Opening Arguments

OA1159 - We are so pleased to have Temple Law Professor Rachel López [https://law.temple.edu/contact/rachel-e-lopez/] on the show to discuss her work in shining light and digitally preserving court records [https://dpul.princeton.edu/guatemala_atrocity_sentences] related to the trials following the Guatemalan Civil War. Not only is the archiving of this material so important to those impacted by the government regime over the 30 year conflict, it also demonstrates early examples of transitional justice and what we might learn from it when applying it in the future to governments that commit human rights abuses. Listen in to hear the efforts she undertook to be sure these stories would not be forgotten. * Truth Commission Report [https://truthcommissions.humanities.mcmaster.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Guatemala-Report-of-the-Commission-for-Historical-Clarification.pdf] (February 1999) Check out the OA Linktree [https://linktr.ee/openingarguments] for all the places to go and things to do! This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse, or other harm on their hotline at (617) 249-4255, or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org [https://creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org].

OA1158 - We start off with some patron questions about what to do when ICE comes to your neighborhood, the one thing that the world’s most annoying white libertarians got right, and how to best exercise the very few rights US citizens have coming back into the country. Then in our main story: This week the Supreme Court heard arguments over birthright citizenship--or did it? Matt explains how they might do something even worse than expected while still striking down Trump’s attempt to end the  Constitutional right to citizenship for everyone born on US soil by executive order.  Finally, we polish off today’s episode with a meaty footnote about the lies and tyranny of a very different kind of would-be monarch. 1. Oral arguments in Trump v. CASA (5/15/25) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVDP_z0vzOI] 2. Trump v. CASA docket  [https://www.scotusblog.com/cases/case-files/trump-v-casa-inc/] 3. Western District of PA federal judge Stephanie Haines’s ruling upholding the application of the Alien Enemies Act to members of Tren de Aragua [http://gov.uscourts.pawd.318716.72.0_4.pdf] 4. “Sense of the community” memo dated 4/7/25 [https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/32f71f10c36cc482/d90251d5-full.pdf] finding that Tren de Aragua is not working with the Venezuelan government 5. Complaint in Coleman et al v. Burger King [https://www.classaction.org/media/coleman-et-al-v-burger-king-corporation.pdf]

After some Thomas-Lydia nonsense and updates, Heather gives us the answer to question 68, a fiendishly difficult real property one. Did you get the right answer? Then we get a new question 69! If you'd like to play along with T3BE, here's what to do: hop on Bluesky, follow Openargs [https://bsky.app/profile/openargs.bsky.social], find the post that has this episode, and quote it with your answer! Or, go to our Subreddit [https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenArgs/] and look for the appropriate T3BE posting. Or best of all, become a patron at patreon.com/law [https://patreon.com/law] and play there! To support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at https://patreon.com/lawpatreon.com/law [http://patreon.com/law]! Check out the OA Linktree [https://linktr.ee/openingarguments] for all the places to go and things to do! This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse, or other harm on their hotline at (617) 249-4255, or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org [https://creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org].

OA1157 - Leah Litman is a co-host of Crooked Media’s Strict Scrutiny podcast and professor at University of Michigan Law School, and most recently the author of Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes. We are pleased to welcome Professor Litman to discuss everything from what it’s like to teach American Constitutional law 2025 to what the Supreme Court has in common with the Bluth family. * Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes [https://www.amazon.com/Lawless-Supreme-Conservative-Grievance-Theories/dp/1668054620], Leah Litman (2025) Check out the OA Linktree [https://linktr.ee/openingarguments] for all the places to go and things to do! To support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at https://patreon.com/lawpatreon.com/law [http://patreon.com/law]! This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse, or other harm on their hotline at (617) 249-4255, or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org [https://creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org].

For this Rapid Response Friday, we answer patron questions on everything from how to examine a  warrant to why Donald Trump will never be sending anyone to Alcatraz. We also consider just how bad the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the administration’s ban on trans military service members actually is, how the single biggest financial corruption scandal in Presidential history is happening right now right in front of us, and why the forced departure of the acting DC U.S. Attorney is some of the best news this country has had since January 20, 2025. Also: a surreal Black Mirror-style  footnote about the first time a U.S. courtroom has ever heard a victim’s statement in a video made years after his death. * Sample judicial warrant [https://www.vmcdn.ca/f/files/biv/sharp-warrant.png;w=960] * Sample ICE administrative warrant [https://www.ilrc.org/sites/default/files/resources/i-200_and_i-205_sample_annotated.pdf] * Trump’s Crypto Conflict of Interest [https://statedemocracydefenders.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/trumps-crypto-conflicts-of-interest-042325.pdf?ftag=MSF0951a18], Democracy Defenders Fund (4/23/25) * Supreme Court’s order in U.S. v. Shilling [https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/050625zr_6j37.pdf] (5/8/25) * Project 65’s bar complaint against Acting U.S. Attorney Ed Martin [http://martin-edward-mo-public.pdf] * “The Ed Martin Show,” Jeanette Cooperman, St. Louis Magazine [https://www.stlmag.com/uncategorized/the-ed-martin-show/] (4/26/2011) Check out the OA Linktree [https://linktr.ee/openingarguments] for all the places to go and things to do! To support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at https://patreon.com/lawpatreon.com/law [http://patreon.com/law]! This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse, or other harm on their hotline at (617) 249-4255, or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org [http://creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org/].