The 5th Circuit Says You Have No Right to Clean Water
Opening Arguments
OA1295 - Today on Rapid Response Friday: your questions about the Lindsay Clancy mistrial, actual justice for the Tate brothers, Trump’s mystery meat, and the Fifth Circuit’s extremely normal holding that there is no cognizable Constitutional right to clean water and/or honest government. Finally, today’s footnote recognizes the 60th anniversary of the original Star Trek series with a five-minute mission to boldly go where no podcast has gone before: the strange new world of a poorly-drafted clause in creator Gene Roddenberry’s divorce settlement which was more trouble than a...
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Milo Yiannopoulos Lied About His Immigration Status (And We Can Prove It)
Opening Arguments
VR43 - Today on this special edition of Vapid Response: ICE boot enthusiast Milo Yiannopolous is not a particularly interesting person, but his recent unexpected removal to the UK makes for quite a teaching moment. Matt brings 20 years of instincts and experience as a deportation defense attorney to some of the more mysterious questions surrounding Yiannopolous’s recent encounter with the realities of immigration enforcement and ensuing swift removal to the UK. How did someone on an “extraordinary ability” visa (lol) who was married to a US citizen end up with a removal order? How did he...
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The First Openly Autistic Lawyer in Florida on What Law Firms Get Wrong
Opening Arguments
OA1294 - Haley Moss was the first openly autistic woman to practice law in Florida, and she is now an advocate for disability, autism, and neurodiversity in the workplace. She joins Matt and Thomas to discuss what law firm hiring managers need to know about autistic lawyers, why people in a profession which attracts neurodiversity are still so reluctant to disclose it, and the kinds of simple accommodations which can help lawyers on the spectrum thrive. , Haley Moss (2021) , Haley Moss (2024) Check out the OA for all the places to go and things to do!
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Most Lindsay Clancy Coverage Has the Law All Wrong
Opening Arguments
OA1293 - In this extra-special Rapid Response Friday, Thomas visits Boston to record live in Matt’s office and talk out two very different legal stories in the news that the media aren’t quite getting right this week. THE TRIAL OF LINDSAY CLANCY: Why were the defense and the prosecution both talking past each other in their closing arguments, and what is everyone missing about why Massachusetts law makes it nearly impossible for Clancy to present the defense that most people seem to believe that she is putting on? THE DEPORTATION OF MILO YIANNOPOLOUS: How did a white British man who...
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ICE Went Undercover To Expose a Vast Antifa "Conspiracy"
Opening Arguments
Hey folks, no VR this week because Lydia and I are traveling. (We're in Boston, going to record RRF live together with Matt!) But folks NEED to hear this episode of Gavel Gavel we did. It's so absurd. Gavel Gavel Episode 83: Thomas, Lydia, and Matt dig into a newly released federal indictment out of Minneapolis, where ICE's undercover operation, officially named Operation Puppet Master, has charged roughly 15 protesters under the same statute as the sandwich guy. The conspiracy map names a boxing club, a bike club, and some of the largest unions in America. The overt acts include renting a...
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Supreme Court Says Why Prevent Trump Violating the Constitution Before It Even Happens?
Opening Arguments
OA1292 - Jenessa takes us through the Supreme Court's 6-3 shadow docket ruling in Trump v. California, which lifted a preliminary injunction blocking Trump's executive order directing the U.S. Postal Service to gatekeep mail-in ballot delivery before the midterms. Is this a procedural technicality or a five-alarm fire for November? And what does it mean that the Postal Service published its final rule on a Friday night, in apparent violation of an injunction, right before the Court's Monday ruling? Jenessa walks through the chaotic docket, Judge Talwani's genius pivot, and why Justice...
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Meta Must Pay, Bannon's Judge Pushes Back, and a Dolly Parton Shoutout from the Bench
Opening Arguments
OA1291 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: the single biggest consumer protection settlement ever reached with any U.S. company puts new guardrails on younger social media users, a federal judge refuses to let Steve Bannon off the hook just because DOJ asked him to, an under-the-radar example of ICE’s determination to get around federal court orders, and Trump’s new war on how law schools are accredited. Finally in today’s footnote, we honor absolute legend Dolly Parton with a cosmic coincidence: a special shoutout in a federal judicial decision published on the day we lost her. in...
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Stephen Miller's America First Legal Has a YouTube Show (and it sucks real bad)
Opening Arguments
VR42 - Thomas, Matt, and Lydia take a long, hard look at America First Legal's podcast "The Arena," hosted by Gene Hamilton, Stephen Miller's longtime ally. AFL runs a segment called "Bad Legal Takes," complete with the silliest jingle for a fascist outlet anyone has ever heard. Also none of the takes are even takes. And they aren't bad. Nor legal. Check out the OA for all the places to go and things to do!
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A Mayor Declared a State of Emergency to Save Flock Cameras
Opening Arguments
OA1290 - Jenessa returns with a surveillance grab bag: a New York mayor declares a bizarre "emergency" to keep her city's Flock cameras running after the city council said no, and a state lawsuit arguing license plate readers are flatly unconstitutional, no federal court needed. Plus a federal bill that could make biased AI hiring and healthcare tools very expensive, and the surprisingly deadly reason some camera poles might already be illegal. Cases discussed: Check out the OA for all the places to go and things to do!
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Trump Messed With the Mouse. Now He Gets the Ears.
Opening Arguments
OA1289 - Is Disney/ABC’s bold new legal action against the Trump administration one of the most important First Amendment challenges of our lifetimes, or just another Mickey Mouse operation? Matt explains. Also an explainer on the legally questionable end of Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador, a new ICE purchase that will truly shock you, and a footnote on how the lawyer who put himself in a fancy Star Wars-themed Superbowl ad turned to the Dark Side. noting that ABC is under investigation for violations of FCC rules and “discriminatory” hiring (4/28/2026) , filed...
info_outlineOA1271 - The single stupidest war of choice the U.S. has ever gotten itself into may finally be coming to an end--or at least the concept of a plan for an end? We go beyond the headlines to see what is actually in this thing, and take on some of the most interesting legal questions raised here. How could this possibly bind Israel, a country which specifically refused to be a party to it? How is the U.S. promising a $300 billion investment which hasn’t been authorized by Congress? And how much power does the President of the United States really have to end Congressional and international sanctions? We then take a quick look at how DHS’s surveillance state is coming along before going deeper on the recent denial of Judge Hannah Dugan’s final effort to vacate her conviction for allegedly obstructing an ICE arrest in her Wisconsin courtroom before sentencing.
Finally, a quick hoofnote: is it really possible to accidentally purchase 80,000 pounds of live cattle? Matt reveals the truth behind this week’s funniest legal meme.
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Full text of U.S./Iran agreement signed June 18, 2026
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“Missing children: Mullin describes 'horrific’ migrant child smuggling scheme under Biden admin,”News 3 Las Vegas on YouTube (6/12/2026)
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Management Alert - ICE Cannot Monitor All Unaccompanied Migrant Children Released from DHS and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Custody, Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General (8/19/2024)
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“Has the US government found 145,000 ‘lost’ migrant children? Fact-checking Kristi Noem,” Politifact via the Minnesota Reformer (3/9/2026)
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ICE agent calls legal observer 'domestic terrorist', Ken Klippenstein via Breakthrough News on YouTube (1/24/2026)
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'There is no database for protestors,' acting ICE director tells Congress, PBS NewsHour on YouTube (2/10/2026)
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Acting ICE director Todd Lyons’ response to a letter from Congressman Maxwell Frost (D-FL), accessed through NPR (4/21/2026)
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Mission Creep: AI Surveillance at DHS Crosses Dangerous Line Into Tracking Americans, American Immigration Council (2/6/2026)
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Declaration of Nicole Cleland in Tincher v. Noem, Minnesota District Court (1/21/2026)
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“ICE has spun a massive surveillance web. We talked to people caught in it,” NPR (3/5/2026)
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Decision and Order in United States of America v. Dugan, Eastern District of Wisconsin (6/16/2026)
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“Livestock,” CME Group (standard settlement procedures)
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