Strict Scrutiny

Leah and Melissa break down the administration’s latest lawsuits, from the DOJ’s fight over Alaska’s Senate candidacy, to its efforts to force California to turn over voter information, to Trump’s golf course fiasco. They also recap the latest developments at the Supreme Court, including a lower court ruling on New Hampshire’s election guidance for student IDs and the Court’s decision not to hear a significant copyright dispute out of the Fifth Circuit. Plus, they unpack the administration’s seemingly endless legal corruption, from Alina Habba to Vivek Ramaswamy’s disgusting Ohio campaign ads targeting his opponent, Amy Acton. Then, Kate talks with Rachel Shelden about her new book, The Political Supreme Court: A Forgotten History.Favorite Things: Leah: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell | Queen of Lombard Street by Lisa Kleypas | Talarico x The Chicks | You Can See Everything | Pablo Torre on Vivek | Lily Allen celebrating the one-year anniversary of West End Girl with a sex toy launch Melissa: Happy Anniversary Mr. Melissa Murry! | The Diplomat Take the Strict Scrutiny survey.New Strict merch available here.You can now listen to Strict Scrutiny for CLE credits in California, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, and Oregon! More info at crooked.com/strict_cleGet tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE on November 6th in Washington, DC: Crookedcon.comBuy Melissa’s book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern ReaderBuy Leah’s book, Lawless, now out in paperbackFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and BlueskyFor a transcript of an episode of Strict Scrutiny please email [email protected]

The first week of the new term has come and gone, and things are heating up… literally. Kirti Datla, director of Earthjustice’s Strategic Legal Advocacy Program, joins Melissa and Leah to discuss the term’s biggest climate case: Suncor v. Commissioners of Boulder County. They break down whether Boulder County’s lawsuit against oil and gas companies can move forward, or if the Court will shut it down based on federal law. Then, they dive into Samuel Alito’s big, bad book press tour and his reflections on Dobbs—including the friendships he says he lost along the way. Plus they cover Kash Patel’s engagement, Kimberly Guilfoyle’s corruption controversies, and Pete Hegseth’s announcement of a public execution. Finally, Melissa talks with Professor Bernadette Atuahene about her new book: Plundered: How Racist Policies Undermine Black Homeownership in America.Favorite Things: Leah: So Unexplained: Justice Alito’s Non-Responsive Emergency Docket Defense | Steve Vladeck’s Substack: One First | Jon Ossoff V. Mike Collins Debate | Marquette Poll Melissa: Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell Take the Strict Scrutiny survey.New Strict merch available here.You can now listen to Strict Scrutiny for CLE credits in California, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, and Oregon! More info at crooked.com/strict_cleGet tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE on November 6th in Washington, DC: Crookedcon.comBuy Melissa’s book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern ReaderBuy Leah’s book, Lawless, now out in paperbackFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and BlueskyFor a transcript of an episode of Strict Scrutiny please email [email protected]

In the fifth and final installment of our Hot Supreme Court Reform series, Kate speaks with Gabe Roth, executive director of Fix the Court. What would a meaningful and enforceable set of ethics rules look like for the Supreme Court justices? Why isn’t there an Inspector General for the judiciary? How are there no real rules around recusals? Roth makes the case for these nonpartisan reforms and more.Take the Strict Scrutiny survey.New Strict merch available here.You can now listen to Strict Scrutiny for CLE credits in California, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, and Oregon! More info at crooked.com/strict_cleGet tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE on November 6th in Washington, DC: Crookedcon.comBuy Melissa’s book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern ReaderBuy Leah’s book, Lawless, now out in paperbackFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and BlueskyFor a transcript of an episode of Strict Scrutiny please email [email protected]

In the fourth installment of our Hot Supreme Court Reform September series, Leah sits down with former FTC Chair Lina Khan and Lev Menand, both of Columbia Law School, to talk through ways to limit how much SCOTUS can mess with federal agencies. Lev makes the case for stripping SCOTUS of its jurisdiction over administrative law and sending those cases to a specialized court, and Lina discusses venue and standing issues—reforming who gets to sue and where.Take the Strict Scrutiny survey.New Strict merch available here.You can now listen to Strict Scrutiny for CLE credits in California, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, and Oregon! More info at crooked.com/strict_cleGet tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE on November 6th in Washington, DC: Crookedcon.comBuy Melissa’s book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern ReaderBuy Leah’s book, Lawless, now out in paperbackFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and BlueskyFor a transcript of an episode of Strict Scrutiny please email [email protected]

In the third installment of our Hot Supreme Court Reform September series, Leah sits down with Daphna Renan and Nikolas Bowie to discuss how judicial supremacy became the default operating system of the federal government, and how limiting the Supreme Court’s power to decline to enforce federal statutes is a crucial tool for reining it in. Niko and Daphna’s book is Supremacy: How Rule by the Court Replaced Government by the People. Enter the giveaway here!Take the Strict Scrutiny survey.New Strict Scrutiny merch available here.You can now listen to Strict Scrutiny for CLE credits in California, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, and Oregon! More info at crooked.com/strict_cleGet tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE on November 6th in Washington, DC: Crookedcon.comBuy Melissa’s book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern ReaderBuy Leah’s book, Lawless, now out in paperbackFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and BlueskyFor a transcript of an episode of Strict Scrutiny please email [email protected]

Melissa is joined by guest co-host Rashad Robinson, political strategist, media advocate, and former president of Color Of Change, to run through last week’s legal news, which involves SCOTUS’s latest shadow docket shenanigans, campaign finance fights, and Missouri Republican efforts to push a mid-cycle congressional redistricting plan that could eliminate a Democratic seat. Also: a Strict Scrutiny history lesson on the “segregation academies” created across the South in resistance to school integration, and how new proposed regulations from the Trump administration have the potential to utterly remake education and turn the dial back to a time when American education was racially divided. Then Melissa, Leah and Kate sit down with Niko Bowie & Daphna Renan to talk about their new book, Supremacy: How Rule by the Court Replaced Government by the People. Enter the giveaway for Supremacy here! Public comments on racial nondiscrimination in private schools here.Favorite Things: Melissa:Rashad Robinson’s From Presence to Power: How to Take On the Fights That Matter--and Win; Where the Girls Were by Kate Schatz; A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck by Sophie Elmhirst Rashad: U.S. Open specifically Coco Gauff, Frances Tiafoe, and Ben Shelton; ADULTS, The Scrub Episode (FX); The Disappearers by Marlon James Take the Strict Scrutiny survey.New Strict merch available here.You can now listen to Strict Scrutiny for CLE credits in California, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, and Oregon! More info at crooked.com/strict_cleGet tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE on November 6th in Washington, DC: Crookedcon.comBuy Melissa’s book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern ReaderBuy Leah’s book, Lawless, now out in paperbackFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and BlueskyFor a transcript of an episode of Strict Scrutiny please email [email protected]

In part two of our Hot Supreme Court Reform September series, Kate and the Brennan Center’s Alicia Bannon make the case for term limits for the Court. The idea has bipartisan support, but what would they look like in practice? And, crucially, does Congress have the power to impose them? Take the Strict Scrutiny survey.New Strict merch available here.You can now listen to Strict Scrutiny for CLE credits in California, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, and Oregon! More info at crooked.com/strict_cleGet tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE on November 6th in Washington, DC: Crookedcon.comBuy Melissa’s book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern ReaderBuy Leah’s book, Lawless, now out in paperbackFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and BlueskyFor a transcript of an episode of Strict Scrutiny please email [email protected]