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Opening Arguments: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Opening Arguments Media LLC
Opening Arguments is a law show that helps you make sense of the news! Comedian Thomas Smith brings on legal analysts to help you understand not only current events, but also deeper legal concepts and areas! The typical schedule will be M-W-F with Monday being a deep-dive, Wednesday being Thomas Takes the Bar Exam and patron shoutouts, and Friday being a rapid response to legal issues in the news!
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- Yesterday49 min
LAM1015: Outlaw
LAM1015 - Jimmy Smits stars as a gambling, sports-shooting Supreme Court Justice with a law clerk paid to fend off his advances, in NBC's forgotten 2010 flop Outlaw. Thomas, Matt, and Lydia can barely get through a single scene without stopping to ask what this show thinks a Justice actually does. This free 45-minute preview only scratches the surface of how bad it gets. $2+ Patrons already have this full episode, plus an early part 2 of Jenessa's 4th Amendment privacy deep dive, at patreon.com/law. Friday brings a Gavel Gavel crossover on the ruling that blew up Trump and Todd Blanche's corrupt IRS settlement. Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
- 3 days ago57 min
How SCOTUS Paved the Way for Flock Cameras
OA1282 - Is anything private any more? Depends which Supreme Court Justice you ask. To kick off a series of episodes around data privacy and the law, first Jenessa walks us through a string of Supreme Court cases addressing 4th Amendment rights and technology. In part 1, we cover landmark cases with wiretapping, beepers, GPS trackers, thermal imaging, and more. Stick around for part 2 to hear how the modern composition of the court is responding to the proliferation of new technologies. Cases discussed: Olmstead v. United States Katz v. United States United States v. Knotts United States v. Karo Kyllo v. United States Riley v. California United States v. Miller Smith v. Maryland United States v. Jones Part 2 of this breakdown drops early for patrons at patreon.com/law. Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
- 6 days ago47 min
Todd Blanche Can Also Lie and Dodge Questions in Writing Too!
OA1281 - As we wait on the final vote tally for Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche, we take a look at written responses which he recently provided into the record to answer a wide range of Senate questions the day after his hearing concluded. We also take a closer look at how the 5th Circuit is trying to make a recent Clarence Thomas concurrence into law, and how Thomas’s retrograde reading of the Constitution’s Commerce Clause could end federal firearms charges and potentially take one of the pillars of the entire federal criminal punishment system along with them. Finally in today’s footnote: AI in the courtroom hits an unbelievable new low. “Questions for the Record” for Todd Blanche issued after his confirmation hearing, with Blanche’s responses (7/17/2026) U.S. v. Hemani (6/18/2026) En banc order from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in USA v. Squire (2026) Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
- 1 weeks ago57 min
Law on the Spectrum, with Peter O'Neil
OA1280 - Peter O’Neil was preparing for retirement after decades of practicing law when he learned that he was autistic at the age of 65. This realization inspired his memoir My So-Called Disorder: Autism, Exploding Trucks, and the Big Daddy of Rock and Roll, in which he looks back at his life and legal career to better understand how his neurodiversity played a role in both his most significant personal challenges and the unique professional talents which helped him to take on some of the largest corporations in the US as a products liability attorney. In this unusual intergenerational exchange between lawyers on the spectrum, Peter and Matt discuss their experiences and appreciate the ways that these so-called “disorders” have made them who they are. Peter O'Neil is the author of My So-Called Disorder, Autism, Exploding Trucks, and the Big Daddy of Rock and Roll, this month's OA Book Club pick. Join him live for book club on July 26th at 4:30pm Eastern, for patrons at any level at patreon.com/law. Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
- 1 weeks ago51 min
What Happened to You, Todd Blanche?
OA1279 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: A federal judge rips up the corrupt “settlement” Trump reached with his own IRS at the unprecedented request of a group of 35 former federal judges just in time time for aspiring Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing, humanizing the latest victims of ICE, and a metafootnote about a DC judge who hates footnotes nearly as much as Matt loves them. The Agenda: Williams' IRS ruling Blanche confirmation hearing Salgado Araujo shooting Duran Guerrero shooting Boasberg's footnote crusade Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
- 2 weeks ago1h 2m
Nancy Mace Thinks Anyone With a Foreign Name Is Disloyal
VR38 - This week in Vapid Response Thomas, Lydia, and Matt review some truly awful takes from a MAGA economist on the true cause of low crime rates, Rep. Nancy Mace on her extremely real and not-at-all-racist concerns about the dangers of judges with dual citizenship, and a then-20-year-old Rolling Stone columnist in 1969 on his immediate disdain for what would become one of the greatest rock albums of all time. “Trump’s Immigration Enforcement Really is Slashing Violent Crime,” John R. Lott, Jr, The Federalist (July 9, 2026) FBI’s National Crime Victims Survey data “Governing America means loyalty to America,” Rep. Nancy Mace, Newsweek (July 4, 2026) Judge Sparkle Sooknanan’s preliminary injunction order in League of Women Voters v DHS Judicial nominee Sparkle Sooknanan’s responses to Sen. Lindsay Graham’s judicial questionnaire (March 20, 2024) “The Top 15 Bullshit Album Reviews That Rolling Stone Magazine Had the Balls to Publish,” Reel Harmonies (July 14, 2014) Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
- 2 weeks ago1h 3m
The MAGA Justices Get Torched by... Amy Coney Barrett?!
OA1278 - On its face, the decision in Watson is a pretty narrow ruling. Some states allow ballots postmarked on or before election day, but arriving after election day, to be counted. The court decided they can continue to do so. But at stake was so much more. Bubbling under the surface, election deniers were trying to open a door to far more aggressive limitations on voting rights. With this decision, that door is quite firmly shut… by Barrett? Come hear Jenessa try to survive the cognitive dissonance of finding an ACB opinion extremely well-written, thorough, and appropriately critical of out-of-context half-assed attempts at historical analysis in the dissent. Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
- 2 weeks ago48 min
It's Not Just Prairieland and Broadview. More Lives Are Being Ruined by Unjust Prosecutions.
OA1277 - We continue our coverage of the Trump administration’s criminalization of dissent with a brief update on the sentencing of the last remaining Prairieland defendant and a closer look at similar federal prosecutions of ICE protesters in Minneapolis, Spokane, and a number of other jurisdictions. Matt then explains how the DOJ just complicated a case against someone alleged to have leaked the second Jack Smith report in the funniest possible way. Finally, in today’s footnote: that one time that Dan Crenshaw and William Shatner tried to make Starfleet happen. “Final federal Prairieland ‘antifa’ defendant sentenced to six years after helping shooter evade arrest,” The Dallas Morning News (6/6/2026) Indictment in United States v. Stuckart et al., Eastern District of Washington (7/9/2025) “DOJ Targets Anti-ICE Demonstrators with Conspiracy Charges,” PBS Newshour on Instagram (3/31/2026) Indictment in United States v. Sant et al., District of Minnesota (6/11/2026) Trump’s Spaghetti-Against-the-Wall Indictment Against ICE Protesters — and How to Fight It, The Intercept (6/17/2026) “As ICE protesters like ‘Spokane 3’ are targeted, many still stand up,” Seattle Times (6/15/2026) “In-Your-Face DOJ Aide Rides Prosecutors for ‘Chief Client’ Trump,” Bloomberg (2/19/2026) ‘Go Big and Go Loud’: Inside the Justice Dept.’s Push to Prosecute Protesters, New York Times (3/19/2026) Indictment in United States of America v. Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, Southern District of Florida (5/19/2026) “William Shatner Wants to Know: What the Heck is Wrong With You, Space Force?” William Shatner, Military Times (8/26/2020) Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
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About Opening Arguments
Opening Arguments is a law show that helps you make sense of the news! Comedian Thomas Smith brings on legal analysts to help you understand not only current events, but also deeper legal concepts and areas! The typical schedule will be M-W-F with Monday being a deep-dive, Wednesday being Thomas Takes the Bar Exam and patron shoutouts, and Friday being a rapid response to legal issues in the news!
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