Dear listeners,
Like some of the big law firms, Disney hoped to buy peace with the Trump administration through a bogus settlement. It didn’t work. Disney is now suing the FCC, saying the commission’s move to review its broadcast licenses early is unconstitutional retaliation for its speech — namely, ABC broadcasts the president doesn’t like. Disney has good arguments, and some of those arguments could upend not just the FCC’s actions under Brendan Carr but its licensing regime more broadly.
Our discussion of the ABC litigation is for all listeners this week.
For paying subscribers, Ken and I look at Luigi Mangione’s choice to plead guilty in federal court with no plea deal. Mangione is likely to get something close to life imprisonment on the federal charges, but pleading in the federal court might get him out of being tried in state court, due to New York’s unusually strong protections against double jeopardy. But one part of Mangione’s argument — that federal and state prosecutors colluded to order their prosecutions in a way that disfavored his interests — may face a factual problem, since these federal and state prosecutors have demonstrated surprisingly little ability to work collaboratively.
We also discuss, behind the paywall:
Another federal appeals court that has rejected another Trump administration gambit to install US attorneys without the Senate’s approval.
A victory for Harvard in litigation with the Trump administration.
Expert witness AI shenanigans, plus a prompt injection that couldn’t work because the document wasn’t even going to be shown to an AI, and
To hear all that, subscribe below.
We hope you enjoy the episode,
Josh
