Strict Scrutiny
Strict Scrutiny is a podcast about the United States Supreme Court and the legal culture that surrounds it. Hosted by three badass constitutional law professors-- Leah Litman, Kate Shaw, and Melissa Murray-- Strict Scrutiny provides in-depth, accessible, and irreverent analysis of the Supreme Court and its cases, culture, and personalities. Each week, Leah, Kate, and Melissa break down the latest headlines and biggest legal questions facing our country, emphasizing what it all means for our daily lives. Whether you’re a lawyer or law student, or you’re just here for the messy legal drama, Strict Scrutiny has you covered. New episodes out every Monday… plus bonuses whenever SCOTUS takes away another one of our rights.
Episodes
Alex digs into the destruction of due process and rule of law under the Trump administration. First, she hears from Judge Anam Petit, a recently fired immigration judge who explains how the legal system is being quietly dismantled to prioritize deportations. Then, Alex speaks to Andrew Weissmann, former lead prosecutor in Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office, about whether our system is forever changed, and what it’s like to b...
It’s that time of year when Leah, Melissa, and Kate put on their influencer hats and recommend the things that made their days a little brighter in 2025. This year, they’re joined by two special guests: rockstar Strict Scrutiny intern Jordan Thomas to share some of his picks, and former Chair of the Federal Election Commission Ellen Weintraub to discuss two of democracy’s favorite things—independent agencies and the regulation of m...
Leah, Kate, and Melissa recap the oral argument in Trump v. Slaughter, a case that could nuke the administrative state as we know it by giving Trump broad leeway to fire heads of independent agencies. They also cover the other arguments in cases involving campaign finance and the death penalty, and various and sundry bits of legal news including the antics of Judge Emil Bove and Trump’s ongoing game of U.S. attorney musical chairs.
...
Kate, Melissa, and Leah are joined by Professor Rebecca Ingber of Cardozo Law to break down the blatant illegality of the administration’s murders of alleged “narcoterrorists” in the waters off South America. Then they dive into last week’s oral arguments, which featured cases involving “crisis pregnancy centers,” asylum claims, and whether internet providers are responsible for their users’ copyright violations.
Favorite things:
In this emergency episode, Leah, Melissa and Kate break down the Supreme Court’s shadow docket order allowing Texas to use racist and Republican-skewed district maps in next year’s midterms.
Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!
- 3/6/26 – San Francisco
- 3/7/26 – Los Angeles
Learn more: http://crooked.com/events
Order your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Cons...
Kate, Leah, and Melissa kick off the show by speaking with New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin about First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Platkin, whose wonky exterior masks an under-the-radar abortion case. Then they preview the rest of December’s oral arguments, which include cases about the future of the administrative state as we know it, campaign finance, and judicial review of asylum cases. Finally, some legal ne...
Leah, Melissa, and Kate dive into the raging legal battles over redistricting ahead of next year’s midterms, Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan’s massive oopsies in her prosecution of James Comey, developments with L’Affaire Epstein, and other assorted legal quagmires and outrages from the Trump administration. Then, Kate chats with University of Minnesota Law Professor Jill Hasday about her book We the Men: How Forgetting Wome...
Kate and Leah run through the latest legal news, including updates on the SNAP benefits case, the email dump that revealed Jeffrey Epstein's deep ties to the establishment, and the political persecution of Representative LaMonica McIver. Then they catch up on the past couple weeks of oral arguments at the Supreme Court, which featured bad signs for a prisoner seeking damages after a flagrant violation of his religious rights, some ...
Live from Crooked Con in Washington, Leah, Kate, and Melissa unpack the surprisingly not-awful oral arguments for Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, which put the president's tariffs in the hot seat. Then the hosts are joined by Representative LaMonica McIver of New Jersey to discuss the bogus charges against her for “assaulting” federal agents while conducting an oversight visit of an ICE detention center. Finally, friend of the p...
Kate, Leah, and Melissa dive into the legal pushback over ICE and the National Guard in Chicago and Portland, anti-marriage equality goblin Kim Davis’s unwelcome return to the courts, the administration’s lawless strikes on boats in the waters around South America, and the specter of Trump 3.0. Then, they preview November’s SCOTUS cases, including Learning Resources v. Trump, which challenges Trump’s authority to impose tariffs und...
Kate and Leah dig into a very busy week of legal news as Trump wields his SCOTUS-enabled executive power in increasingly unhinged ways. They also discuss continuing challenges to the president’s deployment of the National Guard in blue cities, ProPublica’s reporting on “Kavanaugh stops,” and, for dessert, the bonkers text exchange between Trump lackey–turned–U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan and Lawfare’s Anna Bower. Then they speak w...
Leah, Kate, and Melissa break down last week’s agonizing two-and-a-half-hour oral argument in Louisiana v. Callais, a case that could see the already weakened Voting Rights Act gutted even further. They highlight the themes that emerged and dig into the case’s broader context with Sam Spital, Associate Director-Counsel at the Legal Defense Fund, then recap the week’s other arguments and the latest legal news. Finally, Leah talks wi...
Leah, Melissa, and Kate are back in business, breaking down this term’s first week of arguments at SCOTUS, including a challenge to Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy for minors. Also covered: the indictment of New York’s Attorney General Letitia James, the continuing legal fights against Trump’s efforts to send the National Guard into Portland and Chicago, and Attorney General Pamela Jo Bondi’s pugnacious testimony before the Se...
Kate, Leah, and Melissa preview what fresh hell SCOTUS has in store for us this term, including challenges to the Fourteenth Amendment and the Court’s continued obsession with fighting the culture wars. Then, after breaking down the latest legal news, the hosts welcome Lieutenant Governor of Illinois–and Senate candidate–Juliana Stratton to discuss Trump’s plan to deploy the National Guard to Chicago, how state and local government...
Leah and Kate dive into the week’s legal news, explaining how SCOTUS continues to carry water for the Trump administration. They also cover an epic slapdown of the Roberts Court out of Hawaii, Sam Alito’s Italian sojourn, and the DOJ’s refusal to investigate the wads of cash lining border czar Tom Homan’s pockets. Then all three hosts are joined by special guests Sherrilyn Ifill, founding director of the 14th Amendment Center for L...
Leah is joined by guest co-host Skye Perryman, president & CEO of Democracy Forward, to discuss the week’s news, including the continued pushback on the shadow docket from the lower courts and Trump’s boundless abuse of Article II. Then Kate, Melissa, and Leah — along with special guest Sherrilyn Ifill — take a look at the impact of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, three years into her time on the Supreme Court.
Favorite things:
- Sk...
Our fearless hosts continue to slog through this sh*tty shadow docket summer, covering an order from the Court okaying racial profiling by ICE officers, some ominous administrative stays, Amy Coney Barrett’s ongoing press tour through right wing media, and the lower courts’ continuing frustrations with this Supreme Court. Then, Leah and Kate speak with special guest Symone Sanders Townsend, co-host of MSNBC’s The Weeknight, about h...
Kate, Leah, and Melissa break down how the lower courts are challenging the Trump administration and expressing their frustration with SCOTUS. Then, they check in with two members of the supermajority: Brett Kavanaugh, who’s touting a shiny new shadow docket rebrand, and Amy Coney Barrett as she commences her cursèd book tour. Finally, the hosts speak with Yale Law professor Justin Driver about his book, The Fall of Affirmative Act...
The gang is back together as Melissa, Kate, and Leah break down this week’s mountain of legal news, including the Court’s greenlighting of Trump’s anti-DEI National Institutes of Health cuts, the president’s war on mail-in ballots, and a batshit missive from Solicitor General John Sauer. Then, Leah speaks with candidate for Michigan attorney general Eli Savit about the latest threat to marriage equality. Finally, Kate chats with Pe...
Kate and Leah recap the week's legal news, including argument calendars for the next SCOTUS term and President Trump's attempted federal takeover of Washington, DC. Then, it's our third annual State of The Uterus episode. Melissa and Leah talk with Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Lisa Beattie Frelinghuysen, founder of ClutchKit, about the current status of reproductive f...
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.
"SmartLess" with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett is a podcast that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity. A nice surprise: in each episode of SmartLess, one of the hosts reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the SmartLess mind. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of SmartLess ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!