The Supreme Court issued its decision in the first of two abortion cases we've been waiting for—and it was pretty OK! Join Jess and Imani in this reaction episode breaking down the unanimous ruling on standing in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine that was written by—yup—Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Our verdict? The decision is great, but more li…

It's a supersized episode of Boom! Lawyered with special guest Gretchen Sisson, author of the recently released book Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood. Sisson is also a qualitative sociologist and friend of the pod who studies abortion and adoption at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health based…

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has always been the worst, but now, he's even more confident letting his freak flag fly because he knows nothing is going to happen to him. By now, you might have heard about the Alito's Virginia home displaying an upside-down American flag—an insurrectionist symbol after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, and t…

Jess and Imani are talking about Idaho—again! Now that the state has made its argument that people who visit emergency rooms at Medicare-funded hospitals needing an abortion can go pound sand, it's arguing before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that anyone who “recruits, harbors, or transports” a minor within Idaho for the purposes of “procuring…

Two years ago today, Politico published the bombshell leak heard around the world—Justice Samuel Alito's 98-page majority draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. In this flashback episode, Jess and Imani react the following afternoon to the absolute sucker punch. For more coverage of the leaked opinion, check out our next episode, "Processing the Fa…

It was a grim day at the Supreme Court for oral arguments in Idaho v. United States with the fate of Emergency Medicine Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) at stake. Jess and Imani bring you quick analysis about what happened, including how the conservatives are arguing in the margins about life and death. Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media…

It’s time for oral arguments in the second abortion case this Supreme Court season, one that Jess and Imani have both written and talked a lot about in the last year. In this week's episode, they share what they'll be listening for during Wednesday's arguments. They'll also be bringing you their rapid reactions later that day, so be sure to tune in…

With Jess out, Elie Mystal, friend of the pod and justice correspondent at the Nation, joins Imani on a supersized episode of the pod this week! They chat about all your favorite and not-so-favorite Supreme Court justices: Samuel Alito's long hatred for women, how much Amy Coney Barrett hates abortion, and why it's not even worth talking about the …

The Florida Supreme Court was busy this week in issuing decisions surrounding bodily autonomy. In twin decisions the court stripped abortion rights from the Florida Constitution—and to no one's surprise, the reason was dodgy at best—while also allowing voters to decide whether to amend the constitution so it explicitly protects abortion. In the pro…

Who had a bad day at the Supreme Court this morning for oral arguments in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine? Erin Hawley. What had an OK day at the Supreme Court? Mifepristone! In this rapid reaction episode, Jess and Imani agree that mifepristone's big moment before the justices didn't seem as bad as they were expecting. Listen along and ge…

Pace yourself this Supreme Court season, folks, as we head into oral arguments for two major abortion rights cases before the term ends. First up on Tuesday is FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which will decide the fate of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortions. Not only could a ruling before the end of the Court term …

This week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling in Deanda v. Becerra, which challenges teens’ ability to access birth control without parental consent. The Fifth Circuit, unsurprisingly, ruled in favor of Deanda, upending four decades of federal precedent. Jess and Imani break down the appeals court’s decision and why the ruling is a …

The next major Supreme Court fight over nationwide abortion access since the overturn of Roe v. Wade is coming up. Oral arguments in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, regarding mifepristone access, one of two drugs used in medication abortion, is set for March 26, and the justices could potentially set access back decades. In this flashback…

Catch up with stories you may have missed at rewirenewsgroup.com. Rewire News Groupis a nonprofit media organization, which means Boom! Lawyered is only made possible with the support of listeners like you! If you can, please join our team by donating here. And sign up forThe Fallout, a weekly newsletter written by Jess that’s exclusively dedicated…

Junk science is everywhere surrounding the big medication abortion case the Supreme Court will hear in late March, FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. The junk science is so improper, in fact, that the academic publishers who published studies that were cited by the plaintiffs—and the lower court judge who ruled on it, Matthew Kacsmaryk—retra…

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a ruling this week regarding abortion, and there's been some confusion around it. No, the court didn't find a fundamental right to abortion in the state constitution. However, the justices did pave the way for that possibility as they weighed whether Medicaid must cover abortions in Pennsylvania. Rewire News Gr…

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Biden administration issued guidance on the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) to say that emergency care at Medicare-funded hospitals includes abortion care. So why, when there has been a clear violation of that, did the administration side with the hospital over the patien…

Last week, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals allowed Alabama’s gender-affirming care ban to go into effect, and that’s terrible not just for Alabama, but also for Georgia and Florida, both of which are located in the 11th Circuit and have gender-affirming care bans being litigated right now. Hear from Jess and Imani, who've got everything you need …

We've got not one but two abortion cases at the Supreme Court this spring, with the possibility of yet another heavily rewritten reproductive rights landscape. Welcome back to Boom! Lawyered. Jess and Imani are ready to fill you in on everything you need to know about the latest Court case on EMTALA, or the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active La…

We'll be back on January 5, 2024. Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means Boom! Lawyered is only made possible with the support of listeners like you! If you can, please join our team by donating here. And sign up forThe Fallout, a weekly newsletter written by Jess that’s exclusively dedicated to covering every aspect of th…

Texas resident and former Rewire News Group staff member Andrea Grimes joins Imani on the final episode of 2023. From Kate Cox to Texas' SB 8, they break down the confusing mess and nonsense going on in Texas' abortion landscape. See you in 2024! Mentioned in this episode: Andrea Grimes for Rewire News Group Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media o…

You'll likely be hearing a lot more about L.W. v. Skrmetti, a trans rights case that the ACLU has requested the Supreme Court takes up. Jess and Imani get into the nuts and bolts of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that allowed Tennessee's gender-affirming ban targeting trans kids to take effect, breaking previous federal court consensus…

Jess and Imani will be back the next week for the final three episodes of 2023. Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means Boom! Lawyered is only made possible with the support of listeners like you! If you can, please join our team by donating here. And sign up forThe Fallout, a weekly newsletter written by Jess that’s exclus…

Meet Zackey Rahimi, someone who apparently has never met a situation he didn’t try to shoot his way out of, including family, random drivers, and Whataburger. Jess and Imani are back to break down last week's Supreme Court oral arguments in his case, United States v. Rahimi, which boils down to originalism on steroids. As Jess says Solicitor Genera…

The demise of the constitutional right to privacy, conservatives' attacks on birth control, and Jess and Imani's ol' pal U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk. What do these things all have in common? The case Deanda v. Becerra—about whether teens can get birth control from federally funded health centers without their parents' consent. Kacsmaryk, …

This week, Imani and Jess dive into civil procedure (sorry Jess) as they discuss whether the Supreme Court will kick a case that could interfere with enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act. They explain what civil rights testers do, what case mootness is, and why the Court should—and probably will—decline to rule in Acheson Hotels v. La…

Imani and Jess are back to chat about the conservative assault on trans folks’ personhood. They get into the slew of attacks the community has faced this year alone, and Imani makes the case for equal rights protections for trans people. It's all part of our latest special issue, They the People. Mentioned in this episode: Here’s One Thing the Cons…

In the meantime, catch up with our latest special issue, "They the People," all about trans rights. Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means Boom! Lawyered is only made possible with the support of listeners like you! If you can, please join our team by donating here. And sign up for The Fallout, a weekly newsletter written …

Smell that? It’s the stink of the Supreme Court’s corruption creeping closer. Before the Court’s next term begins Monday, Imani and Jess preview some of the upcoming cases it’s set or likely to decide, including lawsuits over access to mifepristone, racist gerrymandering, and insurance coverage for gender-affirming care. Rewire News Group is a nonp…

The Supreme Court's stink of corruption didn't take a summer break like we did. From everything going on with Ginni Thomas to Justice Samuel "the Leak" Alito and Federalist Society President Leonard Leo, Jess and Imani return and get you caught up with these democracy underminers. Can everyone get another hobby? Welcome to a new season of the Boom!…

Well, it happened: The Supreme Court killed affirmative action, with all six conservative justices—yes, including so-called moderate Chief Justice John Roberts—ruling against the policy in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard/University of North Carolina. In the live season finale of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani break down the majority and dis…

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle didn't mince words in his barnburner of an opinion striking down Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' draconian anti-trans bill. In his opinion for Doe v. Ladapo, Hinkle wrote: "Pushing individuals away from their transgender identity is not a legitimate state interest." On a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Ima…

Jess and Imani are back with a rapid reaction analysis of Brackeen v. Haaland, a case that threatened the Indian Child Welfare Act, which ensures that Indigenous children stay in their families and tribes. Just when we thought the Supreme Court couldn’t surprise us anymore, a majority of justices voted to protect tribal sovereignty, with Justices S…

It's just Jess Pieklo on the podcast this week, and she's joined by a special guest: feminist author Jessica Valenti, who created the newsletter Abortion, Every Day. This episode is part of our special issue, which you can view here. Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means that Boom! Lawyered is only made possible by the su…

It's June, which means only one thing: Sweaty SCOTUS Season is here. All month long, we'll be waiting on the Supreme Court justices to release their decisions on cases heard this term. In a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani take a closer look at the four cases we'll be keeping an eye on—and yes, will have live rapid reaction episodes on…

Republican lawmakers in North Carolina are legislating a horrible abortion ban in the shadows that could eventually make its way up to the Supreme Court. And we know these justices just love to legislate on the shadow docket, so that's a bad sign. And the even bigger issue? The First Amendment violations. Join Jess and Imani this week as they break…

This week, Jess and Imani get into all clownery and corruption at the Supreme Court and what they learned from last week's Senate Judiciary Committee hearings over SCOTUS ethics (like Chief Justice John Roberts refusing to show up and testify). Mentioned in this episode: Rewire News Group's billboard in Memphis! Rewire News Group is a nonprofit med…

Conservatives are trying their hardest to resurrect the Comstock Act as a way to ban mailing abortion pills. This week, Imani is joined by special guest and colleague Garnet Henderson, Rewire News Group's senior multiplatform reporter and resident Comstock Act expert, to break down how we got here and where we're going. You won't be surprised to le…

Jess and Imani recorded this special episode of Boom! Lawyered in front of a live audience over the weekend at the Summit for Religious Freedom. Tune in for their expert analysis on the mifepristone lawsuit. Rewire News Group is a nonprofit media organization, which means that Boom! Lawyered is only made possible by the support of listeners like yo…

Jess is out for this episode, so Boom! Lawyered welcomes back special guest and friend of the pod Elie Mystal, the Nation's justice correspondent. It's a supersized episode about expanding the Supreme Court, abortion, judges, and just about everything else about the law that you need to know—with a healthy dose of laughter. Rewire News Group is a n…

Abortion. Voting. Trans rights. Clean water. The Wisconsin Supreme Court race had all the rights on the line. And who showed up big at the polls? Gen Z. For the first time in 15 years, liberals won the Wisconsin Supreme Court race—and they won big. In a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani find a moment of joy to offer their analysis on a …

Two federal courts issued two different—and contradictory—rulings in the ongoing fight over approval of mifepristone, one of two drugs used for medication abortions. As yet another reminder: The FDA approved mife over two decades ago. Join Jess and Imani in this rapid reaction episode for some cathartic rage as they break down what it all means. Me…

A 12-year-old trans kid wants to run on her school's cross-country and track teams, but the state of West Virginia doesn't want to allow it. This anti-trans case, West Virginia v. BPJ, is on emergency application at the Supreme Court, which means—the shadow docket. Ugh. In a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani discuss how the conservative…

A Texas woman's friends helped her self-manage an abortion. Now, her ex-husband is suing them. In a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani discuss the wrongful death lawsuit against three women who helped their friend get an abortion and leave her marriage. Not only is this alarming, but it's also part of a bigger campaign to eradicate medic…

Anti-trans advocates want to punish trans people for existing. To make life more difficult for trans kids. It’s pure cruelty for cruelty’s sake. From the hundreds of anti-trans bills being introduced in state legislatures and an ongoing fearmongering campaign by legacy media that refuses to temper their anti-trans coverage with some coverage from a…

A Florida attorney is trying to free his client from jail. His client? A fetus.In a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani break down a case that could open the floodgates for "fetal personhood"—but, it's a little more complicated than that.By Jessica Mason Pieklo, Imani Gandy, Rewire News Group's Jessica Mason Pieklo and Imani Gandy

Charter Day School in North Carolina requires girls to wear skirts in order to "preserve chivalry" based on its belief that "every girl is a fragile vessel." Is it the 1950s? In a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani get into the case, Charter Day School v. Peltier, which the Supreme Court is thinking about taking—despite the fact that the…

The future of abortion is medication abortion. Anti-abortion activists know this. That's why they're coming after abortion pills—and fighting hard to get it banned nationwide. In a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, Jess and Imani dive into Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, the case before a Trump judge that could ban mifepristone, one of the t…

In this post-Roe world, we're at the intersection of the criminalization of pregnancy and the future of abortion access—and that's by design. In a new episode of Boom! Lawyered, co-hosts Jessica Mason Pieklo and Imani Gandy discuss how medication abortion—which is safe, effective, and lets people manage their abortion at home if they choose—is bein…

What a surreal moment. This should be the week of Roe's 50th anniversary. But like the planet Alderaan, it's been blown away by the Death Star (aka the Supreme Court). Jess and Imani discuss the future of abortion rights and what abortion access will look like in our new post-Roe reality. Mentioned in this episode: SCOTUS Gutting Native Families Wi…