Strict Scrutiny
Channel Details
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...
Recent Episodes
418 episodes
SCOTUS Just Barely Preserves Birthright Citizenship
In their second emergency episode in two days, Leah, Melissa, and Kate break down the Court’s final day of the term and folks, it’s a doozy. We’ve got...
SCOTUS Kills Independent Agencies, Expands Presidential Power
In this emergency episode, Leah and Kate break down today’s incredibly consequential decisions in Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook, which followed...
SCOTUS Keeps Rewriting Gun History
Melissa, Leah, and Kate briefly recap the Court’s two major immigration decisions last week (for a deeper dive, check out last week’s emergency episod...
BREAKING: SCOTUS Greenlights Trump’s Cruel Immigration Policies
In this emergency episode, Kate, Melissa, and Leah unpack the two major immigration opinions handed down by SCOTUS today. The brutal TL;DR, courtesy o...
Why is SCOTUS Hoarding Opinions?
Leah, Melissa, Kate, and special guest Elie Mystal of The Nation speculate about why the Court is hoarding opinions this late into bad decision season...
The Malicious Incompetence of Trump's DOJ
Kate and Leah cover this week’s three Supreme Court opinions—one featuring a killer Ketanji Brown Jackson dissent—before turning to legal news, where...
Affirmative Action for Mediocre Men
Leah and Melissa break down what may be a new low for the Court: granting Alabama’s request to reinstate racially discriminatory voting maps. Then, th...
Ballrooms, ‘Bama and (Very) Bad Behavior
Leah, Kate, and Melissa recap another busy week in legal news, covering the continued fallout from the Voting Rights Act case, Louisiana v. Callais, t...
Trump's Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Grift
Kate, Melissa, and Leah try to wrap their heads around Trump’s nearly $2 billion DOJ slush fund, which they agree may be—despite extremely stiff compe...
How SCOTUS is Waging Electoral Warfare
Kate and Leah break down the Supreme Court’s extension of a stay allowing for continued mail-order access to mifepristone, from the Court’s unconscion...
The Constitution (Melissa's Version)
Kate & Leah talk to Melissa about her new book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader, or, as we like to ca...
Supreme Court Declares Racism Over
The 5th Circuit gave us a doozy late on Friday night by tightening access to the abortion drug mifepristone—Leah and Melissa break it down. Then, the...
BREAKING: SCOTUS Deals Another Blow to Multiracial Democracy
Kate and Leah are joined by Democracy Docket’s Marc Elias to break down the Supreme Court’s shameful assault on multiracial democracy in its ruling on...
How Low Can the DOJ Go?
From the DOJ’s targeting of the Southern Poverty Law Center for its anti-KKK work to Kash Patel’s outrageous lawsuit against The Atlantic for its repo...
SCOTUS Squabbles Go Public
Melissa, Kate, and Leah break down an absolute boatload of beefs: Trump vs. Pope Leo, Sonia Sotomayor vs. Coach Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas vs. p...
War Crimes, Christian Nationalism, and the 25th Amendment
Even though the Supreme Court took a break from hearing oral arguments, there was still plenty of legal news breaking every day. Katie Phang joins Lea...
Birthright Citizenship + Bye-Bye, Pamela Jo Bondi
Last week saw oral arguments in the birthright citizenship case, Trump v. Barbara, and listeners, it finally happened: a legal argument so outlandish...
SCOTUS Not Cool With Colorado Ban on Conversion Therapy
Today the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Chiles v. Salazer, the case involving a Colorado ban on conversion therapy. Leah is joined by Shannon Mi...
Will SCOTUS Join the GOP War on Mail-in Ballots?
Kate and guest co-host Ian Bassin of Protect Democracy kick off the show by covering the latest legal news, including developments at the Pentagon and...
Absentee Ballots, Asylum, and Too Many A**holes to Count
Leah, Kate, and Melissa preview this week’s arguments at the Court, including Watson v. Republican National Committee, a challenge over when election...
Make America Grift Again
Leah, Melissa and Kate go on Corruption Watch to catch up on all the sketchy things happening in the judicial and executive branches. Then, they cover...
A Court of Drugs and Guns
Kate, Leah, and Melissa break down the oral arguments in United States v. Hemani, a Second Amendment case which challenges a law prohibiting “unlawful...
S7 Ep21: The Conservative Push to Weaken Our Democracy
International law expert Rebecca Ingber of Cardozo Law joins Leah at the top of the show to talk about the US and Israel's war on Iran. Then, Leah wel...
S7 Ep20: SCOTUS Again Takes on the 2nd Amendment—What Could Go Wrong?
Kate is joined by Friend of the Pod Steve Vladeck (One First) to break down last week’s legal news, including developments around noncompliance in the...
S7: BREAKING: SCOTUS Nixes Trump’s Tariffs
In today’s much-anticipated ruling, the Supreme Court struck down Trump's tariffs. But how the opinion, dissent, and concurrences break down paints a...
S7 Ep19: Is Sam Alito On His Way Out?
Melissa: MS NOW Presents: Clock It with Symone Sanders Townsend & Eugene Daniels; A Pilot Fired Over Kristi Noem’s Missing Blanket and the Constant Ch...
S7 Ep18: Are You There, God? It’s Me, the Constitution.
SCOTUS may be between argument sessions, but the legal news isn’t slowing down. Kate, Melissa, and Leah cover the latest out of Minnesota before touch...
S7 Ep17: The Illegality and Injustice of ICE’s Minnesota Occupation
Melissa, Kate, and Leah break down the various legal cases arising from ICE’s occupation of Minnesota, including a bid to end DHS’s Operation Metro Su...
Will the Court Actually Push Back Against Trump’s Unlawful Firings?
First, Leah and Melissa explain the legal battles around the ICE occupation in Minnesota and what might come after the killings of Renee Good and Alex...
Will SCOTUS Keep Trans Kids Out of Sports?
Melissa, Leah, and Kate kick off by discussing the functional suspension of the Constitution in Minneapolis and Trump’s targeting of Federal Reserve C...
Debunking Trump’s Bullsh*t Legal Arguments for Invading Venezuela
Leah, Kate, and Melissa preview January’s major SCOTUS cases, including disputes over trans kids' participation in team sports, a concealed-carry ban...
Can America Pull Back From the Brink of Autocracy?
Leah kicks off the episode with repeat guest Rebecca Ingber of Cardozo Law to discuss the wild illegality–both domestic and international–of Trump’s r...
Introducing Runaway Country: Justice Has Left the Building
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...
Our Favorite Things, 2025
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 20...
SCOTUS Is About to Turbocharge Presidential Power
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 b...
We Need To Talk About Trump’s Maritime Murders
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...
SCOTUS Greenlights Racial Gerrymandering in Texas
In this emergency episode, Leah, Melissa and Kate break down the Supreme Court’s shadow docket order allowing Texas to use racist and Republican-skewe...
December Preview: SCOTUS Doubles Down on Its BS
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....
Boy Math, Boy Law, Man Problems
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...
The Agonies of Brett Kavanaugh
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...