Law and Chaos

DOCKET ALERTS: The president is promising to send out $5,000 checks to every American if Republicans win the midterms. The Fourth Circuit became the ninth appellate court to find that the Trump administration's mandatory detention policy for all immigrants without legal status is patently illegal. The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to let it install US Attorneys without Senate confirmation. Time to bring back Alina Habba and Lindsey Halligan! Andrew and Tristan Tate's motion for bail pending their extradition to the UK was denied by a federal magistrate in Miami. Hasbro is the latest company to tell the White House to quit using its IP in racist AI slop memes — this time the government is molesting Optimus Prime! DOOFUS OF THE DAY: James Piereson has an editorial in the Wall Street Journal wondering if adding new Supreme Court justices is illegal. It's not, and neither is saying absolute drivel in public. MAIN SHOW: We're all waiting for SCOTUS to say whether they're planning to let Trump burn down the midterms and refuse to deliver mail-in ballots. In the meanwhile, the US Supreme Court teamed up with the Missouri state Supreme Court to prevent a harebrained scheme by Missouri's Republican Secretary of State, Denny Hoskins, to cram down an even-more-gerrymandered congressional map that would give Republicans an extra seat in the House of Representatives. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the new map needs to be approved by the voters before it can take effect, and held Hoskins in contempt for refusing to abide by their September 3 injunction. And the US Supreme Court put the kibosh on a crazy TRO issued by a rogue Trump appointee purporting to require Missouri to use the Trump map. So it looks like Missourians are going to head back to the polls in November under the existing 2022 maps. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has a plan to hack the 2030 Census. And that plan is RACISM. SUBSCRIBER BONUS: We break down Law & Chaos's DOOFUS OF THE DAY, James Piereson, a non-lawyer who has the legal opinion that expanding the Supreme Court is unconstitutional, even though it definitely isn't. Lopez Garcia v. Guadian [Fourth Circuit, mandatory detention] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72052515/oscar-lopez-garcia-v-robert-guadian/ Petition for Cert In US Attorneys Case https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/26/26-304/423324/20260908124848584_Jackson%20Petition.pdf US v. Tate https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73656030/united-states-v-tate/ People Not Politicians v. Hoskins [MO Supreme Court] https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=239229 James Piereson, "Is Court Packing Constitutional? Don't Be So Sure," Wall Street Journal, Sep. 7, 2026 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/is-court-packing-constitutional-dont-be-so-sure-0e602345 Mail-In Ballots at SCOTUS https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/DocketFiles/html/Public/26A305.html Proposed Census Rule Change https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/10/2026-18481/decennial-census-of-the-population-of-americans-proposed-residence-criteria-and-proposed-regulations Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

DOCKET ALERTS: The fight over Trump's attempt to seize control of state mail-in ballots is headed for the Supreme Court. After a hearing before Judge Indira Talwani, the government didn't wait for a ruling — and it didn't wait for the First Circuit to weigh in either. It immediately demanded that the justices step in. Justice Jackson, who sits over the First Circuit, did not issue an admin stay. She's asked for the states' response by Tuesday. According to ProPublica, ICE Agent Christian Castro has been federally charged with making false statements after shooting Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minnesota in January. Castro was previously charged by state prosecutors with assault, but Texas Gov. Greg Abbott refused to extradite him to Minnesota. DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Maria Bartiromo has been fired from Fox Business. Apparently she did something worse than losing the network $787 million in a defamation suit. MAIN SHOW: Andrew talks midterms with Joe Dye. League of Women Voters v. Trump [Mail-In Ballots] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73133197/league-of-women-voters-of-massachusetts-v-trump/ Emergency SCOTUS Petiton re Mail-In Ballots https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/26/26A297/422948/20260903154027877_USPS%20Final%20Rule%20Stay%20and%20Appx.pdf Trump's DOJ Blocked Serious ICE Shooting Charge Over Federal Prosecutor's "Strongest Possible" Objections https://www.propublica.org/article/doj-blocks-charges-ice-agent-minneapolis-julio-cesar-sosa-celis Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

DOCKET ALERTS: Washington Post opinion writer Karen Attiah, who was fired for her remarks after the death of Charlie Kirk, has been reinstated to her job after winning in arbitration. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook responded to Trump's latest effort to fire her by pointing out that multiple members of Trump's own cabinet made the same paperwork error she did on a mortgage application, and no one is accusing them of fraud. Judge David Hittner, an 87-year-old Reagan appointee, struck down Texas's drag ban, finding that it would necessarily criminalize a lot of performances that are not obscene … including ones by Dolly Parton. DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Mike Lindell, the crackpot pillow pumper, lost his bid to be the Republican gubernatorial candidate in his home state of Minnesota. And he missed the deadline to pay for a recount. But he's not letting that stop him! He's suing everyone in sight demanding they surrender proof that the entire thing was rigged. MAIN SHOW: Florida Republicans are embroiled in a massive corruption scandal involving $10 million in taxpayer dollars for children's prescriptions, laundered through First Lady Casey Desantis's charity, and used for partisan political purposes, including defeating a marijuana legalization referendum. CBS in Miami got the grand jury report. Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Jr. rebuffed Minnesota's motion to force Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to extradite ICE agent Christian Castro. Castro shot a man in Minneapolis and then lied about it, including filing a false police report. He was indicted in Minnesota, but Texas refuses to sign an extradition warrant, and now Castro has been released from jail. Judge Cooper held a hearing today on the future of the Kennedy Center, after the board voted again to chisel Trump's name into the marble on the front of the place. Judge Indira Talwani ordered the state plaintiffs to file an amended complaint in their effort to block the Trump administration seizing control of mail-in voting pursuant to Trump's executive order. Last week, the Supreme Court's conservatives blocked Judge Talwani's prior injunction on the theory that the states hadn't yet been harmed when they filed their original complaint. SUBSCRIBER BONUS: Update on Tuesday's hearing in our FOIA suit to get the evidence in the DOJ's ethics complaint against Judge Boasberg. The Washington Post Fired Me. I Fought—and Won My Job Back. https://karenattiah.substack.com/p/the-washington-post-fired-me-i-foughtand Extragrams LLC v. Paxton [TX drag ban] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67660604/extragrams-llc-v-paxton Walz v. Abbott [S.D. Tex. extradition case; docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74662182/walz-v-abbott/ Trump v. California [Supreme Court order re: voter lists EO] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/26a124_hgci.pdf League of Women Voters v. Trump [D. Mass. voter list case before Judge Talwani; docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73133197/league-of-women-voters-of-massachusetts-v-trump/ Grand jury finds DeSantis administration "misappropriated" $10 million in taxpayer money to Hope Florida https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/grand-jury-report-hope-florida/ Res Ipsa Media LLC v. DOJ https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71236135/res-ipsa-media-llc-v-department-of-justice/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

DOCKET ALERTS: US Attorney Jeanine Pirro wants to leave the door open to re-charging David Hearn for damaging the reflecting pool, although she concedes that literally everything she said in her original indictment was a lie. Pirro is also doing her darnedest to keep a lady locked up for the high crime of spraypainting. Judge Reed O'Connor is trying for a third time to allow manufacturers to sell ghost guns, no matter what the Supreme Court says. We're still waiting on the Supreme Court to say whether Trump can keep building his ballroom, or will have to cease above-ground construction as lower courts have ruled. MAIN SHOW: FCC Chair Brendan Carr is trying to burn down ABC for crimes of woke. But after he demanded that the ten local affiliates owned by the network renew their licenses early — likely a prelude to putting them out of business — ABC's parent company Disney swung into action. They sued the agency for retaliation in violation of the First Amendment. The DOJ's "8647" indictment of James Comey is circling the drain. The government filed its responses to various motions today, and they are … creative! They quote at length from Comey's novel and his appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In January, ICE agent Christian Castro shot Minnesota man Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis and then filed a false report claiming that Sosa-Celis attacked him with a snow shovel. The charges against Sosa-Celis were quickly dropped, and in May state officials charged Castro with second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime and court issued a warrant for his arrest. By then, Castro was in Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott — the Law and Chaos DOOFUS OF THE DAY — has refused to extradite him to Minnesota as mandated by the Constitution's Extradition Clause. And so now Minnesota has sued Texas in federal court. US v. Hearn Reply In Support of Motion to Dismiss Without Prejudice [via Marcy Wheeler] https://legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/28565563-260818-hearn-dismiss-reply US v. Farris [spraypaint lady] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74650269/united-states-v-farris/ Vanderstok v. Blanche [ghost guns] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/64886994/vanderstok-v-garland National Park Service v. National Trust for Historic Preservation [SCOTUS Docket] https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26a203.html ABC v. FCC https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74661956/american-broadcasting-companies-inc-v-federal-communications-commission/ US v. Comey [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73256624/united-states-v-comey/?order_by=desc Walz v. Abbott https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74662182/walz-v-abbott/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

DOCKET ALERTS: The Kennedy Center board of trustees is back on its BS. After being ordered to take Trump's name off the side of the building, they've now voted again to put it back on. They also voted to close the facility for two years. Rep. Joyce Beatty, who brought the lawsuit that forced them to back off the first time, vows to fight on. Meanwhile musician Chuck Redd was just awarded $252,000 in attorneys fees after the Center sued him for breaching a contract he never signed. Judge Roy Altman is Aileen Cannon-balling it up in Trump's trollsuit against the BBC. This week he allowed Trump to amend his complaint yet again for "good cause." What good cause could there be to sue a company which never broadcast the supposedly defamatory documentary in the US? MAIN SHOW: The Washington Post reports that Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney for DC, has empaneled a special grand jury. Corruption incoming! The DOJ has amended the indictment of the SPLC again. This time they've added a former employee who ran its Intelligence Project and managed its paid informants. The case is no less preposterous with an extra defendant and a couple more charges. The Ninth Circuit issued a hugely consequential ruling on Section 230 immunity for websites, and Liz and Andrew do not agree at all about it. SUBSCRIBER BONUS: Judge Richard Stearns in Massachusetts swatted down the DOJ's effort to shout "antisemitism" and steal $950 million from Harvard. Trump v. BBC https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72040010/trump-v-british-broadcasting-corporation/ Pirro, in rare move, convenes special grand jury in Washington https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/08/12/pirro-convenes-unusual-grand-jury-dc-that-can-focus-single-case-issue-report/ US v. Southern Poverty Law Center https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73223865/united-states-v-southern-poverty-law-center-inc/ Colorado v. Meta [9th Circuit opinion] https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2026/08/10/24-7265.pdf US v. Harvard https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72520538/united-states-v-president-and-fellows-of-harvard-college/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

DOCKET ALERTS: Todd Blanche advanced out of the Judiciary Committee and faces a vote by the full Senate on whether to confirm him as Attorney General. Will Republicans defy—JK,LOL. Journalist Katie Phang's lawsuit against Blanche for failing to disclose all documents required under the Epstein Files Transparency Act hit a snag when the government just plum forgot to file an answer to her complaint. The DOJ also failed to provide unredacted documents to Judge Emmet Sullivan for review in chambers. Judge Sullivan ordered Blanche to personally appear in court on August. 13. DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Third Circuit Judge Jennifer Mascott, who spent the first six months of her judicial tenure moonlighting as the head of a PR firm which solicited MAGA clients. MAIN SHOW: Trump's multitudinous trollsuits do much better in front of his own appointees than in front of normal judges. Judge Roy Altman has utterly beclowned himself in Trump's lawsuits against Capital One and the BBC. But his cases against the Wall Street Journal, JP Morgan, and the New York Times faced a much cooler reception. Charges against the Broadview 6 for "conspiracy" to protest were dropped months ago. But the case goes on, as the former defendants ask Judge April Perry to appoint a special counsel to investigate and potentially prosecute the US Attorneys Office in Chicago for contempt of Court. Prosecutors counter that any investigation can be handled by the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility, which has been conveniently neutered under Trump. And we're back on our Buc-ee's BS — can't get enough of those beaver nuggets! Has the convenience-store-on-steroids chain gone too far with its lawsuits against every animal mascot on earth? One plucky teddy bear is fighting back. SUBSCRIBER BONUS: Can John Oliver sell parody Buc-ee's merch? We consult a talking squirrel and the greatest amicus brief of all time! LINKS: Phang v. Blanche https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73246595/phang-v-blanche/ US v. Rabbitt [Broadview 6] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71795281/united-states-v-rabbitt At Trump's DOJ, watchdogs gutted as misconduct complaints soar https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/trumps-doj-watchdogs-gutted-misconduct-complaints-soar-2026-08-06/ 'Is she even allowed to be doing this?': Inside a federal judge's side gig running a PR firm https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/06/jennifer-mascott-federal-judge-adfero-pr-firm-01025871 Buc-ee's v. Teddy's Market [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73290962/buc-ees-ltd-v-teddys-market-llc/ THE GREATEST AMICUS BRIEF OF ALL TIME https://www.acluwv.org/app/uploads/2017/08/2017-08-17-Amended-Amicus-28File-Stamped29.pdf Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

It's our semiquincentennial! And we're celebrating with a long-form interview with Zach Everson, research director of the Trump Accountability Project. Zach joins us to discuss how cryptocurrency powered Donald Trump's massively successful grift of billions of dollars, and what we can do about it. Along the way, we also discuss the proposed CLARITY ACT, and how the fake ethics provisions added by Republicans were so bad that the bill itself is likely to die on the vine. Thank you for being with us for 250 episodes! CLARITY ACT- HR 3633 https://www.lummis.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Clarity-Act.pdf Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

DOCKET ALERTS: After SecDef Hegseth ordered testosterone testing for all troops over 30 and offered hormone replacement therapy to all, Judge Ana Reyes ordered the government to explain how this is different from the healthcare for trans men which they just banned. On Tuesday, a judge in Florida ordered Trump to turn over his financial records to the BBC in his defamation trollsuit. Turns out, when you say you've been damaged to the tune of a $10 billion, they make you show your work! Every House Democrat signed a discharge petition to force a floor vote on Rep. Jamie Raskin's No Corrupt Agreements Requiring Taxpayer Expenditures Benefitting Lawbreakers and Assorted Non-Prosecution Covenants, Handouts, and Emoluments Act, AKA the NO CARTE BLANCHE Act. MAIN SHOW: After his first two attempts to steal Congress's tariff power were blocked in the courts, Trump has now reached back 90 years for the next tool. Sure the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act massively deepened and extended the Great Depression. But Trump is really mad at Canada, so maybe this time it won't massively backfire? Meanwhile, the US Trade Representative announced a new wave of tariffs on 86 countries — putatively to retaliate against countries that sell or import goods created using child labor. Inflation is fun! Nintendo is being sued by customers who bought Switch devices during the first round of illegal tariffs. They figure if the company is getting a refund from the government, they ought to get a refund from the company. The FBI subpoenaed five New York Times journalists over reporting on the president's Qatari bribe jet. Claiming a national security emergency, the DOJ seized their phone records and demanded that they testify before a grand jury. This required prosecutors to disregard binding Second Circuit precedent and the DOJ's own published regulations — but Acting AG Todd Blanche said it was cool. At a hearing on Thursday over the motion to quash, Judge Arun Subramanian told the government to withdraw the subpoenas or he'd quash them. Eventually the DOJ agreed to withdraw, but now the court wants to know how the Justice Department came to tell so many whoppers to him, the magistrate, and opposing counsel. Talbott v. Trump [Trans service members] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69583866/talbott-v-trump Judge says Trump must hand over financial records to BBC https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/21/trum-bbc-lawsuit-finances Trump v. BBC https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72040010/trump-v-british-broadcasting-corporation/ Raskin HR 7007 [No CARTE BLANCHE Act] https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/hr7007_ans.pdf Ambassador Greer Issues Statement on President Trump Imposing Section 338 Tariffs on Canada https://ustr.gov/about/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2026/july/ambassador-greer-issues-statement-president-trump-imposing-section-338-tariffs-canada Hoffert v. Nintendo [seeking consumer recovery of tariff refunds; docket via CourtListener] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wawd.361585/ Nintendo v. USA [seeking corporate IEEPA tariff refund; docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72373888/nintendo-of-america-inc-v-united-states-of-america/ CIT Rule 25-02 https://www.cit.uscourts.gov/sites/cit/files/Administrative%20Order%2025-02.pdf CIT Rule 26-01 (July 13, 2026) https://www.cit.uscourts.gov/sites/cit/files/Administrative%20Order%2026-01.pdf In re Grand Jury Subpoenas Dated July 10, 2026 https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73641399/in-re-grand-jury-subpoenas-dated-july-10-2026/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

DOCKET ALERTS: This week, the Senate confirmed Jeffrey Kuntz as a judge in the Southern District of Florida, making him the second former Florida state jurist who did Trump a solid in his trollsuit against the Pulitzer Prize Board and got himself promoted to the federal bench. Also this week, the Senate confirmed Matthew Schwartz to the Second Circuit, making him the third of Trump's personal lawyers to be made appellate judges. This is fine! The Trump administration sued Maryland to stop it providing in-state tuition to undocumented students. Trump's media company plans to sell early access to his posts to high-frequency traders. DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Trump's teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez got caught betting on what his boss might say on Kalshi. He's negotiating a settlement with the CFTC, but is apparently still employed at the White House. MAIN SHOW: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Any Republican defection will tank his nomination to be permanent AG. He got raked over the coals and forced to sit down with the Epstein survivors, but will probably make it through. The beloved service station Buc-ee's is suing everyone and their mother for trademark infringement. But the Buc-ee Beaver may have bitten off more than he can chew picking a fight with Mickey the Moose. SUBSCRIBER BONUS: In December, X/Twitter rolled out new image generation capabilities for its AI Grok, after which users created an avalanche of non-consensual intimate images. The site is facing a class action by minor victims. But it hopes to avoid liability by seeking a ruling from a friendly judge in Texas that the blame lies with the users who generated the images, not the site itself. US v. Maryland [In-state tuition] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73629368/united-states-v-state-of-maryland/ White House teleprompter operator made more than $100K betting on Trump's speeches: Sources https://abcnews.com/US/white-house-teleprompter-operator-made-100k-betting-trumps/story?id=134764573 Trump Media to Sell Faster Access to President's Social Posts https://www.wsj.com/tech/trump-media-to-sell-faster-access-to-presidents-social-posts-7a7054e8 xAI LLC v. Harwood https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73616819/xai-llc-v-harwood/ Doe v. XAI Corp https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72495765/doe-1-v-xai-corp/ Buc-ee's is on a Rampage and No Mascot is Safe, Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/buc-ees-is-on-a-rampage-and-no-mascot-is-safe-80b7f03d Buc-ee's, Ltd. v. Coles IP Holdings, LLC [2026 docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72296862/buc-ees-ltd-v-coles-ip-holdings-llc/ Buc-ee's, Ltd. v. Panjwani [2015 docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72296862/buc-ees-ltd-v-coles-ip-holdings-llc/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

DOCKET ALERTS: Trump says he's going to get the Supreme Court to reconsider its birthright citizenship ruling "IMMEDIATELY." (He's not.) He also says he's going to get SCOTUS to reconsider its denial of certiorari in the E. Jean Carroll case, and thus he shouldn't have to pay the $5 million he owes her. (Again, he's not.) Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered the escrowed funds to be disbursed to Kaplan, holding that it was time for Trump to "do equity and pay the judgment." And the Second Circuit summarily refused his "emergency" request for an administrative stay of the disbursement order. Pay up, a-hole! The DC Circuit rebuffed Trump's petition to get his name slapped back on the Kennedy Center pending appeal of the ruling that it was illegal to put it there in the first place. Olympian David Hearn was arraigned today in DC Superior Court on felony charges for having vandalized Trump's janky Reflecting Pool remodel. Former Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan was given a $5,000 fine but no jail time after being convicted of obstructing ICE by letting an immigrant defendant exit the courtroom using the jury door. The government had sought an eight to ten-month custodial sentence. DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Ken Paxton, who separated from his wife two years ago, and still continues to use his former marital home as his address for voting purposes, according to ProPublica. MAIN SHOW: The Eleventh Circuit upheld an injunction blocking much of Florida's Stop WOKE Act (get it? get it?), which barred university professors from taking a position on "controversial" ideas like systemic racism. The state's theory is that professors are government employees, and employers can regulate speech, and thus teachers are just like Walmart greeters who can be given a strict script. The judges did not agree. In Georgia, a federal judge quashed a subpoena for a vast trove of data on every person who worked on the 2020 election. Judge William Ray reasoned that any "crime" committed would be outside the statute of limitations, and so he need not reach the propriety of the subpoena to quash it. According to a recently filed lawsuit, the Trump administration has been violating its own policies and handing Iranian asylum seekers over to the Iranian government — even after we started bombing the country. Maine senatorial candidate Graham Platner has dropped out — sort of. We'll discuss the legal implications and what happens going forward. SUBSCRIBER BONUS: Update on the "Judgefight" from Ep. 243. Judge Sparkle Sooknanan in DC says that the Trump administration cannot use the Social Security database to bulk-verify state voter rolls. Judge T. Kent Wetherell in Florida says that they must. Now what? Carroll v. Trump [SDNY docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/65895581/carroll-v-trump Carroll v. Trump [Second Circuit docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73589905/carroll-v-trump/ Beatty v. Trump [Kennedy Center, DC Circuit docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73477160/joyce-beatty-v-donald-trump US v. Dugan https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70255566/united-states-v-dugan Ken Paxton Vowed to Crack Down on "Illegal Voting." He May Have Violated Texas Election Law. https://www.propublica.org/article/ken-paxton-voter-registration-election-law Pernell v. Commissioner of the FL State Board of Education [11th Circuit Stop WOKE] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca11.80813/gov.uscourts.ca11.80813.11014486517.1.pdf Iranian American Legal Defense Fund v. Rubio [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73581390/iranian-american-legal-defense-fund-v-rubio/ Maine Revised Statutes, Title 21-A, §374-A [candidate dropping out statute] https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/21-a/title21-Asec374-A.html League of Women Voters v. DHS (DC Cir appeal) [docket via CourtListener] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cadc.43348/ League of Women Voters v. DHS (Sooknanan SAVE docket) [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71499795/league-of-women-voters-v-us-department-of-homeland-security/?order_by=desc State of Florida v. DHS (Wetherell SAVE docket) [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69271601/state-of-florida-v-department-of-homeland-security/?order_by=desc Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

DOCKET ALERTS: House Speaker Mike Johnson sent everyone home for vacation rather than deal with a dissident faction in his own caucus that keeps demanding a vote on the vote-suppressing SAVE America Act Trump keeps braying for. A federal judge in New Hampshire became the tenth to dismiss a DOJ lawsuit seeking full, unredacted state voter rolls — or eleventh if you include the Sixth Circuit. In 2024, Florida sued to force DHS to bulk verify citizenship data so states could "audit" their voter rolls. In 2025, DHS entered into a "settlement" with Florida, Iowa, Ohio, and Indiana agreeing to do it, and handing power to a Trump-appointed judge in Florida to ensure compliance. But that database has now been enjoined by a judge in DC for violating the Privacy Act of 1974, so Florida is moving to enforce the settlement in Florida. And in DC, Judge Emmet Sullivan barred the Post Office from complying with Trump's executive order requiring the mailman to claw back ballots from any voter not on an approved list. This order violates a 2021 settlement the government made with the NAACP after Trump's last postmaster general tried to mess with mail-in ballots. A judge in Louisiana has dismissed a lawsuit against several academics associated with the now-shuttered Stanford Internet Observatory. The online wingnut plaintiffs alleged that they had been "censored" by scholars who pointed out that they were violating Facebook's TOS. Former CIA Director John Brennan is suing Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in DC, seeking an injunction forcing prosecutors investigating him to retain all records. He hasn't been indicted yet, but, with Trump's minions planning a giant conspiracy indictment in Florida, he wants an order to preserve evidence for an eventual motion to dismiss for vindictive prosecution. Prosecutors trying to convict a former US Attorney in Florida for emailing herself a copy of Special Counsel Jack Smith's report on the stolen documents case were forced to admit that they'd done the exact same thing, sending copies of it to defense counsel in discovery disclosures. MAIN SHOW: The Supreme Court issued its final opinions of the term. In Trump v. Barbara, a narrow majority upheld birthright citizenship, refusing to invent some kind of exception to the plain terms of the 14th Amendment. The conservative justices continued to tear down barriers to corruption in politics, invalidating the Federal Elections Campaign Act's bar on campaigns coordinating spending with outside committees in NRSC v. FEC. And in West Virginia v. BPJ/Little v. Hecox, the six conservatives allowed states to ban trans athletes from sports. Finally, we discuss a new class action lawsuit challenging labor practices at the online gaming platform Roblox for violating child labor laws. US v. New Hampshire Secretary of State [Voter rolls] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71453646/united-states-v-nh-secretary-of-state/ State of Florida v. DHS [SAVE voter verification database] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69271601/state-of-florida-v-department-of-homeland-security Hines v. Stamos [Stanford Internet Observatory] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67310145/hines-v-stamos NAACP v. US [Mail-in ballots] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17461792/national-association-for-the-advancement-of-colored-people-v-united-states Brennan v. Blanche https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73562893/brennan-v-blanche/ SCOTUS Trump v. Barbara (14th Amdt birthright citizenship) https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-365_4hdj.pdf NRSC v. FEC (PAC Coordination/campaign finance) https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-621_h315.pdf West Virginia v. BPJ/Little v. Hecox (trans athletes) https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-43_2b35.pdf Doe B.D. v. Roblox Corp. [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73332976/doe-bd-v-roblox-corporation/ Eurogamer, Roblox Studio boss: children making money on the platform isn't exploitation, it's a gift [April 4, 2024] https://www.eurogamer.net/roblox-studio-boss-children-making-money-on-the-platform-isnt-exploitation-its-a-gift Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

DOCKET ALERTS: The administration says it's going to prosecute anyone who touches the algae-ridden Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial. So far, that seems to be more bluster than reality. Sadly, what isn't bluster is that Judges Reed O'Connor and Mark Pittman in Texas are handing down extraordinarily long punitive sentences for Antifa protestors to "send a message" not to criticize the government. DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Postmaster General David Steiner, who tried to pass off voter suppression efforts to not distribute ballots as just "best practices" for the USPS. Fortunately, Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts permanently enjoined that part of Trump's plan to steal the midterms and ordered declared Trump's executive order unconstitutional and void. MAIN SHOW: It was a rough week at the Supreme Court, with SEVEN decisions all reaching extreme right-wing outcomes, all by the exact same 6-3 margin, and using contradictory legal "reasoning" to get there. The Supreme Court prevented victims of human rights abuses from suing the US company Cisco, while permitting Exxon Mobil to sue the Cuban government. US v. Song [antifa protestors, docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71912958/united-states-v-arnold/ California v. Trump [post office injunction, docket via CourtListener] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.298518/ Exxon Mobil v. Corporation CIMEX [Supreme Court suits against Cuba] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-699_f204.pdf Cisco Systems v. Doe [Supreme Court human rights suits] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-856_kjfm.pdf Landor v. Louisiana Dep't of Corrections [Supreme Court Rastafarian religious liberty] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/23-1197_h3ci.pdf Blanche v. Lau [Supreme Court lawful permanent residents] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-429_h3ci.pdf Mullin v. Al Otro Lado [Supreme Court asylum applications] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-5_86qd.pdf Mullin v. Doe [Supreme Court TPS] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-1083_f204.pdf US v. Southern Poverty Law Center [criminal indictment of SPLC; docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73223865/united-states-v-southern-poverty-law-center-inc/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

DOCKET ALERTS: Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville is facing a residency challenge to his gubernatorial campaign. The Justice Department dismissed a case seeking to enforce a moratorium on offshore and onshore windfarm permits. Instead they're buying back leases for windfarms, so that energy companies can develop natural gas plants in the midwest. Murica! The DOJ is trying to take advantage of a half-assed plot to attack Trump's UFC to get the court to let him build his ballroom. Doofus of the Day: Covid denier Alex Berenson, who got a $150,000 payout from the Trump administration because he got booted from Twitter in 2021. MAIN SHOW: It was an opinion day at SCOTUS, and every decision was authored by a bizarre coalition of justices. Of most interest was US v. Hemani, in which the Court held that regular marijuana use cannot be a reason to deny Americans the right to own a gun. The US Attorneys Office in Minnesota announced conspiracy charges against protesters of the immigration surge into Minneapolis earlier this year. Like the Broadview 6 case, it's a transparent attempt to criminalize activities protected by the First Amendment and impose collective punishment on opponents of the administration's policies. The Federal Trade Commission sued the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) in Texas, alleging that its Standards of Care document (SOC-8) violates Section 5 of the FTC Act. SUBSCRIBERS: No FISA for you! Trump just blew up the deal to get FISA reauthorized and his new Director of National Intelligence confirmed. Tuberville Residency Challenge [via ALReporter] https://www.alreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Tuberville-Filings.pdf US v. Hemani [Supreme Court] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-1234_g2bh.pdf Hunter v. US [Supreme Court] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-1063_5ifl.pdf T.M. v. Univ. of Maryland Medical System [Supreme Court] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-197_bp7c.pdf US v. Sant [MN protesters] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73489496/united-states-v-sant FTC v. WPATH [docket via CourtListener] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.421590/ WPATH SOC-8 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/26895269.2022.2100644 HHS's "Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices." https://opa.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2025-11/gender-dysphoria-report.pdf Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod