A jury convicted Dzhokhar Tsarnaev of perpetuating the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and imposed the death sentence. Tsarnaev argued the trial court judge made two legal errors. The first during the jury selection process and the second when it excluded mitigating evidence in the penalty phase. The court of appeals agreed, and it reversed Tsarnaev's death sentence. The United States government then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, who agreed to hear the case.Legal Docket is made possible...

America is in the midst of an opioid crisis. In this case, the government brought criminal charges against two physicians accused of running “pill mills.” The criminal charges arise under the Controlled Substances Act, a federal narcotics statute aimed at combatting drug abuse. The government argues the Act calls for an objective standard to determine if the physicians are guilty of writing illegitimate prescriptions: Would a hypothetical reasonable physician believe the prescription was...

The only abortion provider in Mississippi sued the state over passage of the Gestational Age Act that prohibited abortions after 15 weeks’ gestation. Pro-life and pro-choice forces battled it out through friend of the court briefs, media appearances, and oral argument at the high court. The final decision of the court marked the beginning of a new front in the pro-life movement. Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Legal Docket is made possible in part by Samaritan Ministries, a...

A coalition of pro-lifers strategized and worked together to bring a direct challenge to Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood v Casey, the decisions that resulted in over 63 million abortions across fifty states. Long-term planning and also the hand of Providence worked together to end Roe and Casey and send the matter back to the states. Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization.Legal Docket is made possible in part by Samaritan Ministries, a Biblical and affordable solution to health care,...

Virginia Prodan lived and worked in communist Romania. When she defended Christians against unjust persecution, dictator Nicolae Ceausescu declared her actions treasonous and ordered her assassination. Just seconds away from being shot, Prodan spoke to her assassin of God’s love for him and changed the course of history.Legal Docket is made possible in part by Samaritan Ministries, a Biblical and affordable solution to health care, connecting more than 280,000 Christians across the nation who...

William J. Hennessy, Jr is one of the best known artists to work in the field of courtroom artistry. From the presidential impeachment trial of Bill Clinton to Iran Contra, the DC snipers, through the man suspected of trying to murder Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Hennessy has a front row seat to history in the making.Legal Docket is made possible in part by Samaritan Ministries, a Biblical and affordable solution to health care, connecting more than 280,000 Christians across the nation who help...

Kennedy v. Bremerton School District: Joe Kennedy was a football coach for Bremerton School District, a public school in Washington. He had a practice of praying on the 50-yard-line at the end of each game, sometimes with students. He also held pre-game locker room prayers with players and spoke about faith in motivational talks. When the school learned of his practices, it feared those practices violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause. Kennedy stopped his locker room prayers and...

Robert Nash is a law abiding citizen of New York. When crime started to rise in his neighborhood, he sought a license to carry a gun outside his home. But state law left it to the discretion of a judge as to whether a citizen’s reasons to carry were good enough. Nash took the case all the way to the US Supreme Court. Legal Docket is made possible in part by Samaritan Ministries, a Biblical and affordable solution to health care, connecting more than 280,000 Christians across the nation who...

Robyn Morgan is a former Taco Bell employee who sued her employer for unpaid wages. Her employment contract contained an arbitration clause, an agreement to resolve disputes privately, out of court. Morgan's employer tried to enforce that clause, but Morgan claims her employer relinquished its right to do so. Here, the Supreme Court must resolve a circuit split to determine when a party waives it right to force arbitration.Legal Docket is made possible in part by Samaritan Ministries, a...

John Henry Ramirez murdered Pablo Castro in 2004. He’s been on death row since 2013 and avoided execution twice before. The family of his victim are tired of the delays, but Ramirez asserts he rights under the US Constitution.Legal Docket is made possible in part by Samaritan Ministries, a Biblical and affordable solution to health care, connecting more than 280,000 Christians across the nation who help pay one another’s medical bills. More at samaritanministries.org/worldpodcast...

Abortion, guns, religion—our third season covers it all. Get personal with a Supreme Court artist. Understand how the latest decisions from our nation's highest court shape our immediate futures.

Patent law and administrative law intersect in this case that raises a question about the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The new 2021-2022 term of the US Supreme Court is upon us. Today, you’ll hear previews of several cases the justices will decide this term. Those include decisions about abortion, free speech, unequal treatment of religious schools, second amendment rights, and more.

The new 2021-2022 term of the US Supreme Court is upon us. Today, you’ll hear previews of several cases the justices will decide this term. Those include decisions about abortion, free speech, unequal treatment of religious schools, second amendment rights, and more.

When the attorney general of California sought confidential information about charitable donors, charities on the left and the right fought back.

Former child slaves on West African cocoa farms sue U.S. chocolate companies. The case examines whether the Alien Tort Statute covers those claims.

A cheerleader’s vulgar post on social media lands her in trouble with the school, but judicial precedent from the 1960s and the First Amendment protects her right to free speech

Find out what it's like to work as a law clerk for a Supreme Court justice. In this episode, hosts Mary Reichard and Jenny Rough talk with five law clerks, plus a Marshal's aide, for an inside peek at what goes on when the court is not in session.

Indian tribes are considered a nation within a nation. U.S. v Cooley looks at how much authority a tribe's law enforcement has to investigate crimes by non-Indians on its reservation.

Religious Liberty and emerging LGBT rights clash when the city of Philadelphia excludes Catholic Social Services from placing children with foster families.

Hosts Jenny Rough and Mary Reichard analyze an 8th Amendment case, cruel and unusual punishment. In 2005, Brett Jones killed his grandfather. He was 15. The Supreme Court looks at what is required before a juvenile can receive a life without parole sentence.

Hosts Mary Reichard and Jenny Rough analyze a case of simple facts and complicated law. In 2014, college student James King is beaten up by FBI agents who had the wrong guy. Now in 2021, he still hasn’t received recompense for his damages after going all the way to the US Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court first considered the constitutionality of mandatory vaccine laws in Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905). In this episode, hosts Mary Reichard and Jenny Rough examine that decision and cases that expanded it. You will hear from legal experts, doctors, a COVID-19 patient, and a pastor who offer insightful interviews on this this complex debate.

Bonus Episode: Mandatory Vaccine Laws