The Shadow Docket Just Won’t Quit
Episode Date: August 25, 2025The gang is back together as Melissa, Kate, and Leah break down this week’s mountain of legal news, including the Court’s greenlighting of Trump’s ant...
Strict Scrutiny is a podcast about the United States Supreme Court and the legal culture that surrounds it. Hosted by three badass constitutional law professors-- Leah Litman, Kate Shaw, and Melissa Murray-- Strict Scrutiny provides in-depth, accessible, and irreverent analysis of the Supreme Court and its cases, culture, and personalities. Each week, Leah, Kate, and Melissa break down the latest headlines and biggest legal questions facing our country, emphasizing what it all means for our daily lives. Whether you’re a lawyer or law student, or you’re just here for the messy legal drama, Strict Scrutiny has you covered. New episodes out every Monday… plus bonuses whenever SCOTUS takes away another one of our rights.
364 episodes transcribedThe gang is back together as Melissa, Kate, and Leah break down this week’s mountain of legal news, including the Court’s greenlighting of Trump’s ant...
Kate and Leah recap the week's legal news, including argument calendars for the next SCOTUS term and President Trump's attempted federal takeover of W...
Melissa and guest co-host Imani Gandy of Rewire News Group break down the week’s legal happenings, including how Texas Democrats are attempting to thw...
Leah and guest co-host Mark Joseph Stern of Slate and the Amicus podcast run through what’s been happening in the courts this week, including disturbi...
Melissa and Kate run through the latest legal news, including the Court greenlighting the dismantling of the Department of Education. Then, they speak...
Katie Phang, independent journalist and trial lawyer, joins Leah to run through the week’s legal news–and there’s a lot of it! They unpack, as KBJ put...
With July upon us and bad decision season (mercifully) over, Leah, Kate and Melissa take a step back to recap this year’s SCOTUS term. They highlight...
Leah, Melissa and Kate roll up their sleeves and unpack last Friday’s huge day at the Court, starting with Mahmoud v. Taylor, the case that tested Sam...
In an emergency episode, Leah, Kate, and Melissa break down today’s radical decision in Trump v. CASA, Inc., which gives this administration carte bla...
In this emergency episode, Melissa, Leah and Kate are joined by Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, to unpack today’s ruli...
First, Leah is joined by international law expert Bec Ingber to lay out legal issues around the use of force (aka bombing Iran). Then, Leah is joined...
In this emergency episode, Chase Strangio of the ACLU joins the pod to talk about today’s decision in United States v. Skrmetti. Then, Kate, Leah, and...
Melissa, Kate, and Leah can smell the fascism in the air as President Trump forces troops on California protesters. They discuss how he is (yet again)...
Leah, Kate and Melissa unpack this week’s raft of SCOTUS decisions, including cases on “reverse discrimination” and whether Mexico can sue American gu...
Live from Capital Turnaround in Washington, D.C., Leah, Kate, and Melissa wade right into the swamp, breaking down the (very weird, very disturbing) s...
Melissa, Leah, and Kate kick the show off with a look at the Court’s 4-4 deadlock on Oklahoma’s religious charter school case. Then, it’s a romp throu...
May is supposed to be the calm before June’s opinion storm in SCOTUS-land, but not in Trump’s America. Melissa, Kate, and Leah kick off the show with...
Drop everything and read! This week, the hosts celebrate the release of Leah’s book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fr...
Is this the term when the Court says “see ya” to the Establishment Clause? Leah, Melissa and Kate consider that question in their recap of this week’s...
Kate and Leah recap oral arguments in two big cases the Supreme Court heard this week. The first is about LGBTQ+ inclusive reading materials in public...