Advisory Opinions
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Advisory Opinions
Advisory Opinions is a legal podcast by The Dispatch. Hosts David French and Sarah Isgur meet twice a week to talk about the law, the courts, their collision with politics, and why it all matters.
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Trump’s Tariff Showdown
Sarah Isgur and David French preview the biggest Supreme Court case of the term, Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, which challenges President Donald...
All About Substantive Due Process
Sarah Isgur and David French walk listeners through the entire history of the Constitution, the Supreme Court, some of the biggest cases ... all promp...
Firing Squad vs. Suffocation
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the Eighth Amendment in light of a prisoner’s request to die by firing squad.
But first, join us for...
Bad Man Smokes Weed Doctrine
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss a case before the Supreme Court that will consider whether pot smokers can legally own guns.
The Age...
Euphemisms, Political Speech, and the First Amendment
Sarah Isgur and David French kick off Free Speech Week at the University of Texas School of Law to talk about the confusion around Callais oral argume...
Vindictive Prosecutions
Sarah Isgur and David French dive deeper into Chiles v. Salazar, the case argued before the Supreme Court last week about banning conversion therapy f...
The Future of Free Speech
Live from Vanderbilt University, Sarah Isgur and David French speak at the Global Free Speech Summit about the threats to the First Amendment across t...
Conversion Therapy and Free Speech
Editor’s Note: This episode was previously uploaded with the incorrect audio. We apologize for the error.
Sarah Isgur and David French ki...
SCOTUS Long Conference and 'Insecure Originalists'
Sarah Isgur and David Lat cover the Supreme Court's long conference and react to the sentencing of Justice Brett Kavanaugh's attempted assassin.
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BONUS | Judge Patrick Bumatay Interviews Justice Amy Coney Barrett
Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined Judge Patrick Bumatay at SCOTUSblog's inaugural On the Merits summit at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg Center t...
The Supreme Court’s Upcoming Term
Sarah Isgur and David French spend today’s episode reviewing nine cases the Supreme Court will decide during the upcoming term, from the intricacies o...
Selective Prosecutions
Sarah Isgur and David French unpack the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey. What does the case say about the grand jury process, the risks...
Dorm Room Originalism
Sarah Isgur and David French break down the Supreme Court’s latest move: taking up a case before the lower courts have even finished with it. What doe...
The Fall of Affirmative Action | Interview: Justin Driver
Sarah Isgur and David French sit down with Justin Driver, the Robert R. Slaughter Professor of Law at Yale Law School, to talk about his new book, The...
The Oldest Constitutional Question | Interview: Richard Primus
Sarah Isgur and David French invite Richard Primus, author of The Oldest Constitutional Question: Enumeration and Federal Power, to discuss his unorth...
Superhighways of Foreign Influence
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Sarah Isgur and David French explore the evolving battle over free speech and examine modern threats pose...
Congress Won’t Contradict Trump
When the president orders a strike, who decides if it’s legal? Sarah Isgur and David French unpack the commander in chief’s powers after a hit on an a...
Listening to a Justice | Interview: Justice Amy Coney Barrett
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett joins Sarah Isgur and David French from the Lawyer’s Room at the Supreme Court. They begin with a lightning ro...
Free Speech and ‘The Executive Power’ | FIRE Crossover
David French and Sarah Isgur speak with Nico Perrino to discuss the origin story of Advisory Opinions and the few free speech issues where they disagr...
When Flag Burning Becomes a Crime | Interview: Sanford and Cynthia Levinson
Sarah Isgur and David French talk about flag burning and protected free speech in the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive order on the same sub...
Political Retribution? | Interview: Saikrishna Prakash
Sarah Isgur and David French analyze the legalities of the FBI’s raid on former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s home. Then, an interview with...
Are Age Verification Laws Constitutional?
Sarah Isgur and David French analyze Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s concurrence in the NetChoice v. Mississippi case and whether or not states can enforce...
Federalizing D.C. | Live From the Alaska Federal Bar Association
Sarah Isgur and David French break down President Donald Trump’s far-reaching use of executive powers—from calling in the National Guard at home to pu...
Hookers and Kushners | Interview: Chris Christie
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie joins Sarah Isgur and David French to give advice to all young attorneys and aspiring legal professionals. Plus:...
Abraham Lincoln, Originalist | Interview: Akhil Amar
Akhil Amar, Sterling Professor of law and political science at Yale, joins Sarah and David for a deep dive into the constitutional battles and amendme...
Drive-By Rulings | Interview: J. Joel Alicea
J. Joel Alicea, professor at Catholic University's Columbus School of Law, joins Sarah Isgur and David French to discuss race-conscious redistricting....
Getting Into Law School | Interview: Miriam Ingber and Kristi Jobson
Sarah Isgur and David French are joined by Miriam Ingber, associate dean of admissions & financial aid at Yale Law School, and Kristi Jobson, dean of...
Guns, Gays, and Birthright Citizenship
Sarah Isgur and David French break down a few 9th Circuit cases, including one on gender ideology and free speech rights. Plus, a super sexy snippet o...
Will Ghislaine Maxwell Split the Circuits?
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss how Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, is attempting to get out of jail on a technicality. Could...
Separation Anxiety: Courts and Congress
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss Alina Habba’s removal as U.S. attorney pick and the one consistent position of the Trump administration: We get t...
Signing Away Constitutionality
Sarah Isgur and David French discuss the use of autopens as a permission structure and David’s Very Big Problems with technology and the pardon power....
An Inconsequential Term?
Sarah Isgur, David French, and Kannon Shanmugam again reunite for the annual Paul, Weiss summer associate live recording. The three discuss Justice Ke...
Educating the Youth
Sarah Isgur and David French, live from the FIRE Student Network Summer Conference, discuss free speech in non-profits and schools before Sarah takes...
Blockbuster Cases
Sarah Isgur returns to her home state of Texas to join a panel of leading constitutional scholars for a deep dive into the most significant Supreme Co...
State Power vs. Parental Rights
Could a parental consent law finally be headed to the Supreme Court? Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas recently declined to take up a case—but...
SCOTUS 2025 Term Debrief
Pardon our legal nerd-out as Sarah Isgur, David French, Amy Howe, David Lat, and Zachary Shemtob—our dream team of SCOTUSBloggers and Advisory Opinion...
Justice Kagan’s Supreme Court
Sarah Isgur and David French break down the biggest takeaways from the Supreme Court’s latest term using SCOTUSblog’s stat pack as their guide. They a...
SCOTUS Sides with Trump
Divided Argument hosts Daniel Epps and William Baude join Sarah Isgur to unpack the Supreme Court’s decision (ahem, non-decision) on birthright citize...
Ruling Against Planned Parenthood
Sarah Isgur and David French face the muddiness of a case on moving criminal aliens to South Sudan, the messiness of death penalty cases, and the pote...
Hubris in Legal Movements
Sarah Isgur and David French cover two less-exhilarating Supreme Court decisions (faxes, anyone?) and re-visit the Skrmetti decision. It’s four decisi...