Law and Chaos

DESCRIPTION:   It's a special episode today. We'll spend the whole show diving into the debacle of eBay, a $50 billion company, launching a harassment campaign against a middle-aged couple in Massachusetts. Come for the corporate bigwigs sending live roaches by mail, stay for the national security kerfuffle. It's a wild story, and it even has a happy ending. Steiner v. EBay https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60073359/steiner-v-ebay-inc US v. Baugh https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/18602070/united-states-v-baugh Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod  

DOCKET ALERTS:   Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville is facing a residency challenge to his gubernatorial campaign.   The Justice Department dismissed a case seeking to enforce a moratorium on offshore and onshore windfarm permits. Instead they're buying back leases for windfarms, so that energy companies can develop natural gas plants in the midwest. Murica!   The DOJ is trying to take advantage of a half-assed plot to attack Trump's UFC to get the court to let him build his ballroom.    Doofus of the Day: Covid denier Alex Berenson, who got a $150,000 payout from the Trump administration because he got booted from Twitter in 2021.   MAIN SHOW:   It was an opinion day at SCOTUS, and every decision was authored by a bizarre coalition of justices. Of most interest was US v. Hemani, in which the Court held that regular marijuana use cannot be a reason to deny Americans the right to own a gun.   The US Attorneys Office in Minnesota announced conspiracy charges against protesters of the immigration surge into Minneapolis earlier this year. Like the Broadview 6 case, it's a transparent attempt to criminalize activities protected by the First Amendment and impose collective punishment on opponents of the administration's policies.   The Federal Trade Commission sued the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) in Texas, alleging that its Standards of Care document (SOC-8) violates Section 5 of the FTC Act.   SUBSCRIBERS: No FISA for you! Trump just blew up the deal to get FISA reauthorized and his new Director of National Intelligence confirmed.   Tuberville Residency Challenge [via ALReporter] https://www.alreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Tuberville-Filings.pdf   US v. Hemani [Supreme Court] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-1234_g2bh.pdf   Hunter v. US [Supreme Court] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-1063_5ifl.pdf   T.M. v. Univ. of Maryland Medical System [Supreme Court] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-197_bp7c.pdf   US v. Sant [MN protesters] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73489496/united-states-v-sant   FTC v. WPATH [docket via CourtListener] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.421590/   WPATH SOC-8 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/26895269.2022.2100644   HHS's "Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices." https://opa.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2025-11/gender-dysphoria-report.pdf Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod  

DOCKET ALERTS:   Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh and the 11 other members of the Open Markets Committee voted to raise interest rates 0.25 percent, and Trump is pissed.   The New York Times published a blockbuster story, interviewing almost all of the federal judges in Minnesota about what it was like to hold the line during the Trump administration's immigration surge into the Twin Cities.   The Trump administration is bigfooting into the states' antitrust suit to block the Paramount-WB merger. Not to support the states! To force the states to pay a $1.9 billion bond!   DOOFUS OF THE DAY:   Our Doofi of the Day is a three-judge panel at the Eighth Circuit that seems to be thinking about trying to overrule the US Supreme Court and let Missouri gerrymander another Republican seat in Congress in the 2026 midterms. It's not going to work.    MAIN SHOW: Trump is threatening to tear down the Kennedy Center and looking at mockups of the national monument demolished. Meanwhile his lackeys insist in the court that the facility is only being closed temporarily for safety.   Remember when Trump's dingbat lawyer Lindsey Halligan tried to prosecute Jim Comey and Tish James and fell flat on her face? That case got to the Fourth Circuit this week, and it's still hot garbage.   The DOJ is very busy patting itself on the back for its glorious antitrust victory against Google over the sale of banner ads. Turns out, that victory is a lot less impressive than advertised.    SUBSCRIBER BONUS:   College football coach Lane Kiffin tried to break the NCAA by recruiting pro players. His own conference sued him for… violating the First Amendment? What in the world is going on in college football, and is Ted Cruz going to ride in and save the integrity of amateur sports? (No, no he is not.) Trump's Minnesota Surge Threatened Democracy, Judge Warns https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/us/politics/minnesota-judge-trump-immigration.html   California v. Paramount Skydance  https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73606877/the-state-of-california-v-paramount-skydance-corporation/   Onder v. Missouri [8th Circuit docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74780310/congressman-robert-onder-v-state-of-missouri/   Beatty v. Trump https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72069932/beatty-v-trump   Oral Argument US v. Comey/James https://www.youtube.com/live/_baUl2wtXvE   DOJ Press Release, "Department of Justice Again Wins Substantial Relief Against Google," September 16, 2026 https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-again-wins-substantial-relief-against-google   US v. Google [EDVa docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/66753787/united-states-v-google-llc/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc&page=1   SUBSCRIBER BONUS Southeastern Conference v. Louisiana State University [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74745193/the-southeastern-conference-v-louisiana-state-university/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod  

DOCKET ALERTS:   This podcast won a victory today in its lawsuit against the Trump administration to kick loose the document the DOJ used as the basis for a frivolous ethics complaint against Judge James Boasberg in DC. Judge Abelson ordered the DOJ to produce discovery to us so we can evaluate the administration's claims that "Attachment A" isn't subject to the Freedom of Information Act.   The hardware store Lowe's was hit with a consumer class action suit in Chicago alleging that it steals customers' voice prints when they call customer service.   A lawyer in New Mexico has been sanctioned for filing motions referring to fake witnesses hallucinated by ChatGPT. In a murder case!   DOOFUS OF THE DAY:   John Eastman, the election-denying crank lawyer, is now representing Amy Wax. Wax is a notorious racist whom the University of Pennsylvania law school has been trying to fire for years. Eastman entered his appearance on her behalf at the Third Circuit, which is weird because he was disbarred in California last year. But not to worry, he's filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to undo that!   MAIN SHOW:   While we were recording, the Supreme Court finally rejected Trump's plan to use the Post office to blow up the midterms. on whether it intends to stay a judicial order enjoining the US Postal Service from meddling with mail-in ballots during the 2026 midterms, but each new development seems to make it less likely that it will do so. Late Sunday night, Trump appointee Judge Carl Nichols in Washington DC issued his own injunction blocking the rule and smacking down the administration's arguments.   More details emerged over the weekend about the Grand Conspiracy investigation in Florida and why MAGA conspiracy lawyer Joe diGenova noped out. Apparently he didn't get the memo that the point was to indict a couple of Trump's enemies, declare victory, and be long gone before the charges imploded. Meanwhile, former CIA Director John Brennan has filed a lawsuit in DC seeking to head off his own prosecution.   Trump's offer of $5,000 checks to every citizen if Republicans hold the House and the Senate isn't bribery. And it isn't going to happen.   SUBSCRIBER BONUS:   In a supplement to our written blog post, we talk about all the weirdness in the DOJ's "Notice of Appeal" in the Trump v. IRS slush fund case, including how the administration's lawyers sound an awful lot like sovereign citizen nutjobs.   "Trump's DOJ Lawyers Leap In To Save Trump's Personal Lawyers" https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/trumps-doj-lawyers-leap-in-to-save   Res Ipsa Media v. DOJ [docket Via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71236135/res-ipsa-media-llc-v-department-of-justice/?order_by=desc   Perkins v. Lowe's [Complaint via Courthouse News] https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Lowes-class-action-biometric-information.pdf   Attorney Sanctions Order [via Reuters] https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/gkplemoznvb/New%20Mexico%20sanctions%20order%20-%20AI.pdf   AFGE-AFL-CIO v. Kupor [Civil Service loyalty test] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71884278/american-federation-of-government-employees-afl-cio-v-kupor/   Eastman v. State Bar of California [Petition for Cert] https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/26/26-336/423876/20260911094527982_USSC%20Petition%20for%20Writ%20of%20Certiorari.pdf   Trump ally John Eastman joins UPenn professor's legal team, citing 'despicable cancel culture' https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump-ally-john-eastman-joins-upenn-professors-legal-team-citing-despicable-2026-09-14/   Trump v. League of Women Voters [Supreme Court docket] https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26a305.html   USPS Revised DMM [mail-in ballot regulations] https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/26/2026-17238/ballot-mail-for-federal-elections   DSCC v. Trump [DC mail-in ballot case injunction by Judge Nichols] https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2026cv1114-192   USPS v. California [Mail-in Ballots SCOTUS Docket] https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/DocketFiles/html/Public/26A305.html   Brennan v. Blanche https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73562893/brennan-v-blanche/   Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod  

DOCKET ALERTS:   The president is promising to send out $5,000 checks to every American if Republicans win the midterms.   The Fourth Circuit became the ninth appellate court to find that the Trump administration's mandatory detention policy for all immigrants without legal status is patently illegal.   The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to let it install US Attorneys without Senate confirmation. Time to bring back Alina Habba and Lindsey Halligan!   Andrew and Tristan Tate's motion for bail pending their extradition to the UK was denied by a federal magistrate in Miami.   Hasbro is the latest company to tell the White House to quit using its IP in racist AI slop memes — this time the government is molesting Optimus Prime!   DOOFUS OF THE DAY:    James Piereson has an editorial in the Wall Street Journal wondering if adding new Supreme Court justices is illegal. It's not, and neither is saying absolute drivel in public.   MAIN SHOW:   We're all waiting for SCOTUS to say whether they're planning to let Trump burn down the midterms and refuse to deliver mail-in ballots. In the meanwhile, the US Supreme Court teamed up with the Missouri state Supreme Court to prevent a harebrained scheme by Missouri's Republican Secretary of State, Denny Hoskins, to cram down an even-more-gerrymandered congressional map that would give Republicans an extra seat in the House of Representatives. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the new map needs to be approved by the voters before it can take effect, and held Hoskins in contempt for refusing to abide by their September 3 injunction. And the US Supreme Court put the kibosh on a crazy TRO issued by a rogue Trump appointee purporting to require Missouri to use the Trump map. So it looks like Missourians are going to head back to the polls in November under the existing 2022 maps.   Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has a plan to hack the 2030 Census. And that plan is RACISM.   SUBSCRIBER BONUS:   We break down Law & Chaos's DOOFUS OF THE DAY, James Piereson, a non-lawyer who has the legal opinion that expanding the Supreme Court is unconstitutional, even though it definitely isn't.   Lopez Garcia v. Guadian [Fourth Circuit, mandatory detention] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72052515/oscar-lopez-garcia-v-robert-guadian/   Petition for Cert In US Attorneys Case https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/26/26-304/423324/20260908124848584_Jackson%20Petition.pdf   US v. Tate https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73656030/united-states-v-tate/   People Not Politicians v. Hoskins [MO Supreme Court] https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=239229   James Piereson, "Is Court Packing Constitutional? Don't Be So Sure," Wall Street Journal, Sep. 7, 2026 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/is-court-packing-constitutional-dont-be-so-sure-0e602345   Mail-In Ballots at SCOTUS https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/DocketFiles/html/Public/26A305.html   Proposed Census Rule Change https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/10/2026-18481/decennial-census-of-the-population-of-americans-proposed-residence-criteria-and-proposed-regulations Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod