OA1107 - Chief Justice John Roberts has used his annual end-of-the-year report to remind us that federal judges should not accept luxury vacations from billionaires, fly insurrectionist flags on any of their properties, or ever be criticized for any reason. Or, you know--at least one of those things. We also answer a patron question about what happens if Republicans can't get their House in order by the time that electoral votes are supposed to be certified on January 6th before getting to today's main story: the very real possibility that TikTok may not live to see the first day of the second Trump administration if the Supreme Court allows current law barring it from doing business in the US to take effect on January 19th. How could the US government shutting down one of our nation's favorite new ways to communicate not constitute a massive First Amendment problem? Why did a majority of Congressional Democrats, the Biden administration and pre-election Donald Trump all agree that TikTok is a threat to national security? And when is Matt going to finally release his signature TikTok dance video? We answer two of these questions before dropping a quick footnote to look back on a stupid Congressperson's idea of a smart person's legal argument in support of overturning a democratic election.

• DC Circuit decision in Tiktok v. Garland (12/6/24)

• “What If Free Speech Means Banning TikTok?,” Alan Rozhenstein, The Atlantic (12/13/24)

• Redacted transcript of U.S. intelligence briefing to House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 7, 2024 filed with DC Circuit

• ACLU amicus brief in Tiktok v. Garland (12/27/24)

• Donald Trump’s amicus brief in Tiktok v. Garland  (12/30/24)

• Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (signed into law 4/24/24)

• “2024 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary,” John Roberts (12/30/24)

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OA1106 and T3BE53

The Law'd Awful Movies this month was so much fun, I wanted to give everyone the first ~30 minutes of it. After that, it's the usual Thomas Takes the Bar Exam answer to Q52 and the new Q53. If you are one of the lucky patrons who has already heard LAM1006, feel free to skip to 31:04.

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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... and he might actually be right! Listen in and hear why.

OA1105 - Harvard Law professor and anti-corruption advocate Lawrence Lessig is almost certainly the only person on Earth to have had a personal relationship with both visionary hacker Aaron Swartz and former Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia. We warmly welcome Professor Lessig back to OA to share--among many other things--his experiences with each of these very different people, why he remains optimistic about campaign finance reform going into the second Trump administration, and the originalist argument against Super PACs.

• “Why They Mattered: Aaron Swartz,” Lawrence Lessig, Politico (12/22/2013)

• They Don’t Represent Us: Reclaiming Our Democracy, Lawrence Lessig (2024)

• Republic Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress--and a Plan to Stop It, Lawrence Lessig (2011)

• Support End Super Pacs

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OA1104 - America's Dismayor, and other great stories to help close out 2024 on a positive note!

Rudy Giuliani’s long, greasy slide from the heights of New York power seems to be ending in the same Manhattan federal courthouse in which he made his career as the US Attorney for the Southern District of NY. We take a closer look at the often hilarious lengths America’s former mayor has gone to in the past year to avoid paying the $148 million judgment he earned by casually defaming two hardworking Georgia election volunteers. Also discussed: why the House Ethics Committee decided to release its report on Matt Gaetz, Biden's commutation of 92% of the federal death row, and a legitimately good decision from the Supreme Court that we meant to talk about earlier. Finally, Matt drops a footnote with what he is promising will be the last time that he talks about fonts this year.

• Freeman v. Giuliani docket

• Giuliani’s written stipulation to making per se defamatory statements (7/25/23)

• Judge Liman’s “turnover” order (10/22/24)

• Judge Howell’s default judgment order (8/30/23)

• Giuliani’s 55-page response to the plaintiff’s motion for sanctions (12/19/24)

• The America First Warehouse (America’s Most Patriotic Venue)

• U.S. v. Rahimi (June 21, 2024)

• “Preferred Typefaces for Briefs,” Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (12/9/24)

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OA1103 - Is human intelligence necessarily more rational and just than artificial intelligence? How involved should AI be in our law and government? Professor Aziz Huq of the University of Chicago School of Law joins for a fascinating conversation about everything from the “right to a human decision” to the dystopian terrors of Tinder.

• “A Right to a Human Decision,” Aziz Huq, Virginia Law Review (2020)

• “The Geopolitics of Digital Regulation,” Aziz Huq (2024)

• “Chinese scientists develop AI ‘prosecutor' that can press its own charges,” Steven Chen, South China  Morning Post (2021)

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OA1102 - Why is the state of New York charging Luigi Mangione as a terrorist? And why have federal charges been filed in this case at all? We consider before moving on to try to locate any actual legal basis in the Georgia Court of Appeals decision removing Fulton County DA Fani Willis from the prosecution of Donald Trump and his alleged conspirators in Georgia. Finally, we dig into 11th Circuit judge Kevin Newsom’s surprisingly defensible argument that judges and lawyers should occasionally consult with ChatGPT, and Matt drops a footnote involving judges being weird about food.

• New York indictment of Luigi Mangione (12/18/24)

• Federal indictment of Luigi Mangione (12/19/24)

• People v. Ferhani, 966 N.Y.S.2d 348 (2012)

• Georgia Court of Appeals decision removing Fani Willis from Trump’s GA case (12/19/24)

• Snell v. Specialty Insurance Corp, 11th Cir. (5/28/2024)(Newsom, J., concurring)

• U.S. v. Deleon, 11 Cir. (9/5/2024)(Newsom, J., concurring)

• Judge Proctor’s order in McCuller v. Koch (11/26/24)

• Ohio Supreme Court’s decision in Berkheimer v. REKM (7/25/24)

• Ohio Supreme Court’s decision denying reconsideration in Berkheimer v. REM (12/9/24)

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OA1101 - You know... that super woke institution... the US Military... well, NO LONGER! Trump's man for the job is a real piece of work. And if you don't believe us, take it from his own mom. As usual, Lydia gives us the doozy breakdown, and also how Hegseth fits right into the Project 2025 design.

Then, it's T3BE 52! 

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OA1100 - Donald Trump’s promises of “mass deportation” have been dominating the headlines, but what do we actually know about what the coming administration is planning--and who should actually be concerned? Matt explains how immigration enforcement actually works in practice under the current system, including its current practical and logistical limitations. We then break down the ways that Trump has told us that he intends to subvert or get around the existing system and the law (or lack thereof) behind these unprecedented proposals before ending with some ideas for how you can help to prepare to stand up to mass enforcement actions in your community.

Watch our new video on how Joe Biden can go out a legend!!!

• “Trump’s Possibly Illegal Border Posse,” Matt Cameron, The New Republic (5/2/2019)

• “The 287(g) Program: An Overview,” American Immigration Council (July 2021) 

• “License to Abuse: How the 287(g) Program Empowers Racist Sherriffs,” ACLU (2022)

• “National Map of 287(g) Agreements,” Immigration Legal Resource Center

• “Sweeping Raids, Giant Camps, and Mass Deportations: Inside Trump’s 2025 Immigration Plans,” New York Times (11/11/2023) 

• Make the Road v. Wolf, 962 F. 3d 612, D.C. Cir. (2020)

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OA1099 - Superstar Gavel Gavel contributor Liz Skeen joins to answer all of your questions about the arrest of Luigi Mangione and the charges he will soon be facing for his alleged shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in the courthouse where she serves as a public defender. Also: Biden’s record-breaking day of clemency.

•  Listen to Thomas, Matt, Liz, and our talented cast of People v. Trump transcript re-enactors on Gavel Gavel!

• Watch our new video on how Joe Biden can go out a legend

• Sign the official OA petition for Joe Biden to go out a legend

• White House press release on Biden’s December 12, 2024 clemency actions

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OA1098/T3BE51 - We conclude our review of Trump’s immigration enforcement team with the man behind Donald Trump’s immigration policies.. Who is Steven Miller, and why? You’ll want to listen to this one even if you think you know who this man is, because it’s all a lot weirder--and, somehow, worse--than you might have ever imagined. 

Then, it's time for the answer to last week's bar exam question, and Q51!

• Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda, Jean Guerrero (2020) 

• “How Stephen Miller Manipulates Donald Trump to Further His Immigration Obsession,” Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker (2/20/2020)

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