Making the Case

Welcome to the new ‘wild, wild west’ of Supreme Court false fact-finding! (WANTED: A Supreme Court that doesn’t abuse the fact-finding process to reach the results it wants.)

In this episode of Making the Case, Senator Whitehouse is joined by Professor Allison Orr Larsen, an expert on judicial fact-finding at the William and Mary Law School. Some of the Supreme Court’s worst decisions, like Citizens United and Shelby County, got to their results by making stuff up. Following Senator Whitehouse’s recent article in the Ohio State Law Review, this episode unpacks how the Supreme Court‘s false fact-finding expeditions broke traditional rules to render decisions agreeable to the Court’s right-wing, special-interest benefactors.  

Follow ⁠@SenWhitehouse⁠ on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for all the latest updates on Making the Case. To read more from Professor Allison Orr Larsen, see the links below. 

Factual Precedents - Pennsylvania Law Review

The Trouble with Amicus Facts - Virginia Law Review

The Supreme Court justices seem to think so. The Court recently adopted a so-called “code of conduct,” but with no enforcement mechanism in place, it stands no chance of cleaning up bad behavior. Lisa Graves of True North Research joins Senator Whitehouse on this episode to unpack the new code and its shortfalls.

Also on this episode, Senator Whitehouse breaks down what happened in the Senate Judiciary Committee as Republican Senators unsuccessfully rolled out every play in the book to try to prevent the committee from subpoenaing the Court’s billionaire benefactors.

Follow ⁠@SenWhitehouse⁠ on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for all the latest updates on Making the Case, and⁠ @TheLisaGraves for more on her work to hold the powerful accountable.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a great example of government that works. So it’s no wonder corporate powers are rooting for its downfall.

In this episode of Making the Case, Senator Elizabeth Warren joins Senator Whitehouse and Representative Johnson to discuss her role in creating the CFPB and the threat it now faces at the Supreme Court. This case, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America, is a perfect example of how phony front groups and their dark money funders are attempting to use a captured Court to attack people’s ability through their government to protect themselves.

For more on the CFPB, follow @SenWarren on Twitter. For the latest updates on Making the Case, follow ⁠@SenWhitehouse⁠ and @RepHankJohnson on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Step 1: Select the right justices for your cause. 

Step 2: Select the right cases for those justices. 

This podcast has unpacked the right-wing scheme to capture and control our nation’s highest court, but the justices sitting on the bench aren’t the only ones who have been carefully selected — the cases have been too. 

In this episode of Making the Case, Senator Whitehouse is joined by retired federal Judge Nancy Gertner to discuss the changes in the behavior of Supreme Court justices in recent years, Judge Gertner’s work on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court, and ongoing Court reform efforts.

Follow ⁠@SenWhitehouse⁠ on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for all the latest updates on Making the Case.

The Roberts Court is an unelected body, but its recent decisions have led to more restrictions on Americans’ right to vote.  

In this episode of Making the Case, Senator Whitehouse is joined again by Rep. Hank Johnson, and former Attorney General Eric Holder. They walk through the Court’s decision in Shelby County vs. Holder (yes, the same Holder on this episode), the ripple effect that decision had on voting in America, and some ways this captured Court could be un-captured.

Follow @SenWhitehouse on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for all the latest updates on Making the Case.

Most people agree that the highest court in the land shouldn’t have the lowest ethical standards. But you may be wondering: if the Court refuses to police itself, can Congress step in? 

Yes — and they’ve done it before. 

In this episode of Making the Case, Senator Whitehouse is joined by Rep. Hank Johnson, Fix the Court Executive Director Gabe Roth, and Campaign Legal Center Senior Director of Ethics Kedric Payne. These experts will walk through some of the ethics crises facing the Court, how the Supreme Court’s conduct compares to what’s allowed in other branches, and the key role Congress can play in cleaning up this mess. 

Follow @SenWhitehouse on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for all the latest updates on Making the Case.

Looking for more on this episode’s guests? Follow their work on Twitter and beyond at @RepHankJohnson, @Kedric_Payne, and @FixTheCourt.

The Captured Court has delivered big for special interests at the expense of the American people. From campaign finance to gun safety to environmental protection, the Supreme Court is increasingly out of step with the American people on the key issues of our day. In this episode of Making the Case, Senator Whitehouse is joined by End Citizens United/Let America Vote President Tiffany Muller, Brady Campaign President Kris Brown, and Doug Linder of the League of Conservation Voters. Together, these experts discuss how special interests have led to many disastrous decisions, and the lasting consequences of these cases.

Follow @SenWhitehouse on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for all the latest updates on Making the Case.

Looking for more on this episode’s guests? Follow their work on Twitter and beyond at @Tiffany_Muller, @KrisB_Brown, and @DougLindner. 

Overturning Roe didn’t happen overnight. It didn’t happen on

In this episode, Senator Whitehouse is joined by NARAL President

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Looking for more on this episode’s guests? Follow their work

When most people think about the current Supreme Court, one of the first names that comes to mind is Donald Trump, who appointed three of its Justices. But there's another name that's arguably more important. And that is the right-wing billionaires’ fixer, Leonard Leo. In this episode, Senator Whitehouse is once again joined by Rep. Hank Johnson, Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick, and Lisa Graves of True North Research to discuss the recent history of the right-wing scheme to capture the Court.

These experts will discuss many of the biggest names in the Court capture effort, along with the phony front groups they used to prop it up.

Follow @SenWhitehouse on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for all the latest updates on Making the Case.

Looking for more on this episode’s guests? Follow their work on Twitter and beyond at @RepHankJohnson, @DahliaLithwick, and @TheLisaGraves.

Welcome to Making the Case. In this episode, Senator Whitehouse is joined by Rep. Hank Johnson, Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick, and Lisa Graves of True North Research. These experts begin peeling back the layers of the far-right effort to capture and control the Supreme Court.

Who was involved? When did this scheme begin? And how did it gain momentum?

Follow @SenWhitehouse on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for all the latest updates on Making the Case.

Looking for more on this episode’s guests? Follow their work on Twitter and beyond at @RepHankJohnson, @DahliaLithwick, and @TheLisaGraves.