Advisory Opinions
Channel Details
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.
Recent Episodes
658 episodes
A Bucket Full of Trump Bait
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Justice Elena Kagan’s testimony in front of Congress, an Alaska Airlines forum argu...
Plenty of Culture War Stuff
Sarah Isgur and David French preview the next Supreme Court term, discuss a dissent from a cert denial on defamation, and consider a few think pieces...
SCOTUS Vibe Check
Live from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., Sarah Isgur and David French review the OT25 term with Akhil Amar, professor of law...
Complicating the Polarization Narrative
Sarah Isgur and David French slow things down with an overview of the yearly Stat Pack released by SCOTUSblog, look at the dissents in the birthright...
It’s the End of the Term
SCOTUS strikes down a Donald Trump executive order ending birthright citizenship, reshapes campaign finance law, and rules that states can exclude tra...
Supreme Court Weighs In on Unitary Executive Theory
Sarah Isgur and David French break down the latest Supreme Court opinions regarding unitary executive theory, mail-in voting, and the Fourth Amendment...
SCOTUS Ends Judicial Review of Temporary Protected Status
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 conceal...
Enforcing International Law in U.S. Courts
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...
SCOTUS Rules on Illegal Drug Users Owning Firearms
Sarah Isgur and David French react to two new Supreme Court opinions on gun ownership while possessing illegal drugs and appeal waivers.
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The Trump Administration's Internal Arguments Over Habeas Corpus
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 c...
Can Transgender People Serve in the Military?
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the three SCOTUS decisions that dropped Thursday morning, a D.C. Circuit decision on President Donald Trump's ba...
Counting Down the Supreme Court Term
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.
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Getting Out of the Redistricting Business
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the Supreme Court’s Alabama redistricting decision, a plea deal from the former national security adviser, and th...
President Trump’s Losing Streak
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 sl...
District Map Fights Before the 2026 Midterms
David Lat joins Sarah Isgur (see ya later, French) to discuss the three-judge panel overturning Alabama’s congressional maps, a new lawsuit against Pr...
SCOTUS Through the Decades | Interview: Nina Totenberg
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 billio...
All the Things Wrong with Trump’s Billion-Dollar Fund
Sarah Isgur and David French analyze President Donald Trump’s $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund through the lens of three legal “buckets,” and...
Let’s Sue the Government
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the IRS lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump, SCOTUS’s mifepristone decision, and a unanimous verdict from t...
SCOTUS Clears Way for Alabama to Use Congressional Map
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the emergency docket ruling from SCOTUS on Alabama’s congressional maps, which broke down over three-justice ideo...
The TED Talk Heard ‘Round the World
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...
Congress Did Something!
Welcome to Callais-a-palooza, where Sarah Isgur and David French discuss Louisiana v. Callais, the Supreme Court decision that struck down Lousiana's...
Justice Alito Stays Ruling on Abortion Pill by Mail
Justice Samuel Alito allows medical companies to continue administering the abortion pill Mifepristone after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered...
Gutting the Voting Rights Act | Interview: Judge Roy K. Altman
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the decision in a racially challenged redistricting map case, weird indictments, and whether Israel is guilty of...
Arguing In Front of SCOTUS | Interview: Lisa Blatt
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 a...
Overturning Religious Precedent
Will the Supreme Court overturn religious precedent in the case of a Catholic preschool challenging its exclusion from a Colorado “universal preschool...
The Chief Justice Didn’t Hate President Obama | Interview: Gov. Kevin Stitt
Sarah Isgur and David French push back against the New York Times reporting on the birth of the shadow docket, discuss Justice Sotomayor’s apology a...
There Is No Historic Defeat for Civil Rights
Sarah Isgur, on a whirlwind booktour, takes a break to deliver the legal goods with David French. The two discuss a Washington Post piece on civil rig...
Sotomayor vs. Kavanaugh?
Sarah Isgur and David French revisit Stephen Colbert’s favorite case, take a look at a rare biting word about Justice Brett Kavanaugh from Justice Son...
Trump’s ‘War Crimes’
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss President Donald Trump’s rhetoric over Iran, what constitutes a war crime, and what happens if a military officer...
You’re Fired, Pam Bondi
Pam Bondi is no longer attorney general, Steve Bannon’s case is sent back to lower courts, and the Chiles decision on conversion therapy becomes nonpa...
Birthright Citizenship Oral Arguments
Sarah Isgur is joined by David French, Amanda Tyler, Akhil Amar, and SCOTUSblog’s Amy Howe to react to the oral arguments in Trump v. Barbara, Donald...
In Mourning for the DOJ | Interview: Chris Christie
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie joins Sarah Isgur and David French to discuss his explicit argument with the former FBI Director Robert Mueller,...
Mail-In Ballot Deadlines Challenged in Court
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss two Supreme Court oral arguments: one on Mississippi accepting ballots five days after Election Day, one on turni...
You Can’t Preach Jesus Here | Interview: Judge Rebecca Taibleson
Judge Rebecca Taibleson of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals joins Sarah Isgur and David French for a conversation about her path to the federal bench....
Will Temporary Protected Status for Immigrants End?
Live at the University of Pennsylvania's Carey Law School, Sarah and David are joined by Third Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas to break down the Supreme...
Judge Gets Vulgar in Transgender Spa Case
Sarah Isgur and David French dive into two Ninth Circuit opinions: one involving an anti-discrimination law in Washington, another related to a first-...
Supreme Court Justices Spar Publicly
David French and Sarah Isgur break down new polling showing historic lows in trust for the Supreme Court, debate whether a public disagreement between...
What Are the Liberties Not in the Constitution?
Welcome to the SCOTUSblog/Advisory Opinions Extended Universe, featuring hosts from "Amarica's Constitution" (Akhil Amar and Andy Lipka) and "Divided...
Can Marijuana Users Be Barred from Owning Guns?
Sarah Isgur and David French break down United States v. Hemani, a Second Amendment case involving an alleged user of a controlled substance in posses...
Trump Bypasses Congress on Iran
Sarah Isgur and David French debate whether President Donald Trump's military action against Iran requires congressional authorization, explore the co...