In this the 31st episode of The Law Is My Ass, with Sid away in Scotland, Joe and guest co-host Vernon C. Grigg III (who was also our guest in episode 24 on the topic of obstruction of justice) covered a ton of ground, including:
Listen in for your weekly dose of all things law - thank you as always for listening, and keep it legal!
***YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS NEXT WEEK'S EPISODE WITH OUR VERY SPECIAL GUEST: NINTH CIRCUIT JUDGE ALEX KOZINSKI ! ! !***
We have some some very exciting news about our next two episodes (Hint: we will be interviewing a sitting Ninth Circuit judge for the August 5 episode # 32!!!)
Once we get that out of the way, this week we cover the developments in the ongoing travel ban litigation that the mainstream press has hardly covered at all (both the Ninth Circuit and the Supreme Court issued important clarifying and procedural decisions last week). But unlike the rest of the media, we bring you up to speed! We also answer pressing questions like "Is it legal to make mouthwash on an antifreeze machine?" (Hint: unlikely); "Is Harley Davidson still going to buy me a new stove?" (Hint: no, Jeff Sessions let them off the hook); "Can the government seize my assets without proving I did anything wrong?" (Hint: Jeff Sessions thinks it's a great idea, but Justice Clarence Thomas is skeptical); can the President pardon himself? (Hint: most likely yes, but even that might not protect him and we'll explore that in depth next week with our guest co-host and former prosecutor Vernon Grigg!).
Then we have our FIFTH guest interview with Eric Schillinger about the substance and procedure of the Senate's efforts to repeal the ACA (aka "Obamacare") - and conclude that the proposals are getting wackier every day.
Finally a listener question that points out just how complicated it can be to destroy the government from the inside out.
Thanks for listening and keep it legal!
The administration is back to losing motions and filing appeals about its travel bans, the latest occurring one day before the precast. Sid and Joe bring you up to speed in their weekly "Travel Ban Litigation Update" In the Random Legal News of the Week with Sid and Joe, your hosts talk about bar exams, skeevy law professors, skeevier judges. racist AirBnB hosts, litigious UBER drivers, more lawsuits against the President, and answer the question "Is laughing, alone, a criminal offense when you direct it at Jeff Sessions" (hint: apparently it is not).
But the star of this week's episode is intellectual property law expert Chris Holland, who talked about the ins and outs of pants, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, noncompetes, the "right of publicity," fair use, parody, and answered some fascinating questions like "Can a blogger annotate and repost home photos downloaded from the internet?" (Hint: maybe); can the Kardashians market TuPac t-shirts without TuPac's estate's permission? (Hint: almost certainly not); Can we trademark "The Law Is My Ass" (Hint: yes, but it still wouldn't be worth anything); how do you spell "incontestability" (Hint: we just did); can you drive a Lexis or do legal research in a Lexus (Hint: unlikely).
All that and listener questions - so tune in, and keep it legal!
In this the 28th Episode of The Law Is My Ass, Sid and Joe talk about a recent dissent from cert denial filed by Justices Thomas and Gorsuch that gives a pretty good sense of where they lie on gun rights. They debut a new theme song for the Random Legal News of the Week, in which they answer "does EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt want to poison your kids?" (Hint: quite possibly); "can you bilk investors *and* concertgoers out of millions of dollars to put on a bogus music festival and then drive your Maserati into the sunset?" (Hint: it would seem not); "do plaintiffs win all the time?" (Hint: emphatically no; and "isn't what Volkswagen did with their emissions cheating criminal?" (Hint: it sure looks that way).
Then they talk to podcast regular Eric Schillinger about the state of the Senate's efforts to repeal the ACA (aka Obamacare), who benefits, who loses, and why.
All that, and one of the best listener questions the podcast has ever had! Give it a listen, and keep it legal!
On this the 27th episode (!) "Independence" edition of The Law Is My Ass, Sid and Joe correct some of the deficiencies in news coverage about the Supreme Court's decision in the travel ban litigation, cover the other five Supreme Court cases decided this week, talk about religious freedom and the first amendment, and then . . . a terrific interview with U.C. Hastings Professor David Takacs about environmental law and regulation, with a good breakdown of the Paris Climate Accord and what it means that the US "pulled out." So, was this week's Supreme Court decision in the travel bad case a big win for the President? (Hint: no.) Is it legal for border agents to shoot kids standing on Mexican soil? (Hint: maybe not.) Can churches resurface their playgrounds using public funds? (Hint: apparently so.) Is Justice Gorsuch making friends at his new job? (Hint: perhaps two!) Is the Senate still trying to take your health care away? (Hint: probably, but tune in next week to be sure.) And can the Trump administration destroy the environment? (Hint: depends.)
All that and some great listener questions about extortion, Zillow, McMansions, and the doctrine of fair use. Check it out, and keep it legal! Happy fourth of July!