Passing Judgment

In a follow-up to last week's coverage of Sarah Palin's defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, Jessica and Joe report that the judge tossed Palin's case - but that he also allowed the jury to render a verdict. Neither were particularly favorable to Palin, but the unique close to the trial may complicate the situation down the road after Palin issues a near-inevitable appeal. Will the First Amendment rights of the press remain as robust when Palin's defamation accusation is eventually resolved? Also, this week a 1st Judicial District judge ruled that three members of the Trump Organization, namely the former president Donald Trump and his two eldest children, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, must sit for depositions under suspicion of fraudulent business practices. Will they show? And if they do, will they lean on their 5th Amendment protections and not answer questions? Also, in a unique wrap for this week's episode, Jessica gives the absolute latest development of a story on a podcast in a manner that typically happens on live radio - breaking news that former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter was today sentenced to two years for the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright.

It is our first legal roundup of 2022, and intrepid producer and co-host Joe Armstrong returns.

First, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin took the stand in her defamation suit against the New York Times this week. How did she do? [ANSWER: Not great.]

We also recently learned that although Donald Trump may or may not have been flushing official documents down a White House toilet, he most definitely improperly took some top secret documents with him when he left for Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

Lastly, the Supreme Court this week ruled in Alabama's favor when it came to a recent challenge to congressional redistricting despite a violation of the Voting Rights Act, and Jessica shares some theories about how this "shadow docket" decision may be related to SCOTUS' recent YOLO energy.

CBS political contributor and veteran Capitol Hill reporter Molly Hooper joins Jessica to discuss the major political stories of the week - including Joe Biden's marathon two-hour press conference. The President took a wide range of questions on a variety of topics, but was more better? With the midterm elections looming larger every day and an ongoing pandemic hampering the healthcare system and the economy, did Biden help or hurt his party, his presidency, or the country?

Joel Payne is a Democratic strategist who worked on Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign as well as a member of the late Senator Harry Reid's staff. He joins Jessica to discuss the Biden administration's first term. President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was sworn in last January 20th in the midst of a maelstrom of foreign and domestic challenges - a raging Covid-19 pandemic, a monumental vaccine rollout, a strong conservative majority on the Supreme Court, and a country divided by years of misinformation and disinformation fomented by the chaotic prior administration - and he moved into the Oval Office two weeks to the day after an unprecedented and violent insurrection at the Capitol that left five Americans dead. But Biden also found himself with narrow majorities in both the Senate and the House and managed to pass a groundbreaking infrastructure bill within months. How did Biden navigate his first year in office? And how is he positioned to guide the United States through the ongoing pandemic, the upcoming midterm elections, and a likely run for reelection in 2024?

Welcome to 2022! This is a special, best-of episode of Passing Judgment, featuring excerpts from some of Jessica's best interviews with guests like Senator Barbara Boxer, America's Debate Coach Dr. Todd Graham, hard-nosed journalist Brian Karem, Nse Ufot, who played no small part in turning Georgia blue in 2020, New York Times legal counsel David McCraw, former white supremacist Arno Arno Michaelis and his ideas on how to heal a divided society, author and political scientist Brian Klaas on how power corrupts, SCOTUS expert Linda Greenhouse, and an emotional account of her experience during the January 6th insurrection from California Rep. Norma Torres.

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Happy New Year Passing Judgment listeners.

Jessica and Joe talk through some, but not all, of the biggest legal stories of the year, including the January 6th insurrection, SCOTUS news (including abortion laws and vaccine mandates), and some big criminal trials including - Derek Chauvin, Travis & Gregory McMichael, Kyle Rittenhouse, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Jussie Smollett.

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Linda Greenhouse joins us to discuss her fascinating new book - Justice on the Brink: The Death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Rise of Amy Coney Barrett, and Twelve Months that Transformed the Supreme Court

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