SCOTUStalk

Lyle Denniston, a 60-year veteran of the Supreme Court press corps, returns to SCOTUStalk to assess how the court’s ideological balance has shifted this term, whether Clarence Thomas will keep talking during oral arguments next term, and whether Stephen Breyer will retire. As is always the case, you can’t listen to Lyle and not learn something.

In a city full of anonymous sources, the Supreme Court is famously leak-proof. But a century ago, the court had a serious leak on its hands. JudgeJohn Owens of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit joins SCOTUStalk to tell the tale of Ashton Embry, the Supreme Court clerk who was at the center of the scandal. He also shares stories from his time clerking for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, opens up about how the 9thCircuit is coping in the COVID era, and reveals his thoughts on cameras in the courtroom.

It has been a busy month for the Supreme Court, with no slowing down in sight. SCOTUSblog’s media editor, Katie Barlow, turns the mic around on host Amy Howe to get the latest. The pair discuss the court’s recent oral arguments in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, a dispute pitting property rights against union organizing, and a hot-button 4th Amendment issue inCaniglia v. Strom. They also talk about the court’s major 4th Amendment decision in Torres v. Madridand preview what’s coming up, including the perfectly timed NCAA v. Alston.

This week, Amy Howe chats with a high-octane group of fiction writers who have all dabbled in Supreme Court suspense storytelling. Brad Meltzer is the #1 New York Times bestselling author ofThe Tenth Justice. Anthony Franze is a member of Arnold & Porter’s appellate and Supreme Court practice and also the critically acclaimed author of several novels set at the court, includingThe Last Justice. Joseph Finder is the New York Times bestselling author ofGuilty Minds. Some days the news feels like we are in a fiction novel, but these guys take it to a whole new level.

President Joe Biden has pledged to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court if a vacancy occurs. In the meantime, he hopes to fill the rest of the federal judiciary with as many nominees as he can (some of whom could soon become SCOTUS short-listers). Amy Howe speaks with The Washington Post’s Ann Marimow about judicial vacancies and what to expect in the coming months. Marimow recently co-authored anin-depth articleon the topic.

Robert Barnes,the 15-year veteran Supreme Court reporter for The Washington Post, joins Amy Howe to take stock of the court’s term so far and look at what’s ahead. The two recap the January argument session — including Justice Elena Kagan’s now-famous Taylor Swift reference — and they try to answer the question everyone has been asking: What will Justice Stephen Breyer do?