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5-4

Prologue Projects redcircle.com

5-4 is a podcast about how much the Supreme Court sucks. Hosted by Peter Shamshiri, Rhiannon Hamam, and Michael Liroff, it's a progressive and occasionally profane take on the ideological battles at the heart of the Court's most important landmark cases and an irreverent tour of all the ways in which the law is shaped by politics.

Subscribe to our premium episodes & much more at fivefourpod.com/support

5-4 is a production of Prologue Projects.

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Episodes

Palestine Legal: "The Great Difference a Movement Lawyer Can Make" [TEASER]

We're back with another episode of Rhiannon's movement lawyering series! In this episode, Rhiannon talks with Palestine Legal's senior staff attorney Radhika Sainath and staff attorney Dylan Saba about their mission to protect Palestinian activists from harassment, and the power of intersectional liberation movements. The full version of this premium episode is currently available exclusively to our subscribers. To join, visit https://www.fivefourpod.com/support. 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue ...

Mar 31, 20235 min

5-4 x Bloc Party: Michael on How the Dems Flopped on Debt Relief

Breaking news! It's not just the Supreme Court that sucks - it's ALSO the executive and legislative branches! This week we're sharing Michael's appearance on Bloc Party, talking about how oral arguments went down in the SCOTUS cases that could make or break Biden’s student loan cancellation initiative. Eleni Schirmer from the Debt Collective also joins in, to cringe at Roberts’ lawnmower commentary and reflect on the way Biden is (or more notably…is not) exercising his executive authority. Bloc ...

Mar 28, 20231 hr 7 min

Boyle v. United Technologies Corporation

What does a military contractor have in common with Justice Antonin Scalia? They both manufacture things! The contractor manufactures helicopters with faulty escape hatches. Scalia manufactures, out of whole cloth, new laws about who can be held liable for deaths. Neither of them care if you live or die, as long as the designs are to spec! 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh and Andrew Parsons provide editorial support. Our production manager is Pe...

Mar 21, 202346 min

"When I say EMPTY you say SKULL" - Live in Austin [TEASER]

Recorded live at Stateside at the Paramount! Join us as we skewer Texas judges (not literally!), teach a robot to argue before the Supreme Court, and answer the question that has haunted this podcast from the very beginning: Who IS Leon Neyfakh? The full version of this premium episode is available exclusively to our subscribers. To join, visit https://www.fivefourpod.com/support. 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh and Andrew Parsons provide edito...

Mar 14, 20236 min

5-4 Presents: Unreformed - "The Lucky Ones"

This week, 5-4 invites you to check out an episode of Unreformed: the Story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children, hosted by friend-of-the-pod Josie Duffy Rice. In 1968, police arrested five Black girls dressed in oversized military fatigues in Montgomery. The girls were runaways, escaping from a state-run reform school called the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children in Mount Meigs, Alabama. The girls were determined to tell someone about the abuse they’d suffered there: ph...

Mar 07, 202341 min

In re Gault with Josie Duffy Rice

It's not easy being a kid. Especially when the state thinks you don't have any constitutional rights. Thank goodness for this week's case, In re Gault, where the Court decides you can have a little rights, as a treat. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To get exclusive Premium-only episodes, discounts on merch, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support. 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Ne...

Feb 28, 202354 min

Prosecutorial Immunity, or "FTP" Means Prosecutors Too [TEASER]

You know and hate qualified immunity, which allows cops to get away with murder. Now meet prosecutorial immunity, the judge-made doctrine that allows prosecutors to get away with the death penalty. Prosecutorial immunity shields prosecutors from the consequences of their actions - whether it's putting witnesses they know are lying on the stand, withholding exculpatory evidence, or retaliating against you for refusing a plea. APAB. The full version of this premium episode is available exclusively...

Feb 21, 20235 min

Connick v. Thompson Encore

What is the greater crime? Missing a recording and pushing an episode back by a week … or using the full power of the state to prosecute a man for something he did not do, confining him in solitary as he awaits execution, and then appealing the remedy that he is awarded when exculpatory evidence (that the prosecution probably hid from the defense) resurfaces? Anyway, here's an encore of Connick v. Thompson to help you get hype for next week's Premium episode about prosecutorial immunity. If you'...

Feb 14, 20231 hr

"Jones Day Made Trump" - Live at Harvard Law with David Enrich

Recorded live at Harvard Law School's Corporate Capture of the Legal System conference, we're talking about Jones Day. The law firm jumps into bed with all manner of villains with the justification that "everyone deserves representation." But as David Enrich, business investigations editor at The New York Times writes in his new book “Servants of the Damned: Giant Law Firms, Donald Trump, and the Corruption of Justice," what Jones Day actually does goes far beyond "representation." If you're not...

Feb 07, 20231 hr 10 min

Korematsu v. United States

In this case from 1944 the Court decides that arresting someone on "suspicion of being Japanese" and putting them in a concentration camp is not racially motivated. And while we're at it, don't call it a "concentration camp," that makes the justices feel icky. 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh and Andrew Parsons provide editorial support. Our production manager is Percia Verlin. Our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Bl...

Jan 31, 202343 min

Your Questions Answered [TEASER]

Here at 5-4 HQ we get a lot of questions. And while we can't answer the ones from our parents, about what we're doing with our lives, we CAN answer your questions about the law. The full version of this premium episode is available exclusively to our subscribers. To join, visit https://www.fivefourpod.com/support. 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh and Andrew Parsons provide editorial support. Our production manager is Percia Verlin, and our assis...

Jan 24, 20235 min

Giles v. Harris

Don't get it twisted: "the point" whizzing high over the heads of Supreme Court justices is a tradition as old as the Court itself. This case, where the Court holds that it cannot declare discriminatory voter registration unconstitutional because that would "legitimize it," proves our case. Tickets are selling fast for our Austin live show on Friday, February 24th! Get yours here: https://tickets.austintheatre.org/9063/9064 You know who already knew about the live show tickets? 5-4 Premium membe...

Jan 17, 202339 min

McDonnell v. United States

The dictionary defines "quid pro quo" as "when a businessman walks up to a Congressman in the Capitol and hands him a check with the words 'bribe for doing a favor for me' written on the memo line." Nothing else constitutes bribery. It is so ordered. We've got an upcoming premium episode answering your questions. If you're dying to know something about the Court, this term, the show, cases, or the hosts, submit your question here! https://forms.gle/yaJrQs3cKhYmnVhs6 And to attend our Austin live...

Jan 10, 202350 min

5-4 Presents: If Books Could Kill - "Outliers"

This week, 5-4 invites you to check out an episode of If Books Could Kill, featuring Michael Hobbes, of Maintenance Phase , and 5-4 's own Peter. If Books Could Kill deconstructs the airport bestsellers that captured our hearts and ruined our minds. From The Game to Freakonomics , if an idea is bad enough, someone has written a book about it, and Peter and Michael are here to rip it to shreds. If you like the show, you can find more wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/...

Dec 27, 202252 min

The 2022 Five Four Giving Guide: More Ways to Help

We spend the better part of the year bumming you out about the many ways the law fails to actually provide justice. Thankfully, there are organizations that provide mutual aid and support to right some of the wrongs committed by our judiciary. Here are some of our favorite orgs that are offering healing, advocacy and care, to build the future that we want. https://reprolegaldefensefund.org/ https://bailproject.org/ https://www.thetrevorproject.org/ https://ysrp.org/ https://www.raicestexas.org h...

Dec 20, 202220 min

The Pelican Brief

For some strange reason, there aren't many thrillers about the Supreme Court. The Pelican Brief remedies this obvious oversight by Hollywood. If you'd like to option 5-4 for film and television, we're all ears. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To get exclusive Premium-only episodes, discounts on merch, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support. 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh a...

Dec 13, 202255 min

Sonia Sotomayor [TEASER]

Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor is undoubtedly one of our faves. But "no robes, no masters" still applies. The full version of this premium episode is available exclusively to our Patreon supporters. To join, visit www.patreon.com/fivefourpod . 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh and Andrew Parsons provide editorial support. Our production manager is Percia Verlin, and our assistant producer is Arlene Arevalo. Our website was designed by Peter Mu...

Dec 06, 20225 min

Glossip v. Gross

This episode contains graphic depictions of an execution. Please take care while listening. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To get exclusive Premium-only episodes, discounts on merch, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support. 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh and Andrew Parsons provide editorial support. Our production manager is Percia Verlin, and our assistant producer is Arl...

Nov 22, 202248 min

Utah v. Strieff

The Fourth Amendment protects you from unreasonable search and seizure by the government. Unless the government wants to unreasonably search and/or seize. In that case, the Supreme Court says "go for it babes!" If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To get exclusive Premium-only episodes, discounts on merch, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support.] 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh ...

Nov 15, 202244 min

Public Defenders: "Incarceration Doesn't Make Us Safe" [TEASER]

The full version of this episode is available now to our 5-4 Premium supporters. To join, visit www.fivefourpod.com/support 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh and Andrew Parsons provide editorial support. Our production manager is Percia Verlin, and our assistant producer is Arlene Arevalo. Our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Follow Peter (@The_Law_Boy), ...

Nov 11, 20227 min

Samuel Alito [TEASER]

Justice Samuel Alito is deeply contemptuous of those who don't share his worldview, where abortion is murder, and the cops can do whatever they want, and Jesus would have ruled against the FEC in Citizens United. If hell is real, plan to see Alito there. The full version of this premium episode is available exclusively to our Patreon supporters. To join, visit www.patreon.com/fivefourpod . 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh and Andrew Parsons prov...

Nov 08, 20224 min

Bowers v. Hardwick

This episode quotes outdated language about homosexuality that maybe painful to hear. Please take care while listening. If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're not hearing every episode! To get exclusive Premium-only episodes, discounts on merch, access to our Slack community, and more, join at fivefourpod.com/support. 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh and Andrew Parsons provide editorial support. Our production manager is Percia Verlin, and o...

Nov 01, 202245 min

Independent State Legislature Theory

The first time the Supreme Court flirted with Independent State Legislature doctrine, George W. Bush wound up in the presidency. Next time, if conservatives on the court get their way in an upcoming case, your vote - depending on where you live - could lose all meaning. You can now get 5-4 Premium on Spotify by visiting our website fivefourpod.com/support. There, you can sign up to join 5-4 Premium, which allows you to support the show, get access to bonus episodes, membership in our slack chann...

Oct 25, 202253 min

Rhiannon Resigned and Peter Got Fired [TEASER]

The hosts have some ~personal~ news. The full version of this premium episode is available exclusively to our Patreon supporters. To join, visit https://www.fivefourpod.com/support/ Follow Peter (@The_Law_Boy), Rhiannon (@AywaRhiannon) and Michael (@_FleerUltra) on Twitter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Our Sponsors: * Check out Mint Mobile and use my code mintmobile.com/FIVEFOUR for a great deal: https://www.mintmobile.com * Check out Quince and use my code quince...

Oct 21, 20223 min

Legal Discourse and Our Discontents [TEASER]

The state of legal discourse is bad. There's an entire ecosystem of talkers that need the Court to exist so they have something to talk about. Which naturally warps the way they talk about the Court. But the Court's blatant political maneuvering over the last term is impossible to ignore - and it looks like there may be a shift happening in the ecosystem. The full version of this premium episode is available exclusively to our Patreon supporters. To join, visit https://www.fivefourpod.com/suppor...

Oct 18, 20226 min

Tanner v. United States

Fun party idea: convene 11 strangers, get zooted at lunch, deal some weed, do a little coke in the bathroom of a courthouse, then determine whether or not you're going to put a human in a cage for a substantial chunk of their life. 5 to 4 is presented by Prologue Projects. Rachel Ward is our producer. Leon Neyfakh and Andrew Parsons provide editorial support. Our production manager is Percia Verlin, and our assistant producer is Arlene Arevalo. Our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwo...

Oct 11, 202247 min

2022-2023 Supreme Court Term Preview

Having accomplished their big goals of overturning Roe and giving a praying football coach back a job he never actually lost and apparently does not want to anymore, conservatives are now looking to the next Supreme Court term. This year, as part of their continued campaign to prove that racism does not exist, they'll try to eliminate affirmative action and federal Indian Law. Follow Peter (@The_Law_Boy), Rhiannon (@AywaRhiannon) and Michael (@_FleerUltra) on Twitter. If you're not a Patreon mem...

Oct 04, 202250 min

Ketanji Brown Jackson [TEASER]

The Supreme Court term begins next week and for the first time in American history, a Black woman will sit among the justices. Here's everything you need to know about Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's background, judicial philosophy, and approach to haters. The full version of this premium episode is available exclusively to our Patreon supporters. To join, visit www.patreon.com/fivefourpod Follow Peter (@The_Law_Boy), Rhiannon (@AywaRhiannon) and Michael (@_FleerUltra) on Twitter. Hosted on Acas...

Sep 27, 20225 min

Minor v. Happersett

Welcome to citizenship in the United States of America - you knew that you weren't guaranteed to get health care, housing, economic security, or education … but did you know that you ALSO aren't guaranteed the right to vote?! Follow Peter (@The_Law_Boy), Rhiannon (@AywaRhiannon) and Michael (@_FleerUltra) on Twitter. If you're not a Patreon member, you're not hearing every episode! To get exclusive Patreon-only episodes, discounts on merch, access to our Slack community, and more, join at patreo...

Sep 20, 202245 min

Vega v. Tekoh

Cops have to read you your Miranda rights. If they don't … nothing happens, according to this recent Supreme Court ruling. Probably nothing to worry about here. Follow Peter (@The_Law_Boy), Rhiannon (@AywaRhiannon) and Michael (@_FleerUltra) on Twitter. If you're not a Patreon member, you're not hearing every episode! To get exclusive Patreon-only episodes, discounts on merch, access to our Slack community, and more, join at patreon.com/fivefourpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...

Sep 13, 202240 min
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