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    Opening Arguments

    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!
    enOpening Arguments Media LLC902 Episodes

    Episodes (902)

    Arrested on Her 22nd Birthday. She Didn't Know She Was Undocumented.

    Arrested on Her 22nd Birthday. She Didn't Know She Was Undocumented.
    Episode 1013
     
    Today, we get to meet Azul Uribe. Azul lived most of her life in the US as a devout Mormon, doing her best to get by in a sea of Whiteness. She even made jokes at her own expense about being undocumented. That all changed when she was arrested at age 22 under bizarre and very unlucky circumstances. She was put in ICE detention. Treated terribly. Strip searched multiple times. She then found out those jokes... weren't. Despite being a college student, Azul faced deportation from the only home she'd ever known.
     
    Join us as we hear Azul's fascinating and heartbreaking story, in all its raw humanity. And we learn more about our immigration system, and its raw inhumanity.
     

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

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    Opening Arguments
    enMarch 11, 2024

    Did the Trump Colorado Decision Make You Feel Crazy? You’re Not Alone.

    Did the Trump Colorado Decision Make You Feel Crazy? You’re Not Alone.
    Episode 1012
     
    Does anyone else feel like the Supreme Court decided a part of the Constitution just doesn't exist anymore? Perhaps you're like Listener Thomas S, who found this decision absolutely nuts. If so, you're in luck, because in this episode of OA, Thomas throws every argument at actual lawyer Matt Cameron for why this decision sucked. How does the actual lawyer feel? Did SCOTUS get it right actually? Find out!
     

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

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    Opening Arguments
    enMarch 08, 2024

    T3BE Week 4! Firefighters' Rule and Interstate Commerce

    T3BE Week 4! Firefighters' Rule and Interstate Commerce
    Thomas Takes the Bar Exam Week 4!
     
    Thomas comes into this week on a HOT, some would say, UNBREAKABLE, streak! 5-0. So, naturally, he aced questions 6 and 7, right? You'll find out! After those answers, we get questions 8 and 9, pictured below! What the hell is the firefighters' rule? And are drycleaners interstate commerce?
     

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

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    Opening Arguments
    enMarch 06, 2024

    MAGA Fascists Try To Ban Drag and Fail. Repeatedly.

    MAGA Fascists Try To Ban Drag and Fail. Repeatedly.
    Episode 1011
     
    Here's one for everyone who enjoys stories about terrible people losing in court! Casey stops by to review Alito's complaint to America's managers about the devastating cost of marriage equality: the exclusion of anti-LGBTQ bigots from juries. Matt breaks down the total failure of state attempts to ban drag shows and why the actual First Amendment keeps winning over the one that the kinds of people who yell the most about the First Amendment seem to think that they are yelling about.
     
    1. Thomas/Alito statement in 2020 denial of Kim Davis's cert petition (2020)
    2. Alito's concurrence in denial of cert in Missouri Dept of Corrections v. Finney (2024)
    3. Trial court decision in Friends of Georges v. Mulroy (TN drag show ban)
    4. Trial court decision in Florida-ORL v. Griffin (FL drag show ban)
    5. Trial court decision in Woodlands Pride v. Paxton (TX drag show ban)

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

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    Opening Arguments
    enMarch 04, 2024

    A Tale of Two Dons in Criminal Court

    A Tale of Two Dons in Criminal Court
    Episode 1010
     
    It was the worst of Dons, it was the worst of Dons. Eagles singer Don Henley was not taking it easy in a New York City courtroom this week in his testimony against three memorabilia-collecting desperadoes who had to bring their alibis to face charges of conspiring to sell stolen (?) legal pads filled with Henley's drafts of "Hotel California"-era lyrics. Will the court find that these defendants are hiding their lyin' eyes, or is the Manhattan DA's case against them already gone? New kid in town Matt takes his legal analysis to the limit one more time.
     
    We move on to some Trump updates, including the Supreme Court's decision to take his extremely unserious claims of  Presidential immunity for all crimes seriously and complications to the defense's effort to disqualify Fani Willis from the Fulton County prosecution. Oh also, Trump doesn't want to pay any money and is complaining to the court on account of "I don't like this."

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

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    Opening Arguments
    enMarch 01, 2024

    T3BE Week 3! Drugs and Hearsay

    T3BE Week 3! Drugs and Hearsay
    Thomas Takes the Bar Exam!
     
    It's time for the answers to last week's questions, plus two more!
     

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

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    Opening Arguments
    enFebruary 28, 2024

    Project 2025 Is Terrifying

    Project 2025 Is Terrifying
    Episode 1009 
     
    The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 has been making headlines with its promises to set the next Republican president up with a full staff of loyal civil servants and a 920-page executive branch playbook--but what is actually in this thing, and what can we learn from it? Matt takes us through some disturbing echoes of 1933 Germany, which was a famously chill and cool time, showing us how the legal system has historically been used to turn democracies into autocracies. We learn that laws with the most boring names are often the scariest, and about the administrative violence of a well-timed memo.
     
    1. Heritage Foundation's Mandate for Leadership (2023)
    2. Presidential Personnel Database (Project 2025 job application)
    3. Nazi Telegram with instructions for Kristallnacht (Nov 10, 1938)
     

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

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    Opening Arguments
    enFebruary 26, 2024

    Embryos Are People, My Friend

    Embryos Are People, My Friend
    Episode 1008
     
    Today we are serving up a tasteful pairing of radically destructive activism from one supreme court with a refreshing adherence to basic Constitutional law from another. We start in Alabama, where the state's highest court just found with no any apparent legal, factual, or moral justification whatsoever that a few hundred frozen cells are legally equivalent to a "child"--because God, probably? Unclear! We then review a recent example of the U.S. Supreme Court doing exactly what it is supposed to do: reviewing and unanimously reversing an obvious Constitutional violation, in this case one which put a man who had been acquitted on mental health grounds at risk of the death penalty.
     
    1. Alabama Supreme Court's decision in LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine, P.C.
    2. Ketanji Brown Jackson's decision for a unanimous court in McElrath v. Georgia, 601 U.S. ____ (2024) [PDF]
    3. Free downloadable version of the Century Schoolbook typeface
     

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

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    Opening Arguments
    enFebruary 23, 2024

    T3BE Week 2!

    T3BE Week 2!
    Thomas Takes the Bar Exam!
     
    It's time for the answers to last week's questions, plus two more!
     

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

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    Opening Arguments
    enFebruary 22, 2024

    The Fani Willis Hearings - Your Comprehensive Guide 2

    The Fani Willis Hearings - Your Comprehensive Guide 2
    Episode 1007
     
    It's Part 2! Fani testifies! It is high drama. Not only that, we hear from an incredible Cohen Brothers movie character for some reason. We also hear from Fani Willis's dad, someone who has led a fascinating life. Then finally, they put Wade's ex-partner Bradley on the stand and... try to make him talk for like 4 hours. It also takes a very dark turn.
     

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

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    Opening Arguments
    enFebruary 21, 2024

    The Fani Willis Hearings - Your Comprehensive Guide

    The Fani Willis Hearings - Your Comprehensive Guide
    Episode 1006
     
    Part 1! We watched 17 hours of Fulton Country Superior Court so you don't have to! Cohabitating lawyers Matt and Casey are here to break down many of the legal issues, from the mundane to the outright bizarre. These hearings were truly extraordinary. Some of the craziest courtroom drama to ever happen in the real world.

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

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    Opening Arguments
    enFebruary 20, 2024

    What In God's Name Is Happening In Georgia

    What In God's Name Is Happening In Georgia
    Episode 1005. So uh, yeah. About that. The news was so crazy that we recorded two different episodes and I had to stitch them together like a Frankenstein's Podster. Because WOW Georgia. In addition to that, Matt has for us a tour of the Trump legal circuit! It makes stops in DC, Florida, Georgia, and New York, with a brief layover in 1998 to reminisce about where we were the first time we heard an elected official talking about their sex life under oath. We share some initial impressions of the first day of Fulton County DA Fani Willis's disqualification hearing, debate whether Nathan Wade actually billed the county for 24 hours of work in one day, and consider what might happen next (and what probably should have earlier) in this unfortunate and entirely evitable sideshow to the single most important state criminal case prosecuted in our lifetimes.
    Also discussed: What's next for the stupidest impeachment in the history of impeachments? What's up with the House rule which makes tying a vote *much* worse than losing one? Is Robert Hur a doctor or does he just like playing one in special counsel reports? And we finally learn the one thing that truly makes Matt angry: FONTS.
     
     
    1. Nixon v. U.S. (1993)
    2. Trump's stay request to SCOTUS re: immunity claims
    3. GA Defendant David Shafer's filing re: motion to disqualify
    4. GA Code § 15-18-15 (2018)
    5. Judge Merchan's denial of Trump's motion to dismiss

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

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    Opening Arguments
    enFebruary 16, 2024

    Thomas Takes the Bar Exam Returns! T3BE Week 1

    Thomas Takes the Bar Exam Returns! T3BE Week 1
    At laaaaaaaast it is the return of #T3BE! And we've got, not 1, not 2, but 3 questions! First, a question + answer to get warmed up, since we don't have any answers from previous weeks. THEN, the question everyone can play along with. AND THEN, it's the question only Patrons are elligible to win. But also, for patreons only, I've included the first question Matt and I ever did. We did some T3BE to practice, and this first one is maybe my favorite.

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

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    I used Dall-e for fun to create a T3BE graphic and it gave me "Thas BAR EXAM!" 10/10
    Opening Arguments
    enFebruary 14, 2024

    SCOTUS OKs Execution By Nitrogen Gas Because Evil

    SCOTUS OKs Execution By Nitrogen Gas Because Evil

    This episode is brought to you by Trade Coffee! Visit drinktrade.com/oa

    Episode 1004. "What's going wrong?" Neil Young once asked Alabama, and it's still a good question 52 years later in the wake of the unprecedented execution of Eugene Michael Smith on January 25, 2024 by nitrogen gas. Casey returns to share why learning about the death penalty made her want to be a lawyer before we review the recent history of capital punishment in the U.S. and the dangers of an originalist interpretation of a "cruel and unusual" execution. We then take a closer look at how a completely untested method of taking a human life came to be used in Alabama and find some hope for an end to state-sanctioned murder.
     
    1. VIDEO: Spiritual advisor Jeff Hood describes the execution of Eugene Michael Smith
    2. VIDEO: Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall describes Smith's execution as "textbook" 3. Bucklew v. Precythe :: 587 U.S. ___ (2019)
    4. Sotomayor's dissent in Smith v. Hamm
    5. Thomas and Alito's dissent in Hamm v. Smith
    6. The Death Penalty in 2023: Year End Report | Death Penalty Information Center
     

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

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    Graphic generated by Dall-e and seemed fitting.
    Opening Arguments
    enFebruary 12, 2024

    Bonus! These Are Not Serious People...

    Bonus! These Are Not Serious People...
    Republicans thought they were going to impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas but they didn't count on... AL GREEN!
     
    There has been so much in the news that Matt and I thought we'd do some bonus recording, both to give you fine folks more content and also to keep practicing and getting into the groove. Matt breaks down the absurd Articles of Impeachment that some Republican intern typed up. Then we talk about the border bill Republicans demanded but then... fought against after Trump said to.
     

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

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    Opening Arguments
    enFebruary 11, 2024

    The Fani Willis Thing... How Bad Is It?

    The Fani Willis Thing... How Bad Is It?

    This episode is brought to you by Trade Coffee! Visit drinktrade.com/oa!

    In Episode 1003, Thomas and Matt are joined by Matt's partner, Casey, to discuss what's been going on with District Attorney Fani Willis down in Fulton County, Georgia. Perhaps you've heard about a scandal involving a relationship and a messy divorce... But how severe is it? How much of it is real, and how much is MAGA disinfo? What is likely to happen? Find out! 

    Casey was a prosecutor at the state level for more than 15 years. She has extensive experience in both trial and appellate litigation, including a substantial caseload of major felony and homicide matters. So not only are they a prosecutor and a defense attorney, but Matt and Casey also bring some extra insight when it comes to relationships between lawyers, as they are a real-life married lawyer couple!

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

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    Opening Arguments
    enFebruary 10, 2024

    These Are Death Penalty Cases In Traffic Court

    These Are Death Penalty Cases In Traffic Court

    This episode is brought to you by Trade Coffee! Visit drinktrade.com/oa

    In episode 1002, we get to know Matt Cameron. He talks about his background, his legal practice and areas of expertise. I ask him about the case he is most proud of, and you will not believe what it took for him to win it! Then I ask him about the case he most regrets, and... wow. Let's just say Matt does incredibly difficult and important work. 

    You do not want to miss this one, these stories are so compelling, and they make me so excited going forward with OA and Matt onboard!

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

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    Opening Arguments
    enFebruary 08, 2024

    Thomas Takes the Podcast Back

    Thomas Takes the Podcast Back

    #T3PB babyyyyyy! 

    Due to several good court thingies, this podcast is now hosted by Thomas Smith. Not too much can be said, but this episode contains a bit of how we got here, and the plan for the future. 

    If you'd like to support the show, please pledge at patreon.com/law and get your hands on the first lawsode with Matt Cameron! Plus lots of bonus things coming.

    For the time being, any profit over and above the costs of operating the show, will go towards repair and accountability.

    Opening Arguments
    enFebruary 08, 2024

    OA859: Looks Like We Won't Have DeSantis To Kick Around Any More

    OA859: Looks Like We Won't Have DeSantis To Kick Around Any More

    On the day that Ron DeSantis dropped out of the Republican presidential primary and endorsed his personal bully, Donald Trump, Liz and Andrew cover two stories that could impact the 2024 presidential election.

    First, we tackle the centrist group "No Labels" request that the Civil Rights Division of the Department begin a criminal RICO investigation into... people who don't like the centrist group "No Labels." Neat!

    Then, we break down all of the pending actual law stuff going on in Trump's civil defamation suit in New York -- since precious little of that is going on in the courtroom itself. What's the rule of completeness? When are defenses waived? Who has a duty to mitigate? And so much more!

    Notes
    Habba Letter Brief re: Mitigation
    https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.543790/gov.uscourts.nysd.543790.272.0.pdf

    No Labels
    https://www.nolabels.org/documents/59546/DOJ%20letter%201.11.24.pdf

    Co-founder of No Labels resigns
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/no-labels-may-re-elect-donald-trump-third-party-independent-galston-rematch-f2e7697d

    Semafor article on No Labels
    https://www.semafor.com/article/12/19/2023/the-plot-against-no-labels

    -Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/law

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    -For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed!  @oawiki

    -And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com

    Opening Arguments
    enJanuary 22, 2024
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