OA1153 - It's good news Friday! Here are some stories about American fascists losing or otherwise showing their asses in court, including (among others):

• The Supreme Court comes through strong for immigrant justice at 1 AM on a Saturday morning

• Samuel Alito fails to properly interpret a book written at a fourth grade level after having his Easter ruined by immigrant justice

• DOJ accidentally files an embarrassing internal memo into the record

• Sarah Palin’s tries and fails to sue the New York Times for libel for the second time 

• one federal judge stops Trump's attempt to do the SAVE Act through an executive order, while another reverses an ICE kidnapping

• Neil Gorsuch does a genuinely good thing for non-citizens through a simple act of textualism

• DOJ pulls out one of the most ridiculous excuses for violating a court order in US legal history

Finally, a meta-footnote on why Matt is ready to join the calls to impeach national hero James Boasberg for his radical views on the utility of (what else) footnotes.

• Samuel Alito’s dissent in A.A.R.P. v. Trump (4/19/25)

• SCOTUS’s decision in Monsalvo-Velasquez v. Bondi  (4/22/25)

• Vermont federal district court order returning Rumeysa Ozturk to Vermont

• Courtlistener docket for D.V.D. v. DHS

• Courtlistener docket for American Oversight v. Hegseth

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T3BE67 - It's another bar question with Heather Varanini! First we get the answer to last week's very bad and ungrateful father question, and then it's time for our next one! We crown some new winners, and then thank the best winners of all - our patrons!

If you'd like to play along with T3BE, here's what to do: hop on Bluesky, follow Openargs, find the post that has this episode, and quote it with your answer! Or, go to our Subreddit and look for the appropriate t3BE posting. Or best of all, become a patron at patreon.com/law and play there!

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OA1152 - We are pleased to welcome Mike Lissner, the Executive Director and CTO of the Free Law Project to discuss his outstanding work in bringing federal court filings out from behind the PACER paywall, how just a few people with good ideas can fill in the gaps left by government services, and why he hasn’t created an Article III Hot or Not with his vast library of judicial portraits (but how you could).

• Free Law Project donation page

• CourtListener

• RECAP

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OA1151 - We’re (kind of) live from New York! Thomas, Matt, and OA regular Liz Skeen meet up in person for the first time on Liz’s home turf to review the state of the law three months into the second Trump administration. We begin with a brief update on some  recent developments in Trump’s war against Biglaw before turning to some encouraging developments in two of the most significant federal civil cases of our lifetimes. Finally, Matt cedes today’s footnote to a New York minute from Liz about a welcome legal setback for Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral campaign. 

• Letters from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sent to major law firms demanding data on DEI hiring policies (3/17/2025) 

• DC District Court Judge James Boasberg’s 46-page findings of probable cause for criminal contempt against defendants in JGG v Trump (4/16/2015)

• Fourth Circuit Judge J. Harvey Wilkinson’s order in JGG v. Trump (4/17/2025)

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It's Thomas Takes the Bar Exam question 66! Heather's here to break down the answer to T3BE65, and Lydia jumps in (because of reasons we explain in the show) to help us congratulate the winners and tackle the question for T3BE66.

If you'd like to play along with T3BE, here's what to do: hop on Bluesky, follow Openargs, find the post that has this episode, and quote it with your answer! Or, go to our Subreddit and look for the appropriate T3BE posting. Or best of all, become a patron at patreon.com/law and play there!

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OA1150 - Did the Department of Homeland Security really just give Massachusetts-born immigration attorney Nicole Micheroni seven days to leave the US? Matt has the inside (his law office) scoop on this viral story.

Then in today’s deep dive: what if Congress accidentally legalized some THC products seven years ago and no one noticed? We discuss how this unexpected dutchie was actually passed on the right hand side and what, if anything, Congress should do it about it.

• Nicole’s viral Bluesky post about the notice she received to leave the U.S. in seven days

• U.S. Cannabis Council’s findings on the safety of Delta-8 products

• AK FUTURES LLC v. Boyd Street Distro, LLC, 35 F. 4th 682 (9th Cir. 2022) 

• “2018 Farm Bill's Impact on the Cannabis Industry,” Whitt Steineker, National Law Review (2/25/25)

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OA1149 - Even as most of the Biglaw establishment falls to Trump’s whims, lawyers from smaller firms are stepping up to do the most necessary work  on the most important issues of our times. We’re here to tell you a little more about some of them! But first: The House passes the “No Rogue Rulings Act” and we rip into some fascist nonsense from MAGA legal “thinker” Mike Davis defending the President’s absolute  right to call anyone a terrorist and send them to hell without a hearing. Also: DHS’s “evidence”(?) in support of Mahmoud Kahlil’s deportation,  SCOTUS ‘s surprise mid-episode ruling ordering the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from a Salvadoran gulag, and more on the truly inspirational lawyers who are aggressively pushing these fights forward.

In today’s footnote: can you sue ChatGPT for “hallucinating” terrible stories about you? One heavily-armed Georgia talk show host is gunning to find out.

• The “No Rogue Rulings Act”  (HR 1526) 

• Amicus brief filed in Korematsu Center et al in Perkins Coie v. DOJ (4/9/25)

• DHS “evidence” filed in Mahmoud Kahlil’s deportation proceedings (4/10/25)

• U.S. Supreme Court’s order in Noem v. Abrego Garcia (04/10/2025)

• Plaintiff’s complaint in Walters v OpenAI  

• “SCOTUS must stop leftist judges' lawless sabotage of Trump agenda | Fox News, Mike Davis (3/31/25)

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OA1148 - We interrupt your regularly scheduled T3BE to bring you three stories of why Immigration and Customs Enforcement is the worst. Matt starts off by reporting on how ICE disappeared one of his detained clients shortly before his scheduled bond hearing this week. On that theme, you might have seen the viral video of an attorney confronting deportation officers at his minor client’s home. What in the world was that? Matt has the brekadown. We then try to understand why the Supreme Court has just agreed that the President can kidnap and throw pretty much any non-citizen* out of the country so long as he calls them “alien enemies”  and ICE mumbles something about due process first.

*citizens TBD

UPDATE: ICE has confirmed since the time of this recording that Matt’s client is in New Mexico, 2200 miles from where he was supposed to have a bond hearing on April 7th.

• U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 per curiam order in Trump v. J. G. G. (04/07/2025)

• Video of Virginia attorney James Rivera confronting ICE at his minor client’s home (@7jimmie77) | TikTok

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OA1147 - It’s the retrial of the century, and Matt’s bringing his local perspective for the single most-requested story in OA history. Jury selection is underway for the second trial of Karen Read for her alleged responsibility in the death of Boston police officer John O’Keefe in the same Massachusetts courtroom where a mistrial was declared last July, and we’ve got everything you need to know to follow this case which has become a global phenomenon. We review some of the basic facts as revealed at the last trial and take a closer look at the legal issues. Where did both the prosecution and defense go wrong last time, what has happened between the trials, and what should we expect now? 

• Burnside Fountain (Turtle Boy) - Atlas Obscura

• Defense attorney David Yanetti’s opening statement in Commonwealth v. Read (April 16, 2024)

• READ v. COMMONWEALTH (SJC-13663) (2025)

• Independent audit of the Canton Police Department (April 2, 2025)

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OA1146 - We begin with a quick review of SDNY Judge Dale Ho’s scathing 78-page (!) order dismissing all federal charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams at DOJ’s request to see how it compared to our recent predictions. Then in our main story, Matt breaks down a true legal nightmare from this week’s news and goes beyond the headlines to explain why ICE’s recent admission that it accidentally sent a man on a one-way ticket to hell with no intention of ever returning him is actually even worse than it sounds. 

Also featured: Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem face actual for-real legal consequences for their bigotry against Venezuelan immigrants, 1,000 UK artists combine to form the world’s most boring supergroup to protest the legalization of AI art theft, Matt yearns for the open road, and Congressional Republicans assert the power to stop time itself.

• Judge Dale Ho’s order dismissing all federal criminal charges against NYC mayor Eric Adams with prejudice (4/2/25)

• Docket in Abrego Garcia v. Noem (filed 3/25/25)

• “Imposing Duties to Address the Flow of Illicit Drugs Across Our National Border” (2/1/2025)

• NDCA Judge Edward Chen’s order in National TPS Alliance v. Noem (3/31/25)

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