May it Displease the Court

Here in America, the number of people we choose to incarcerate makes up 25% of the world’s prison population. And that statistic was driven by mainly by state and local “tough on crime” prosecutors.

Prosecutors have a huge amount of power and control over who get criminally charged, who doesn’t, what crimes get pursued, and what crimes get ignored, who gets a plea bargain, and who gets denied or offered rehabilitative diversion pro...

The Constitution protects our right to an impartial jury. Still, the normal process of selecting a jury often lets attorneys' unconscious or conscious biases infect jury selection. If a juror’s biases are undetected or dismissed as something that can be set aside, they can inflect the verdict leading to wrongful convictions.

Biases are habits of thought or patterns of thinking that include preferences, inclinations, or just impress...

We hear the terms cancel culture and wokeness thrown around these days, but do you know what they mean? A common defense tactic of someone embroiled in a public and embarrassing controversy is to proclaim loudly, through their platforms, they have been canceled, and of course, the people canceling them have to be woke.

That is what Dr. Nicholas Niciosa and his wife, Mary, claimed after they received public criticism after it became...

The Conservative majority on the Supreme Court is upending the legal landscape overturning cases like Roe v. Wade, making it almost impossible for states to enact limits on gun possession, and more, all under the guise of a legal theory called originalism. 

In this episode, we bring back one of our most popular guests, Prof. Eric Segall. He joins host Mary Whiteside to discuss his book Originalism as Faith.

Listen as Professor Sega...

Political divisions are driving wedges at all levels, national, state, communities, and families. The fracture may seem unbridgable. But Americans agree that our government does not work for us. It works for the rich and powerful. Even acknowledging the problem can make you feel overwhelmed, and the knee-jerk reaction is often to look away because the solution feels impossible to achieve. 

In this episode, Daniel G. Newman joins ho...

Kathy Krauseneck, a wife and mother of a three-year-old girl, was murdered with an ax while sleeping in her bed nearly 40 years ago. Her husband, James, was initially a suspect, but almost 40 years passed, and no one was charged in Kathy’s death. The District Attorney reopened the case, and a new forensic pathologist looked at the evidence. 

Armed with a new forensic opinion, the DA’s office indicted James for the death of his wife...

In this episode, we continue the taboo discussion about law clerks. Only this time, we get even more controversial. 

Did you know that Federal Judges empowered to judge discrimination and harassment cases are exempt from the same anti-discrimination laws that apply to other government branches and private employers? Yup, Judges are above the law. And some Judges abuse their staff with impunity. 

In this episode, we speak with Aliza...

In this episode, we examine how you can use the courts to fight police brutality. 

A brief review of the death of Daniel Prude, which we discussed at length in a previous episode.

Imagine your brother is visiting you from out of state. Sadly, he experiences a mental health crisis and runs out of your house on a freezing winter night. You call the police, desperate, asking for help finding your brother. You have no idea that getting...

Mary was a recent guest on HILF - History I'd Like to F**K with Dawn Brodie to discuss the Supreme Court.

Dawn is joined by lawyer, Mary Whiteside, for a journey through the often-dark history of America's highest court. Hear about the worst villains, the occasional heroes - and why Mary and Dawn both still have hope for the future.

Dawn is joined by lawyer, Mary Whitesid...

Picture a single mom sitting on her couch in Houston with her one and three-year-old when suddenly the police are at her door and arrest her. They took her to jail. Put her children in foster care. She doesn’t know where they are or who cares for them. 

You might think this woman must be a dangerous criminal to justify disrupting this family and traumatizing these children. No. This happened because a mother could not afford to pay...

Do you think Judges who hate Black people should be allowed to decide cases? What about Judges who hire law clerks who–allegedly– “hate black people”; is that okay? The U.S. Judicial Conference reopened investigations into Judges William Pryor and Corey Maize regarding the hiring of Crystal Clanton, who purportedly sent a text message that said she “hates black people.” 

I bet you never thought about the influence law clerks have o...

Minority representation in positions of power is increasing at all levels of government and on the bench. But, if a minority leader was chosen and promoted by the ruling elites, with an understanding that they would use their position of power to advantage the rich and powerful who put them in power. Then those minority leaders offer the minority group which they came from nothing more than symbolic representation.

 We look at Just...

Your host and NY appellate attorney, Mary Whiteside, looks at the arbitrary and opaque political appointment of the next Public Defender in the Monroe County Public Defender’s Office as a microcosm of America’s dysfunctional legal system. In one of the busiest court systems in the country (15,000 new cases in 2021), the stakes of the next MCPD appointment for the office are high—especially for the low-income and minority defendants...

Episode 19- Texas Goddamn – Show Notes

In this episode attorney, Mary Whiteside breaks down the tyranny emerging in Texas caused by the Republican controlled state legislature, which has enacted laws written by Dark Money funded political operatives like ALEC and SNP, groups designed to write right wing laws to benefit Dark Money donors and religious zealots .This unholy alliance has seemingly unlimited funding, which has been used...

Episode 18- No Seriously, Eat the Rich – Show Notes

Appellate attorney, Mary Whiteside is joined by Professor of Rhetoric, Lee Pierce and today we are looking at how the legal system was rigged to protect the rich and well connected. To understand just how rigged the system is we have to understand a little bit more about the stinking filthy rich. This episode takes a peek inside their private jet lifestyle.

The unchecked accumulat...

In this special episode of May it Displease the Court, a podcast about how unjust the court system has always been, but especially in this age of rampant misinformation, produced specifically for The Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival. The Carnival runs from August 16-19, 2021. Check out participating podcasts who all produced episodes incorporating this year’s theme “Contending with Misinformation in the Community and the Classroom”....

In this episode, host Mary Whiteside welcomes Julie Cianca, a Monroe County Public Defender. Julie is a 26-year veteran trial attorney running for Monroe County Court Judge. 

The Judiciary at the state and federal level is heavily male, white, and straight. The reform movement has focused a lot of attention on increasing diversity by getting more women and people of color on the bench. To expand the bench to include people with dif...

HR1 - The Most Important Bill in American History 

The episode looks at HR1 or S1 as it is titled in the Senate, the most important bill in Biden’s presidency and, perhaps, in modern American history. It is a must-pass for Democrats, for Biden, and for Democracy worldwide. This bold, comprehensive bill fixes a lot of what has been broken in the past 4 decades. It combats dark money, foreign interference, partisan gerrymandering, bu...