Alex Abdo (Knight First Amendment Institute) says the Fourth Amendment can't adequately protect essential freedoms imperiled by modern government surveillance, and explains why SCOTUS should adopt a First Amendment framework in surveillance cases like 'Carpenter v. U.S.' Plus, David Luban (Georgetown Law; Just Security) describes how a Guantanamo Bay prosecution saw the (brief) detention of a Marine general lawyer after the general raised ethics concerns.

Under Article III Congress may 'ordain and establish' lower federal courts , but can it direct them to 'promptly dismiss' certain pending cases? As SCOTUS considers the question, Ben Feuer (Cal. App. Law Group) says its answer might skew the balance of federal power and lead to a more politicized judicial process. Also, Mitchell Keiter (Keiter Appellate Law) argues that SCOTUS should reverse the 9th Circuit in 'NIFLA v. Becerra,' a free speech and abortion case granted cert Monday

In 'Hernandez v. Restoration Hardware,' argued Tuesday, Ryan Wu (Capstone Law APC) says the California Supreme Court has a chance to deter bad faith objectors from hijacking class action resolutions, but the court must untangle a knot of conflicting precedent bearing on unnamed class members' rights on appeal.

72: Honest Ads Act: Honestly Overbroad? by

71: Honestly Overbroad? by

Various historical drivers created our near-absolute free speech protections; will contemporary forces - fake news, terrorism, hateful rhetoric - weaken them? UC Hastings' Zachary Price discusses doctrinal weak points these phenomena could threaten

Loyola Law School professor Justin Levitt unpacks this week's SCOTUS arguments on political gerrymandering, and UC Davis School of Law Dean Kevin Johnson offers insights on the case considering constitutional rights of detained non-citizens

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Ryan Bounds’ colleague and chair of the 9th Circuit Appellate Lawyer Representatives, James Azadian, discusses the nominee’s credentials, qualities, and impending confirmation gauntlet; plus, Peter Henning (Wayne State Law) discusses how insider trading prosecutions just became appreciably easier, and Eric Segall (Georgia State Law) offers a temperate take on the exchange between Dianne Feinstein and Seventh Circuit nominee Amy Coney Barrett

Original airdate: September 15, 2017

Many agree that public safety, more than a defendant's wealth, should determine his access to pre-trial release; but after a computer-generated public safety assessment recommended release for a San Francisco defendant who has subsequently been arrested for murder, debate over the role algorithms should play in determining risk has raged. San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi and Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Eric Siddall discuss.

Original airdate: September 8, 2017