Drop everything and read! This week, the hosts celebrate the release of Leah’s book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes. Just how did the vibes get so rancid? What is Sam Alito’s…whole deal? And where does Taylor Swift factor in? The answers to these questions (and more!) are in the book. Then, after a rundown of the latest news out of the courts and White House, Leah chats with Amanda Litman, author of the latest book from Crooked Reads, When We're in Charge: The Next Generation's Guide to Leadership.

Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!

• 5/31 – Washington DC
• 6/12 – NYC
• 10/4 – Chicago

Learn more: http://crooked.com/events

Pre-order your copy of Leah's forthcoming book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes (out May 13th)

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Is this the term when the Court says “see ya” to the Establishment Clause? Leah, Melissa and Kate consider that question in their recap of this week’s religious charter school case, Oklahoma Charter School Board v. Drummond. Also covered: Advocate Lisa Blatt’s run-in with Neil Gorsuch during oral arguments for a disability rights case, opinions concerning SSI benefits and the Department of Transportation, and the Trump administration’s absurd investigation into the Harvard Law Review.

Hosts’ favorite things:

• Kate: Sinners; Is It Happening Here? by Andrew Marantz (New Yorker)
• Leah: Girl on Girl How: Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves, Sophie Gilbert; The Tide is Turning, Dahlia Lithwick (Slate); Trump & Bukele’s Concentration Camp, Andrea Pitzer (NY Mag); Just Security Litigation Tracker
• Melissa: The Secret History of Home Economics: How Trailblazing Women Harnessed the Power of Home and Changed the Way We Live, Danielle Dreilinger; The Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice

Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!

• 5/31 – Washington DC
• 6/12 – NYC
• 10/4 – Chicago

Learn more: http://crooked.com/events

Pre-order your copy of Leah's forthcoming book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes (out May 13th)

Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

Kate and Leah recap oral arguments in two big cases the Supreme Court heard this week. The first is about LGBTQ+ inclusive reading materials in public schools, and the second is about the Affordable Care Act's mechanism for ensuring preventative care. There are also developments in the Alien Enemies Act litigation, and a devastating, if predictable, executive order targeting the Civil Rights Act. Plus, Emily Amick, of Emily In Your Phone, joins to discuss the rise of the creepy conservative push to get women to have more babies.

Hosts' Favorite Things:
Leah:

• SCOTUS conservatives seem eager to increase parents' religious rights in public schools by Chris Geidner
• How Sam Alito Inadvertently Revealed His Own Homophobia From the Bench by Mark Joseph Stern
• Deportation to CECOT: The Constitutional Prohibition on Punishment Without Charge or Trial by Ahilan Arulanantham
• REVEALED: Elon and Trump's Plans to Mint More Mothers by Emily Amick
• These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean

Kate:

• The Trump Victim I Can’t Stop Thinking About by Michelle Goldberg
• We Visited Rumeysa Ozturk in Detention. What We Saw Was a Warning to Us All by Sen. Edward J. Markey, Rep. Jim McGovern, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley

Emily:

• Now comes the ‘womanosphere’: the anti-feminist media telling women to be thin, fertile and Republican by Anna Silman
• Everyone is Lying to You by Jo Piazza
• The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
• The Witch Elm by Tana French

Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!

• 5/31 – Washington DC
• 6/12 – NYC
• 10/4 – Chicago

Learn more: http://crooked.com/events

Pre-order your copy of Leah's forthcoming book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes (out May 13th)

Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky