/04.24.25-letters-to-law-firms-on-trump-administration-agreements-all.pdf SDNY resignation letter https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/04/22/nyregion/prosecutor-letter.html City and County of San Francisco v. Donald J. Trump [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69623767/city-and-county-of-san-francisco-v-donald-j-trump/ Abramowitz v. Lake [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69791808/abramowitz-v-lake/ J.A.V. v. Trump [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69862833/jav-v-trump/ D.V.D. v. Homeland Security (Notice of Removal to Third Country) [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69775896/dvd-v-us-department-of-homeland-security/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
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Ep 126 — SCOTUS Decides Maybe There Is Something In The Constitution About Due Process After All
The Trump administration spent the weekend trying hard to rendition immigrants to foreign gulags. But Supreme Court took some baby steps this weekend toward maybe possibly doing their damn jobs and ensuring that the rule of law survives. And in the biggest surprise since the stock market dropping like a rock on news of crippling tariffs on China, Pete Hegseth is texting war plans AGAIN. And for subscribers, Harvard University sues the Trump administration. Links: D.V.D. v. Homeland Security (Notice of Removal to Third Country) [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69775896/dvd-v-us-department-of-homeland-security/ AFGE, AFL-CIO v. Office of Personnel Management [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69655364/american-federation-of-government-employees-afl-cio-v-united-states/ President and Fellows of Harvard College v. US Department of Health and Human Services https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69921962/president-and-fellows-of-harvard-college-v-us-department-of-health-and/ American Oversight v. Hegseth [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69788832/american-oversight-v-hegseth/ A.A.R.P. (W.M.M.) v. Trump [SCOTUS Docket] https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/24a1007.html W.M.M. (A.A.R.P.) v. Trump [Trial Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69898198/wmm-v-donald-j-trump/ A.A.R.P. (W.M.M.) v. Trump [Fifth Circuit Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69913684/aarp-v-trump/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
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Ep 125 — Trial Judges Stand Up As SCOTUS Cowers
Chief Justice Roberts and the howler monkeys rolled over and played dead. But lower court judges understand the assignment, including Fourth Circuit Judge Harvie Wilkinson, a conservative icon. He read Trump — and implicitly the Supreme Court — for filth. But will it be enough? Liz and Andrew discuss the latest developments in the Salvadoran rendition cases. Plus, Trump moves to put US taxpayers on the hook for the E. Jean Carroll verdict. Links: Abrego Garcia v. Noem [District Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69777799/abrego-garcia-v-noem/ Abrego Garcia v. Noem [Fourth Circuit Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69902650/kilmar-abrego-garcia-v-kristi-noem/ Noem v. Abrego Garcia [SCOTUS Docket] https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/24a949.html J.G.G. v. Trump [District Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741724/jgg-v-trump/ J.G.G. v. Trump [SCOTUS Docket] https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/24a931.html Carroll v. Trump [Second Circuit Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68985738/carroll-v-trump/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
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Ep 124 — So Much For SCOTUS’s Brilliant Plan To Head Off That Judicial Crisis
If Chief Justice Roberts thought he was going to protect the judiciary by throwing trial judges under the bus, he was spectacularly mistaken. The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia is hurtling toward contempt proceedings, with the government in open defiance of the court’s order to un-kidnap him. And meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi is running the Justice Department like an arm of the Trump campaign. And for subscribers: Trump steals lunch from poor kids in Maine because the state’s governor is nice to trans kids in accordance with Maine law. The state is suing, in a test case for the administration’s plan to use tax dollars as a cudgel to force social policy without having to pass laws. Links: AP v. Budowich [DC Circuit Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69869862/associated-press-v-taylor-budowich/ AP v. Budowich [DC District Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69662918/associated-press-v-budowich/ Susman Godfrey LLP v. Trump [Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69881953/susman-godfrey-llp-v-executive-office-of-the-president US v. Smirnov [District Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68254959/united-states-v-smirnov US v. Smirnov [Circuit Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69605315/united-states-of-america-v-smirnov/ US v. Mangione [District Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69486519/united-states-v-mangione/ US v. Villatoro Santos [District Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69804416/united-states-v-villatoro-santos/ Abrego Garcia v. Noem [District Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69777799/abrego-garcia-v-noem/ Maine v. USDA [District Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69853711/state-of-maine-v-united-states-department-of-agriculture/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
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1:00:08
Ep 123 — SCOTUS Will Protect Due Process. A Little Bit. If It Has To.
The Supreme Court had two big immigration rulings this week on deportees to the Salvadoran gulag prison: One terrible and one … marginally okay. Meanwhile at the White House, Tariff Man is running amok! Luckily, he extorted hundreds of millions of dollars worth of big firm billable hours to defend the government. But not from Susman Godfrey, the target of his latest wildly illegal executive order. Links: Tech Policy Podcast with Corbin Barthold (Liz and Andrew guest appearance) https://podcast.techfreedom.org/episodes/403-the-constitutional-crisis Abrego Garcia v. Noem (D.Md. docket) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69777799/abrego-garcia-v-noem/ Abrego Garcia (SCOTUS Docket) https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/24a949.html Perkins Coie Docket https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69725919/perkins-coie-llp-v-us-department-of-justice/ J.G.G. v. Trump (SCOTUS docket) https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/24a931.html SCOTUS: Rendition Is Fine Actually https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/scotus-rendition-is-fine-actually Jenner & Block Docket https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.278932/ J.A.V. v. Trump (S.D. Texas docket) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69862833/jav-v-trump/ G.F.F. v. Trump (S.D.N.Y. docket) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69857769/gff-v-trump/ Susman Godfrey EO https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/modernizing-defense-acquisitions-and-spurring-innovation-in-the-defense-industrial-base-5 Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
Ignorance of the law is no excuse! That’s true for a traffic stop, and it’s true if you want to participate in whatever’s left of American democracy. If the events since the 2016 election taught us anything, it’s that tuning out is not an option. Legal journalists Liz Dye and Andrew Torrez break down the week’s most important courtroom stories, so you can keep on top of this crazy news cycle. Whether it’s Texas giving two middle fingers to the Supreme Court, or Donald Trump in all the courts at once, we’ve got you covered.
USA