Supreme Court tests the limits of its independence

The brief

Leah Litman joins Brian Tyler Cohen to dissect Jack Smith’s congressional hearing, where questions about the Tooth Fairy, sports teams, and alleged misconduct undercut attacks on federal prosecutors.

The hosts argue that public harassment and firing threats make the Justice Department harder to staff, while placing the pressure on prosecutors within a broader assault on federal institutions.

They turn to the Supreme Court’s unsigned order allowing third-country deportations, criticizing its chaotic instructions and apparent indifference to people sent to countries they have never lived in.

The discussion asks whether occasional rulings against Donald Trump preserve an illusion of independence, then examines Samuel Alito’s Exxon recusal and the Court’s failure to explain it.

The episode closes by linking the Court’s expanding gun-rights agenda to a decades-long campaign against civil-rights gains, while weighing court expansion and the need for sustained organizing.