Opening Arguments

OA1301 - IT'S FASCISM RESPONSE FRIDAY, and it's a lot. DOJ just filed a complaint trying to get every single active federal judge in Minnesota booted off immigration cases, and the "evidence" is a judge telling the New York Times the truth. The Supreme Court just let deportations to countries people aren't even from happen again. And we cannot stop laughing about the executive order that just declared this the "era of superintelligence." There's good news too, but you'll have to listen for that.
Cases discussed:
Complaint Against Judges of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota (filed under 28 U.S.C. § 351)

D.V.D. v. DHS (Supreme Court stay on third-country removals)

Trump v. Internal Revenue Service (11th Circuit, the "slush fund" case)

CNN et al. v. Trump (White House press access)

USPS v. California et al.

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VR45 - Today on Vapid Response: 25 years after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, we look back on the Forrest Gump of monstrously bad legal takes: former DOJ lawyer and current UC Berkeley law professor (!) John Yoo. We go back to the primary sources to show how the Office of Legal Counsel explicitly authorized torture, indefinite detention in Guantanamo Bay, and warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens before giving Secretary of State Marco Rubio a chance to explain why the world should never hold the United States accountable for any of it.
Cases and sources discussed:
“Time to Think About Torture,” Jonathan Alter, Newsweek (11/4/2001)
“Is There a Tortuous Road to Justice?” Alan M. Dershowitz, LA Times (11/8/2001)
Memorandum for John Rizzo, Acting Counsel for the CIA, DOJ Office of Legal Counsel (August 1, 2002)
Possible Habeas Jurisdiction Over Aliens Held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Patrick Philbin & John Yoo (December 28 2001)
Constitutionality of Amending Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to Change the "Purpose " Standard for Searches, John Yoo (9/25/2001)
“Why We’re Dismantling the ICC,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio (July 14, 2026)
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OA1300 - The “insanity defense” might sound like a relic of a time when mental illness was viewed through the lens of demons and witches, and it turns out it is… but also maybe it’s kind of woke? Jenessa walks us through the history of Old English and Early American iterations of the defense, various tests that are applied today, and what happens afterwards that most people don’t get to see.
Cases and sources discussed:
Chris Liberati-Conant “It’s Time To Take ‘Hygiene’ out of the Mental Hygiene Law”

Legal Information Institute summary of insanity defenses

NY Criminal Procedure Law § 330.20

“Law and the Mental Health System”

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OA1299 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: what crimes might Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) have been complicit in, and why won't she ever be prosecuted for any of them? We go deeper into the law behind the facts exposed in ProPublica's outstanding investigation into her SuperPAC's coordination of illegal campaign contributions from a naval defense contractor.
We then take a closer look at another damning investigation, this time of the Florida state-run immigration facility formerly known as "Alligator Alcatraz" from a surprising source: the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General. We already knew this place was an illegal black site polluting a delicate Everglades ecosystem on tribal lands, but this report documents something much worse. If a Trump loyalist is willing to put some of this stuff into writing how much worse must the truth be?
Finally, in this week's footnote: yet another dismal milestone for AI in the law as a New Mexico attorney is forced to defend an appellate brief in which ChatGPT made up the law and the facts.
Cases and sources discussed:
“The FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins — Until Trump Got in the Way,” William Turton, Avi Asher-Schapiro, Molly Redden, and Kristen Berg, ProPublica (9/22/2026)
Indictment in U.S. v. Kao et al (2/10/2022)
“Unannounced Inspection of ICE’s Florida Soft-Sided Facility (“Alligator Alcatraz”) in Ochopee, Florida,” Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (9/11/2026)
In Re Stephen Aarons, New Mexico Supreme Court #S-1-SC-40845
Show Cause Hearing: State v. Sandoval, S-1-SC-40845 (8/21/2026)
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Coyote vs. Acme is such a fun movie. Thomas and Lydia saw it with the kids, Matt tried to borrow some kids to see it with, and has some fun legal observations for us.
BUT! Before that, it's a special series premiere of ACCOUNTING'ed AWFUL MOVIES! Because there is some real financial shenanigans with this movie. Everyone says it got shelved for tax reasons. But that's wrong! It's actually so much worse than that...
$2+ Patrons already have the full episode at patreon.com/law.
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