On The Case

Cities, states and counties across the country have hired private lawyers to sue the pharmaceutical companies that they blame for the addiction crisis that has cost tens of thousands of lives – and billions of dollars. One of the leaders of the private litigation, Paul Hanly, discusses why he thinks it’s okay for lawyers with a profit motive to step in when governments can’t otherwise afford to hold defendants accountable.

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Congress and the White House are talking about regulating Google, Twitter, Facebook and other Internet content companies. First Amendment guru Eugene Volokh – who predicted the Babel of voices on the Internet more than 20 years ago – explains why search engine and social media companies are (mostly) protected from government interference.

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With the Kavanaugh crisis resolved, the U.S. Supreme Court returns to business as usual. We get the inside skinny from Supreme Court lawyer (and former Antonin Scalia clerk) Kannon Shanmugam about appearing before the highest court in the land. Spoiler alert: You need a lucky tie!

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Donald Trump is challenging the independence of the Justice Department in unprecedented ways – and neither the U.S. Constitution nor Congress has set explicit limits on presidential authority over federal prosecutors. But law professor and historian Rebecca Roiphe contends the rule of law ultimately prevail.

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While all eyes are on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, this is far from the full story of Trump’s impact on the federal judiciary. In less than two years, Trump has appointed 26 judges to the 13 Courts of Appeals – a record pace. Reuters legal columnist Alison Frankel talks to Arthur Hellman, a law professor and expert on the federal courts, about Trump’s picks to the appellate bench and how his appointments could impact the balance of power of Democratic and Republican-appointed judges.

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State and federal laws make it almost impossible to hold gunmakers accountable when killers go on murderous sprees. Shooting victims’ families are fighting an uphill battle to get around those rules. But, in this episode, a top lawyer for the firearms industry makes the case that it hasn’t received any special protection – and that crime is actually down since gun immunity laws were passed.

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What do NFL protesters, Omarosa and John Brennan have in common? President Donald Trump wants them all to shut up. Trump’s efforts to control what other people say stir up some really complicated questions about the 1st amendment, employment law and national security.

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