#1742 Captured Court, Captured Nation: SCOTUS Serves Trump's Authoritarianism

Air Date 10/7/2025

The Trump administration has been doing what we knew it would: breaking laws and losing about 95% of their court battles. And the conservatively stacked Supreme Court has been doing what we knew it would: overwhelmingly ruling for Trump to cover his tracks because that's what they were put there to do.

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KEY POINTS

KP 1: Hiding in the Shadow Docket - The Hartmann Report - Air Date 8-24-25

KP 2: Does It Matter? Trump Keeps Losing on Immigration in the Courts - Democracy Now! - Air Date 9-3-25

KP 3: US Supreme Court Allows Trumps Controversial Immigration Raids to Continue in LA - Al Jazeera English - Air Date 9-9-25

KP 4: The Supreme Court’s Power Grab Under Trump - Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast - Air Date 7-15-25

KP 5: Is the Supreme Court Corrupted? with Alex Aronson | Freethought Matters - Freedom From Religion Foundation - Air Date 1-9-25

KP 6: 'Unconscionably Irreconcilable': Justice Sotomayor RIPS Colleagues in Fiery Dissent - All In with Chris Hayes - Air Date 9-9-25

(00:51:05) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On authoritarianism in practice

DEEPER DIVES

(01:00:16) SECTION A: PAVING THE PATH

A1: How To Build A Police State (With The Supreme Court’s Blessing) - Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, Justice, and the Courts - Air Date 7-19-25

A2: Dear Justice Kavanaugh, “I’m American, Bro” - Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, Justice, and the Courts - Air Date 9-13-25

A3: Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett Defends Court's Work on Emergency Rulings - NPR Morning Edition - Air Date 9-9-25

A4: Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration - The Lawfare Podcast - Air Date 9-5-25

A5: How the Supreme Court Allowed Trump to Reshape America in One Year | Explainer - Heather Cox Richardson - Air Date 7-2-25

(01:41:19) SECTION B: LEGAL GRAY AREA

B1: Trump Brings the War Home - 5-4 - Air Date 8-8-25

B2: Bedrock Con Law 101 - Divided Argument - Air Date 8-29-25

B3: Uh-oh: Trump in Trouble as Polls Drop and Protests ERUPT Nationwide - The Beat with Ari - Air Date 9-8-25

B4: Justice Thomas Cautions Against Following Precedent - Bloomberg Law - Air Date 9-30-25

B5: The Legality of Trumps D.C. Takeover as Statistics Show Decline in Crime - PBS NewsHour - Air Date 8-11-25

(02:19:05) SECTION C: CORRUPTION

C1: How Trump Is Using the DOJ as His Personal Law Firm - Here & Now Anytime - Air Date 8-25-25

C2: Captured Court: Hayes on Leonard Leos Two-fold Plan to Form This Supreme Court - All In with Chris Hayes - Air Date 5-11-23

(02:31:03) SECTION D: HOPE?

D1: Trump's Tariffs Struck Down: Attorney Neal Katyal Oregon AG Dan Rayfield Respond - Democracy Now! - Air Date 9-2-25

D2: When Trump Hits New Jersey, This Lawyer Hits Back - Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, Justice, and the Courts- Air Date 8-16-25

D3: The Lower Courts Punch Up - Strict Scrutiny - Air Date 9-8-25

D4: Losing! MAGA "Embarrassed" as Courts Reject Trump Powers on Immigration, Tariffs, Troops - The Beat with Ari - Air Date 9-8-25

D5: Trump Hijacked the Courts: Here’s How to Fix It- Boom! Lawyered - Air Date 8-28-25

SHOW IMAGE CREDITS

Description: Composite image depicting a photo of the exterior of the U.S. Supreme Court with giant chains crossed over the building with an orange seal with the silhouette of Donald Trump where the chains cross.

Photo Credit: “US Supreme Court” by David (dbking), Flickr | CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Cropped, and added chain vector image

 

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

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