Strict Scrutiny

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, they turn to the big questions: how dead is Trump’s slush fund for insurrectionists? Just how awful are Acting AG Todd Blanche and Acting DNI Bill Pulte? Will Michigan’s Democratic senators stand up to Trump’s appalling nominee for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan? They also cover three SCOTUS opinions from last week before Melissa speaks with Yale Law Professor Judith Resnik about her recent book, Impermissible Punishments: How Prison Became a Problem for Democracy.
Favorite things:

Leah: Maria Collett’s speech to the PA Senate on LA v. Callais; Autocratic Judging, Rebecca L. Brown and Lee Epstein (UCLA Law Review); AOC for President, Megan Wachspress (Liberal Currents); A Shocking Betrayal of Black Americans, Mara Gay (NYT)

Melissa: Imar Lyman at the Kreeger Museum in DC

Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2026! 

6/20/26 – New York City
Learn more: http://crooked.com/events

Preorder Lawless in paperback (out June 16)
Buy Melissa’s bestselling book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader

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Leah, Kate, and Melissa recap another busy week in legal news, covering the continued fallout from the Voting Rights Act case, Louisiana v. Callais, the ongoing saga of the DOJ’s insurrectionist slush fund, wild twists with the Broadview Six, more ballroom drama, the curious case of the Georgia judge who had loud sex in her chambers and then lied about it, and more. They also cover SCOTUS opinions involving compassionate release for prisoners and compelled arbitration before Leah speaks with University of Michigan law professor Barbara McQuade about her book, The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government.

Favorite things:

Kate: Trump's Illegal $250 Bill: A Micro-History of Autocracy, Ruth Ben-Ghiat (Lucid); How Callais broke the Voting Rights Act and weaponized the equal protection clause, Issa Kohler-Hausmann & Kevin Z. Yang (SCOTUSblog); Beg For Me (JADE Remix), Lilly Allen; Harmeet Dhillon Is Not Wasting Any Time, Quinta Jurecic (The Atlantic); Brown’s Advancing Impact on Maternal and Reproductive Health Lab

Leah: Ronny Chieng’s Harvard speech; Hit the Wall, Gracie Abrams; Midnight Sun, Zara Larsson

Melissa: Strangers, Belle Burden; her event at Politics and Prose at The Wharf on 6/3/26; Liar's Kingdom: How to Stop Trump's Deceit and Save America, Andrew Weissmann

Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2026! 

6/20/26 – New York City

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

Buy Melissa’s bestselling book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader

Preorder a signed paperback of Leah’s book, Lawless, here.
Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

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 competition—the biggest act of trolling and self-dealing of his second term. The professors count the ways this is so, so illegal, and speculate on how it can be challenged (looking at you, Congress). They also cover other legal news and some SCOTUS opinions before speaking with Dorothy Roberts about her book, The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family. Enter Leah’s merch giveaway for the paperback edition of Lawless here!
Favorite things:

Kate: Nikolas Bowie’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee

Leah: It’s Not That Deep, Demi Lovato

Melissa: Kin, Tayari Jones

Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2026! 

6/20/26 – New York City

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

Buy Melissa’s bestselling book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader

Preorder a signed paperback of Leah’s book, Lawless, here.
Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

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 unconscionable failure to meet its own arbitrary deadline to the unhinged dissents from Justices Thomas and Alito. They also cover last week’s other legal news before speaking with Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones, about the devastating fallout from the Court’s ruling in the Voting Rights Act case, Louisiana v. Callais. Finally, Melissa speaks with Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow about their book, How Equality Wins: A New Vision for an Inclusive America.
Favorite things:

Kate: Kavanaugh Hegseth Patel Bar Cold Open (SNL); The Shadow Docket (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver); This Is Getting Dangerous, Jamelle Bouie (NYT); Lawyering Without Law (The Knight First Amendment Institute); Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America, Ari Berman

Leah: Rock Music (Charli xcx); Sam Alito’s typos

Ari: Blame John Roberts for Destroying the Voting Rights Act (Mother Jones); Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory and Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, David Blight; Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877, Eric Foner

Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2026! 

6/20/26 – New York City

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

Buy Melissa’s bestselling book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader

Preorder a signed paperback of Leah’s book, Lawless, here.
Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

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 call it at Strict HQ, The Constitution (Melissa’s Version). Then all three unravel what happened with the Virginia Supreme Court invalidating voter-approved redistricting maps, along with other voting-related shenanigans in the wake of Callais. Finally, they talk with Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, about why and how anti-abortion forces are once again targeting mifepristone.
Favorite things:

Kate: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke; NYC Mayor Mamdani skipping the Met Gala to hang out with fashion industry workers; Chris Hayes’ interview with Molly Crabapple on Why Is This Happening?; the Artemis II crew answering kids’ questions on The Daily

Leah: Middle of Nowhere, Kacey Musgraves; Dancing on the Wall, MUNA; “Who Will Stand Up to the Supreme Court Justices?” By Niko Bowie and Daphna Renan; “John Roberts Believes in an America That Doesn’t Exist,” by Jamelle Bouie

Melissa: Amy Sherald’s Met Gala look

Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2026! 

6/20/26 – New York City

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

Buy Melissa’s book, The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader

Preorder a signed paperback of Leah’s book, Lawless, here.
Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky