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OA1142 and T3BE64 - The State Bar of California wanted to save a buck or two, so they switched from paying a company to administer a real bar exam to a company that... didn't do that. It's an absolute fiasco. Heather is pulling double duty today on Wildcard Wednesday (tm) as she is our expert on this nonsense, in addition to giving us the usual Thomas Takes the Bar Exam treatment!

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OA1141 - Are Republican AGs really trying to have some of the most important federal protections for disability rights declared unconstitutional? Attorney Jenessa Seymour joins to explain the history and purpose of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the pending challenge to a Biden-era regulatory update intended to protect trans health care rights. 

• Texas v. Becerra docket

• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

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OA1140 - The Trump administration has openly defied a court order--and that’s only the third worst thing about today’s main story. Also: what exactly does it mean to “sign” something into law? What is actually in all of these articles of impeachment which Republicans keep filing against federal judges who have defied Trump? And is there a First Amendment right to communicate with monkeys?

• 50 USC Ch. 3: ALIEN ENEMIES

• Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of The United States by Tren De Aragua, March 15, 2025 (3:53 PM)

• Docket in J.G.G. v. Trump (filed 3/15/25)

• Articles of Impeachment filed against Judge James Boasberg by Rep. Brandon Gill (3/18/25)

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OA1139 and T3BE63 - Lydia's back this week to walk us through Trump's very fashy takeover of The Kennedy Center. She watched it unfold in real-time and while it is obviously disturbing, listening to some leaked audio from the first board meeting provides a lot of laughs. It's somehow real, folks.

And we've got Professor Heather Varanini as always to walk us through the answer to T3BE62, and to set up the question for T3BE63!

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OA1138 - Is a federal judge really about to sign off on dismissing the federal corruption charges against New York City mayor Eric Adams even in the face of everything that we now know about the corrupt deal which led to DOJ’s request? Why did appointed attorney Paul Clement recommend dismissing the case with prejudice, and what might it mean for future prosecutions by Trump’s DOJ if Judge Ho agrees? Superstar NYC public defender Liz Skeen returns to go beyond the headlines with some local perspective on the current state of one of the most important federal criminal cases in our lifetimes. 

• Paul Clement’s brief in support of dismissing charges with prejudice

• Rinaldi v. United States | 434 U.S. 22 (1977) 

• Rule 48. Dismissal | Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 

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OA1137 - The arrest and detention of U.S. lawful permanent resident Mahmoud Kahlil in direct retaliation for his Constitutionally-protected speech and association as a campus organizer at Columbia University is the single greatest violation of any one individual’s right committed by the second Trump administration to date. Matt explains how an obscure Cold War-era provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act is being used for in one of the only times in modern history to justify the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke Kahlil’s residency, and why this unprecedented assault on Khalil’s most basic civic and political  rights should concern us all.

Finally, in today’s footnote: A January 6th defendant who has won so much that he is truly tired of winning.

1. DHS Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar defends Mahmoud Khalil arrest : NPR (3/14/25)

2. “The Allegation Here is Not That He Was Breaking the Law,” Matt Cameron DEPORTNATION (3/12/25)

3. “Everything That Just Happened to Mahmoud Khalil Might (But Should Not) Be Legal,” Matt Cameron DEPORTNATION (3/11/25)

4. “Reply to the Government’s Opposition to Sanctions,” U.S. v. Pope (3/6/25)

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OA1136 and T3BE62- Matt swings by a Wednesday episode, and we welcome Dr. Jenessa Seymour as well! Jenessa is a disability voting access advocate and New York attorney, and she's here to break down the SAVE Act. What exactly is it supposed to be "saving" for voting rights, who is going to be most impacted by its provisions, and do we have any chance in stopping this thing?

Professor Heather Varanini joins after, of course, to share the answer to T3BE61 and present the next question in the Bar Exam!

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OA1135 - Even with everything that Trump has already done to raise consumer prices, contribute to mass unemployment and inflation,  and stress-test the market, many people still believe that Trump and MAGA conservatives are “better for the economy.” The Groundwork Collaborative is a nonprofit organization which helps to build the kind of messaging that we need to show a better way . Executive director Dr. Lindsay Owens joins to discuss–among many other things–what we talk about when we talk about “the economy,” the DOGE crisis, the true causes of inflation, and what the loss of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau means for us all.

• Groundwork Collaborative website

• U.S. and Plaintiff States v. RealPage, Inc.

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OA1134 - Mere hours after a literal pat on the back from Donald Trump on live TV, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts delivered a 5-4 decision against him in the emergency litigation over Trump’s unconstitutional efforts to eliminate foreign aid funding. How much of a win was this really, and why did Samuel Alito spend eight pages in dissent pretending to be “stunned” by the majority’s radical assertion that the federal government should pay out debts incurred by valid acts of Congress? We then turn to a less-noticed recent Supreme Court decision with concerning implications for the future of civil rights litigation before appreciating recent Congressional wins: blue city mayors schooling the House Oversight Committee without ever giving up even a  single point in six hours, and Senate Democrats taking a meaningful united stand for trans lives.

• U.S. Supreme Court’s order in Department of State et al v. AIDS Vaccine Coalition (3/5/25)

• Lackey v. Stinnie, Supreme Court #23-621 (2/25/2025) 

• Full video of House Oversight Committee’s hearing with mayors of Boston, New York, Denver, and Chicago, Associated Press (3/5/25)

• Boston Mayor Michelle Wu performs George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with the Boston Pops (9/22/2024)

• “Senate Dems Show Spine, and National Sports Bill Dies,” S. Baum, Erin in the Morning (journalist Erin Reed’s Substack)(3/3/25)

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OA1133 and T3BE61 - Lydia joins today to discuss Trump's 3/4/2025 address to Congress regarding his vision for the next 4 years. Leading up to the evening, there were reports that quite a few Democrats would opt to not attend. We highlight the different approaches folks in the party took to resist in the face of chaos and authoritarianism, and discuss what we might do if we were in that position.

After that, Professor Heather Varanini comes in to share the answer to T3BE60 and present the next question in the Bar Exam!

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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