The People's Constitution

Melissa and Kate run through the latest legal news, including the Court greenlighting the dismantling of the Department of Education. Then, they speak with NYU law professor Rachel Barkow about her book, Justice Abandoned: How the Supreme Court Ignored the Constitution and Enabled Mass Incarceration. Hosts’ favorite things:Kate: Legalistic Noncompliance, Leah Litman and Dan Deacon (University of Michigan); Trump’s Plans to Put Emil Bove on the Supreme Court, Jeffrey Toobin (NYT); Bonus 167: The Case for Not Writing, Steve Vladeck (One First)Melissa: Wedding People by Alison Espach; What Reading 5,000 Pages About a Single Family Taught Me About America, Carlos Lozada (NYT); The Kent Family Chronicles, John Jakes; Emily in Paris walking tour Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025! 10/4 – ChicagoLearn more: http://crooked.com/eventsOrder your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad VibesGet tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.comFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

21 Jul 1h 30min

Katie Phang, independent journalist and trial lawyer, joins Leah to run through the week’s legal news–and there’s a lot of it! They unpack, as KBJ puts it, “this Court’s demonstrated enthusiasm for greenlighting this President’s legally dubious actions in an emergency posture” and break down the latest thirstiness from the judges angling to be Trump’s next SCOTUS pick. Then, all three hosts are joined by Strict Scrutiny’s official roadie, Chris Hayes, to talk about his book, The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource. Hosts’ and Guests’ Favorite Things:Chris: What we won on Election Day, Zohran MamdaniKate: Mamdani, Trump and the End of the Old Politics, Ezra Klein & Chris Hayes (NYT); Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference, Rutger BregmanMelissa: Dirty Dancing; Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch & Skimmed: Breastfeeding, Race, and Injustice, Andrea FreemanLeah: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, V.E. Schwab; Bone Valley: A True Story of Injustice and Redemption in the Heart of Florida, Gilbert King; Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter tourKatie: A Lawsuit against Alligator Alcatraz! (Katie’s Substack) Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025! 10/4 – ChicagoLearn more: http://crooked.com/eventsOrder your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad VibesGet tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.comFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

14 Jul 1h 38min

With July upon us and bad decision season (mercifully) over, Leah, Kate and Melissa take a step back to recap this year’s SCOTUS term. They highlight some of the overarching themes, break down the biggest opinions, and look back at the moments they’ll remember forever–whether they want to or not. Hosts’ favorite things:Melissa: KBJ’s footnote 12 in Stanley v. City of Sanford, Florida; Seven Chaotic Months in the Life of a New Federal Judge, Emily Bazelon and Mattathias Schwartz (NYT); This Is the Real Impact of the Supreme Court’s Planned Parenthood Decision, Linda Greenhouse (NYT); When Rational Basis Review Bit (HLR)Leah: A New Kind of Judicial Supremacy, Steve Vladeck (One First); With the Big, Beautiful Bill, You Can Now Sponsor a Billionaire of Your Choosing, Alexandra Petri (Atlantic); Samuel Alito Takes Pride in Gay-Bashing, Elie Mystal (The Nation); A Court Without the Range, Sherrilyn Ifill (Sherrilyn’s Newsletter); ‘A Culture of Disdain’: The Supreme Court’s Actions Speak Louder Than Its Words, Kate Shaw (NYT); Andor (Disney+); Virgin, Lorde; Trump FragrancesKate: Trump’s Big Win in His Escalating War on the Press, Bob Bauer (Executive Functions); USAID study (The Lancet); Is the Supreme Court the Best Way to Get Justice? Alexis Coe (NYT); Unbearable: Five Women and the Perils of Pregnancy in America, Irin Carmon; We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution, Jill Lepore Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025! 10/4 – ChicagoLearn more: http://crooked.com/eventsOrder your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad VibesGet tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.comFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

7 Jul 1h 39min

Leah, Melissa and Kate roll up their sleeves and unpack last Friday’s huge day at the Court, starting with Mahmoud v. Taylor, the case that tested Sam Alito’s ability to comprehend picture books. They also break down the outcomes of cases involving age verification for adult entertainment and the nondelegation doctrine. If you missed last Friday’s emergency episode on the birthright citizenship case, you can find it here. Hosts’ favorite things:Melissa: Jackson and Sotomayor dissents (Mahmoud v. Taylor, Trump v. CASA, Inc.); Outrageous (BritBox); Dream Count, Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieKate: Green-Wood Cemetery’s Living Dead, Paige Williams (New Yorker); Dying for Sex (FX on Hulu); Chris Hayes’ lecture at the Chautauqua InstitutionLeah: KBJ and Sotomayor dissents; The 21 Best Croissants in New York City Right Now, Mahira Rivers (NYT);  YELLOW, Washington, D.C. Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025! 10/4 – ChicagoLearn more: http://crooked.com/eventsOrder your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad VibesGet tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.comFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

30 Jun 1h 1min

In an emergency episode, Leah, Kate, and Melissa break down today’s radical decision in Trump v. CASA, Inc., which gives this administration carte blanche to pursue its heinous agenda by curbing the judiciary’s ability to issue nationwide injunctions. Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025! 10/4 – ChicagoLearn more: http://crooked.com/eventsOrder your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad VibesGet tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.comFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

27 Jun 51min

In this emergency episode, Melissa, Leah and Kate are joined by Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, to unpack today’s ruling in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. They talk about what this could mean for patients and the devastating ripple effect it will have across the country. Also covered: the rest of today’s opinions and the Court’s cruel shadow docket order on “third country removals.” Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025! 10/4 – ChicagoLearn more: http://crooked.com/eventsOrder your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad VibesGet tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.comFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

26 Jun 53min

First, Leah is joined by international law expert Bec Ingber to lay out legal issues around the use of force (aka bombing Iran). Then, Leah is joined by two guest hosts–former legal journalist Mike Sacks and Georgetown Law’s Steve Vladeck–to break down last week’s opinions from the Court. Everyone’s up to their old tricks: Coach Kavanaugh makes sports metaphors, Clarence Thomas concurs (shudder), and Sam Alito feels his feelings. Through it all, Ketanji Brown Jackson shows us what the court could–hopefully–one day be. Hosts’ favorite things:Leah: The release of Mahmoud KhalilMike: Leah’s book, Lawless! Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025! 10/4 – ChicagoLearn more: http://crooked.com/eventsOrder your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad VibesGet tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.comFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

23 Jun 1h 38min

In this emergency episode, Chase Strangio of the ACLU joins the pod to talk about today’s decision in United States v. Skrmetti. Then, Kate, Leah, and Melissa dive deep into the opinion, the various flavors of awful found in the concurrences from the majority, and what this decision might mean more broadly for the future of sex-based discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause. Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025! 10/4 – ChicagoLearn more: http://crooked.com/eventsOrder your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad VibesGet tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.comFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

18 Jun 38min