Amicus

A legal podcast with Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick.

About the Show

A show about the law and the nine Supreme Court justices who interpret it for the rest of America.

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Latest Episodes

Showing 1–20 of 489

A Lunch Room for Life

Dahlia and Mark sit down with Slow Burn to discuss how Gorsuch fits into the current court, where he’s going next, and why he never took his job on the cafeteria committee seriously.

Bonus: Sorry, Not Sorry

It’s a SCOTUS crossover special (think SVU meets OG L&O) as three Slate podcast hosts come together to deliver an unapologetic update to Becoming Justice Gorsuch.

The Stolen Seat

How Neil Gorsuch leapfrogged Merrick Garland to land a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.

Bonus: What’s Your Story?

Tell us how you’re reclaiming the Constitution for yourself, your family, and your community.

Man With a Plan

To understand today’s Supreme Court, you need to understand Neil Gorsuch.

Bonus: Korematsu, Then and Now

What we can learn from a disgraceful chapter in American legal history.

Now It’s Your Turn

We’ve shown that history rejects the Supreme Court’s monopoly on constitutional interpretation. It’s time to reclaim your fair share.

Bonus: Now That’s What I Call Mailbag!

Who really writes Supreme Court opinions—and other chart-topping diss tracks from the Pluskateers.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Everyday activism created a perfect storm at the Supreme Court in 2015. There’s a lot we can learn from it today.

Bonus: Trump Asks SCOTUS to Help Him Rig the Midterms

Plus, Todd Blanche’s nomination is in deep trouble. And the families of voting-rights martyrs have a message for SCOTUS.

For the Children

When freedom was snatched away, Elizabeth Turner’s mother fought back, and changed the Constitution.

Bonus: Mass Shooters’ Weapon of Choice Gets a Huge Boost

The smokeless cigar bar heads to New Jersey for a look at a radical decision striking down the state’s assault-rifle ban—and the implications for the upcoming SCOTUS term.

Who Owns the Constitution?

The Supreme Court would have us believe it alone decides what the Constitution means. That’s not true. It never was.

Bonus: What Happened to Todd Blanche?

The acting AG and two justices appeared before lawmakers this week. Accountability was nowhere to be seen.

The Term the Court Stopped Pretending

SCOTUS hobbles democracy, grabs more power, and doesn’t even bother to cover its tracks.

Bonus: Playing Footsie With Despair

Dahlia and Mark answer your questions about court reform, Title IX, and whether a disillusioned listener should still go to law school.

Bad History Will Kill America

With so many shameful decisions to choose from, Dahlia and Mark focus on two that require your immediate attention.

A Constitutional Travesty Narrowly Avoided

What “winning” looks like at the Roberts court.

Extra: Trump Can Fire (Almost) Anyone Now

On the penultimate day of this term, the Supreme Court handed even more power to an emboldened president, but still won’t trust him with their 401(k)s.

The Roberts Court Shows Its True Colors

Using loopholes and cynical wordplay, the right-wing supermajority delivers a series of devastating decisions on legal immigration, plunging millions of lives into uncertainty.

Extra: All Gas, No Brakes for This 6-3 Court

SCOTUS just erased the lawful status of more than a million people, capping a banner week of maximalist decisions from the court’s 6-3 supermajority. Brace yourself for next week.

Guns, Weed, and the Forgotten Framers

The Supreme Court unanimously rules a marijuana user has a Second Amendment right to own a gun—and what a buried chapter of constitutional history tells us about democracy’s future.

Commerce Clause Freak

Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern break down the fractured concurrences in United States v. Hemani (including a Clarence Thomas lone-ranger classic), plus a surprisingly good ruling on plea bargains.

A Huge Shift is Underway at SCOTUS

Voting rights have gone from a SCOTUS sidebar to the main dish this term, as the right-wing supermajority disassembles the second reconstruction.

Bonus: Supplanting the Will of the People

Justice Jackson calls out her colleagues on the right for their disdain for Congress and rewriting policy by judicial fiat.

Concrete Plans to Restore Law, After Trump

Veteran federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann on Todd Blanche’s impending uphill battle, plus a proposal for a concrete legal antidote to all the lying in American politics.

Bonus: A Shattering Blow to Fair Elections

SCOTUS’ right-wing supermajority just expanded its disastrous Voting Rights Act decision in Callais with an emergency order that guts the 14th Amendment too.

The Myth of John Roberts vs. Donald Trump

This end of term, the Supreme Court is focused on its own power, not the president. That may be a mistake.

Bonus: BLM Brett is Back

One of the only pieces of good news from SCOTUS this week was authored by, no joke, Justice Kavanaugh.

Trump’s Slush Fund Is Even Worse Than You Thought

A former Jack Smith prosecutor and a veteran corruption reporter map the vectors for lawlessness that many have missed.

Bonus: DOJ’s Shocking Grand Jury Misconduct

Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern break down the Broadview Six dismissal and the Supreme Court’s surprising punt in a major death penalty case.

Return of the Abortion Pill Wars

Mifepristone is back at the Supreme Court. Democrats need to make the stakes clear.

Bonus: Doorbuster Deals in the Judge-Shopping World

The legal establishment is losing patience with the DOJ. Some judges are speaking out.