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!

Opening Arguments is a news podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts Opening Arguments, a news show with 0 episodes published.

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  Episode #1302

  The 5th Circuit Denied a Cop Qualified Immunity, So We Might Be in the Afterlife

  Oct 5, 202650 min

  OA1302 - Qualified immunity can be overcome! In the fifth circuit?! Come hear the good news, and learn some fourth amendment traffic stop rules along the way. CHECK YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION. Deadlines for your state can be found here . Cases discussed: CHECK YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION. Deadlines for your state can be found here . Rosales v. Terrell , 25-30650 (5th Cir. 2026) Dashcam footage from the Rosales case Milligan v Lewis Reporting on trial of Lewis for alleged misconduct Rosales v. Bradshaw , (10th Cir. 2023) USPS v. California et al. Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! To support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law ! $2+ patrons also get a new Law'd Awful Movies every month.

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  Episode #1301

  DOJ Wants Every Federal Judge in Minnesota Recused (Good Luck With That)

  Oct 2, 202650 min

  OA1301 - IT'S FASCISM RESPONSE FRIDAY, and it's a lot. DOJ just filed a complaint trying to get every single active federal judge in Minnesota booted off immigration cases, and the "evidence" is a judge telling the New York Times the truth. The Supreme Court just let deportations to countries people aren't even from happen again. And we cannot stop laughing about the executive order that just declared this the "era of superintelligence." There's good news too, but you'll have to listen for that. Cases discussed: Complaint Against Judges of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota (filed under 28 U.S.C. § 351) D.V.D. v. DHS (Supreme Court stay on third-country removals) Trump v. Internal Revenue Service (11th Circuit, the "slush fund" case) CNN et al. v. Trump (White House press access) USPS v. California et al. Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! To support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law ! $2+ patrons also get a new Law'd Awful Movies every month.

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  Episode #2045

  John Yoo Wrote the Torture Memos and Never Paid for It. At All.

  Sep 30, 20261h 16m

  VR45 - Today on Vapid Response: 25 years after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, we look back on the Forrest Gump of monstrously bad legal takes: former DOJ lawyer and current UC Berkeley law professor (!) John Yoo. We go back to the primary sources to show how the Office of Legal Counsel explicitly authorized torture, indefinite detention in Guantanamo Bay, and warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens before giving Secretary of State Marco Rubio a chance to explain why the world should never hold the United States accountable for any of it. Cases and sources discussed: “Time to Think About Torture,” Jonathan Alter, Newsweek (11/4/2001) “Is There a Tortuous Road to Justice?” Alan M. Dershowitz, LA Times (11/8/2001) Memorandum for John Rizzo, Acting Counsel for the CIA , DOJ Office of Legal Counsel (August 1, 2002) Possible Habeas Jurisdiction Over Aliens Held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba , Patrick Philbin & John Yoo (December 28 2001) Constitutionality of Amending Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to Change the "Purpose " Standard for Searches , John Yoo (9/25/2001) “ Why We’re Dismantling the ICC,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio (July 14, 2026) Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

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  Episode #1300

  The So-Called Insanity Defense Is Older (and Weirder) Than You Think

  Sep 28, 202653 min

  OA1300 - The “insanity defense” might sound like a relic of a time when mental illness was viewed through the lens of demons and witches, and it turns out it is… but also maybe it’s kind of woke? Jenessa walks us through the history of Old English and Early American iterations of the defense, various tests that are applied today, and what happens afterwards that most people don’t get to see. Cases and sources discussed: Chris Liberati-Conant “ It’s Time To Take ‘Hygiene’ out of the Mental Hygiene Law ” Legal Information Institute summary of insanity defenses NY Criminal Procedure Law § 330.20 “ Law and the Mental Health System ” Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

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  Episode #1299

  He Went to Prison for Bribing Susan Collins. She's... Totally Fine Somehow?

  Sep 25, 20261h 2m

  OA1299 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: what crimes might Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) have been complicit in, and why won't she ever be prosecuted for any of them? We go deeper into the law behind the facts exposed in ProPublica's outstanding investigation into her SuperPAC's coordination of illegal campaign contributions from a naval defense contractor. We then take a closer look at another damning investigation, this time of the Florida state-run immigration facility formerly known as "Alligator Alcatraz" from a surprising source: the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General. We already knew this place was an illegal black site polluting a delicate Everglades ecosystem on tribal lands, but this report documents something much worse. If a Trump loyalist is willing to put some of this stuff into writing how much worse must the truth be? Finally, in this week's footnote: yet another dismal milestone for AI in the law as a New Mexico attorney is forced to defend an appellate brief in which ChatGPT made up the law and the facts. Cases and sources discussed: “The FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins — Until Trump Got in the Way,” William Turton, Avi Asher-Schapiro, Molly Redden, and Kristen Berg, ProPublica (9/22/2026) Indictment in U.S. v. Kao et al (2/10/2022) “Unannounced Inspection of ICE’s Florida Soft-Sided Facility (“Alligator Alcatraz”) in Ochopee, Florida, ” Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (9/11/2026) In Re Stephen Aarons , New Mexico Supreme Court #S-1-SC-40845 Show Cause Hearing: State v. Sandoval , S-1-SC-40845 (8/21/2026) Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

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