FedSoc Forums

How should podcasters talk about crime in a way that informs the public while respecting the legal process and the rights of everyone involved? This question has taken on unprecedented importance now that anyone can become a citizen journalist by using nothing more expensive than a computer and cellphone. Join us for a conversation exploring the issue with two veteran true crime podcasters, moderated by a scholar of criminal law.Featuring:Alice Shih LaCour, Partner, Hilgers Graben PLLC; Co-Host, The Prosecutors PodcastDavid Oscar Markus, Partner, Markus/Moss LLP; Host, For the Defense Podcast(Moderator) Matthew P. Cavedon, Robert Pool Fellow in Law and Religion, Emory University School of Law

Last month, the last American troops left Niger, following withdrawal of U.S. troops in Chad last spring and from Somalia in 2021. Talks are underway for revived U.S. presence in Chad, as happened in Somalia in 2022, but there seems to be a larger trend toward disengagement. Does this foretell enhanced Chinese influence? A greater role for Russian intrigues? Or a larger role for terrorist networks? Join us for a discussion of the geostrategic stakes.Featuring: Cameron Hudson, Senior Fellow, Africa Program, CSISProf. Thomas Lee, Leitner Family Professor of International Law; Director of Graduate and International Studies, Fordham University School of LawDr. Michael Rubin, Senior Fellow, AEIModerator: Prof. Jeremy Rabkin, Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University

Institutions of higher education released demographic data for their first classes admitted after the Supreme Court's landmark decision Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College held that the Constitution prohibits the use of race as a "bonus" in admissions decisions. The demographic data reflect a variety of admissions policy changes. Four new voices in civil rights law--all recent law school graduates--will summarize trends in post-Fair Admissions admissions policies and data to explain how institutions of higher education responded to the Fair Admissions decision. Featuring: Peter Abernathy, Judicial Law Clerk, 31st Circuit Court of VirginiaSamuel Gellen, Honor Law Graduate Attorney, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory CommissionLeo O'Malley, Judicial Law Clerk, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of TexasAnthony Pericolo, Associate, Desmarais LLP(Moderator) Devon Westhill, President and General Counsel, Center for Equal Opportunity

In TikTok, Inc. v. Garland, the Court was asked to consider whether the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, as applied to petitioners, violates the First Amendment. The PAFACA requires that TikTok either cease operations in the United States or have its parent company ByteDance sell off the American segment of the company by January 19, 2025. Petitioners challenged the law as unconstitutionally abridging their freedom of speech, and after a lower court decision upholding the law, the Supreme Court granted cert on December 18, 2024.Oral Argument was heard on January 10, 2025, and a decision came out on January 17, 2025.Join us for a Courthouse Steps Decision program where we analyze the decision and likely effects.Featuring:Darpana Sheth Nunziata, Public Interest Litigator

Our liberty, safety, and prosperity are based on the rule of law, not the rule of man or machine. However, given that the criminal justice system suffers from many efficiencies and errors, could artificial intelligence aid the efforts of police, prosecutors, and other actors tasked with protecting public safety with limited resources? Given the power of A.I. technologies to find proverbial needles in haystacks and identify patterns that would otherwise be overlooked, it is not surprising that some criminal justice agencies are already deploying these tools. How can we harness the potential benefits while also ensuring that our liberty and privacy are not compromised? This discussion will feature experts in both the law and technology to help us sort though these questions and identify policies and practices that promote innovation while ensuring constitutional rights are protected. Featuring: Michael R. Holley, First Assistant District Attorney, Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, Conroe Texas Patrick Robinson, Owner, VSV Leadership Jesse Rothman, Senior Fellow, Council on Criminal Justice Hon. Scott U. Schlegel, Judge, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, State of Louisiana (Moderator) Marc Levin, Chief Policy Counsel, Council on Criminal Justice; Senior Advisor, Right on Crime -- Related Readings --

Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton concerns Texas Law H.B. 1181, and what precedent should apply in considering its impact on free speech.Passed in 2023, the law requires commercial entities, including social media platforms, "that knowingly and intentionally publish or distribute material on an Internet website... more than one-third of which is sexual material harmful to minors" to age-gate their content, and to verify the age of their users, ensuring they are 18 years of age or older.Soon after the law passed, plaintiffs, including the Free Speech Coalition, "a trade association for the adult industry", sued, claiming the law violated their right to free speech. Drawing on a line of cases including Ashcroft v. ACLU (2004), the plaintiffs argued that since the law impacted constitutionally protected speech, strict scrutiny should be applied and the TX law failed that test. In reviewing the case, the Fifth Circuit denied that argument, instead applying a rational basis test, drawing from the precedent of Ginsburg v. New York (1968).Thus, the Supreme Court is set to consider a relatively narrow question: whether the court of appeals erred as a matter of law in applying rational-basis review, instead of strict scrutiny, to a law burdening adults’ access to protected speech.Join us for a Courthouse Steps program following oral argument on January 15, 2025, where we break down and analyze how arguments went before the Court.Featuring:Erik S. Jaffe, Partner, Schaerr | Jaffe LLP

Immigration is a spotlight issue, especially heading into the next administration. Some say the United States is under attack—that the entrance of millions of immigrants, some of whom intend to and do cause harm to Americans, constitutes an “invasion” or "predatory incursion" of the sort mentioned in Article I of the Constitution and the Alien Enemies Act (AEA). Others contend, however, that allowing the term “invasion” or "predatory incursion" to apply to illegal immigration is both wrong and dangerous, and would allow for the possibility of states engaging in war or mounting hostility with neighboring countries. Is the US under invasion or predatory incursion by illegal immigrants? Can illegal immigration be an instrument to diminish the sovereignty of a nation? Join us in discussing these important questions and more.Featuring:Hon. Ken Cuccinelli, Former Acting Deputy Secretary for the Department of Homeland SecurityProf. Ilya Somin, Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason UniversityModerator: Joseph Humire, Executive Director, Center for a Secure Free Society--To register, click the link above.--For reference:Policy Brief: How States Can Secure the BorderAttorney General Opinion No. I22-001(R21-015) Immigration is Not InvasionCourts Might Not Stop Trump's Illicit Plans for Mass Deportations

In TikTok, Inc. v. Garland (consolidated with Firebaugh v. Garland) the Court is set to consider whether the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA)(enacted by Congress in April 2024), as applied to petitioners, violates the First Amendment.Put forward as a law focused on national security, PAFACA would require that TikTok either cease operations in the United States or have its parent company ByteDance sell off the American segment of the company by January 19, 2025. The government contends that TikTok poses a notable national security threat given the data it, as a foreign-owned company, collects on American users and the extent to which it could be used to control information (or disinformation) flow to American users. TikTok, along with several users, on the other hand, challenged the law, contending that while there may be a legitimate government interest in national security, the means employed in this case violate the free speech rights of both TikTok and its American users who use the platform to create content. The DC Circuit, in an opinion written by Judge Ginsburg, upheld the law against a First Amendment challenge.The Supreme Court granted cert on December 18, 2024, and oral argument is set for January 10, 2025. Join us for a panel Courthouse Steps program following oral argument.Featuring:Corbin K. Barthold, Internet Policy Counsel and Director of Appellate Litigation, TechFreedomChristian Corrigan, Solicitor General, Montana Attorney General's Office(Moderator) Casey Mattox, Vice President, Legal Strategy, Stand Together

Lawless uses the author, Ilya Shapiro’s, “lived experience” with Georgetown as a jumping-off point to discuss what he describes as the warping of legal education and the legal profession. He argues that law schools used to teach students how to think critically, advance logical arguments, and respect opponents. Now they produce lawyers who can’t tolerate disagreement and reject the validity of the law itself. He claims the problem is bigger than radical students and biased faculty; it’s institutional weakness. Law schools produce the next generation of gatekeepers for our legal and political institutions: America’s future judges, prosecutors, politicians, and presidents. Shapiro argues it’s a big deal and discusses the failure of ideology, leadership, and bureaucracy—and what we can do about it.Featuring: Ilya Shapiro, Senior Fellow and Director of Constitutional Studies, Manhattan Institute(Moderator) Hon. Kenneth L. Marcus, Founder and Chairman, Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law

Each month, a panel of constitutional experts convenes to discuss the Court’s upcoming docket sitting by sitting. The cases covered in this preview are listed below.TikTok, Inc. v. Garland (January 10) - First Amendment, National Security; Issue(s): Whether the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, as applied to petitioners, violates the First Amendment.Hewitt v. U.S. (January 13) - Criminal Law, First Step Act; Issue(s): Whether the First Step Act’s sentencing reduction provisions apply to a defendant originally sentenced before the act’s enactment, when that original sentence is judicially vacated and the defendant is resentenced to a new term of imprisonment after the act’s enactment.Stanley v. City of Sanford, Florida (January 13) - ADA; Issue(s): Whether, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a former employee — who was qualified to perform her job and who earned post-employment benefits while employed — loses her right to sue over discrimination with respect to those benefits solely because she no longer holds her job.Thompson v. U.S. (January 14) - Financial Services; Issue(s): Whether 18 U.S.C. § 1014, which prohibits making a “false statement” for the purpose of influencing certain financial institutions and federal agencies, also prohibits making a statement that is misleading but not false.Waetzig v. Halliburton Energy Services (January 14) - Civil Procedure; Issue(s): Whether a voluntary dismissal without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41 is a “final judgment, order, or proceeding” under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b).Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton (January 15) - Free Speech; Issue(s): Whether the court of appeals erred as a matter of law in applying rational-basis review, instead of strict scrutiny, to a law burdening adults’ access to protected speech.Food and Drug Administration v. R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. (January 21) - Federalism & Separation of Powers; Issue(s): Whether a manufacturer may file a petition for review in a circuit (other than the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit) where it neither resides nor has its principal place of business, if the petition is joined by a seller of the manufacturer’s products that is located within that circuit.McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson Corporation (January 21) - Telecommunications; Issue(s): Whether the Hobbs Act required the district court in this case to accept the Federal Communications Commission’s legal interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.Barnes v. Felix (January 22) - Criminal Law, Fourth Amendment; Issue(s): Whether courts should apply the "moment of the threat" doctrine when evaluating an excessive force claim under the Fourth Amendment.Cunningham v. Cornell University (January 22) - Financial Services; Issue(s): Whether a plaintiff can state a claim by alleging that a plan fiduciary engaged in a transaction constituting a furnishing of goods, services, or facilities between the plan and a party in interest, as proscribed by 29 U.S.C. § 1106(a)(1)(C), or whether a plaintiff must plead and prove additional elements and facts not contained in the provision’s text.Featuring:Jennifer B. Dickey, Deputy Chief Counsel, U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, U.S. Chamber of CommerceProf. Michael R. Dimino, Sr., Professor of Law, Widener University Commonwealth Law SchoolShannon M. Grammel, Counsel, Lehotsky Keller Cohn LLPGregory Y. Porter, Partner, Bailey Glasser LLPVikrant P. Reddy, Senior Fellow, Stand Together TrustBryan Weir, Partner, Consovoy McCarthy PLLC(Moderator) Brett Nolan, Senior Attorney, Institute for Free Speech