944 episodes

Opening Arguments is a law show that helps you make sense of the news! Comedian Thomas Smith brings on legal analysts to help you understand not only current events, but also deeper legal concepts and areas!
The typical schedule will be M-W-F with Monday being a deep-dive, Wednesday being Thomas Takes the Bar Exam and patron shoutouts, and Friday being a rapid response to legal issues in the news!

Opening Arguments Opening Arguments Media LLC

    • News

Opening Arguments is a law show that helps you make sense of the news! Comedian Thomas Smith brings on legal analysts to help you understand not only current events, but also deeper legal concepts and areas!
The typical schedule will be M-W-F with Monday being a deep-dive, Wednesday being Thomas Takes the Bar Exam and patron shoutouts, and Friday being a rapid response to legal issues in the news!

    OA Bar Prep with Heather! T3BE29

    OA Bar Prep with Heather! T3BE29

    The answer for T3BE28 is coming your way, and we launch our next Bar Prep question with Heather!
    Right now, the best place to play (if you aren't a patron...) is at reddit.com/r/openargs!
    If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!
     

    • 44 min
    A Critical Race Theory Analysis of Critical Race Theory Bans

    A Critical Race Theory Analysis of Critical Race Theory Bans

    OA1042
    Several years ago, Christopher Rufo created a bogeyman that rallied the Right across the United States to seek bans in educational environments of "divisive concepts" such as Critical Race Theory. Since the entire effort was obviously... racist, the CRT bans themselves are just perfect for a CRT analysis, and Caroline Mala Corbin is here to lead us in a classic OA Deep Dive!
    Caroline is a law professor at the University of Miami, focusing on the First Amendment's speech and religion clauses, reproductive justice, and the principle of equality that should run through it all. Be sure to check out the full article that was published recently in the UC Irvine Law Review!




    If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!
     
     



     
     

    • 56 min
    Harvey Weinstein's NY Conviction Was Overturned. So Who Effed Up?

    Harvey Weinstein's NY Conviction Was Overturned. So Who Effed Up?

    OA1041
    NY defense attorney Liz Skeen is here to break this decision down. Did the Court mess it up? Or is something more complicated and unexpected happening? The answer might surprise you.

    Content note/trigger warning. For exactly what you'd think.
    If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

    • 51 min
    OA Bar Prep with Heather! T3BE28

    OA Bar Prep with Heather! T3BE28

    The answer for T3BE27 is coming your way, and we launch our next Bar Prep question with Heather! Right now, the best place to play (if you aren't a patron...) is at reddit.com/r/openargs!
    If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

    • 35 min
    Hunter Biden's Trial Is Everything MAGA Thinks The Trump Trial Was

    Hunter Biden's Trial Is Everything MAGA Thinks The Trump Trial Was

    OA1040
    We begin in Florida with yet more of Judge Aileen Cannon's efforts to delay Donald Trump's federal case, including a demand for Jack Smith to be nicer to Trump's lawyers and her decision to allow non-parties to join the fun and make arguments in an upcoming hearing about whether Smith was properly appointed to prosecute Trump at all.
    Hunter Biden's federal trial began this week in Delaware on charges relating to his purchase and possession of a gun which he owned for 11 days in 2018. Matt breaks down the history of this investigation, the charges, and how this case ended up going to trial before a quick time jump in which we return to review what we know one week into these proceedings. How does this trial compare to the one which concluded a week earlier with the conviction of a former President Donald Trump--and would these charges ever have been brought against someone whose last name wasn’t Biden? 
    11th Circuit order instructing the clerk's office to stop taking complaints about Judge Cannon
    Mar-A-Lago search warrant
    Jack Smith's Motion for Modification of Conditions of Release
    Quick Facts on 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) Firearms Offenses (US Sentencing Commission)
    Delaware indictment of Robert Hunter Biden (gun charges)
    “How to Think About the Hunter Biden “Laptop,” Marcy Wheeler (6/6/2024)
    If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

    • 57 min
    Biden’s Border Action - An Objective, Nuanced Explainer

    Biden’s Border Action - An Objective, Nuanced Explainer

    OA1039
    Trump’s prosecution for election interference in Georgia was just stayed by the Court of Appeals, leaving no chance that this trial will proceed before November. What happened, and how unexpected was this delay? We investigate.
    We then turn to our main story: Biden administration’s executive actions to “shut down the border” and close the door to asylum for many people who would otherwise be eligible. Matt explains what’s actually going on here and how much of it was already in place before we consider the practical and political consequences of Joe Biden effectively carrying out the border bill which Trump bullied Republicans not to pass. 
    We end by spending a few minutes discussing a recent opinion from Judge Frank Easterbrook of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, who has very strong--and extremely appropriate--opinions about fonts.
    Georgia appeals court order staying Trump’s criminal trial
    “A Proclamation on Securing the Border” (June 4, 2024)
    Interim Final Rule (“Securing the Border”)(June 4, 2024)
    Attorney Taylor Levy’s donation page
     
    If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

    • 54 min

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