OT2017 #9: “Peak SG”

The exciting December sitting may be over, but we’re still here to let you know what you missed. We catch you up on the oral argument in Masterpiece Cakeshop, everybody’s favorite cake-flavored battle between religious liberty and gay rights. We’ll answer your burning questions: Did Justice Anthony Kennedy tip his hand as to which side he’s on? Does Justice Elena Kagan think there’s a constitutional difference between cake artists and makeup artists? Can the chief justice figure out a way to let the cake shop win without undermining protections against racial discrimination? Most importantly, does Justice Stephen Breyer realize that mole and guacamole aren’t the same thing?

We’re also joined by recurring guest contributor Nina Totenberg of NPR, who tells us what she noticed in the courtroom these past two weeks—and what she talked about with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who was in the audience for Christie v. National Collegiate Athletic Association. And if that’s not enough, we also discuss the American Civil Liberties Union’s response to the government’s controversial cert petition in Hargan v. Garza, the heated abortion-plus-undocumented-immigration dispute in which the solicitor general asked the Supreme Court to consider imposing sanctions on opposing counsel. And as always, we answer some calls from the hotline. It’s an action-packed episode worthy of an action-packed sitting of the court!