Should Judge Cannon recuse herself from the Trump case? What's the legal standard on willful retention of documents? Will the Finding Nemo Seagull defense serve Trump? What about gag orders? Sarah Isgur and David French keep you up to date on the trials and tribulations of Donald J. Trump.
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Indictment Watch: The Cannon Conundrum

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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Politics

Do judges have an important role to play in society beyond judging? Judge Lee Rudofsky takes the affirmative, while Orin Kerr disagrees in this special AO episode debating this topic. Sarah and David also discuss the latest SCOTUS cases.
Show Notes:
—Judges write letter saying they won't hire law clerks from Columbia
—Kerr: Do Judges "Have an Important Role to Play in Our Society" Beyond Judging?
—Code of Conduct for United States Judges
—Staying Off the Sidelines: Judges as Agents for Justice System Reform
—Appearances by Sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justices at Congressional Committee and Subcommittee Hearings (1960-2022)
—Drops in Jewish enrollment in elite universities
—CFPB v. Community Financial Services Association of America, Limited
—Are tacos and burritos sandwiches?
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Should Judges Get Political?

Sarah and David start things off with a discussion of Trump’s trials and how he might respond to the outcome of the election. Are David’s concerns overblown?
The Agenda:
—Trump’s New York trial
—Chilling speech over anti-Israel protests and one law school dean's private dinner party
—Mocking Michael Cohen
—Civil forfeiture SCOTUS ruling
—AYER ruling
—When prison guards shave a Rastafarian's dreads
—Firing gay teachers
Show Notes:
—Trial of Ted Stevens
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Presidential Stakes

Eleventh Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom takes over the role as professor to teach Sarah and David the implications of jurisdiction stripping and the balance of power between the branches of government. We’ll sum the lesson up as … Congress, do your job.
The Agenda:
—Judges say they won’t hire from Columbia Law School
—Explaining the exceptions clause
—Constraints over jurisdiction stripping by Congress
—Marbury powers
—Congress taking a more active role in constitutional interpretations
Show Notes:
—David for the NYT: The Magic Constitutionalism of Donald Trump
—Felker v. Turpin
—Sheldon v. Sill
—Judge Newsom's mention of Bruen in the AO episode from June 2022
—Judiciary Act of 1979
—Akhil Amar's two-tier theory of jurisdictions
—Daniel Epps' article in Columbia Law Review
—Monday’s AO podcast
—Henry Hart’s dialogue with self in the Harvard Law Review
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Class in Session: Jurisdiction Stripping

Judge Edmund Sargus from the Southern District of Ohio joins Sarah and David to take on originalism and different means of constitutional interpretation.
The Agenda:
—Brown v. Board of Education and the different judicial philosophies that can be applied to the case
—Originalism vs. common law traditionalism
—Challenges and limitations of textualism and originalism
—Landmark cases and the Supreme Court’s decisions shaping societal progress
—Interpreting ambiguous constitutional terms like ‘equal protection’ and ‘due process’
—Thus ends DEI
Show Notes:
—Plessy v. Ferguson
—Rutan v. Republican Party
—Bostock v. Clayton County
—Loving v. Virginia
—A blast from the past: Rep. James A. Traficant found guilty of corruption
—David for the NYT: The Magic Constitutionalism of Donald Trump
—Seceding from Secession: The Civil War, Politics, and the Creation of West Virginia
—Fifth Circuit opinion from Judge Andrew Oldham
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Originalism v. Common Law

It’s a silent spring in Texas as Pornhub pulls out of the state in an act of protest over a law requiring age verification measures. Sarah and David go through the legal battle between the explicit site and Texas AG Ken Paxton.The Agenda:
—Sarah’s high
—Texas law requiring age verification to access pornography online
—The tiers of scrutiny in constitutional law
—The role of text, history, and tradition
—Going through the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023
—Understanding the differences between Medicare and Medicaid can be challenging, even for lawmakersShow Notes:
—Sarah’s Remnant episode
—Jacobellis v. Ohio
—Ginsberg v. New York
—Ashcroft v. ACLU
—Child Online Protection Act
—Wickard v. Filburn Wilker
—United States v. Carolene Products Company
—David for NYT: Ban Online Porn for Kids
—David for NYT: One Party Has a Serious Foreign Policy Problem. The Other Has a Tantrum.
—A class-action lawsuit against Columbia
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Indictment Watch: The Cannon Conundrum

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