Dames & Moore v. Regan
5-4
Prologue Projects
4.5 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 24 March 2026
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A 1981 case about how the president doesn’t really have to follow the text of the law if Congress already let them ignore it. Oh yeah, and Iran is involved.
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5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Andrew Parsons. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Transcriptions of each episode are available at fivefourpod.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We'll hear our arguments this morning in number 80, 2078, dames and Moore, |
| 0:07.4 | it comes to the Secretary of the Treasury. |
| 0:13.6 | Hey, everyone. This is Leon from Prologue Projects. |
| 0:17.2 | On this episode of 5 to 4, Peter, Riannon, and Michael are talking about dames and more v. Regan, |
| 0:24.1 | the case from 1981 that offers a window into the long, tortured history of American foreign policy towards Iran. |
| 0:31.4 | The case arose when President Jimmy Carter made a deal with Iran to free the American hostages |
| 0:36.3 | who have been taken at the U.S. |
| 0:37.5 | embassy in Tehran back in 1979. |
| 0:40.8 | President Carter worked in the Oval Office throughout the night and before dawn this morning |
| 0:44.6 | signed the executive orders that triggered the hostages release. |
| 0:48.4 | The terms of the agreement called for terminating by executive order all private lawsuits |
| 0:52.8 | that have been filed against the Iranian government by American companies and moving the disputes into arbitration. |
| 0:59.1 | One of those companies, dames and more, sued the U.S. government, arguing that Carter's executive order, now being enforced by the Reagan administration, overstepped the bounds of executive power. |
| 1:09.9 | The Supreme Court disagreed, |
| 1:11.6 | even though the law did not allow the president to intervene on private legal proceedings. |
| 1:16.9 | This is 5 to 4, a podcast about how much the Supreme Court sucks. |
| 1:42.1 | Welcome to 5 to 4, where we dissect and analyze the Supreme Court cases that have constricted our civil liberties like the war is constricting our oil supply, thereby causing gas prices to rise. |
| 1:45.2 | I'm Peter. I'm here with Michael. |
| 1:46.1 | Hey, everybody. |
| 1:47.3 | And Riannon. |
| 1:48.2 | Hi, y'all. |
| 1:53.9 | Now, everyone said I couldn't do a metaphor that worked about oil prices going up. |
... |
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