Advisory Opinions
Advisory Opinions is a legal podcast by The Dispatch. Hosts David French and Sarah Isgur meet twice a week to talk about the law, the courts, their collision with politics, and why it all matters.
Episodes
June 30, 2026 • 74 mins
SCOTUS strikes down a Donald Trump executive order ending birthright citizenship, reshapes campaign finance law, and rules that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports teams. Sarah Isgur and David French discuss in a marathon end-of-term episode.
The Agenda”
–The pre-apology
–Trump v. Barbara
–Wow, we were wrong
–Et tu, Barrett? (No, not really)
&n...
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June 30, 2026 • 84 mins
Sarah Isgur and David French break down the latest Supreme Court opinions regarding unitary executive theory, mail-in voting, and the Fourth Amendment.
The Agenda:
—Unitary executive theory gets tested
—Dorm-room originalism
—Lisa Cook keeps her job
—Mail-in voting
—Text, history, and ...
—Geofence warrants
Show notes:
—Trump v. Slaughter
—Myers v. United States
—Hump...
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June 25, 2026 • 70 mins
Sarah Isgur and David French react to the latest opinions of the court in two major immigration cases and a review of Hawaii’s restrictions on concealed-carry permits.
The Agenda:
—The SCOTUS opinion day “ritual”
—Hawaii gun restrictions
—Shall not be infringed
—Border dispute over asylum seekers
—Judicial review of TPS
—Trump's “Muslim” ban
Show notes:
&mda...
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June 23, 2026 • 70 mins
Sarah Isgur and David French explain the various legal complications of the Iran MOU and react to the most recent opinions handed down by the Supreme Court.
The Agenda:
—Waiving Iranian sanctions
—Suing state employees personally
—International law in U.S. courts
—Cuban confiscation case
—Seizing homes over unpaid taxes
—The rights of green card holders
Show notes:
—Jack Goldsmith ...
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June 18, 2026 • 64 mins
Sarah Isgur and David French react to two new Supreme Court opinions on gun ownership while possessing illegal drugs and appeal waivers.
The Agenda:
—Drugs and the Second Amendment
—Rewriting Bruen
—Bad plea deals
—Overcharging crimes
—The Gorsuch-Kavanaugh dynamic
—The DOJ and the Hyde Amendment
Show notes:
—United States v. Hemani
—Hunter v. United States
Advisory Opinion...
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June 16, 2026 • 60 mins
Sarah Isgur and David French break down the most recent cert grants out of the Supreme Court's order list and Trump's argument for suspending habeas corpus.
The Agenda:
—Paid petitions vs. In Forma Pauperis
—Six-person juries in Florida
—Can undocumented immigrants be held indefinitely?
—New York Times reporting on Trump and habeas corpus
—Leaked memo fallout
—Lawyers using AI
—Geor...
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June 11, 2026 • 68 mins
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the three SCOTUS decisions that dropped Thursday morning, a D.C. Circuit decision on President Donald Trump's ban on transgender military members, and accommodations running rampant at law schools. Oh, and a federal judge charged with battery and destruction of physical property.
The Agenda:
–Sign up for the SCOTUSblog newsletter
–We are faced with the duddiest of duds
&nd...
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June 9, 2026 • 58 mins
Sarah Isgur and David French look at what’s left on the docket from this term before diving into a little Los Angeles mayoral politics.
The Agenda:
–Supreme Court bingo
–Do Rastafarians get religious exemptions?
–The mighty small-dollar donor
– United States v. Hemani
–Wolford v. Lopez
–Appearance of election corruption
–No, a GOP candidate did not have a chance to...
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June 4, 2026 • 57 mins
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the Supreme Court’s Alabama redistricting decision, a plea deal from the former national security adviser, and the best legal movies ever made.
The Agenda:
–June 4 Opinions
–Alabama’s new maps
–John Bolton pleads guilty
–Did the media actually get this right?
–Gender and the Supreme Court’s culture
–Favorite legal movies
&ndas...
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June 2, 2026 • 62 mins
Sarah Isgur and David French (he returns!) discuss the major Trump losses—Kennedy Center name change, motion on Trump v. IRS, and injunction on the slush fund—before reviewing scrutiny of the court and the swatting incident at Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s residence.
The Agenda:
–Sarah returns to the greatest state in the U-S-of-A
–Kicking Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center
–The F...
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May 28, 2026 • 77 mins
David Lat joins Sarah Isgur (see ya later, French) to discuss the three-judge panel overturning Alabama’s congressional maps, a new lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s slush fund, and a lying Judge.
The Agenda:
–No redistricting according to race
–Nonsense lawsuits
–Dragging courts into political fights
–Moving honey buns is interstate commerce
–Sanction more judges?
–Feel...
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May 26, 2026 • 70 mins
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss an anticlimactic dig from the Supreme Court over IQ tests and the death penalty and challenges to the $1.8 billion slush fund President Donald Trump created on weaponization, and they talk with NPR's Nina Totenberg about covering the Supreme Court.
The Agenda:
—Hamm v. Smith
—How many IQ tests does a person on death row need to take?
—Who can challenge the slush fund?
&mda...
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May 21, 2026 • 67 mins
Sarah Isgur and David French analyze President Donald Trump’s $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund through the lens of three legal “buckets,” and talk about how federal appropriations work and the Obama-era case that hangs over this legal issue. The two also discuss the Supreme Court’s latest cert grant on a Title IX case, plus the circuit split brewing over the First Amendment and judicial e...
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May 19, 2026 • 62 mins
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the IRS lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump, SCOTUS’s mifepristone decision, and a unanimous verdict from the justices that no one except Sarah cares about.
The Agenda:
–The 1,776 slush fund
–David’s ‘back in the day’ lawsuit against the Obama administration
–The Bivens brick wall
–Trump loses on the law but wins in the politics
&...
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May 14, 2026 • 57 mins
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the emergency docket ruling from SCOTUS on Alabama’s congressional maps, which broke down over three-justice ideological lines, Virginia’s filing (yes, they did file) at the Supreme Court, and a very special 2-1 9th Circuit panel opinion.
The Agenda:
–Remember Allen v. Milligan?
–Central, urban bonkerstown
–14th Amendment Equal Protection argument vs. Sect...
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May 12, 2026 • 67 mins
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the Virginia State Supreme Court striking down the state’s new congressional maps, Neal Katyal’s TED talk that we don’t want to talk about, and David plays a fun constitutional “Would You Rather” game.
The Agenda:–Virginia’s gerrymandering map is unlawful–The left can’t get mad at the right when the right tried the independent state legislat...
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May 7, 2026 • 58 mins
Welcome to Callais-a-palooza, where Sarah Isgur and David French discuss Louisiana v. Callais, the Supreme Court decision that struck down Lousiana's congressional map and allows Louisiana to draw a new map that will likely favor Republicans. The two read Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson's dissent, discussed whether the decision violates the Purcell principle, and answer listeners' questions about the decision.
The Agenda:—Sara...
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May 5, 2026 • 78 mins
Justice Samuel Alito allows medical companies to continue administering the abortion pill Mifepristone after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered for it to be dispensed only in person. Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the role of standing in judicial review and abortion access after Donald Trump’s presidency.The Agenda:–Court issues temporary order allowing access to abortion pill by mail–The 5th Circuit i...
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April 30, 2026 • 84 mins
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the decision in a racially challenged redistricting map case, weird indictments, and whether Israel is guilty of genocide.
The Agenda:–No one consulted the chief justice on flyovers–Reverse and Remand on First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. v. Davenport–Living in a post-Dobbs world–Supreme Court strikes down redistricting map challenged as racially discrimin...
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April 28, 2026 • 75 mins
The inimitable Lisa Blatt joins Sarah Isgur and David French to discuss the two business docket cases named Cox and Chevron, a message to the judges and justices who like concurrences, and advice for aspiring lawyers.
The Agenda:–We are launching a newsletter!–The 5th Circuit’s Ten Commandment Ruling–Ditch the coercion test–How to become Lisa Blatt–Does the internet always win?–Peak sexine...
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