Supreme Court Rulings and Political Debate Analysis

OA1074: We begin with a quick look at JD Vance’s cringiest moment during this week’s VP debate. Does the junior senator from Ohio know anything about immigration law--let alone vice presidenting?

In our main story: Two of last term’s worst U.S. Supreme Court decisions surrounding “official acts” have been playing out in real time this week in two of the most important criminal prosecutions in the US. First, special counsel Jack Smith has just filed a monster of a brief in the DC case against Donald Trump for his responsibility for the events of January 6th, 2001. Why is this filing so unique, and what can we learn about the evidence against Trump and DOJ’s strategy going forward? Meanwhile, New York Mayor Eric Adams has filed a motion to dismiss his pending bribery charge on the grounds that bribery is pretty much legal now. Could the SCOTUS decision in Snyder v. US actually make a difference here?

Finally, Matt drops a rare animal law footnote to explain how the fate of one adorable little beaver became the single most important issue facing the Massachusetts government this week.

1. Video of JD Vance badly mansplaining immigration law during the VP debate

2. Special counsel Jack Smith's Motion for Immunity Determinations (10/3/24)

3. Eric Adams’s motion to dismiss Count V of his pending indictment (9/30/24)

4. Petition to save Nibi the Beaver 

5. Governor Maura Healey’s late-breaking announcement re: the fate of Nibi the Beaver

6. Snyder v. US (June 26, 2024)

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