Divided Argument - podcast cover

Divided Argument

Will Baude, Dan Eppsdividedargument.com
An unscheduled, unpredictable Supreme Court podcast. Hosted by Will Baude and Dan Epps.

Episodes

Map Guy

We recap some shadow docket happenings and catch up on the latest SCOTUS ethics news before continuing our march through June opinions we missed. This time, we dive back into Indian law in Arizona v. Navajo Nation and try to make sense of private causes of action and the so-called Spending Clause in Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County v. Talevski . Along the way, Will reveals his closet cartographical interests....

Aug 09, 20231 hr 10 minSeason 3Ep. 23

Triple Threat

What could be more unscheduled and unpredictable than our fourth episode in little more than a week? We briefly discuss the latest developments in the Mountain Valley Pipeline shadow docket dispute, and then revisit ethics controversies. Then, we continue marching through the June cases we missed. We talk about the First Amendment's "true threats" exception in Counterman v. United States , and then ponder the two student loan cases , Biden v. Nebraska and Department of Education v. Brown ....

Jul 31, 20231 hr 6 minSeason 3Ep. 22

Dishonorable Tradition

We defy all predictions by releasing a third episode in a week. This time, we talk about the intersection of public accommodations law and the First Amendment in 303 Creative and the Confrontation Clause in Samia v. United States .

Jul 27, 20231 hr 14 minSeason 3Ep. 21

Peak SG

In the spirit of keeping things unpredictable, we're back with a new episode barely days after the last one. This time, we take a deep dive into two jurisdiction-y cases in the Divided Argument wheelhouse: Jones v. Hendrix and Moore v. Harper .

Jul 24, 20232 hr 53 minSeason 3Ep. 20

My Despised World

After some inevitable self-flagellation for our lengthy hiatus, we catch up on some recent news and debate SCOTUS ethics. We then talk about implications of the Harvard/UNC affirmative action case , revisit Mallory v. Norfolk Southern , and break down the latest case captioned " United States v. Texas ."...

Jul 21, 20232 hr 55 minSeason 3Ep. 19

Demokratia

We record our first inter-continental episode, as Will reports in from a visit to Tel Aviv. We then dive in to two of this month's opinions: Haaland v. Brackeen , which rejects a series of challenges to the Indian Child Welfare Act, and United States v. Hanse n, which upholds a federal immigration law against a free speech overbreadth challenge....

Jun 28, 20232 hr 34 minSeason 3Ep. 18

Justified True Belief

We discuss a recent effort to identify the least interesting SCOTUS case, and then discuss Tyler v. Hennepin County , United States ex rel. Schutte v. Supervalu Inc. , and Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. Teamsters ....

Jun 05, 20231 hr 9 minSeason 3Ep. 17

Pale Fire

We debate Justice Gorsuch's unusual "statement" in Arizona v. Mayorkas . Then, we don't let our complete lack of knowledge of intellectual property law stop us in trying to make sense of Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith , the big copyright throw-down between Justices Sotomayor and Kagan.

May 24, 20231 hr 11 minSeason 3Ep. 16

Break the Fourth Wall

After catching up on news and bemoaning some listener feedback, we look at some opinions that the Court dropped last week. We take a deep dive into National Pork Producers Council v. Ross and briefly discuss the two fraud cases, Percoco and Ciminelli .

May 18, 20231 hrSeason 3Ep. 15

Provocative Subtitle

We talk (and argue) with special guest Steve Vladeck about his new book, The Shadow Docket, just published by Basic Books. Steve explains why it is important to educate the public about the Court's use of unsigned and sometimes unexplained orders, and how it is changing. Will and Dan press him on whether his criticisms go too far . . . or not far enough.

May 16, 202354 minSeason 3Ep. 14

Creator of the Stars of Night

We cover many developments -- Justice Alito's unusual interview in the Wall Street Journal, the release of Justice Stevens' papers, more news on Supreme Court ethics, as well as a new cert. grant on the Chevron doctrine, the mifepristone shadow-docket ruling, and still more jurisdictional news in Moore v. Harper. But first -- an anonymous caller drops a new voicemail song.

May 06, 20231 hr 12 minSeason 3Ep. 13

Best Suits

We revisit a story about Justice Scalia from last episode and then discuss recent allegations about Justice Thomas's financial disclosures, and Supreme Court ethics more broadly. We also briefly turn to two recent merits opinions -- Türkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States and Reed v. Goertz .

Apr 24, 202350 minSeason 3Ep. 12

A Chanting of Morrison v. Olson

We spend most of our time on some meaty opinions on the orders list -- including separate opinions in Chapman v. Doe ( starting at 25:41 ) and Donziger v. United States ( starting at 35:15 ) -- and touch on the recent merits opinions. But first, we have an extended revisit of Cruz v. Arizona, which proves far more mysterious than we first realized....

Apr 03, 20231 hr 1 minSeason 3Ep. 11

Mr. Jurisdiction

We're back to break down two of the Supreme Court's recent 5-4 opinions— Bittner v. United States , about penalties under the Bank Secrecy Act, and Cruz v. Arizona , a death penalty case about state procedures and federal jurisdiction. But first, we take a brief look back at the oral arguments in the student loan case, and a new order and jurisdictional developments in Moore v. Harper (the independent state legislature case)....

Mar 06, 20231 hr 9 minSeason 3Ep. 10

Least Incorrect

We're live at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis! After a check-in with our most faithful corrector, Prof. Ron Levin, we take a deep dive into the two upcoming cases about the legality of President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan. Will explains his theory of why the challengers should lose because they lack standing—but also predicts that the Court is unlikely to agree.

Feb 18, 20231 hr 5 minSeason 3Ep. 9

Marching Orders

We revisit the leak investigation, catch up on recent news, and then take a deep dive into the recent dispute in United States v. Texas ( starting at 37:56 ) over the scope of courts' power to vacate administrative rules and the related controversy over so-called "nationwide" injunctions.

Feb 11, 20231 hr 2 minSeason 3Ep. 8

Soft Target

We're back sooner than expected to talk about the Court's release of the Marshal's report about the investigation of the Dobbs leak!

Jan 21, 202348 minSeason 3Ep. 7

Expanded Universe

We catch up on some odds and ends, take a long detour through a debate about the merits of the Star Wars trilogies, and then dig into Türkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States ( starting at 38:10 ), an interesting case about the scope of foreign sovereign immunity being heard in the January sitting.

Jan 14, 20231 hr 16 minSeason 3Ep. 6

Unpersuasive Scholar Trolling

We talk through the implications of the story about an alleged leak in the Hobby Lobby case, respond to a mysterious voicemail, and then break down two interesting federal criminal fraud cases, Cimenelli v. United States and Percoco v. United States .

Nov 24, 20221 hr 19 minSeason 3Ep. 5

Relentless Personal Attacks

In this mega-episode, we catch up on the orders list, circle back to Mallory, which we talked about last episode, and the dive into oral arguments in the affirmative action cases.

Nov 14, 20221 hr 25 minSeason 3Ep. 4

For Liberty and not for Fascism

We check in on some Court-related news and developments and Dan gives Will a hard time for his recent bold claim about the conservative justices. We then dig deep into Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co. , a fascinating personal jurisdiction case being argued in the November sitting.

Nov 02, 20221 hr 1 minSeason 3Ep. 3

Horse Sausage

We provided an extended preview of the arguments in one of the October cases, National Pork Producers Council v. Ross, which takes us into a long discussion of the "dormant" Commerce Clause and extraterritorial regulation. But first we discuss some statements from Justice Alito and Ginni Thomas, the newest circuit justice assignment, and some updates from last episode.

Oct 02, 20221 hr 4 minSeason 3Ep. 2

Maoist Takeover

We open Season 3 with a live show at William and Mary Law School, part of the Scalia-Ginsburg Collegiality Speaker Series. With our first-ever guest, we discuss the limits of friendship and offer advice on civil disagreement. But first we break down the Supreme Court's ruling on an important stay application from Yeshiva University.

Sep 19, 20221 hr 4 minSeason 3Ep. 1

I Say "Timbre"

We catch up on listener questions and feedback (both positive and negative), and then spend a while on the neglected case of Vega v. Tekoh, about the intersection of remedies and Miranda. We also discuss Kennedy v. Bremerton, the case of the praying football coach. Unfortunately, Will recorded all of this into the wrong microphone.

Jul 30, 20221 hr 24 minSeason 2Ep. 14

Settling of Scores

We reflect on the Supreme Court term as a whole, and the direction and politics of the Court. We focus on West Virginia v. EPA, which canonized the "major questions" doctrine, and the upcoming case of Moore v. Harper, which confronts the "independent state legislature doctrine."

Jul 10, 20221 hr 21 minSeason 2Ep. 13

Character Sketches

In our longest episode yet, we break down two massively consequential cases: Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen .

Jun 28, 20222 hr 57 minSeason 2Ep. 12

COBRA

We try to catch up after the Court's big opinion dump this week, and end up focusing on Ysleta del Sur Pueblo v. Texas , Denezpi v. United States , Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana , and the DIG in Arizona v. San Francisco . Come for the legal analysis, stay for the health insurance advice.

Jun 19, 20221 hr 29 minSeason 2Ep. 11

SMUGLER

We're back to talk about Wednesday's decision in Egbert v. Boule and the problem of constitutional remedies. But first we catch up on the Court's pace of opinions, the leak investigation, the attempted attack on Justice Kavanaugh, and Puerto Rico (United States v. Vaello-Madero).

Jun 11, 20221 hr 22 minSeason 2Ep. 10

Marshal Law

We're back to talk about the big news: the draft of Justice Alito's opinion in Dobbs, and the questions that surround it -- how and why this might have happened, what it means for the Court, and what the Court can do about it.

May 05, 20221 hr 1 minSeason 2Ep. 9

Hoosiers

We try to clear our backlog after a break. We manage to make it through United States v. Tsarnaev, Ramirez v. Collier, and a few other odds and ends.

Apr 03, 20221 hr 8 minSeason 2Ep. 8