Advisory Opinions The Dispatch
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Advisory Opinions is a new podcast from The Dispatch. Hosts David French and Sarah Isgur have a weekly conversation about the law, culture, and why it matters.
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Can State Officials Block Me on Social Media?
Sarah and David discuss Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s opinion in Lindke v. Freed—released last week by the Supreme Court—and the test for state action on social media. Is there a constitutional right to commenting on state officials’ accounts?
The Agenda:
-Predicting SCOTUS votes for Net Choice
-Slime in the ice machine
-Justice Elena Kagan’s compelling reasoning for saying “and” means “or”
-Terrorism distortion and special needs exceptions to the Fourth Amendment
-The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is overwhelmed
-An emergency petition on the Texas A&M drag show case
-Don’t say 'Don’t Say Gay' when referring to this lawsuit
-Justice Stephen Breyer and choosing pragmatism and not textualism
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Blood Libel at MIT
Sarah and David react to the Robert Hur’s congressional testimony, but first Sarah responds to a recent article that claimed she was assisting Hur in his testimony (and thanks the loyal listeners who came to her defense).
The Agenda:
—David’s thoughts on the Hur hearings
—Lessons in media training
—Differences between the Trump and Biden documents cases
—Partisanship making people awful
—Complaint by Jewish students at MIT
—Blood libel at MIT
—Free speech or no speech on campus?
—Positive racial discrimination?
—The end of judge shopping
Show Notes:
—President Reagan, Mastermind - SNL
—UC Berkeley Jewish students successfully march without confrontation
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Stopping the Stop Woke Act
Despite a slow start to the week in legal news, Sarah and David have a tightly packed episode today starting with a dissent from denial from Justice Thomas on bias response teams at a Virginia university.
The Agenda:
—Bias response teams
—ACLU vs. NLRB
—Florida's Stop Woke Act naw-dogged by Eleventh Circuit
—Texas' law on minor access to explicit content at the Fifth Circuit
—TikTok: Welcome to the culture war
—Kevin Newsom's speech on text, history, and tradition
—Be careful with tradition
—Understanding standing doctrine
—The Oscars and a good legal movie
Show Notes:
—Federalist Society 2024 National Student Symposium
—The Volokh Conspiracy
—Luis Parrales: The Oscars in an Age of Distraction
—MIT legal complaint
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David Responds to Trolls
David takes the first ten minutes to respond to Twitter trolls over his latest New York Times article before he and Sarah revisit their arguments over the Supreme Court’s per curium ruling on the Trump-Colorado case.
The Agenda:
—Defending the Supreme Court
—Erasing the Constitution
—Confusion over the Trump ruling
—Consequentialism vs. originalism
—Judicial restraint and originalism
—Erasing Chevron
—SCOTUS hears bump stock case
—Explaining the string cheese factors
Show Notes:
-Kevin Williamson: Slate Publishes Gun-Control Fiction
-Advisory Opinions Episode with Professor Amanda Tyler
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Indictment Watch: The Supreme Court Decides Whether States Can Disqualify Trump
The Supreme Court issued an unanimous decision on Monday dismissing efforts to block Trump from the Colorado ballot. Sarah and David review the ruling and then go on to disagree about pretty much everything. Stay tuned for a feisty debate.
The Agenda:
-Colorado cannot remove Donald Trump from its ballot
-SCOTUS not touching the "Did Donald Trump engage in insurrection or aiding the enemies of the United States?" question
-Also not touching, "Is Trump an officer?"
-5-4 ruling on who can enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment
Show Notes:
-Electoral Count Reform Act
-Section 3 of the 14th Amendment
-Colorado Supreme Court's Majority Opinion
-Maine Secretary of State's original decision on removing Trump
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Sore Losers and Dr. Phil
Sarah and David have some legal catch-up to do but first on the docket is some rank punditry on Donald Trump's endless legal saga.
The Agenda:
—Why is there a delay on Trump’s cases?
—David explains NetChoice v. Paxton
—McElrath v. Georgia update
—No Labels considers Nikki Haley
—Dr. Phil’s our guy
—Home Depot and free speech
—NCAA name, image, likeness rules
—AO dating app update
Today's episode is supported by Burford Capital. Follow the link to learn more: http://burfordcapital.com/ao
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Customer Reviews
Better when David and Sarah disagree
This is an excellent podcast for people interested in smart legal takes. Definitely better when David and Sarah disagree.
Cmon Sarah
The audience doesn’t need to hear about your high school life. There is quite a bit of self indulging and it only comes from one of them…comes across childish and annoying
I can no longer listen to Sarah Imgur
She is an apologist for Donald Trump and I am sickened by her apparent belief that any legal accountability for him is lawfare. I won’t listen anymore.