Advisory Opinions The Dispatch

Do judges have an important role to play in society beyond judging? Judge Lee Rudofsky takes the affirmative, while Orin Kerr disagrees in this special AO episode debating this topic. Sarah and David also discuss the latest SCOTUS cases.
Show Notes:
—Judges write letter saying they won't hire law clerks from Columbia
—Kerr: Do Judges "Have an Important Role to Play in Our Society" Beyond Judging?
—Code of Conduct for United States Judges
—Staying Off the Sidelines: Judges as Agents for Justice System Reform
—Appearances by Sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justices at Congressional Committee and Subcommittee Hearings (1960-2022)
—Drops in Jewish enrollment in elite universities
—CFPB v. Community Financial Services Association of America, Limited
—Are tacos and burritos sandwiches?
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Sarah and David start things off with a discussion of Trump’s trials and how he might respond to the outcome of the election. Are David’s concerns overblown?
The Agenda:
—Trump’s New York trial
—Chilling speech over anti-Israel protests and one law school dean's private dinner party
—Mocking Michael Cohen
—Civil forfeiture SCOTUS ruling
—AYER ruling
—When prison guards shave a Rastafarian's dreads
—Firing gay teachers
Show Notes:
—Trial of Ted Stevens
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Eleventh Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom takes over the role as professor to teach Sarah and David the implications of jurisdiction stripping and the balance of power between the branches of government. We’ll sum the lesson up as … Congress, do your job.
The Agenda:
—Judges say they won’t hire from Columbia Law School
—Explaining the exceptions clause
—Constraints over jurisdiction stripping by Congress
—Marbury powers
—Congress taking a more active role in constitutional interpretations
Show Notes:
—David for the NYT: The Magic Constitutionalism of Donald Trump
—Felker v. Turpin
—Sheldon v. Sill
—Judge Newsom's mention of Bruen in the AO episode from June 2022
—Judiciary Act of 1979
—Akhil Amar's two-tier theory of jurisdictions
—Daniel Epps' article in Columbia Law Review
—Monday’s AO podcast
—Henry Hart’s dialogue with self in the Harvard Law Review
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Judge Edmund Sargus from the Southern District of Ohio joins Sarah and David to take on originalism and different means of constitutional interpretation.
The Agenda:
—Brown v. Board of Education and the different judicial philosophies that can be applied to the case
—Originalism vs. common law traditionalism
—Challenges and limitations of textualism and originalism
—Landmark cases and the Supreme Court’s decisions shaping societal progress
—Interpreting ambiguous constitutional terms like ‘equal protection’ and ‘due process’
—Thus ends DEI
Show Notes:
—Plessy v. Ferguson
—Rutan v. Republican Party
—Bostock v. Clayton County
—Loving v. Virginia
—A blast from the past: Rep. James A. Traficant found guilty of corruption
—David for the NYT: The Magic Constitutionalism of Donald Trump
—Seceding from Secession: The Civil War, Politics, and the Creation of West Virginia
—Fifth Circuit opinion from Judge Andrew Oldham
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It’s a silent spring in Texas as Pornhub pulls out of the state in an act of protest over a law requiring age verification measures. Sarah and David go through the legal battle between the explicit site and Texas AG Ken Paxton.The Agenda:
—Sarah’s high
—Texas law requiring age verification to access pornography online
—The tiers of scrutiny in constitutional law
—The role of text, history, and tradition
—Going through the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023
—Understanding the differences between Medicare and Medicaid can be challenging, even for lawmakersShow Notes:
—Sarah’s Remnant episode
—Jacobellis v. Ohio
—Ginsberg v. New York
—Ashcroft v. ACLU
—Child Online Protection Act
—Wickard v. Filburn Wilker
—United States v. Carolene Products Company
—David for NYT: Ban Online Porn for Kids
—David for NYT: One Party Has a Serious Foreign Policy Problem. The Other Has a Tantrum.
—A class-action lawsuit against Columbia
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David returns after a brief food poisoning hiatus to discuss two oral arguments heard before the Supreme Court: Trump’s immunity case and Idaho’s case on abortion bans. But first, a request from The Dispatch’s resident Wilson-hater.
The Agenda:
—Are solo podcasters sociopaths?
—Proposals for changes on the Israeli Supreme Court
—Absolute immunity for presidents
—The role of the executive vesting clause
—Reviewing Idaho’s abortion ban
—Time, place, and manner restrictions on college campuses
—Answering questions and issuing corrections
Show Notes:
—Previous AO episode
—South Dakota v. Dole
—NFIB v. Sebelius
—Dr. Martin Luther King on “civil disobedience”
—Columbia University banned student protester over saying “Zionists don’t deserve to live”
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