Mechanical / Animal
· 56 min · S6 E21
Episode Mechanical / Animal
We're in triage mode as the Court clears its end-of-term backlog. We run through the week's opinion dump before focusing on two cases that look unrelated but turn on the same question: when may a state rewrite background property law to limit a constitutional right? In Wolford v. Lopez, the Court strikes down Hawaii's rule requiring a property owner's express consent before a firearm may be carried onto otherwise-public premises. Then to Pung v. Isabella County, a takings case asking whether a homeowner whose property is sold for back taxes is owed only the sale proceeds or full fair-market value. Along the way: a theory about a Landor v. Louisiana flip, the week's run of 6-3 conservative wins, and a short detour into the perils of teaching Federal Courts.
Key Topics
[00:00:00] - Triage mode: recording June 25 amid the end-of-term opinion dump [00:01:29] - What's still outstanding — and the campaign-finance case's standing problem [00:03:56] - The Landor "flip" theory: did Justice Jackson lose the majority to Justice Gorsuch? [00:06:40] - Thursday's decisions: Monsanto v. Durnell (FIFRA), two immigration wins, Wolford v. Lopez [00:08:58] - Counting the week's seven 6-3 conservative wins; the Hemani surprise [00:12:57] - The throughline: when may a state redefine property to evade a constitutional right? [00:18:35] - Wolford v. Lopez: Hawaii's "express consent" gun rule after Bruen [00:20:42] - The Bruen framework — step one vs. step two, and the free-speech analogy [00:26:57] - The change vs. the outlier: uniformity and Hawaii's sensitive-places list [00:30:49] - Alito's historical analogues: poaching laws and the Black Codes [00:33:34] - Jackson's dissent: race, Equal Protection, and how non-mechanical Bruen really is [00:38:59] - Caetano, the Ramos v. Louisiana callback, and Alito on racist origins [00:41:21] - Barrett's concurrence, Kagan's narrower path, and the rejected "spirit of aloha" [00:48:23] - Pung v. Isabella County: tax sales, takings, and "just compensation" [00:51:45] - Thomas's historical turn on tax-sale rules, and the fairness backstop [00:55:45] - Sign-off
Relevant Links
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Supreme Court of the United States: https://www.supremecourt.gov/
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Divided Argument podcast: https://www.dividedargument.com/
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Transcripts: https://www.dividedargument.com/transcripts
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Commentary blog: https://blog.dividedargument.com/
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Merchandise: https://store.dividedargument.com/
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New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-843_7j80.pdf
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Tyler v. Hennepin County: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/22-166_q86b.pdf
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Ramos v. Louisiana: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/18-5924_j4el.pdf
Transcript
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