It’s Still the Shadow Docket, Despite Kavanaugh’s Pathetic Rebrand Attempt
Opening Arguments
Opening Arguments Media LLC
4.3 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 12 September 2025
⏱️ 57 minutes
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Summary
OA1189 - The Supreme Court’s next term may not start until October, but their infamous shadow--sorry, “interim”--docket is in rare form as they issue snap decisions on everything from exactly where one 14-year-old boy can pee to just how openly racist ICE gets to be. Matt and Jenessa review which major precedents the conservative majority is ignoring to enable Trump’s worst policies this week before getting on to some Epstein-related legal updates and a radical new development from the Board of Immigration Appeals with massive implications for Trump’s mass deportation plans.
Finally, Matt drops a footnote to address one of our nation’s least pressing legal questions: is it really true that a wedding in Kentucky can be legally officiated by a dead bear once described as “filled to the brim with cocaine”?
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SCOTUS order in Trump v. Slaughter (9/8/2025)
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SCOTUS order (with Kavanaugh concurrence and Sotomayor dissent) in Noem v. Vasquez-Perdomo (9/8/25)
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Matter of Yajure Hurtado, 21 I&N 216 (BIA 2025)
P.S. Matt messed up his audio and is very sorry about it!
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | because the school disciplined him for using what they consider to be the wrong bathroom, |
| 0:04.9 | and they made him take online classes and he was miserable. |
| 0:07.3 | And now he gets to go back to school. |
| 0:08.6 | I wish him well best. |
| 0:18.0 | If you can't be sued and you know you're not going to be disciplined and you know you're not going to be fired and you know you're not going to be prosecuted, there's literally no check on your behavior. |
| 0:36.9 | Welcome to opening arguments, the podcast that analyzes law in the news. |
| 0:41.4 | With me is Matt Cameron, Immigration Attorney. |
| 0:44.4 | And, of course, he just searched for Genesis Seymour, former scientist, current voting rights attorney. |
| 0:48.4 | Today we're going to be taking a close look at the shadow docket this week. |
| 0:52.0 | These days, the Supreme Court doesn't just follow the school year calendar anymore. |
| 0:54.9 | We just got Supreme Court all over the place. |
| 0:57.0 | Got Shadow Docket all day. |
| 0:59.7 | So we got plenty to talk about. |
| 1:01.1 | Get a couple of other items here. |
| 1:02.3 | And then I promise, if you all hold on for the end, we've got a fantastic footnote. |
| 1:06.3 | I will just say that in case you've ever wondered if it's illegal to get married by a dead bear packed to the brim with cocaine in a Kentucky shopping mall, the answer may not surprise you. |
| 1:17.4 | I didn't know we were doing this one, so I will be equally pleasantly surprised. |
| 1:24.2 | Well, it's a really important part of the footnote is it always has to be a surprise. |
| 1:29.2 | I meant to say that as part of the format. |
| 1:32.9 | If you knew what the footnote was, then, yeah, that's a whole different game. |
| 1:38.7 | So we'll be back to talk about the shadow docket, and I promise, if you hold on, you'll get to hear about Koki the bear. |
| 1:47.2 | So we got some good news, but mostly bad news on the shadow docket this week. |
... |
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