David French and Sarah Isgur break down new polling showing historic lows in trust for the Supreme Court, debate whether a public disagreement between Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson helps or hurts the institution, and dive into oral arguments on property seizures and witness testimony rights.

Show Notes
–Hometown Program last call
–Supreme Court polling and public trust
–Justices Jackson and Kavanaugh clash
–Trump vs. Supreme Court
–Takings Case: property seizure over $2,000 debt
–Appellate moments: Lisa Blatt and more

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Advisory Opinions is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of our articles, members-only newsletters, and bonus podcast episodes—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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Welcome to the SCOTUSblog/Advisory Opinions Extended Universe, featuring hosts from "Amarica's Constitution" (Akhil Amar and Andy Lipka) and "Divided Argument" (Will Baude and Dan Epps).

On today's episode, the group discusses substantive due process in the context of Mirabelli v. Bonta, a California law that prevented teachers from sharing information with parents about their children's gender transitions at school.

The Agenda:
–Mirabelli v. Bonta
–What is Substantive Due Process?
–Conservative Legal Movement & Substantive Due Process
–Reconciling Dobbs, Retti, and Mirabelli
–The Emergency/Interim Docket Debate

Show Notes:
–The emergency docket’s critics have it backwards

Advisory Opinions is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of our articles, members-only newsletters, and bonus podcast episodes—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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Sarah Isgur and David French break down United States v. Hemani, a Second Amendment case involving an alleged user of a controlled substance in possession of a gun. They then discuss two interim docket decisions, one on elections and congressional districts, and one on parental rights and substantive due process.
The Agenda:
–Guns and drug use
–Downtown Bonkers Town
–Interim Docket: California Parental Rights
–New York Redistricting Emergency Stay
–War powers resolution debate
Show Notes:
–United States v. Hemani, Animated Explainer | SCOTUSblog + Briefly

Advisory Opinions is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of our articles, members-only newsletters, and bonus podcast episodes—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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Sarah Isgur and David French debate whether President Donald Trump's military action against Iran requires congressional authorization, explore the constitutional limits of presidential power, and argue over which version of James Madison deserves our respect.

The Agenda:
–Housekeeping: corrections, good causes, and collaborations
–Legalities of interventions in Iran
–Abrielle skips school to talk about the Hometown Program
–Sarah loses it on James Madison

Show Notes:
–Smith v. Goguen
–United States v. Hemani, Animated Explainer | SCOTUSblog + Briefly
–War and Peace Cannot Be Left to One Man — Especially Not This Man

Advisory Opinions is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of our articles, members-only newsletters, and bonus podcast episodes—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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Sarah Isgur and David French dive deep into the world of immunities, examining recent Supreme Court decisions and their implications. They discuss State of the Union attendance patterns, analyze a postal service immunity case that split along unexpected ideological lines, and explore the contrasting jurisprudential approaches of Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh across different administrations.

The Agenda:
—State of the Union attendance
—Postal service immunity
—Executive power dynamics between Gorsuch and Kavanaugh
—NRA v. Vullo and qualified immunity
—Q&A from Florida State University

Show Notes:
—Postal Service v. Konan
—The GEO Group, Inc. v. Menocal

Advisory Opinions is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of our articles, members-only newsletters, and bonus podcast episodes—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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Sarah Isgur and David French record live at Florida State University and further examine the Supreme Court’s major tariff decision, examining Justice Kagan’s consistency argument, debating the Major Questions Doctrine with Justice Gorsuch’s concurrence, and analyzing Justice Kavanaugh’s dissent on executive power in foreign affairs.

The Agenda
–Analyzing Kagan’s argument
–Deep dive into statutory interpretation approaches
–Footnote battles (fun!) and methodological disagreements
–Executive power and Kavanaugh’s track record
–Special deference in foreign policy context
–Balance of payments vs. trade deficits
–Should justices attend Trump’s State of the Union address after his attacks?

Show Notes:
–Emergency AO following Tariffs decision
–Fifth Circuit 10 Commandments Case
–The Insignificance of Judicial Opinions

Advisory Opinions is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of our articles, members-only newsletters, and bonus podcast episodes—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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In this emergency episode, Sarah Isgur and David French break down the Supreme Court’s historic 6-3 decision striking down President Donald Trump’s tariff authority under IEEPA.

The Agenda:
– The 6-3 decision
–Chief Justice Roberts’ straightforward opinion
–Major questions doctrine explained
–The Festivus Concurrence begins
–The refund mess
–Why this is the most important case

Show Notes:
–Quick Thoughts on the Tariff Decision
–Supreme Court strikes down tariffs

Advisory Opinions is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of our articles, members-only newsletters, and bonus podcast episodes—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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Sarah Isgur and David French are in Dallas, Texas, at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law to discuss Justice Samuel Alito’s potential next moves, the alternative to federalism, and attorney-client privilege in AI.

The Agenda:
–Justice Alito’s book release has raised eyebrows
–Judge Amul Thapar, fitness influencer
–A question from the best history teacher ever
–Can the courts subpoena my AI activity?
–David French v. AI
–Boneless chicken wings vs. chicken nuggets
–Questions from the audience!

Show Notes:
–The Plan for a Radically Different Supreme Court Is Here
–In a First, Court Finds Using AI Tools Ends Attorney-Client Privilege

Pre-order Sarah’s book: Last Branch Standing: A Potentially Surprising, Occasionally Witty Journey Inside Today's Supreme Court

Advisory Opinions is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of our articles, members-only newsletters, and bonus podcast episodes—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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Sarah Isgur and David French discuss another set of Trump administration indictments rejected by a grand jury, the memo from Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissing the complaint against U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, and finally, Grifter Sarah comes out to play in the Texas Senate race.
The Agenda:
–The DOJ’s dropping success rate with cases
–David goes meta
–Are AUSA positions worth it?
–DOJ misconduct complaint against federal judge dismissed
–Congrats to the AO newlyweds!
–Listener questions
–The polls are all over the place for the Texas Senate primaries

Advisory Opinions is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of our articles, members-only newsletters, and bonus podcast episodes—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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Hot takes from James Comey, the 5th Circuit weighs in on habeas corpus petitions, and does being a lawyer suck? Sarah Isgur and David French weigh in.

Note: SCOTUSblog is hiring. Find more details and apply at this link, or send a cover letter and resume to [email protected].

The Agenda:
–Introducing the Interim Relief Docket Stat Pack
–Where are all the U.S. attorneys?
–Supreme Court allows California to use congressional map benefitting Democrats
–Trump administration games immigration issue via Fifth Circuit
–James Comey and Jack Goldsmith defend the courts

Show Notes
–February 1, 2026—On the Rule of Law - James Comey
–Fifth Circuit Sides With Trump on Immigrant Detention Law

Advisory Opinions is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of our articles, members-only newsletters, and bonus podcast episodes—click here. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.

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