- 1 hour 4 minutesSCOTUS Rules on Illegal Drug Users Owning Firearms
Sarah Isgur and David French react to two new Supreme Court opinions on gun ownership while possessing illegal drugs and appeal waivers.
The Agenda:
—Drugs and the Second Amendment
—Rewriting Bruen
—Bad plea deals
—Overcharging crimes
—The Gorsuch-Kavanaugh dynamic
—The DOJ and the Hyde Amendment
Show notes:
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19 June 2026, 12:14 am - 1 hour 7 secondsThe Trump Administration's Internal Arguments Over Habeas Corpus
Sarah Isgur and David French break down the most recent cert grants out of the Supreme Court's order list and Trump's argument for suspending habeas corpus.
The Agenda:
—Paid petitions vs. In Forma Pauperis
—Can undocumented immigrants be held indefinitely?
—New York Times reporting on Trump and habeas corpus
—Leaked memo fallout
—Georgia campaign finance laws
—On LSAT accommodations
Show notes:
—The White House staff secretary’s habeas corpus memo
Order Sarah’s book here.
Advisory Opinions is a production of SCOTUSblog and The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a nonpartisan perspective. Click here to sign up for our new Advisory Opinions newsletter, and click here to access all of The Dispatch’s offerings, including audio versions of all our articles and newsletters. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.
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16 June 2026, 7:00 am - 1 hour 8 minutesCan Transgender People Serve in the Military?
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the three SCOTUS decisions that dropped Thursday morning, a D.C. Circuit decision on President Donald Trump's ban on transgender military members, and accommodations running rampant at law schools. Oh, and a federal judge charged with battery and destruction of physical property.
The Agenda:
–Sign up for the SCOTUSblog newsletter
–We are faced with the duddiest of duds
–You can only try a defendant in the district where his crime was committed
–Why is a Church of the Holy Trinity reference basically a backhand?
–Transgender people can serve in the military
–We should get rid of accommodations for aspiring attorneys
–Burden of proof: Federal judge caught in altercation
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12 June 2026, 2:31 am - 58 minutes 15 secondsCounting Down the Supreme Court Term
Sarah Isgur and David French look at what’s left on the docket from this term before diving into a little Los Angeles mayoral politics.
The Agenda:
–Supreme Court bingo
–Do Rastafarians get religious exemptions?
–The mighty small-dollar donor
–Appearance of election corruption
–No, a GOP candidate did not have a chance to become mayor of Los Angeles
–Banning trans athletes from girls’ sports
Show Notes:
Order Sarah’s book here.
Advisory Opinions is a production of SCOTUSblog and The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a nonpartisan perspective. Click here to sign up for our new Advisory Opinions newsletter, and click here to access all of The Dispatch’s offerings, including audio versions of all our articles and newsletters. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.
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9 June 2026, 7:00 am - 57 minutes 28 secondsGetting Out of the Redistricting Business
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the Supreme Court’s Alabama redistricting decision, a plea deal from the former national security adviser, and the best legal movies ever made.
The Agenda:
–Alabama’s new maps
–John Bolton pleads guilty
–Did the media actually get this right?
–Gender and the Supreme Court’s culture
–Favorite legal movies
–Another round of Would You Rather!
Show Notes:
–The Blessings of Liberty with Jeffrey Rosen - Podcast
Order Sarah’s book here.
Advisory Opinions is a production of SCOTUSblog and The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a nonpartisan perspective. Click here to sign up for our new Advisory Opinions newsletter, and click here to access all of The Dispatch’s offerings, including audio versions of all our articles and newsletters. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.
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5 June 2026, 2:19 am - 1 hour 2 minutesPresident Trump’s Losing Streak
Sarah Isgur and David French (he returns!) discuss the major Trump losses—Kennedy Center name change, motion on Trump v. IRS, and injunction on the slush fund—before reviewing scrutiny of the court and the swatting incident at Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s residence.
The Agenda:
–Sarah returns to the greatest state in the U-S-of-A
–Kicking Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center
–A Justice’s son having a job is a scandal, I guess.
Order Sarah’s book here.
Advisory Opinions is a production of SCOTUSblog and The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a nonpartisan perspective. Click here to sign up for our new Advisory Opinions newsletter, and click here to access all of The Dispatch’s offerings, including audio versions of all our articles and newsletters. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.
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2 June 2026, 7:00 am - 1 hour 17 minutesDistrict Map Fights Before the 2026 Midterms
David Lat joins Sarah Isgur (see ya later, French) to discuss the three-judge panel overturning Alabama’s congressional maps, a new lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s slush fund, and a lying Judge.
The Agenda:
–No redistricting according to race
–Nonsense lawsuits
–Dragging courts into political fights
–Moving honey buns is interstate commerce
–Sanction more judges?
–Feeling Wicker-ty
–The Arbitration Act is sexy!
–Making clerks very uncomfortable
Show Notes:
–Fernandez v. United States–Wickard v. Filburn
Advisory Opinions is a production of SCOTUSblog and The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a nonpartisan perspective. Click here to sign up for our new Advisory Opinions newsletter, and click here to access all of The Dispatch’s offerings, including audio versions of all our articles and newsletters. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.
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29 May 2026, 12:50 am - 1 hour 10 minutesSCOTUS Through the Decades | Interview: Nina Totenberg
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss an anticlimactic dig from the Supreme Court over IQ tests and the death penalty and challenges to the $1.8 billion slush fund President Donald Trump created on weaponization, and they talk with NPR's Nina Totenberg about covering the Supreme Court.
The Agenda:
—How many IQ tests does a person on death row need to take?
—Who can challenge the slush fund?
—James Comey as the platonic ideal plaintiff
—The embarrassing DNC autopsy, and Grifter Sarah makes an appearance
—Interview with Nina Totenberg
Order Sarah’s book here.
Advisory Opinions is a production of SCOTUSblog and The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a nonpartisan perspective. Click here to sign up for our new Advisory Opinions newsletter, and click here to access all of The Dispatch’s offerings, including audio versions of all our articles and newsletters. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.
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26 May 2026, 7:00 am - 1 hour 7 minutesAll the Things Wrong with Trump’s Billion-Dollar Fund
Sarah Isgur and David French analyze President Donald Trump’s $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund through the lens of three legal “buckets,” and talk about how federal appropriations work and the Obama-era case that hangs over this legal issue. The two also discuss the Supreme Court’s latest cert grant on a Title IX case, plus the circuit split brewing over the First Amendment and judicial elections.
The Agenda:
–Court agrees to hear case on the ability of employees to bring certain suits for sex discrimination
–Going through the settlement agreement, it’s practically a blank check!
–Todd Blanche essentially pardons Trump’s family
–‘That’s not how appropriations work.’
–Georgia Supreme Court race finishes strong
Show Notes:
–Chief Judge William Pryor’s opinion
Advisory Opinions is a production of SCOTUSblog and The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a nonpartisan perspective. Click here to sign up for our new Advisory Opinions newsletter, and click here to access all of The Dispatch’s offerings, including audio versions of all our articles and newsletters. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.
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21 May 2026, 7:00 am - 1 hour 2 minutesLet’s Sue the Government
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the IRS lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump, SCOTUS’s mifepristone decision, and a unanimous verdict from the justices that no one except Sarah cares about.
The Agenda:
–David’s ‘back in the day’ lawsuit against the Obama administration
–The Bivens brick wall
–Trump loses on the law but wins in the politics
–Ballroom and baby steps
–Brief explainer on the Comstock Act
–Court rules freight brokers can face negligent hiring suits under state law
Show Notes:
Advisory Opinions is a production of SCOTUSblog and The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a nonpartisan perspective. Click here to sign up for our new Advisory Opinions newsletter, and click here to access all of The Dispatch’s offerings, including audio versions of all our articles and newsletters. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.
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19 May 2026, 7:00 am - 57 minutes 54 secondsSCOTUS Clears Way for Alabama to Use Congressional Map
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the emergency docket ruling from SCOTUS on Alabama’s congressional maps, which broke down over three-justice ideological lines, Virginia’s filing (yes, they did file) at the Supreme Court, and a very special 2-1 9th Circuit panel opinion.
The Agenda:
–Central, urban bonkerstown
–14th Amendment Equal Protection argument vs. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act
–Virginia files gerrymandering case at SCOTUS
–Biogradable cooler dispute, are you Team Gorsuch or Team Kavanaugh?
–Would You Rather: Due Process Clause or Equal Protection Clause?
Show Notes:
–Remarks by Sen. A. Shane Massey on the Sine Die Resolution and Congressional Redistricting
Advisory Opinions is a production of SCOTUSblog and The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a nonpartisan perspective. Click here to sign up for our new Advisory Opinions newsletter, and click here to access all of The Dispatch’s offerings, including audio versions of all our articles and newsletters. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here.
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