Passing Judgment

This was an epic Supreme Court term.

It is not an overstatement to say this was the most consequential term in at least half a century.

Joe joins Jessica as they walk through the biggest opinions of the term and what they mean for you.

We talk abortion rights, religious rights, gun rights, and the power of the federal government.

Jessica speaks with novelist, essayist and cultural commentator Stephen Marche.

Stephen is the author of The Next Civil War (2022), The Unmade Bed: The Messy Truth About Men and Women in the Twenty-First Century (2016), and The Hunger of the Wolf (2015) among other books.

Jessica interviews Stephen about whether and why America stands at the brink of civil war and what we can do about it.

There are about half a dozen big cases left in the current Supreme Court term that began last October. The 6-3 conservative majority on the Court has an opportunity to make an enormous impact on our country over the next month as decisions will be issued regarding not just Roe v. Wade and the fate of federally protected abortion rights, but also gun rights, religious rights, and the limits of executive authority. And as per usual, the implications for these new decisions affecting other rights looms large. In today's episode Jessica gives a short preview of what to expect.

This week a Court of Appeals held that someone who engages in or supports an insurrection is barred from holding certain public offices. The case involved a challenge surrounding Rep. Madison Cawthorn's candidacy.

Cawthorn last week lost his primary election and will not appear on the ballot for reelection in November, but the precedent - based on a section of the 14th Amendment - has far-reaching implications for other lawmakers who may have participated in the "Stop the Steal" riot. In this episode of PJP, Jessica explains why this crucial clarification goes far beyond the soon-to-be former Congressman Cawthorn.

For more, read Jessica's piece here.

Sarah D. Wire covers the Justice Department and national security for the Los Angeles Times with a focus on the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and domestic extremism.

She stops by Passing Judgment to update us on the Committee's work.

It was a bombshell week of legal news this week. A leaked draft opinion revealed that the Court is poised to eliminate abortion protections that have stood for nearly half a century. The opinion - if it is issued in its current form at the end of the term - has far-reaching implications for both abortion rights in America as well as collateral damage to other rights like access to birth control and same-sex marriage. And the unprecedented leak continues to erode the legitimacy of the court.

As expected, America will soon likely look very different, with a patchwork of legal protections for abortion determined on a state-by-state basis. In this episode Jessica talks about the leak, how and why she thinks it took place, and what the fallout may be.

Our guest is David Lazarus, the "Emmy-winning money guy for KTLA Channel 5" and the former business columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

David joins Jessica to talk about the impact of Elon Musk's impending acquisition of Twitter, why Europe might better protect social media users, and why it is important to have consumer affairs reporters.