Opening Arguments

OA1262 - How are a car accident in California, a tax fraud case in Nevada, and two bus accidents in New York and Pennsylvania all connected to the Dobbs abortion case? Find out on this week’s accidental too-deep dive into state sovereignty. Jenessa read a bunch of extra cases just to be thorough, and accidentally uncovered Kavanaugh planting the seeds that would grow into the “egregiously wrong” “rule” for ignoring stare decisis. But also mostly we’ll talk about the weird world of state sovereignty, Clarence Thomas being obnoxious and ahistorical while accusing everyone else of being ahistorical, and Sotomayor getting some peace for a change to write a pleasant little 9-0 decision about some non-partisan procedural legal nerdery that benefits injured plaintiffs.
Nevada v. Hall, 440 U.S. 410 (1979)

Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt, 587 U.S. 230 (2019)
Listen to oral arguments on Oyez: https://www.oyez.org/cases/2018/17-1299; Timestamp for Kavanaugh dropping the “egregiously wrong” bomb: 50:47


Ramos v. Louisiana, 590 U.S. 83 (2020), Kavanaugh concurrence

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, 597 U.S. 215 (2022)

Galette v. New Jersey Transit Corp., 607 U.S. ___ (2026)

The “major questions doctrine” Kavanaugh inception timeline:
U.S. Telecom Association v. F.C.C., 855 F.3d 381, 422-423 (D.C. Cir 2017), Kavanaugh dissent

Repeal of the Clean Power Plan, 84 Fed. Reg. 32520, 32529 (proposed Jul. 8, 2019) (to be codified at 40 C.F.R. pt. 60).

West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, 597 U.S. 697 (2022)


Additional sources:
Episodes 1229 & 1230 for an in-depth explanation of immunities, including state and federal sovereign immunity: “The complicated web of immunities that makes accountability so difficult”

Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 U.S. 419 (1793)

U.S. Const. amend. XI

Hans v. Louisiana, 134 U.S. 1 (1890)

Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123 (1908)

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OA1261 - Today on Rapid Response Friday: a new fight for reproductive rights reaches SCOTUS, (some) justice on ICE, and two very different kinds of dicks get their day in court. (N.B.: Shortly after this recording, the Supreme Court entered a full stay in the mifepristone case pending disposition of a certiorari petition 7-2 (Thomas & Alito dissenting).)
Louisiana v. FDA et al, filed Oct 6, 2025

SCOTUS stay order in Danco Laboratories v. Louisiana et al(5/14/26)

Full bodycam footage of the arrest of Jeana Renea Gamble, Fox10 (11/21/2025)

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VR31 - Is Justice Clarence Thomas the single most interesting person in American public life right now? Matt is here to argue that case upon the dismal milestone of Thomas officially becoming the second longest-serving justice in US Supreme Court history.  After a brief homage to Anita Hill’s tenacity at Thomas’s 1991 Senate confirmation hearing, we try to better understand the mind of this unusual man who has done uniquely massive amounts of damage to our legal system and our rights through a review of a speech he recently delivered at the University of Texas at Austin’s Civitas Institute. Why did a former supporter of Malcolm X and the Black Panthers get fully behind the Reagan agenda, and why does he now believe that there is nothing wrong with Black Americans that harsher policing, the end of affirmative action, and lowering taxes on billionaires can’t fix? Does he know that the intended audience of libertarian conservative Black nationalists he is trying to speak to is approximately the same size as the dedicated core of lefty capital-P Progressive devotees of Woodrow Wilson he is telling them to fear? Also, perhaps less importantly--where, exactly, is “Skanksville”?
“Remarks on the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence,” Clarence Thomas (full text of address given April 20, 2026)(full video here)

The Enigma of Clarence Thomas, Corey Robin (2019)

OA1260 - The Supreme Court lectures us on the right way to combat racism, which is to close our eyes and pretend it’s not happening. In Louisiana v. Callais… the court guts the Voting Rights Act, weaponizes the 14th Amendment against prevention of racial discrimination in the name of preventing racial discrimination, and opens the door to banning basically all government or government-sponsored practices designed to combat racism. Or national origin discrimination. And probably gender discrimination. However bad you’ve heard this is, it’s worse. Listen to Jenessa and Thomas slowly lose their minds as they game out the myriad implications of this nonsense.
Previous episode on this topic: 1199 “They’re Going to End the Voting Rights Act. But at Least We Got to Hear KBJ Murder a Guy in Court”
If Matt has a footnote fetish(tm), I guess Jenessa has a shownote fetish because she has so many that I need to put it in a google doc.

OA1259 - This week in Rapid Response Friday: who is the government protecting but not binding these days--and who are they binding but not protecting? We consider DOJ’s newest low in the absurd indictment of former FBI director James Comey for two counts of aggravated beach photography before moving on to a roundup of the federal government’s latest openly corrupt settlements with MAGA friends and supporters. Finally in today’s footnote: are Massachusetts police okay? 
Indictment in U.S. v. James Brian Comey, Jr.(4/26/26)

Docket in Flynn v. U.S.

Rep. Jamie Raskin’s letter to Acting AG Todd Blanche re: Flynn settlement (4/6/26)

Complaint in Ashli Babbit wrongful death suit (filed 1/5/2024)

Complaint in Sullivan v. U.S. (J6 suit)

Complaint in Trump v. IRS

Disciplinary summary from Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (“POST”) Commission

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