"The Week Ahead" -Joyce Vance

 

The Week Ahead: We started the week taking a look at two important Supreme Court cases, Trump v. Slaughter and NRSC v. FEC. But there was so much more to keep our eyes on as well: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Admiral Frank Bradley defending the lethal strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats; The New York Times suing the Pentagon for First and Fifth amendment violations over its new press corps policy; the question of whether the Tish James and James Comey cases will be reindicted; and Trump’s very Trumpian removal of two national holidays, MLK’s birthday and Juneteenth, as free entry days to National Parks—to be replaced by his own birthday.

Monday Morning with Katie Phang: Kate Phang joined me for an impromptu live. We started with the Supreme Court argument in Slaughter and also turned our attention to a question that has been on my mind: how do we consume the news without being consumed by it?

Monday in Court and Beyond: I took you through oral argument in the Slaughter case, where the Court looks likely to overturn Humphrey’s Executor. We also touched on ProPublica’s reporting on Trump committing the same actions that he has called mortgage fraud and used as a basis for going after adversaries; the lawsuit from 12 former FBI agents against Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel alleging unlawful termination; Alina Habba out as U.S. Attorney in New Jersey; reporting from The Wall Street Journal that the administration “skip publication of its delayed report on wholesale-price inflation, and will instead roll those figures into a postponed November report to be published on Jan. 14;” Judge Boasberg ordering two witnesses to testify in contempt proceedings he is conducting; the Ninth Circuit’s order agreeing to take the National Guard matter en banc amended to include an opinion by Senior Judge Jay Bybee; and good news from Politico that Congress is growing a spine.

Trump on Women: Trump’s history of and persistently continuing attacks on women are too many to list and are unacceptable—where are the voices condemning this behavior?

Judicial Ethics: This week, Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Emil Bove attended an event where Donald Trump spoke—highly irregular for a federal judge. We look at the process for ethics complaints against judges.

Judge Breyer on Trump's Continued Federalization of the California National Guard: I took you in-depth on a ruling in the California National Guard case to help you understand where we are now, how we got here, and what we can expect next.

Five Questions with First Amendment Lawyer Katie Townsend: An attorney who is representing The New York Times in its case against the Pentagon over its new press policy joined us to help us understand the details of this important case.

Substack Live: Baking Nana’s Rugelach: I joined Marissa Rothkopf for a special live where we talked politics and baked my Nana’s Rugelach, a family favorite recipe.

These are complicated legal times, and it’s easy for the truth to get lost in the chaos. Civil Discourse doesn’t just track today’s headlines—it connects them to the legal and political history that explains why they matter.

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We’re in this together,

-Joyce Vance

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