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Strict Scrutiny

Crooked Media

Strict Scrutiny is a podcast about the United States Supreme Court and the legal culture that surrounds it. Hosted by three badass constitutional law professors-- Leah Litman, Kate Shaw, and Melissa Murray-- Strict Scrutiny provides in-depth, accessible, and irreverent analysis of the Supreme Court and its cases, culture, and personalities. Each week, Leah, Kate, and Melissa break down the latest headlines and biggest legal questions facing our country, emphasizing what it all means for our daily lives. Whether you’re a lawyer or law student, or you’re just here for the messy legal drama, Strict Scrutiny has you covered. New episodes out every Monday… plus bonuses whenever SCOTUS takes away another one of our rights.

Location:

United States

Networks:

Crooked Media

Description:

Strict Scrutiny is a podcast about the United States Supreme Court and the legal culture that surrounds it. Hosted by three badass constitutional law professors-- Leah Litman, Kate Shaw, and Melissa Murray-- Strict Scrutiny provides in-depth, accessible, and irreverent analysis of the Supreme Court and its cases, culture, and personalities. Each week, Leah, Kate, and Melissa break down the latest headlines and biggest legal questions facing our country, emphasizing what it all means for our daily lives. Whether you’re a lawyer or law student, or you’re just here for the messy legal drama, Strict Scrutiny has you covered. New episodes out every Monday… plus bonuses whenever SCOTUS takes away another one of our rights.

Language:

English


Episodes

Will the Government (as we know it) Still Be Constitutional?

9/25/2023
Do you feel that chill in the air? It’s almost the first Monday of October and that means a new SCOTUS term! You may still be recovering from the last one (don’t worry, we are too) but Melissa, Kate and Leah talk about some themes that we can expect this term like the crazy cases coming out of the Fifth Circuit and whether government (as we know it) is constitutional. They also go through the justices’ latest questionable, and in some cases egregious (Justice Thomas, we’re looking at you) ethical lapses. So pour yourself a Ginni Tonic or Hot Ginni Toddy now that it’s fall, and settle in for this week’s live show from the Texas Tribune Festival. Cases we’re watching: -Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America, Limited -Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo -Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy -Acheson Hotels, LLC v. Laufer -Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P. -Pulsifer v. United States -United States v. Rahimi

Duration:00:52:45

Lights, Camera, SCOTUS!

9/18/2023
On September 22, Showtime and Paramount+ will release the first episode of Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court. And if you tune in, you might recognize a few faces and voices. Documentarian Dawn Porter joins Kate, Melissa, and Leah to talk about how the series came to be, and what she learned about the Supreme Court's evolution in the process.

Duration:00:56:25

KBJ's Rookie Year

9/11/2023
Being a Supreme Court podcast means we spend much of the year in dystopia. So just this once, let's look at the silver lining that is Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Amir Ali, executive director of the MacArthur Justice Center, joins Melissa, Kate, and Leah to look back on Justice Jackson's first year on the Supreme Court. historic nominationhellacious confirmation hearings

Duration:01:05:32

After Affirmative Action

9/4/2023
Juvaria Khan, founder of The Appellate Project, joins Melissa, Kate, and Leah to catch up on the fallout of the Supreme Court's affirmative action decision in June. Then, Melissa talks with Justice Goodwin Liu of Supreme Court of California and Mary Hoopes of Pepperdine's Caruso School of Law about their research on how judges consider diversity when hiring clerks.

Duration:00:46:24

Can These Courts Be Reformed?

8/28/2023
Melissa, Leah, and Kate invite two guests to zoom out and analyze how the current Supreme Court got to be the way that it is... and what progressives are doing to push back. Michael Waldman, author of The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America, provides historical context for other times the Supreme Court has challenged the country. And Brian Fallon, co-founder of Demand Justice, reflects on his tenure as Executive Director as the group challenged Democrats to get on board with judicial reform. The Supermajoritycurrent campaigns

Duration:01:14:29

The Aesthetic Enjoyment of Other People’s Uteruses

8/21/2023
Easha Anand of Stanford's Supreme Court Litigation Clinic joins Kate, Melissa, and Leah to lay out what SCOTUS has been up to in the world of criminal law. But first, Kate and Leah analyze the Fifth Circuit's opinion in the mifepristone case, and what it means for people seeking abortions across the country. What's next in a post-Roe worldThe Turnaway StudyMifepristone, Mega Yachts, and MaskgateWhat's next for mifepristone?

Duration:01:28:35

The Rise and Fall of the Voting Rights Act

8/14/2023
It's been 10 years since the Supreme Court started to dismantle the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder. Ari Berman, author of Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America, joins Leah and Kate to track the passage of the Voting Rights Act, the challenges against it over the decades, and the fallout from Shelby County and other voting rights cases. Give Us the Ballot

Duration:01:06:13

The Dobbs Decision Hasn't Aged Well

8/7/2023
It's been over a year since the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The majority opinion, concurrences, and joint dissent all made a lot of predictions about life without Roe-- but how accurate were they? Leah, Kate, and Melissa assemble a star-studded cast to do dramatic readings of the opinions and reflect on how they've panned out. Featuring Jon Lovett as Sam Alito, Elie Mystal as Clarence Thomas, Jon Favreau as Brett Kavanaugh, and the hosts of Betches Sup (Amanda Duberman, Alise Morales, and Milly Tamarez) as the joint dissenters. DobbsRoe is dead. Now what?

Duration:01:38:33

Trump Indicted Again Again

8/1/2023
Former President Donald Trump has been indicted for a third time-- this time in a Washington, DC, case about attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Kate, Melissa, and Leah huddle to break down the charges, the people involved, and what happens next.

Duration:00:36:40

America's First Civil Rights Movement

7/31/2023
First things first, Melissa and Leah break down Sam Alito's latest airing of grievances in the Wall Street Journal. Then, Kate joins them for a lesson in actual history from an actual historian. Kate Masur, author of Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction, joins the trio for a conversation about her Pulitzer Prize-nominated book.

Duration:01:16:02

BONUS: #WITHpod & Strict Scrutiny Crossover

7/26/2023
Leah, Kate, and Melissa join MSNBC's Chris Hayes (aka Mr. Kate Shaw) to fully process the drama of the last Supreme Court term. It's our second annual crossover with Why Is This Happening?! Another year, another pretty consequential Supreme Court term. SCOTUS recently ended its term with a number of big decisions including striking down affirmative action and issuing opinions in the 303 Creative case, in which the majority created a “constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class,” as noted in Justice Sotomayor’s dissent. It also invalidated the Biden administration’s student debt relief program. Meanwhile, there’s increasing concern about recent allegations of ethical improprieties of SCOTUS justices, like the luxury fishing trip, reported by ProPublica, that Justice Alito took back in 2008 with GOP billionaire Paul Singer, who later had at least 10 cases before the high court. There’s a lot to unpack and we’re excited to share our second crossover episode with the hosts of the Strict Scrutiny podcast, Chris’ wife Kate Shaw, and her co-hosts Melissa Murray and Leah Litman. They join to discuss some of the most egregious actions from the super conservative majority of the Court, what’s at stake for American democracy and cases to look out for in the next term.

Duration:01:06:18

Shining Light on the Shadow Docket

7/24/2023
Leah, Kate, and Melissa talk to Steve Vladeck about his new book, The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic. From abortion bans to immigration restrictions, COVID orders and death penalty cases, the Supreme Court has taken to changing the law in quiet. The Shadow Docket

Duration:00:57:16

Clarence Thomas's America

7/17/2023
Joel Anderson, host of Slow Burn: Becoming Justice Thomas, joins Melissa and Kate to analyze the justice's trajectory from his childhood in Georgia to his contentious confirmation hearings. Plus, Joel spills behind-the-scenes tea about reporting the series-- including how he found himself in the living room of Justice Thomas's mother.

Duration:00:59:29

How the Federalist Society Took Over

7/10/2023
We're kicking off the Strict Scrutiny Summer Reading List with a wild ride through the history of the Federalist Society. Amanda Hollis-Brusky, author of Ideas with Consequences: The Federalist Society and the Conservative Counterrevolution and Separate But Faithful: The Christian Right's Radical Struggle to Transform Law & Legal Culture, joins Melissa and Leah to guide the journey. Ideas with ConsequencesSeparate But Faithful

Duration:00:46:47

What else can the Supreme Court get away with?

7/3/2023
Melissa, Leah, and Kate recap the last Supreme Court term, as the justices speed off on their summer vacations (in a luxury yacht? on a private jet? in an RV in Walmart parking lot? Who's to say!). They highlight recurring themes throughout the justices' opinions, relive some of the best moments in oral arguments, recap the Court's scandals, and preview the cases that scare them next term.US term. this episodeJarkesySEC

Duration:01:02:15

Student Debt Relief Bad, Bigotry Good

6/30/2023
The Supreme Court ended its term today with a double whammy, issuing opinions in the 303 Creative case and the student debt relief cases. In the former, the majority creates "a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class." And in the latter, the majority invalidate's the Biden administration's student debt relief program because, well, they had feelings about it. 303 CreativeHow the 303 Creative case threatens to roll back the 21st centuryAscertaining the Majorness of Student Debt Relief

Duration:00:49:48

The End of Affirmative Action

6/29/2023
Today the Supreme Court delivered its opinion in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, declaring admissions programs that consider race to be in violation of the 14th Amendment. Melissa, Kate, and Leah break down the Chief Justice's opinion, Justice Thomas's galling concurrence, and the brilliant dissents by Justice Jackson and Justice Sotomayor. Affirmative Action Reaction

Duration:01:02:35

Is ISL dead? IDK.

6/27/2023
The Supreme Court handed down its decision in Moore v. Harper today, saying that state legislatures can’t actually make up whatever rules they want around federal elections, without oversight from anyone. But is this a victory for our democracy, or should we still be freaked out? Kate, Leah, and Melissa break down the opinion and the questions it leaves open. We'll be around all week pushing out emergency episodes as the Supreme Court continues to do... whatever it does. Be sure to subscribe in your podcast app of choice so you don't miss it! Listen to our previous episodes on the independent state legislature theory/fan fiction/thingamajig: "Debunking the Independent State Legislature Fantasy" with Carolyn Shapiro and Jamelle Bouie, and "Turning Fan Fiction Into Reality." Follow @CrookedMedia on Instagram and Twitter for more original content, host takeovers and other community events.

Duration:00:54:12

A Fear of Too Much Justice

6/26/2023
Leah and Kate delve in to the latest chapter of Supreme Court justices going on secret fancy vacations with billionaires, this time starring Samuel Alito. And then it's opinion-palooza, recapping the opinions we got last week while we wait with bated breath for the horrors the last week of the term will bring. Follow @CrookedMedia on Instagram and Twitter for more original content, host takeovers and other community events.

Duration:01:08:48

BONUS: This Land on the Indian Child Welfare Act

6/24/2023
Last week the Supreme Court made an historic ruling upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act. Rebecca Nagle, host of Crooked Media’s This Land podcast, takes us inside the courtroom in this special bonus episode to break down the decision, how we got here, and what it all means.

Duration:00:44:02