UNBIASED - UNBIASED Politics: Charlie Kirk's Murder and What We Know About the Suspect, the Colorado School Shooting, Trump's Alleged Letter to Epstein, the Charlotte Stabbing, and More.

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

SUBSCRIBE TO JORDAN'S FREE NEWSLETTER. Get the facts, without the spin. UNBIASED offers a clear, impartial recap of US news, including politics, elections, legal news, and more. Hosted by lawyer Jordan Berman, each episode provides a recap of current political events plus breakdowns of complex concepts—like constitutional rights, recent Supreme Court rulings, and new legislation—in an easy-to-understand way. No personal opinions, just the facts you need to stay informed on the daily news that matters. If you miss how journalism used to be, you're in the right place. In today's episode: A Message From Me to You (0:00) What We Know About Charlie Kirk's Murder and the Shooter (6:17) What We Know About the Colorado School Shooting (16:34) What We Know About the Stabbing of Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte (19:37) House Committee Releases Trump's Alleged Letter to Epstein; Here's What It Says (27:46) Supreme Court Rules on ICE Stops; Here's What the Ruling Means (31:52) Rumor Has It: Was Trump an FBI Informant? Can Judges Really Be Judges Without a Law Degree? (40:35) GOOD NEWS (47:17) SUBSCRIBE TO JORDAN'S FREE NEWSLETTER. Watch this episode on YouTube. Follow Jordan on Instagram and TikTok. All sources for this episode can be found here.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's, of course, September 11th today, which marks the 24th anniversary of 9-11. Charlie Kirk was murdered yesterday in what appears to be a politically motivated attack, and yet another school shooting took place yesterday, exactly two weeks after a shooter killed two young children and injured many more at the Annunciation Catholic School. So I just want to take a few minutes to speak from the heart. It's not often that I do this because I really do try to stick to the news and I avoid injecting any sort of personal thoughts. But I, I think this week warrants at least a message. What I really want to see is all of us come together and show each other that humanity still exists. We know it exists. It does. But after this week,

and quite honestly, what feels like for a long time, we've lost sight that good people do still exist because the bad weighs more right when bad happens especially so much in so little time it feels like that's all that exists but you and i were good people and there are a lot of good people out there and the good news is is that we have the power to make a difference in this world so i want to challenge you to do something good this week whether it's calling up a friend that you haven't talked to in a while and checking on them, whether it's opening a door for someone at the grocery store, whether it's doing volunteer work, whatever it is. We have the power to make a difference, and I want you to remember that. We can't control the actions of other people, but we can control

our own actions. The other thing that has been weighing heavily on me, and I spoke a bit about this on my Instagram story, but it's that I'm really sick of the media and politicians fueling the fire here in America, that is violence. And social media plays a huge role here. We have so much information at our fingertips. And we're hearing from politicians at a rate that we've never heard from them before. And all it's doing is causing an even greater divide. And this we know. This is not, you know, this isn't, this isn't groundbreaking. But here's the problem. Crazy people exist. lunatics exist. You and I were not going to go out and commit a heinous act because we're upset, but there are people out there that will. And I feel as if the media and politicians can do a

much better job of toning down the rhetoric to stop giving those people a reason. The constant perpetuation of hate from both sides is absolutely ridiculous. And quite honestly, I would argue that it's culpable negligence. And it's from both sides. I can't stand it when people say it's just from one side. If you are someone that says that, it's very likely you're being brainwashed and manipulated by your own side. Both sides are responsible for this. Now, I can go on and on about this forever, but what I really want to express is that, again, you and I have power, okay? Of course, we can't get the media to stop their manipulation. We can't get politicians to stop their dirty tricks, but what we can do is not

buy into this behavior. I'm doing what I can in running this platform. I'm trying to create an environment where people can get caught up on the news, can be informed, but, you know, not feel that rage and frustration and those negative emotions that the mainstream media invokes. This platform is supposed to be a calm space, and I will always keep it a calm space, because that's what it should be. Outside of this platform, I do not let the mainstream media or politicians get me worked up. And do you know how I do that? I turn it off. I simply just don't listen to it. I read it instead. Reading the news is so much more informative than listening to these talking heads that just tear down the opposing side. I mean, these people literally have hour-long programs

and spend 50 of the 60 minutes, possibly more, just sharing opinions and talking. talking about, quote unquote, radical leftists and quote unquote fascists, you're not actually learning anything by tuning into these programs. So my proposition for you, and again, this goes back to the fact that we have power, right? My proposition for you is that you either turn it off or continue watching, but realize just how badly these people are trying to manipulate you and do not let it happen. This is all the game for them. That's all it is. Do not play their game. if you do decide to play their game, just make sure you are smarter than them. I want to end this rant by saying, this week feels unusually heavy and it sucks, but we are

in this together. I have created this community that wants to be informed and doesn't like the hysteria. And I think that's a beautiful thing that there's literally tens of thousands of us listening to this podcast that all want the same thing. And I wish there was a way for me to connect all of you and perhaps one day I will find a way. But for now, I just want to say thank you for being here and thank you for being a rational person. We will continue putting one foot in front of the other in trying to make this world a better place. And we have the power to do that. So that's what we're going to do. Unfortunately, we do have to talk about some news and we are going to start with some of the heavier news first, but I promise I will end this episode with a good news segment. I used to do this

more often. I haven't done it in a while, but I think this week it's needed more than ever. So we'll get the terrible stuff out of the way first, and then we'll end on a positive note. Yesterday, Charlie Kirk was murdered. For those that don't know Charlie Kirk, he was a 31-year-old conservative political activist. He co-founded the conservative organization Turning Point USA back in 2012. Turning Point USA is a nonprofit that does a lot of work with high schools, colleges, universities. They advocate for conservative principles and ideas. Kirk was, I would say, one of the most prominent conservative activists and media personalities in the United States, particularly with the younger generations. Now, of course, he was controversial. Anyone with his

level of prominence, regardless of what side you're on, that person's going to be controversial. Kirk was very much pro-life. He was opposed to gender transition, often referring to it as gender dysphoria or gender insanity or gender mutilation when it came to children. He was in favor of the administration's policy to only recognize two genders. He was in favor of the administration's policy to crackdown on crime. He was against same-sex marriage. He very much had traditional Christian values. He was big in two-fitting. faith. Now, something that Charlie Kirk did with his career is he started touring on college campuses in an attempt to debate with students and to encourage debate. So basically, he would go to these campuses, set at a table under a tent called the Prove Me Wrong Table, and students would stand in line and take turns, asking him questions about various political issues, and they would then debate one another. So on Wednesday, he started the first stop of his new tour called the American Comeback Tour. The first stop was at Utah Valley University, and there were at least 14 other

scheduled stops running through the end of October, all at different colleges and universities. We know that, of course, that is where he was shot. So here's what we know about the timeline of events. He started the event around 1210 local time. in the afternoon. He was seated at the prove me wrong table with an audience of about 3,000 people. He had private security, but there was no formal security, you know, upon check-in for the event. So pretty much anyone could just walk in with her without tickets, which in hindsight, on the ground security really wouldn't have changed the situation much because the shooter was on a rooftop about 140 yards away. Per videos that were taken at the event at about 1225 p.m.

Kirk was asked, do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years? Kirk replied too many. The student then followed up with, do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years? Kirk replied, counting or not counting gang violence? And that is when he was shot. Kirk immediately kind of fell backwards and then slumped over before he was taken away by his team. Now, I don't know if you've seen this video. Very gruesome. When I saw it, I just knew there was really no way that he could have survived. And if you've seen the video, you understand why I say that. Why I say that. As of this morning, or as of, I should say this afternoon, the shooter has not been caught. The FBI has since released images of a person of interest, which we will talk about later. Basically, Kirk was sitting in the courtyard of the university and there's an academic building. about 140 yards in front of where Kirk was sitting at his table. So where the shooter was perched on the roof, it's basically a direct line of sight to where Kirk was sitting. Officials believe it was

just one shot that killed him. UvU's campus has since closed. It will remain closed until Monday. That also includes virtual classes too. This morning there was a press conference at UVU where we learned a few things. First, state and federal law enforcement. have been able to track the shooter's movements. So starting at 11.52 a.m. the morning of the shooting, which is when this person arrived on campus, they tracked his movements onto campus, up the stairwells, and then onto the roof. After the shooting, campus cameras captured the shooter running to the opposite side of the building, then jumping off the building, and then running into a nearby neighborhood. Investigators have already worked through the nearby neighborhoods gathering doorbell

footage from any neighbors who had it, asking anyone if they saw anything. Officials do say that they were able to get good video footage of the individual, but they're not going to release it at this time. Officials didn't say much about the suspect, aside from the fact, and this is at the press conference. We obviously now know since then there's been an image released, but at the press conference this morning, they didn't really say much about the suspect, aside from the fact that he blended into the college camp as well and appears to be college age. The special agent in charge at the Salt Lake City Field Office revealed that they were able to recover a high-powered rifle from a wooded area where the shooter had fled, but said that the shooter is not currently hiding in those woods and that law enforcement has combed through the woods. He also said, though, that investigators have uncovered footwear impressions, a palm print, and forearm imprints that are currently being analyzed.

when asked if they have the identity of the shooter, the special agent declined to answer. Now, as of this morning, they said they were doing their best to track down the suspect themselves, but if they exhausted their resources and needed additional help, they would release the images that they have to the public. And this afternoon, they did release pictures of a person of interest. It is a college-aged male wearing dark jeans, a black long-sleeve shirt with what appears to have an American flag and bald eagle on it, a black hat and dark sunglasses. So the person can be seen walking up a flight of stairs in these pictures, and the FBI is asking anyone who has seen that individual or can help identify that individual to call 1-800 call FBI.

The FBI is also offering a reward of up to $100,000 for any information leading to the identification and arrest of the person or people responsible. Speaking of a person of interest, though, I do quickly want to touch on the difference between a suspect and a person of interest because the officials who held the press conference this morning mentioned that they had two people who were considered to be persons of interest, but both individuals were released after questioning. And unfortunately, both of those individuals have been the subject of threats and harassment since their release. So law enforcement is asking the public to please refrain from doing that and realize that these individuals were never

suspects. They were merely persons of interest. So here's the difference. A person of interest is someone that law enforcement believes might have information about a crime. Okay. So this could be a witness. It could be someone who has a relationship with the victim or the suspect. It could be someone who just simply has information that might help the investigation. Or it could be someone that law enforcement thinks might be a suspect, but they don't yet have the evidence to consider that person a suspect. A person of interest can be elevated to a suspect once the proper evidence is gathered, but they're not a suspect until there's evidence linking them to the crime. So a suspect is someone the authorities have evidence to believe committed the crime in

question. Very different from a person of interest, so just keep that in mind. As of now, officials have not mentioned anything about the reported writings on the ammo and rifle, though outlets like the Wall Street Journal are saying that both the rifle and ammo cartridges were engraved with various writings reflecting various social and cultural issues. And this is something we also saw the Annunciation School Shooter do. So there are images circulating online of what appear to be some internal messages or documentation describing the weapon and cartridges that were found at the scene. And the writing in the image reads, in part, quote, on September 10th, 2025 at approximately 1224 p.m., conservative political influencer Charlie Kirk was shot and killed

at the Utah Valley University. ATF and other law enforcement located an older model imported caliber bolt action rifle wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near the campus. The location of the firearm appears to match the suspect's route of travel. The spent cartridge was still chambered in addition to three unspent rounds at the top Fed magazine. All cartridges have engraved wording on them expressing transgender and anti-fascist ideology. end quote. That report supposedly came from an ATF agent. Now, those screenshots have not yet been verified. And again, officials have not yet mentioned these engravings. But I know a lot of people have been talking about this particular aspect of the story. So I just wanted to highlight where that information is coming from and the fact that it has not been verified at this point. President Trump spoke this morning about Kirk's murder while at a ceremony honoring the 24th. anniversary of 9-11 and announced that he would be awarding Kirk a presidential medal of freedom,

which is the highest civilian honor awarded by a president. Vice President Bance, who had a close relationship with Kirk and the second lady flew to Utah today to retrieve Kirk's remains and casket and will fly his remains home to Arizona on Air Force 2 so he can be returned to his family. Now, obviously, this is still very much a developing story. Things are changing by the hour. even by the minute. So just know that by the time this episode comes out, we may have some more updates, but I will provide you with another update on Monday. I want to take a quick break here so we can just take a few minutes to kind of like breathe while we hear from our sponsors because when we come back, we're going to talk about the Colorado school shooting and the Charlotte

stabbing. So just take a few minutes to reset. The kids are back in school. Summer vacations have come to an end. It's officially the start of cozy season, which means it's time to slide into some bombas. You've heard me talk about bombas before. They make incredibly cozy socks, but also slippers, t-shirts, and underwear. However, the socks are really special to me because my husband goes through socks like no one I've ever seen. I've talked about this before. His bombas socks are the only ones that stand the test of time. Now, for the fall season, bombas has, I don't want to say special socks, but they kind of are special socks because they're made with special materials that make them extra cozy for fall. So for instance, they have a marina wool blend sock, which keeps you warm

when it's chilly, but cool when it's hot. That's what marina wool does. So they're ideal for the fall season. They also have rag socks, which are made with rag wool. Rag wool is what makes their socks extra thick and cozy. Now, the best part about Bombas is for every item you buy. Bombas donates one to someone experiencing homelessness. So head over to bombus.com slash unbiased and use code unbiased for 20% off your first purchase. That's B-O-M-B-A-S.com slash unbiased, code unbiased at checkout. Welcome back. Yesterday, there was a shooting at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Colorado, which is about 28 miles southwest of Denver. And when I wrote out this part of the episode, we did not know, I mean, we really didn't have many details. We just knew kind of a general

gist of what happened. I just looked. I just checked the news to see if there was an update and the suspect has been identified. So I'll quickly go over, you know, what I have in, in the podcast script, and then I'll update you with the suspect's information and what we know. So we know that a boy opened fire with a handgun, handgun shortly before 1230 p.m. local time, leaving two students injured before fatally shooting himself. Per a sheriff's office spokesperson, the shooter was believed to be a student, but, you know, I have written in here they haven't released his identity, which now they have. So just give me a few minutes and I'll update you there. One of the victims is still listed in critical condition. The other has since been released from the hospital. Those students' identities

have not been released at this point in time. Per a student who was near the shooting, there were between 15 and 30 shots fired, and shots were fired both inside and outside the school building. We know law enforcement officers who responded to the scene found the shooter within five minutes of arriving, and there were no shots fired by officers. The reunification process between the students and the parents was reportedly a bit rocky because a lot of students actually fled the school property. 18 students ended up at one single house nearby after an initial group of a few students pounded on the door of that house for help.

So, you know, it was just a little bit tough with some students not even being on school grounds once, you know, the parents got there. so here's the update that we have from you know just in the last hour so it says deputies have identified the suspect in the evergreen high school shooting as 16 year old desmond holly according to the jefferson county sheriff's office the two students who were injured during the shooting um are still in the hospital which is different than what i read earlier so what i read earlier like i just told you was that one was in critical condition the other had been discharged this still says that two are still in the hospital in critical conditions. So it says emergency responders were on the scene

after reports of an active asylum. Let's see if I can skit some more information. Okay, so it says deputies said through their investigation, they learned Holly was radicalized, quote, through an extremist network, end quote, they have not yet confirmed if the shooting was targeted. They said he used a handgun to carry out the attack, but the ownership of the gun has also not yet been confirmed. The sheriff's office is in contact with the suspect's parents and have obtained a warrant to search his locker and phone. So it looks like that is what we know as of this point. Again, the suspect was 16-year-old Desmond Holly. That's another developing story. So I will update you once we have more there. Okay. Last super sad story of the day. This is a story that actually

happened a few weeks ago. But we really only started hearing about it over the weekend when video footage of the attack was released. And since then, I've received a ton of messages asking me to explain what happened. So let's do that. On the evening of August 22nd, around 9.45 p.m., 34-year-old DeCarlos Brown Jr., boarded a Lynx light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina. This is a light rail train that runs north to south across Charlotte with 26 stops. Shortly after Brown boarded train, 23-year-old Irene Zerutska boarded the train and sat in the road directly in front of Brown. Roughly four minutes later, Brown pulled out a pocket knife and proceeded to stab Zerutska three times in the neck in what appears to be a completely unprovoked attack.

The surveillance footage shows Zerutka look up to see her attacker standing over her before she just covers her face and collapses. Brown proceeds to exit. at the train at the next stop. Luckily, police found him shortly thereafter on another train. So it didn't take long for police to arrive. They arrived on the scene. They declared Zerutska dead, unfortunately, and they located Brown shortly thereafter. Brown has been charged with one state charge of first degree murder and a federal charge of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system. So we'll discuss a little bit about the victim and then we'll talk about the suspect. Irena Zarutka was a Ukrainian refugee who fled Ukraine in 2022 from the Russian invasion.

She lived in Kiev. Zerutka came to the United States with her mom's sister and brother. She was an artist. She had graduated from Synergy College in Kiev with a degree in art and restoration before coming to the United States. But she also had dreams of one day becoming a veterinary assistant. Sadly, she was returning home from a shift at the pizza restaurant where she worked at the time of the attack and had texted her boyfriend very shortly before that that she would be home soon. The perpetrator to Carlos Brown Jr., he is a diagnosed schizophrenic. He's been arrested 14 times over the last 10 years with charges ranging from felony larceny to robbery with a dangerous weapon and communicating threats. That latter charge led to a six-year prison

sentence in 2015, but he was released in 2020. Weeks after that release, he was charged with assault his sister, but his sister actually dropped the charges over concerns about his mental health. Then most recently, this past January, he was arrested for repeatedly calling 911 with claims that a man-made material had been implanted in his body and was controlling his motor function. Following those calls, he was arrested and charged with abuse of an emergency system, which is a class one misdemeanor. And again, law enforcement officials that were handling that matter had expressed concern about his mental condition. He was ultimately released without bond on the condition that he

appear in court at the next hearing. In July, a judge ordered a competency evaluation, but that evaluation had not been completed at the time that he fatally stabbed Zarutka on August 22nd. Since the attack, the governor of North Carolina issued a statement saying, quote, I am heartbroken for the family of Irina Zarutka, who lost their loved one to the senseless act of violence, and I'm appalled by the footage of her murder. We need more cops on the beat to keep people safe. That's why my budget calls for more funding to hire more well-trained police officers. I call upon the legislature to pass my law enforcement recruitment and retention package to address vacancies in our state and local agencies so they can stop these horrific crimes

and hold violent criminals accountable. And quote, President Trump has positioned this case as a counter example for the soft on crime policies that he says need to be done away with. He issued a statement on true social writing, quote, I have seen the horrific video of a beautiful young Ukrainian refugee who came to America to escape the vicious war in Ukraine and was innocently riding the metro in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she was brutally ambushed by a mentally deranged lunatic. The perpetrator was a well-known career criminal who had been previously arrested and released on cashless bail in January, a total of 14 times. What the hell was he doing riding the train,

walking the streets. Criminals like this need to be locked up. The blood of this innocent woman can literally be seen dripping from the killer's knife, and now her blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail, including former disgrace governor and wannabe Senator Roy Cooper. North Carolina and every state needs law and order, and only Republicans will deliver it. Additionally, where is the outage from the mainstream media on this horrible tragedy? Vote for Michael Walt Lee for United States Senate. He won't let this happen again." End quote. President Trump also posted another message on true social writing, quote, the animal who so violently killed a beautiful young lady from Ukraine who came to America

searching for peace and safety should be given a quick, there is no doubt, trial, and only awarded the death penalty. There can be no other option, end quote. Now, Trump's comments have made people wonder whether Brown is eligible for the death penalty, and I'm here to answer that for you. Technically, he, yes, he is. So North Carolina, has the death penalty. However, North Carolina has not carried out in execution since 2006 because of various legal challenges over whether North Carolina's lethal injection protocol is constitutional. So technically, Brown could stand trial for the first degree murder charge and if convicted, he could potentially be sentenced to death, but the likelihood of him actually being put to death

in the next, you know, 20, 30 plus years is slim. The only other way Brown's, could be sentenced to death and executed sooner is if he's convicted of his federal charge of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system. That charge is eligible for the death penalty. And Attorney General Bondi has already said that federal prosecutors will be seeking the death penalty. However, just because prosecutors seek the death penalty doesn't necessarily mean he will get the death penalty, right? A federal jury would have to unanimously find that aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating factors in Brown's case and sentence him to death accordingly. And to be clear, aggravating factors are things that make the crime worse or make the

defendant more blameworthy, whereas mitigating factors are things that work in the defendant's favor. So an aggravating factor here might be the unprovoked nature of the attack, whereas a mitigating factor might be his schizophrenia diagnosis. As for which case, Brown's ground faces first, state or federal. It depends on who arrested him first. So in this case, it was the state. North Carolina could choose to prosecute first or temporarily hand him over to federal authorities. But if the state convicts him and he receives life in prison, it's possible federal prosecutors decide not to pursue their case further because he's going to be locked up for the rest of his life. That said, they still have the authority to bring him to trial if they choose. So if federal

authorities do still pursue it, they could still secure a death sentence even while the defendant is serving a state life sentence. The issue there is that the federal government can only take custody after the state sentence, which would be never if he receives life, or the federal government could take custody earlier if the state, you know, quote unquote, loans him to federal authorities, but who knows if that would happen. So as with anything, time will tell what happens here. There's also a parallel storyline with the story about the magistrate judge who released him on cashless bail. We will address that in the rumor has a segment of today's episode. Okay. That is it for things related to death and shootings and stabbings. Let's talk about

Trump's alleged letter to Jeffrey Epstein. In response to a subpoena for the Epstein estate, the House Oversight Committee received Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday book. Now, this birthday book is reportedly about 238 pages long, and it was sent to the committee in the form of a PDF document. It includes a prologue that seems to be written by Just Lane Maxwell, and the contributors to the book are divided into eight categories. So there's family, Brooklyn, girlfriends, whose names are all redacted, children, whose names are also redacted, friends, science, special assistants, also all redacted, and then business. Now, we kind of knew this alleged letter from Trump existed because an exclusive by the Wall Street Journal, which was published in mid-July, claimed that Trump's name

was featured on a birthday card to Epstein. And in response to that exclusive report, Trump actually filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal. In that lawsuit, he accuses the Wall Street Journal of falsely attributing the letter to him, of acting with reckless disregard for the truth and of causing him reputational harm. So that report came out in July. Since then, the House Oversight Committee received the birthday book. And the House Oversight Committee, being in control now of this 238 page birthday book or document, has the legal discretion to keep it private or to release it. And the committee ultimately decided to release just this one single letter allegedly from Trump, because according to the committee chairman,

quote, Oversight Committee of Republicans are focused on running a thorough investigation to bring transparency and accountability for survivors of Epstein's heinous crimes and the American people, end quote. So the letter that was released is a white page containing a written transcript of two people conversing, presumably Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. It's unclear whether the transcript is based on a real conversation or it's a made up conversation, but this is what it says. So it says, voiceover. There must be more to life than having. everything. Donald. Yes, there is, but I won't tell you what that is. Jeffrey. Nor will I, since I also know what it is. Donald. We have certain things in common, Jeffrey. Jeffrey. Yes, we do. Come to think of it. Donald. Enigma's never age. Have you noticed that? Jeffrey. As a matter

of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you. Donald. A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy birthday, and may every day be another wonderful secret. Now, drawn around the margins of the transcript is what appears to be the outline of a woman's body. The letter is signed Donald J. Trump with a signature at the bottom of the page in the area where the pubic area of the woman's body would be, so some see the signature as resembling pubic hair. Trump again has denied writing the letter most recently saying, quote, I don't comment on something that's a dead issue. I gave all comments to the staff. It's a dead issue. issue." End quote. Top administration officials, including press secretary Caroline Levitt, have also

denied the authenticity of the letter. In response to a press question asking if the administration would look into a forensic handwriting analysis of the signature, Levitt responded, sure, we would support that. Now, the parent company of the Wall Street Journal, News Corp, has said it has full confidence in the accuracy of its reporting. So that's what we know at this point. A bit of a he said, she said, in my most recent newsletter, I did include a poll and I asked my readers if they thought Trump wrote the letter. 51% said yes, 17% said no, and 32% said undecided. That poll is still open, by the way, if you want to contribute, you just go to the show notes of this episode, find my newsletter link, and then head to the September 9th newsletter. And that poll is in the politics section.

Let's take our final break here. When we come back, we'll talk about the recent Supreme Court ruling regarding ICE stops. And we will finish. with rumor has it and some good news. Welcome back. Let's talk about the Supreme Court's recent ruling about ICE stops. I briefly covered this in the quick hitters segment on Monday, but after that episode, it became clear that many of you wanted more of an explanation. So we'll start by discussing the background of the case and how it made its way to the Supreme

Court. I'll also talk about the Supreme Court's ruling and what we can expect from here. A few months ago, as we know, federal immigration raids began in the Los Angeles area as part of a broader immigration, you know, enforcement effort by the administration. In response to those raids, immigration advocates filed a lawsuit against the administration alleging that numerous individuals were being indiscriminately detained based on factors like speaking Spanish or convening at locations where day workers often gather. And the plaintiffs argued that these kinds of stops violated or violate the Fourth Amendment because ICE lacks reasonable

suspicion. Remember that under the Fourth Amendment, reasonable suspicion is constitutionally required to justify a stop by an officer. Reasonable suspicion allows police officers and immigration agents to briefly stop question or detain someone if they have a specific and articulable basis to believe that someone might be involved in criminal activity. So reasonable suspicion is more than just, you know, a hunch or a feeling, but it's less than probable cause. I'll give you an example. A police officer sees someone pacing back and forth in front of a closed storefront late at night. The person's looking into the windows and looks like he might be up to no good. Those behaviors alone don't necessarily constitute proof of like burglary about to happen,

but it's also more than a hunch or a feeling. So the officer has reasonable suspicion to stop that person and ask questions. So the plaintiffs argue here that because speaking Spanish and convening at certain locations do not constitute reasonable suspicion, these stops by ICE are unconstitutional. And in response, the administration argued that immigration officers actually acted within their authority in making these stops. Specifically, the administration argued that while speaking Spanish or working in construction or on a farm doesn't automatically justify suspicion alone if these factors are taken together or are part of a broader set of circumstances, it can add up to reasonable suspicion. So those are the arguments on both sides. In July, a lower court granted the plaintiff's

request for a temporary restraining order against the administration and instructed the DHS to discontinue these stops that were based largely on a person's apparent ethnicity, language, or, you know, their presence at a particular location, like a farm or a bus stop. Keep in mind, a court considers a request for a temporary restraining order, the court is not considering the merits of the case. They are not considering the arguments on both sides and making a final decision. So the court isn't saying the DHS has to stop forever because these stops are in fact unconstitutional. Instead, in granting the restraining order, the court is saying, we think this might be unconstitutional. So while we consider the merits of the case, we're going to prohibit the DHS from continuing to carry out these potentially unconstitutional stops. From there, the administration appealed the temporary restraining order to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which denied the administration's request to put the lower court's ruling on pause, to put the restraining order on pause. So what do the administration do? Well, they went to the Supreme Court. And earlier this week, the Supreme Court granted a stay of the lower court's order, which effectively puts the lower court's ruling on hold while the case is still ongoing. In effect, this means DHS and ICE can continue these stuff. while the litigation plays out in the lower court and until the lower court makes a final decision on the merits of the case. Notably, in granting this stay, the Supreme Court did not

provide an explanation for its ruling because the ruling was an order, not an opinion. Now, orders are different than opinions. Opinions come after full consideration and they create precedent, okay? Whereas orders usually just sort of resolve interim. issues without actually settling the law. Orders don't require explanations. Opinions do. The justices can include an explanation when issuing an order, but they don't have to. So in this case, the majority of justices chose not to provide an explanation, but we did get a concurrence from Justice Kavanaugh and a dissent from the court's three liberal justices. A concurrence means Justice Kavanaugh agreed with the court's ruling, but wants to add more context

or explain a personal viewpoint on an issue. A dissent means the opposite. Descents disagree with a court's ruling and provide an explanation as to why. So Justice Kavanaugh wrote his concurrence and said that factors like language or type of job cannot be the only reason for a stop. But when taken together with other circumstances, they can amount to reasonable suspicion that someone might be in the country unlawfully. He also noted that in his view,

the federal government provided sufficient evidence to justify granting a stay. So basically, his standpoint was, you know, these factors, when combined, can justify suspicion, and the government has shown enough to get temporary relief here. Justice Sotomayor, on the other hand,

wrote the dissent. She wrote that the court's order goes against the normal practice of the court, by misusing the emergency docket and not allowing the district court, the lowest court, to first consider the merits of the case. She also said that the order allows the federal government to continue arresting people based on their appearance or their job, writing, quote, we should not have to live in a country where the government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speak Spanish, and appears to work a low-wage job. end quote. So in short, she's saying the court shouldn't be stepping in this early, and by stepping

in this early, this order effectively green lights racial profiling. Many of you, because of Sotomayor's dissent, have questions about the emergency docket and how it works. The emergency docket, which is sometimes called the shadow docket, is meant for situations where urgent and extraordinary relief is needed to prevent immediate irreparable harm before the the normal appeals process has a chance to play out. Now, Justice Sotomayor argues that the court overreaches when it uses the emergency docket to intervene in cases where lower courts haven't yet fully considered the merits. In her view, the district court had only issued a temporary restraining order, and it should have been allowed to issue a merits ruling before the Supreme

Court decided to step in. Now, is she correct in saying the court is misusing the emergency docket? It depends who you ask, right? From her perspective, Yeah, critics, including herself and other legal scholars, have repeatedly said that the court increasingly uses the emergency docket to make these big policy decisions without the transparency and precedent of full opinions. However, if you ask the majority in this case, they would argue that the government showed enough likelihood of success and risk of harm to justify emergency intervention. And under court rules, that's sufficient to grant a stay, even if the district court hasn't issued a final ruling. So it just depends.

on who you ask, but Sotomayor is accurate in saying that the court's order isn't the normal practice. Historically, the Supreme Court rarely intervenes this early in a case, but it is something that's becoming increasingly common. Now, as for next steps, okay, following this order from the Supreme Court, the case will return to the lower court where a decision based on the merits of the case will eventually be made. Then, depending on the lower court, decision, the ruling will likely be appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and potentially then to the Supreme Court. However, as of right now, the case is still being decided in the district court. And in the meantime, until that merits decision is issued, DHS and ICE can continue

with these stops. Now, if the district court comes in and says, no, no, no, no, these are in fact unconstitutional. ICE will have to stop in less than until it appeals to the Ninth Circuit and the Circuit overrules that decision or the Supreme Court overrules that decision. So that's what we can expect from here. We're going to skip, we're going to skip quick hitters today and go right to rumor has it, which is my weekly segment where I address recent rumors submitted by all of you and either confirm them, dispel them, or add context. First one. Rumor has that the President Trump was an FBI informant in the case against Jeffrey Epstein back in the 2000s. As of now, there is no concrete evidence that this is true, but let's talk about where this rumor is coming from.

So about a week ago, Speaker Mike Johnson claimed that President Trump was an FBI informant in Epstein's case. Johnson has since backtracked on that claim. So in response to a comment that Trump has referred to Epstein's case as a hoax, Johnson told reporters, quote, he's not saying that what Epstein did is a hoax. It's terrible, unspeakable evil. He believes that himself. When he first heard the rumor, he kicked him out of Mar-a-Lago. He was an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down. The president knows and has great sympathy for the women who have suffered these unspeakable harms, end quote.

Then three days later, Johnson told reporters, what I was referring to in that long conversation was what the Epstein victim's attorney said. And quote, Johnson went on to clarify, quote, more than a decade ago, President Trump kicked Epstein out of Mara Lago and, he was one of the only people, one of the only prominent people, as everyone has reported, that he was willing to help law enforcement go after this guy who was a disgusting child abuser, sex trafficker, all the allegations. That's what they heard. So the president was helpful in that. And quote, Johnson also noted he might have used the term informant in

correctly, resulting in confusion. He said, quote, I don't know if I use the right terminology, but that's common knowledge and everybody knows that. So this is much ado about nothing. end quote. As I said, there is currently no evidence to support the claim that Trump was an FBI informant in Epstein's case. According to Brad Edwards, and this is what we know, so Brad Edwards is an attorney that has represented several of Epstein's victims since 2008. And Edwards said that Trump had assisted him during his investigation into Epstein. Edwards was answering questions from reporters on Capitol Hill when the victims held that press conference last week. And he was asked a question that's actually quite hard to understand because the audio

isn't really working from the reporter side of things. But Edwards' response to the question was this. He said, quote, I don't understand why it's a hostile act. I can tell you that I talked to President Trump back in 2009 and several times after that. He didn't think that it was a hoax then. In fact, he helped me. He got on the phone. He told me things that were helping our investigation. Our investigation wasn't looking into him, but he was helping us then. He didn't treat this as a hoax. So at this point in time, I would hope that he would revert back to what he was saying to get elected, which is, I want transparency. This is about this about face that occurred, none of us understand it, referring to himself and the victims. He says, in fact, I don't

even understand how this is an issue that's up for debate. End quote. So that's really the only thing we know about Trump potentially helping the investigation into Epstein, but there is no evidence that he was ever an actual FBI informant. Okay, next one. Rumor has that the judges can become judges without ever going to law school. This is true, but only in certain circumstances. The reason that this is circulating online right now is because the judge that let the man go, who stabbed Irina Zarutka on the train in Charlotte, was a magistrate judge who did not go

to law school. so some people are criticizing the fact that a person can become a judge and and you know decide what to do with the law without ever going to law school so here's the deal to become a federal judge you have to be a licensed attorney all federal judges have law degrees there's no exception there in a handful of states and actually i should say in state courts in like the higher courts you also have to have a law degree no exception there either but in a handful of states people without law degrees can serve as judge judges in certain lower level or specialized courts, justice of the peace courts, municipal courts, magistrate courts, certain small claims or traffic courts. In those cases, the legal issues are often more limited and the people who are elected or appointed to these positions will sometimes receive training after the fact, but they don't necessarily need to go to law school. And this varies by state. Most states require all judges to be licensed lawyers. but I'll give you a few examples of states that don't. So in Arizona, justices of the peace don't have to be lawyers. In Texas, most justices of the peace and municipal judges don't need law degrees. In Nevada, some municipal and justice court judges don't have to be attorneys. In Wyoming, a lot of circuit and municipal judges don't have to be lawyers. In New York, some town and village court judges, often called justices, don't have to be lawyers either. And in South Carolina,

magistrates and municipal judges aren't required to be lawyers. That's not an exhaustive list, but it gives you an idea that there are states out there that don't require law degrees for certain low-level judges. In the case of DeC Carlos Brown Jr., the judge was a magistrate judge, which is a type of judge that handles certain limited or preliminary matters like, you know, issuing warrants or summonses, setting bail and bond conditions, accepting guilty pleas for minor offenses, handling small claims court like landlord-tenant disputes, money claims that are under a certain amount, and then sometimes these magistrates will conduct initial appearances for criminal dependents. In North Carolina, magistrates are the only judicial officers who do not need a law

degree. Instead, they have to be nominated by the clerk of superior court, appointed by the senior resident superior court judge, and supervised by the chief district court judge. To be eligible, to be nominated, an individual must have at least eight years of experience as a clerk of a superior court in the state or a county of the state or a law enforcement officer, have a four-year degree from an accredited institution of higher education or a two-year associates degree and four years of work experience in a related field. So no law degree is required to be a magistrate in North Carolina, but all of those other boxes have to be checked. That's the deal with judges. Again, most judges have to be licensed lawyers, but there are some exceptions. I promised

you a good news segment at the end of today's episode, so let's do it. The theme of today's good news segment is humanity. It's meant to remind us that good people are still out there. A pizza owner in Minnesota is making headlines after he started feeding the homeless people that were eating out of his dumpsters. So the dumpsters behind his restaurant. Chris Kohlstad bought a pizza shop called Pizza Man in Columbia Heights roughly six years ago, he quickly realized that people were eating out of his dumpsters. And at first, he put out signs asking them to stop, but that didn't stop them. And then more recently, even more people were starting to come by and eat out of his dumpsters. So in July, he posted to Facebook and asked these people to please not eat out of the

dumpsters and added, quote, if you are that desperate for food, please come ask us. If you are too embarrassed to ask, find a way to call us and ask if there is a way to leave a small cheese pizza outside the back door or something. You don't even have to see us. If you are the ones doing so, leave me a note and we will find a way to leave any extras or mistakes out back. So you have something to eat without going through the trash. And quote, after that post went viral, he ended up sharing a donation link to help cover the cost of the extra pieces, or pieces, the extra pizzas that he would leave out back. And he eventually raised more than $4,000. Since that post, he's helped close to 100 people with food that have come to him asking for it. Here's another one. This is about a man in Florida

whose own is the tech fairy. So as a technician, people would come to Craig Clark to get their older computers repaired or new computers set up. And sometimes after he would set up someone's new computer, they would give him their old computer. So about eight years ago, he started taking these used computers, rebuilding them, and then finding someone who needed a computer because they couldn't afford one. Craig soon got on next door. which is an app where neighbors can kind of talk to each other about neighborhood things. And he started to share pictures of the people who he had gifted new computers to. And eventually he became known in the area as the tech ferry.

People started reaching out to him to just give him their old computers so that he could rehome them. And in the last eight years, since he started doing this, he has rehomed more than 700 devices in his area. He told the Good News Network, quote, being the tech ferry is a fairly expensive project. For security, I install a new SSD hard drive into every computer I rebuild and new batteries are often required, but the smiles and the pictures I take are worth the investment. End quote. This last one is another one out of Minnesota. When Carol Traynor, the owner of Urban Olive and Vine in Hudson, Minnesota collapsed from

a seizure and fell into a coma, her husband Chad found himself spending all of his time at the hospital to be with his wife. and the restaurant that they had built together was, of course, at risk of going under because they both had ran it, you know, before she landed in the hospital. But instead, a group of teenagers, the restaurant's youngest employees, stepped up to keep things running for them. 17-year-old Acacia Kunkel started showing up before her shifts even started, helping to open the doors every morning. 15-year-old Joe Stevenson and 16-year-old Lainie Dumbrovsky took on additional responsibilities at the restaurant all while going to school. And it's not that these three were,

you know, they weren't just busing tables or running food. They were stocking shelves. They were doing grocery runs. They were even creating specials for the menu. So unfortunately, on May 5th, Carol passed away. And the restaurant closed for her funeral, but in the days that followed, everyone came back to work. And looking back, Carol's husband Chad says the business simply would not have survived without Acacia Joe and Laney. He said, quote, they were the reason the doors stayed open, end quote. So I hope those stories made you feel as good as they made me feel and reminded you that, you know, the world is not always as dark as it seems. I think we are going to take a break from critical thinking today. It's important to end this episode on a positive note, so that's what

we're going to do. I know things feel really heavy right now, but I just want you to remember that as long as we continue to show up as the good humans that we are, everything will be okay. So thank you so much for being here. Have a great weekend and I will talk to you on Monday.