Smooth Stone in the River
· 1 h 11 min · S6 E17
Episode Smooth Stone in the River
The Court has been busy, and we somehow manage to cover a number of developments with unpredictable efficiency. We talk about the Court's latest summary reversal on the "party presentation principle"; Justice Kavanaugh's vindication of his law journal student note in Pitchford v. Cain; Rutherford and Fernandez, two related cases about the intersection of compassionate release and habeas; and the DIG in Hamm v. Smith, a case about capital punishment and intellectual disability. Along the way, we also get into backlash against a certain SCOTUS advocate's TED talk and further Alabama redistricting fallout.
Key Topics
[00:02:25] - The infamous tweet and TED talk [00:14:56] - Alabama redistricting developments [00:19:07] - Margolin v. National Association of Immigration Judges and the Court’s renewed emphasis on the party presentation principle [00:29:02] - Pitchford v. Cain and Batson [00:35:56] - Justice Kavanaugh’s Yale Law Journal note on Batson procedure and how it connects to the case [00:40:40] - Fernandez v. United States and Rutherford v. United States: compassionate release, retroactivity, and innocence claims [01:03:34] - Hamm v. Smith, the post-argument DIG, and the future of the Atkins rule
Relevant Links
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SCOTUSblog: https://www.scotusblog.com/
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Divided Argument website: https://www.dividedargument.com/
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Divided Argument blog: https://blog.dividedargument.com/
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Divided Argument store: https://store.dividedargument.com/
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Ethan Lowen's article on interstate extradition: https://wlr.law.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1263/2026/04/4-Lowens-–-Camera-ready.pdf
Links in the notes 5
Transcript
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