Strict Scrutiny

First, Leah and Melissa explain the legal battles around the ICE occupation in Minnesota and what might come after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Then, Leah, Kate, and Melissa run through the latest legal news, including Jack Smith’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, before diving into this week’s blockbuster oral argument, Trump v. Cook, on whether Trump has the power to fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board. They also cover the week’s other oral arguments, including a Second Amendment case where Sam Alito came out as woke…for guns. Finally, with apologies to the Fifth Circuit, a new nominee for America’s worst circuit court. Preorder Melissa’s new book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader, out May 12, 2026. 

Favorite things:
Melissa: Valentino Was the Last of Fashion’s Old Guard, Robin Givhan (NYT); The Supreme Court Just Held an Anti-Trans Hatefest, Elie Mystal (The Nation)
Kate: The Purged, Franklin Foer (The Atlantic); There’s Much More at Stake in the Fed Case Than Interest Rates, Lev Menand (NYT); God of the Woods, Liz Moore; Broken Country, Clare Leslie Hall
Leah: Lindsey Halligan being a shitty lawyer; Mark Carney at the World Economic Forum;  Stand With Minnesota; Your Friendly Neighborhood Resistance, Kerry Howley (New York Magazine)

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Melissa, Leah, and Kate kick off by discussing the functional suspension of the Constitution in Minneapolis and Trump’s targeting of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Then they dissect the arguments in a pair of cases that came before the Court last week about whether state laws barring trans girls and women from their schools’ sports teams violate the Constitution or Title IX. Finally, they break down new opinions from SCOTUS involving criminal law, the Fourth Amendment, and mail-in ballots.

Favorite things:
Kate: You’ve heard about who ICE is recruiting. The truth is far worse. I’m the proof., Laura Jedeed (Slate); Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt; God of the Woods, Liz Moore; Ulysses at the Public Theater
Leah: They Were Ordinary Germans. We Are Ordinary Americans., Shalom Auslander (NYT); What to know about the Insurrection Act, Steve Vladeck & Allison Gill (One First); Can Trump Actually Use the Insurrection Act? Steve Vladeck and Jennifer Rubin (The Contrarian)
Melissa: Nuremberg; Ammel vs. Sinema; This guy

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3/6/26 – San Francisco
3/7/26 – Los Angeles
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Leah, Kate, and Melissa preview January’s major SCOTUS cases, including disputes over trans kids' participation in team sports, a concealed-carry ban in Hawaii, and Trump’s attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. The hosts are then joined by Georgetown Law Professor Marty Lederman to break down the administration’s flimsy legal case for the regime-change operation in Venezuela, as well as the Court’s shadow docket ruling on the federalization and deployment of the National Guard in Chicago. Finally, some news: the horrific murder of Renee Good in Minneapolis, the Court’s opinion in an important habeas case, and an unhinged tweet from Trump’s Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.

Favorite things:
Leah: Jan Crawford’s attack on SCOTUS “corruption” narrative was its own substantive-free narrative, Chris Geidner (Law Dork); The Year America Broke Open, Sherrilyn Ifill (Sherrilyn’s Newsletter); State v. Johnson (Wyoming Supreme Court); Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid and on HBO Max (Game Changers series); Rally for America's Workforce: PAWA to the People on  Wednesday, 1/14/26 at 12:00pm at Upper Senate Park in DC
Kate: Audition, Katie Kitamura; A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck, Sophie Elmhirst; The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, David Grann; The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, Robert Caro; FOTP Steve Vladeck’s Senate Judiciary Committee testimony
Melissa: The Heir Apparent, Rebecca Armitage; Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin; Ziwe’s interview with Vince Staples

 
Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2026! 
3/6/26 – San Francisco
3/7/26 – Los Angeles
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Buy Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes

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Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!
3/6/26 – San Francisco
3/7/26 – Los Angeles
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Leah kicks off the episode with repeat guest Rebecca Ingber of Cardozo Law to discuss the wild illegality–both domestic and international–of Trump’s regime change operation in Venezuela. Then, Kate, Melissa, and Leah welcome Princeton professor and expert on the rise of modern autocracies, Kim Lane Scheppele to break down how Trump is consolidating power over the executive branch and the courts. Leah next catches up with president and CEO of Democracy Forward Skye Perryman on some of the legal developments over the holidays, including challenges to Department of Education funding cuts, the freezing of childcare payments to Minnesota, and a near-total abortion ban for veterans. Finally, the hosts speak with Demand Justice's Josh Orton about the worrying trends his organization is seeing among Trump 2.0’s judicial nominees.
Kim’s favorite things: An “Almost Sacred Responsibility”: The Rule of Law in Times of Peril, Gerald J. Postema (Judicature); Judge Harvey Wilkinson’s opinion in Abrego Garcia v. Noem; Judge William G. Young’s opinion in AAUP vs. Rubio; Sara L. Ellis’s opinion in Chicago Headline Club v. Noem; The Dual State, Ernst Fraenkel; The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt 
Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2026! 
3/6/26 – San Francisco
3/7/26 – Los Angeles
Learn more: http://crooked.com/events

Buy Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes

Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!
3/6/26 – San Francisco
3/7/26 – Los Angeles
Learn more: http://crooked.com/events

Order your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes

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Alex digs into the destruction of due process and rule of law under the Trump administration. First, she hears from Judge Anam Petit, a recently fired immigration judge who explains how the legal system is being quietly dismantled to prioritize deportations. Then, Alex speaks to Andrew Weissmann, former lead prosecutor in Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office, about whether our system is forever changed, and what it’s like to be in President Trump’s crosshairs.
For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!
3/6/26 – San Francisco
3/7/26 – Los Angeles
Learn more: http://crooked.com/events

Order your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes

Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

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