Leah and Kate dive into the week’s legal news, explaining how SCOTUS continues to carry water for the Trump administration. They also cover an epic slapdown of the Roberts Court out of Hawaii, Sam Alito’s Italian sojourn, and the DOJ’s refusal to investigate the wads of cash lining border czar Tom Homan’s pockets. Then all three hosts are joined by special guests Sherrilyn Ifill, founding director of the 14th Amendment Center for Law & Democracy at Howard University, and New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie to discuss the Supreme Court in the years after the Civil War and Reconstruction and why that era, known as the Redemption Court, resonates with today’s legal landscape.

Favorite Things:

• Leah: Trump’s Dream of Infinite Presidential Power, Jamelle Bouie (NYT); Jimmy Kimmel’s comeback monologue (ABC)
• Kate: Chris Hayes’ WITHpod episode with Bill McKibben
• Jamelle: “How Comedy was Destroyed by By an Anti-Reality Doomsday Cult,” Elephant Graveyard (YouTube)
• Sherrilyn: Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation by Zaakir Tameez; King of the North: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Life of Struggle Outside the South by Jeanne Theoharis

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

• 10/4 – Chicago

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