SCOTUS 101

By The Heritage Foundation

Society & Culture History

What's SCOTUS 101 about?

A Heritage Foundation podcast breaking down what's happening at the Supreme Court, what the justices are up to, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Legal Thrillers

05.26.2023

The Court handed down big decisions this week, all unanimous, including Sackett v. EPA and Tyler v. Hennepin County. After your hosts discuss those cases, GianCarlo interviews lawyer and novelist Chad Boudreaux. The two talk about his fascinating career and ...

SCOTUS 101 episodes:

05.26.2023 Legal Thrillers The Court handed down big decisions this week, all unanimous, including Sackett v. EPA and Tyler v. Hennepin County. After your hosts discuss those cases, GianCarlo interviews lawyer and novelist Chad Boudreaux. The two talk about his fascinating career and ...
05.19.2023 Judicial Sass This week the justices decided six more cases including those against Twitter and Google for allegedly aiding and abetting ISIS terrorists, and the copyright dispute over Andy Warhol's images of Prince. Zack interviews Judge Jennifer Perkins of the Arizona Arizona ...
05.12.2023 Savin' the Bacon? The opinions are coming fast now. This week the Court handed down five, dealing with immigration, wire fraud, the Puerto Rico Financial Oversight Board, and the famous bacon case. Did SCOTUS save the nation's bacon? Tune in to find out ...
05.05.2023 Rehearing: Judge Raymond Randolph In this Rehearings episode, we replay our interview with Judge Raymond Randolph. Rehearings airs our favorite old interviews on weeks when things are otherwise quiet at the Supreme Court. Follow us on Twitter @scotus101 and @tzsmith. And please send questions, ...
04.27.2023 Cases Made for the Movies It has been a very busy few weeks for the Supreme Court. The Court enjoined a lower court order rescinding the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the abortion pill. It heard oral arguments in a major religious liberty case, ...
04.14.2023 Rehearing: Judge Lawrence VanDyke In this Rehearings episode, we replay our interview with the Judge Lawrence VanDyke. Rehearings airs our favorite old interviews on weeks when things are otherwise quiet at the Supreme Court. Follow us on Twitter @scotus101 and @tzsmith. And please send ...
03.31.2023 Supreme Crimes & State Constitutions This week, the Court was the scene of several crimes, or rather, several oral arguments about crimes. Your hosts discuss the fascinating issues of double-jeopardy, criminal speech, and out-of-court confessions that those arguments raised. GianCarlo then interviews Arizona Supreme Court ...
03.23.2023 Judge Kyle Duncan Talks About Stanford In this episode your hosts discuss the amusing oral arguments in the Jack Daniels parody case and unpack the one opinion of the week. Judge Kyle Duncan also joins the show to talk about the recent free-speech debacle at Stanford ...
03.17.2023 Rehearing: Judge Stephen Vaden In this Rehearings episode, we replay our interview with the Judge Stephen Vaden. The interview is especially relevant in light of the recent free-speech controversy at Stanford Law, because Judge Vaden talks about the free-speech crisis in legal academia. Rehearings ...
03.10.2023 Rehearing: Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod In this Rehearings episode, we replay our interview with the Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod. Rehearings airs our favorite old interviews on weeks when things are otherwise quiet at the Supreme Court. Follow us on Twitter @scotus101 and @tzsmith. And please ...
03.03.2023 Student Loans and Major Questions Oral arguments in the cases challenging President Biden's student loan cancellation plan dominated the news this week while other interesting SCOTUS developments flew under the radar. Zack discusses the opinions you may have missed, while GianCarlo does a deep dive ...
02.23.2023 A Dubious Expediency The Court is back, and this week it heard oral arguments in two high-profile cases against Google and Twitter that will decide the extent of the protection they can claim when their users support terrorism. It also issued opinions in ...
02.16.2023 Rehearing: Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk In this Rehearings episode, we replay our interview with the Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk. Rehearings airs our favorite old interviews on weeks when things are otherwise quiet at the Supreme Court. Follow us on Twitter @scotus101 and @tzsmith. And please send ...
02.10.2023 Rehearing: Judge Douglas Ginsburg In the second of our Rehearings series, we replay our interview with the Judge Douglas Ginsburg. Rehearings airs our favorite old interviews on weeks when things are otherwise quiet at the Supreme Court. Follow us on Twitter @scotus101 and @tzsmith. ...
02.03.2023 Rehearing: Judge Marty Feldman In this first episode of our Rehearings series, we replay our interview with the late Judge Martin Feldman. Rehearings will re-air our favorite old interviews on weeks when we don't have a usual episode because the Supreme Court is not ...
01.27.2023 Originalism 101 Late last week, the Court issued a report about its investigation into the Dobbs leak. Your hosts discuss the report and share their thoughts about the Marshal's investigation. GianCarlo then gives a preview of some of the Court's new cases ...
01.13.2023 "Learned in the Law" The Court is back from its break, adding new cases to its docket, and hearing oral arguments. In this episode, GianCarlo previews the newly granted cases and explains the oral arguments in a rare professional ethics case, and Zack discusses ...
12.09.2022 Does A Cat Have a Tail? The Court heard oral arguments in two of the biggest cases of the term, 303 Creative v. Elenis and Moore v. Harper. Your hosts explain those cases and discuss the Court's decision to take up the case challenging President Biden's ...
12.02.2022 Texas Fights the Feds, Again This week your hosts go to lengths to explain why the apparently esoteric cases argued this week are, in fact, much more interesting than they sound. Meanwhile, Texas is back at the Court fighting the feds, something Texas S.G. Judd ...
11.11.2022 Agencies on Trial This week the Court heard arguments in two major cases involving challenges to executive-branch agencies, and another race case involving a federal statute that restricts adoption and foster placement for Native American Children. Your hosts discuss those arguments, and then ...
11.03.2022 Race, College, and the Constitution This week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases challenging the use of racial preferences in college admissions at Harvard and The University of North Carolina. Your hosts do a deep dive into those arguments, pulling out the ...
10.28.2022 Special Episode with Justice Alito It was another quiet week at the Court, but Justice Samuel Alito came to Heritage for our annual Joseph Story lecture. He sat down with John Malcolm and shared stories about his career and discussed topical issues like the leak ...
10.20.2022 Special Episode: An Interview with V.P. Mike Pence In this special episode, former Vice President Mike Pence joins your hosts to share some inside-baseball about the judicial selection and confirmation process. He also shares his thoughts about the role of the Court in our constitutional system, how Justice ...
10.14.2022 The Bacon Wars? It was a quiet week for orders, but a very exciting week for oral arguments. Your hosts discuss the copyright fight between the Andy Warhol Foundation and legendary rock-and-roll photographer Lynn Goldsmith, and the ideologically unpredictable Bacon Case, which might ...
10.07.2022 Justice Jackson's First Day The Justices are back in their marble palace, and their newest member has joined the fray of oral argument. Your hosts, Zack and GianCarlo, share the latest SCOTUS news, discuss new cases, and chat about Justice Jackson's oral argument style. ...
09.29.2022 We're Back! The Court is back next week, and the docket is already shaping up to be very exciting. This week we have a special preview of the upcoming term with former Solicitor General Paul Clement and former Acting Solicitor General Jeff ...
07.01.2022 The End of the Term We've reached the end of the term after a blockbuster month and an incredibly full week of orders and opinions. Your hosts wish farewell to Justice Breyer who is now officially retired and welcome Justice Ketanji Jackson. This week the ...
06.24.2022 Overruling Roe The Court continued to release opinions at a frenzied pace this week. While GianCarlo enjoys some well-deserved R&R;, the Meese Center's Director, John Malcolm, joins Zack to break down everything that's happening at the Court, including the release of an ...
06.16.2022 The SCOTUS Numbers Game The floodgates opened this week, and the Court gave us eleven opinions. Given time constraints, your hosts discuss a few of the most interesting ones, including two Indian Law cases and a big Chevron deference case that did not mention ...
06.09.2022 Protecting the Justices This week a man angry about the leaked Dobbs opinion showed up to Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home with a gun, a knife, burglary tools, and the intent to kill the Justice. Despite this, to the Justices' credit, they are working ...
05.19.2022 Cruzin' to Victory Despite some rumors that we might get the Dobbs opinion this week, we did not. We did, however, get opinions in an immigration case and in Senator Ted Cruz's challenge to an election rule that limited a candidate's ability to ...
05.15.2022 BONUS: Mark Paoletta on The Kevin Roberts Show Today on "SCOTUS 101," we are featuring the latest episode of "The Kevin Roberts Show" a sister podcast on the Heritage Podcast Network. Subscribe to The Kevin Roberts Show1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-kevin-roberts-show/id1609468507 The left is hell-bent on tearing down our institutions. Their ...
05.06.2022 The Dobbs Leak This week saw the biggest leak in Supreme Court history: a leaked opinion. And not just any opinion, but an early draft of a purported majority decision in the Dobbs case, which would, if issued, overrule Roe v. Wade and ...
04.29.2022 All Aboard the SCOTUS Express This was the final week of oral arguments of the term and also the final oral arguments for Justice Breyer. Your hosts discuss a kind tribute that the Chief Justice gave to his retiring colleague, new cert grants, and some ...
04.21.2022 How Fares Religious Liberty? We are entering the final stretch of the term, and from here on out, opinions are likely to come fast. This week sets the pace with six opinions on free speech, tax, habeas corpus, and other issues. Your hosts explain ...
04.01.2022 The Bacon Case While Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation process wends through the Senate, the Court is keeping up a fast pace of orders, arguments, and opinions. Your hosts discuss those, including one particularly exciting new case that GianCarlo has dubbed "The Bacon ...
03.25.2022 The Jackson Three The confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson filled the airwaves this week, but there were plenty of other Supreme Court goings on. Zack and GianCarlo give an overview of the hearings and then discuss this week's opinions. The Court ...
03.17.2022 Who is Ketanji Brown Jackson? In this special episode, your hosts moderate a three-way discussion all about Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination. But first, we have some news about the lawsuit challenging the Texas heartbeat law and one opinion in a criminal-law case that sounds ...
03.05.2022 Tinker Tailor Soldier Judge The show and the Court are back from their mid-winter hiatus, and we have a lot to catch up on! There is, of course, Justice Breyer's retirement and President Biden's nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace him, in ...
01.21.2022 Supreme Gossip This episode has a little bit of everything: orders, arguments, opinions, and SCOTUS gossip. Zack and GianCarlo discuss this week's noteworthy orders, including the Court's decision not to block the release of certain documents over which former president Trump claimed ...
01.14.2022 The Vaccine Mandate Cases The Court is back from its Winter recess, and so are your hosts. The Court heard arguments in six cases including the challenges to the OSHA and HHS vaccination mandates, and it issued opinions in those cases less than a ...
12.17.2021 A Surprise Episode! Last week your hosts said that you wouldn't hear from them until the new year, but the Supreme Court had different plans. The Justices handed down their decision in the Texas Heartbeat Bill case, declined to take up a Free ...
12.10.2021 "Vincere Aut Mori" In the last week before the Court's Christmas break, it heard oral arguments in several interesting cases concerning immigration courts, the fiduciary duties owed by retirement plans administrators, habeas corpus proceedings, and the big school choice case, Carson v. Makin. ...
12.03.2021 Will SCOTUS Overrule Roe v. Wade? Abortion is on the docket this week as the Court hears oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which asks the Court to overrule Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Dobbs filled this week's headlines, but ...
11.12.2021 Singing at SCOTUS This week at oral arguments, the Court heard cases about the scope of the state secrets privilege, whether a death-row inmate may have his spiritual advisor present at his execution, and the extent to which local governments can regulate billboards. ...
11.05.2021 Abortion, Guns, and Originalism It was a big week for oral arguments with two about the Texas' abortion law, SB 8, and another about New York's firearm restrictions. GianCarlo explains the issues in the SB 8 cases and answers the pressing question of what, ...
10.29.2021 Three Cheers for Thirty Years There were no oral arguments this week, but there were a few noteworthy orders and a great milestone: Justice Clarence Thomas's 30th year on the bench! Zack discusses the orders, which include an expedited briefing and oral argument schedule in ...
10.15.2021 COVID & The Constitution Two weeks into the term, the full Court is back on the bench and hearing oral arguments in their storied courtroom. Among the arguments this week was the death-penalty appeal of the Boston Marathon bomber. Your hosts discuss how in-person ...
10.01.2021 Previewing the New Term A new SCOTUS term is right around the corner! Your hosts, GianCarlo and Zack, are primed and ready to follow along with you this year. But before it begins, they've got a preview of this term's biggest cases delivered by ...
07.02.2021 That's a Wrap After an epic sprint to the finish, the Court has wrapped up the term. The justices handed down two of the term's biggest cases this week--the Arizona election-law case and the First Amendment challenge to California's nonprofit donor disclosure rules. ...

Older episodes

SCOTUS 101

What's SCOTUS 101 about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

SCOTUS 101 episodes:

Legal Thrillers

Judicial Sass

Savin' the Bacon?

Rehearing: Judge Raymond Randolph

Cases Made for the Movies

Rehearing: Judge Lawrence VanDyke

Supreme Crimes & State Constitutions

Judge Kyle Duncan Talks About Stanford

Rehearing: Judge Stephen Vaden

Rehearing: Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod

Student Loans and Major Questions

A Dubious Expediency

Rehearing: Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk

Rehearing: Judge Douglas Ginsburg

Rehearing: Judge Marty Feldman

Originalism 101

"Learned in the Law"

Does A Cat Have a Tail?

Texas Fights the Feds, Again

Agencies on Trial

Race, College, and the Constitution

Special Episode with Justice Alito

Special Episode: An Interview with V.P. Mike Pence

The Bacon Wars?

Justice Jackson's First Day

We're Back!

The End of the Term

Overruling Roe

The SCOTUS Numbers Game

Protecting the Justices

Cruzin' to Victory

BONUS: Mark Paoletta on The Kevin Roberts Show

The Dobbs Leak

All Aboard the SCOTUS Express

How Fares Religious Liberty?

The Bacon Case

The Jackson Three

Who is Ketanji Brown Jackson?

Tinker Tailor Soldier Judge

Supreme Gossip

The Vaccine Mandate Cases

A Surprise Episode!

"Vincere Aut Mori"

Will SCOTUS Overrule Roe v. Wade?

Singing at SCOTUS

Abortion, Guns, and Originalism

Three Cheers for Thirty Years

COVID & The Constitution

Previewing the New Term

That's a Wrap