Opening Arguments

VR37 - Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh both wrote furious, error-riddled columns attacking the Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling in Trump v. Barbara. And so Thomas, attorney Matt Cameron, and producer Lydia ran the columns through an AI detector and their BS detectors to see just how fake and how BS they were. Spoiler: it's a lot.

OA1276 - Who could have predicted this? Us! The Trump administration has made their complete disdain for people with disabilities clear since day one. We’ve called it out before, and the natural progression of those efforts came to a head mid-June when they announced their intention to turn over governance of special education to RFK Jr in HHS (least trusted man in America when it comes to the needs of your child with a disability), continue dismantling the Department of Education overall, further reduce their investigations of educational discrimination, and, just two days later, their commitment to overturning major protections against forced institutionalization. What’s happening, how did we get here, why does it matter, and what can anyone do about it? Tune in to find out.
OA episode callbacks:
1238 Deep dive on Olmstead

1180 the history of forced institutionalization and “ugly laws”, and the executive order “Ending crime and disorder on America’s streets”

1141 The Section 504 protests

1171 A.J.T. v Osseo area schools (rights to accommodations for students with disabilities)

Part 1; attempted dismantling of Olmstead:
Olmstead v. L.C. ex rel. Zimring, 527 U.S. 581 (1999)

28 C.F.R. § 35.130(d)

Exec. Order No. 14321, 90 Fed. Reg. 35817 (Jul 24, 2025)

Application of the Rehabilitation Act and Americans with Disabilities Act to State Institutionalization of Patients with Severe Mental Illness or Disabilities, 50 Op. O.L.C. __ (June 18, 2026)

Part 2; the dismantling of the Department of Education:
Exec. Order No. 14242, 90 Fed. Reg. 13679 (Mar. 20, 2025)

Compl., State of New York v. McMahon, No. 1:25-cv-10601 (D. Mass. amended 01/09/2026)

McMahon v. New York, 606 U.S. ___ (2025)

Interagency Agreement Between the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Labor Relating to the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) (plus addendums)

Christy Wolfe (Dec. 16, 2025), Transferring K-12 Programs to Labor: Why Costs and Logistics Could Be a Problem for States and Schools, Bipartisan Policy Center

Jennifer Smith Richards & Jodi S. Cohen (Mar. 2, 2026), ProPublica Sues Education Department for Withholding Records About Discrimination in Schools, ProPublica.

U.S. Government Accountability Office (Feb. 2, 2026), Department of Education:

Full Costs and Savings Estimate Needed for Reduction-in-Force and Restructuring of the Office for Civil Rights.

U.S. Dept. of Education (June 16, 2026). U.S. Department of Education Announces Additional Partnerships to Strengthen Coordination for Individuals with Disabilities Programs, Bolster Civil Rights Enforcement.

A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools, Independent School Dist. No. 279, 605 U.S. 335 (2025)

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973: 29 U.S.C. § 794

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: 20 U.S.C. § 1400-1409

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OA1275 - As June ends and another Supreme Court Season wraps, it is time to look back and survey the damage: significant blows to voting and trans rights, harder times for immigrants throughout the system, and a vast expansion of executive powers. But we also go beyond the headlines to see what has been going on with some of the Court’s more routine business. What can we learn from their more mundane 9-0 decisions--and can we actually find some good news here among the wreckage? Matt does his best. Finally, in today’s seasonal footnote: why the world believed for exactly five minutes that Samuel Alito had closed Supreme Court Season by announcing his retirement on Tuesday, and what we can learn from this weird mistake about how mainstream media covers the Supreme Court.
Executive Power / Immigration
Trump v. Barbara — 25-365 (June 30, 2026)(birthright citizenship)

Learning Resources v. Trump — 24-1287  (Feb. 20, 2026) (IEEPA tariffs)

Trump v. Cook — 25A312 (June 29, 2026) (Fed removal)

Trump v. Slaughter — 25-332 (June 29, 2026) (FTC removal)

Mullin v. Doe — 25-1083 (June 25, 2026) (TPS)

Mullin v. Al Otro Lado — 25-5 (June 25, 2026) (asylum at the border)

Blanche v. Lau — 25-429 (June 23, 2026)(LPRs at the border)

Urias-Orellana v. Bondi — 24-777 (Mar. 4, 2026) (asylum standard of review)

Criminal Law
Barrett v. United States — 24-5774 (Jan. 14, 2026) (§924(c)/(j) stacking)

Bowe v. United States — 24-5438 (Jan. 9, 2026) (successive §2255 petitions)

Ellingburg v. United States — 24-482 (Jan. 20, 2026) (restitution / Ex Post Facto)

Chatrie v. United States — 25-112 (June 29, 2026) (geofence / 4A)

United States v. Hemani — 24-1234 (June 18, 2026) (cannabis & 2A rights)

Hunter v. United States — 24-1063 (June 18, 2026) (appeal waivers)

Pitchford v. Cain — 24-7351 (May 28, 2026) (Batson / AEDPA challenge)

Olivier v. City of Brandon — 24-993 (Mar. 20, 2026) — (§1983 rights with prior conviction)

Case v. Montana — 24-624 (Jan. 14, 2026) (emergency-aid / 4A)

Villarreal v. Texas — 24-557 (Feb. 25, 2026) (counsel during recess)

Clark v. Sweeney — 25-52 (Nov. 14, 2025) (habeas / new-trial reversal)

Civil/Voting Rights
Landor v. Louisiana DOC — 23-1197 (June 23, 2026) (RLUIPA damages)

 Louisiana v. Callais — 24-109 (Apr. 29, 2026) (Voting Rights Act §2)

West Virginia v. B.P.J. — 24-43 (June 30, 2026) (trans student athletes)

Wolford v. Lopez — 24-1046 (June 25, 2026) (2A concealed carry)

Chiles v. Salazar — 24-539 (Mar. 31, 2026) (conversion therapy)

NRSC v. FEC — 24-621 (June 30, 2026) (1A / campaign finance)

Procedural Issues
Enbridge Energy v. Nessel — 24-783 (Apr. 22, 2026) (removal deadline)

 Coney Island Auto Parts v. Burton — 24-808 (Jan. 20, 2026) (Rule 60(b)(4) finality)

Other
SCOTUSblog Stat Pack (2025-2026)[PDF]

“NPR retracts story about Alito retirement,” Kelly McBride, NPR (June 30, 2026)

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VR36 - In Mullin v Doe, Samuel Alito just proudly stripped Temporary Protected Status from more than one million people who were lawfully living and working in the US as of the time of the decision--and all on the shadow docket, without even waiting for the full merits of the case to be heard. We go deep today on what may go down as his single worst majority opinion to consider Alito’s explanations of how some of the most disgustingly racist things a sitting US president has ever said in public (most of which were in support of his decision to terminate TPS for Haitians) couldn't have possibly related to why Trump decided to terminate TPS for Haitians.  We close with a quick look at Clarence Thomas's concurrence iin which he yearns for a return to simple times when the federal government was not expected to provide equal protection under the law to anyone--but most especially not immigrants.
Mullin v. Doe (June 25, 2026)(Alito, J.)

Appendix with emails filed into Mullin v. Doe (June 16, 2026)

Mullin v. Doe oral argument transcript (April 29, 2026)

Memorandum Opinion, Miot v. Trump, D.C. Dist. Ct. #25-cv-02471 (Feb 26, 2026)(Reyes, J.)

OA1274 - Can you sue if someone posts something nasty about you online? I mean maybe, but not like this. In today’s episode, Lydia introduces us to the wild world of “Are We Dating the Same Guy?” and Jenessa walks us through a lawsuit that trips over its own feet while trying to take them down. It’s a great opportunity to learn about some interesting Illinois laws against doxxing and your right to your likeness, and why the plaintiff failed miserably at mobilizing those laws in his favor. …Also, it wouldn’t be a modern drama-filled lawsuit without attorneys using AI and failing to fact check. Tune in to hear a judge rage against the lying machine, and the lawyers that used it.
D'Ambrosio v Meta Platforms, Inc., No. 25-2231 (7th Cir. 2026)

Oral arguments

Docket

Permalink to Marc Trent’s website

Sanction laws:
Fed. R. Civ. P. 11.

Fed. R. Civ. P. 38.

28 U.S.C. § 1927

28 U.S.C. § 1912


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