In February, President Donald Trump started signing a series of executive orders and presidential memorandums against individual “Big Law” firms, accusing them of engaging in “conduct detrimental to critical American interests” and directing federal agency heads to review and scrutinize security clearances and any government contracts, as well as barring attorneys from government buildings.

These targeted executive orders — and the looming threat of more to come —  ultimately triggered several major American firms to quickly agree to provide tens of millions of dollars in pro bono legal work aligned with the administration’s priorities.

In our fifth episode this season, we look at what this means for Big Law, the $340 million of pledged pro bono legal work on Trump’s behalf and which firms are fighting back in the courts.

Special guests:

• Scott Cummings, law professor at UCLA School of Law
• Claire Finkelstein, law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

Welcome to the age of the imperial presidency, dear listener.

After President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office in January, he flexed a newfound authority unlike his predecessors as he spent the first few weeks legislating through executive orders.

Whether you think Trump is above the law in practice or theory, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last July in Trump v. United States feels particularly poignant as his administration faces over 100 lawsuits under 100 days into his second term.

How does the court’s finding impact how Trump legislates from the executive branch? Does he really have the power to fire federal employees and the heads of nonpartisan bureaus? With the help of our D.C. reporters Ryan Knappenberger and Benjamin S. Weiss, we break this down and more in our fourth episode this season.

Special guests:

• Ben Olinsky, senior vice president for structural reform at the Center for American Progress
• Michael Sozan, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress
• Jed Shugerman, law professor at Boston University School of Law
• Sharece Thrower, political science professor at Vanderbilt University

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

It took decades for death row inmate Richard Glossip to convince Oklahomans and, later, the U.S. Supreme Court that he deserved a new trial. Glossip is just one of many inmates who say they faced convictions for crimes they did not commit. Read about enough of these cases, and you’ll be asking, “Is innocence enough?”

For the wrongfully convicted, tearful reunions and proclamations of justice from the courthouse steps only come after an arduous exoneration process paved with years of litigation.

The average person wrongfully convicted loses a decade of their life behind bars, learning the legal system and advocating for their innocence. As the number of exonerations rise annually, there is still no way to track how many people have suffered unjust convictions.

In the third episode of our fifth season, we journey through the highs and lows of post-conviction purgatory for people claiming innocence, from one Oklahoma man’s hand-written petitions to a New York man who waited nearly two decades for evidence to emerge for a lawyer to take his case.

Special guests:

• Andrea Miller, legal director of the Oklahoma Innocence Project
• Maurice Possley, researcher at the National Registry of Exonerations
• Justin Brooks, co-founder of the California Innocence Project
• Laneshia Jordan, Texas attorney
• Jeffrey Deskovic, exoneree and attorney
• Michael Grant, exoneree and assistant director of The Liberation Foundation
• Retired U.S. Magistrate Judge Kristen Mix
• Carl Wyatt, Oklahoma inmate asserting innocence

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, otherwise known as RICO. It's famous as the law used to take down organized crime, with then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani bringing the Mafia Commission Trial in the 1980s after indicting nine high-level organized crime figures, including the heads of New York's "Five Families."

But that's not the only time it comes up in court. It's been used in criminal court to go after motorcycle clubs, wealthy investors, the Key West Police Department in Florida, R&B singer R. Kelly and even President Donald Trump, but also in civil cases, like against Big Tobacco and sex abuse claims against the Catholic Church. 

RICO is the subject of our second episode this season: What it is, what it isn't and why it's used so much in one particular state.

Special guests:

• George Anastasia, former Philadelphia Inquirer crime reporter
• Jeff Grell, an attorney and lecturer at the University of Minnesota Law School
• Eric Seidel, former deputy attorney general in charge of New York’s Organized Crime Task Force
• Joe Lancaster, an assistant editor at Reason

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

Welcome back, listeners, to our humble show’s fifth season.

As America welcomes a new president, a particular media company welcomes a new owner. Well, almost. 

That’s why we’re here to guide you through the uncertainty of a certain bankruptcy process, promising to determine who will own one of the nation’s most controversial media companies, one whose name sums it all up with a bow: Infowars.

Despite over a billion dollars in defamation judgments, Alex Jones remains vocal online as he continues to operate his media empire while a bankruptcy court determines its future owner.

Will satirical news outlet The Onion eventually wrest control away from Jones? And what sort of implications does the case have on disinformation and free speech? All we know is the battle for Infowars is far from over.

Special guests:

• Dan Friesen, co-host of the Knowledge Fight podcast
• Christopher Hampson, professor of law at the University of Florida
• Nolan Higdon, critical media literacy scholar and lecturer at the University of California Santa Cruz

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

Hello, doughty listener! Season five of Sidebar is just around the corner. Join our hosts and reporters as they take you around the nation to break down our legal system and how it impacts the life you live. Follow us on Twitter @SidebarCNS and www.courthousenews.com for more.

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

Editor's note: This episode includes court testimony containing explicit language.

Dust off your tux and polish your dancing shoes: It’s time for Sidebar’s end-of-the-year extravaganza and season finale. 

We bring you three of the most interesting and unusual trials you missed this year while President-elect Donald Trump was soaking up the attention in courthouses nationwide.

And there’s no better way to kick this party off than Georgia’s longest-running criminal trial in state history: The prolonged RICO trial of Young Thug and alleged violent street gang Young Slime Life in Atlanta. To guide you through the ins and outs of a trial with more twists and defendants than an M. Night Shyamalan movie is our Atlanta reporter, Megan Butler.

Up next, with help from our intrepid New York reporter Erik Uebelacker, we turn our attention to the National Rifle Association’s legal troubles, detailing the two trials over former NRA President Wayne LaPierre’s misuse of the organization’s funds for personal luxury and how the NRA will govern itself going forward.

To round out an episode jampacked with acronyms, why did a judge throw out a $4.7 billion verdict against the NFL over antitrust violations connected to its Sunday Ticket package after fans claimed the price was artificially inflated? Edvard Pettersson has the answer.

See you in January with new episodes you won’t want to miss.

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

The art world isn’t limited to museums and galleries anymore, with pieces now embedded in courthouses across the country — from the majestic marble palace of the U.S. Supreme Court to landscapes urging conversations about climate change at the Byron White U.S. Courthouse in Denver.  

How did we move away from serious images of Lady Justice and authoritative judges clad in black robes to swaths of color and happy trees? How did art get into the judicial system to begin with?

In our penultimate episode this season, we bring you the artists who capture vivid portraits that honor state justices and attorneys not often memorialized in art and how courtroom sketches transcend photography to paint a picture of a defendant up close and personal or document moments of social change.

Special guests:

• Roger Laux Nelson, a landscape artist with works in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals
• Ximena Velázquez-Arenas, an artist and attorney
• Ted Ellis, an artist and director of Florida State University’s Civil Rights Institute 
• Jennifer Gibson, director of the Center for Fine Arts at the General Services Administration
• Drew Alderson, manager of the Colorado Judicial Learning Center
• Joan Kee, director of the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University
• Vicki Behringer, a courtroom sketch artist

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

Sensational headlines, societal upheaval and a gruesome crime that shook Fall River, Massachusetts, to its core.

Turn off the lights and cozy up to the fireplace as we bring you the spookiest type of story we can — one straight from the history books. 

America's first trial of the century came from an unusual source: Lizzie Borden, a 32-year-old unmarried upper-class woman in 1892 New England. Borden's father and stepmother met their final moments in one of the most brutal of ways, at the hands of someone with an axe.

Did she do it? With the help of two writers, we bring you inside the courtroom for Borden's trial, a legal spectacle set against the backdrop of yellow journalism and a nation gripped by details of a crime among the affluent, complete with an all-star cast of attorneys. 

Special guests:

• Cara Robertson, author of The Trial of Lizzie Borden
• Mark Olshaker, co-author of The Cases That Haunt Us

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

It's October, so you know what that means ... spooky season is finally here! And with it, the Supreme Court is back in session, complete with ghosts of the gun variety.

In this year's SCOTUS preview, we bring you the cases you need to know. The court will weigh in on a Biden administration rule to redefine firearms to address the public safety risk of ghost guns in America. We delve into the complexities and legal arguments that ignited a heated debate with gun manufacturers and the NRA over what truly constitutes a firearm.

The court will also hear about the death penalty case of Richard Glossip, who has faced the specter of execution nine times for a crime he claims he didn't commit. From the dubious testimony of the actual murderer to the systemic failures that have kept Glossip on death row, the case has led even unlikely proponents to question the mechanics of our justice system.

And we tackle Tennessee's controversial SB1 law, which bans gender-affirming care for transgender minors. This controversial legislation pits the state's focus on the experimental nature of such treatments against the medical community's endorsement of their necessity. This legal battle doesn't just impact Tennessee; it could reshape the landscape for transgender rights nationwide.

Special guests:

• Don Knight, Richard Glossip’s attorney
• Robert Dunham, director at the Death Penalty Policy Project and special counsel at Phillips Black
• Oklahoma state Representative Justin Humphrey
• Sasha Buchert, director of the Non-Binary and Transgender Rights Project at Lambda Legal
• Eric Tirschwell, executive director of Everytown Law
• Cody Wilson, director of Defense Distributed
• Kevin Tobia, a professor of law and philosophy at Georgetown
• Erin Erhardt, litigation counsel at the National Rifle Association

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

Zombie voters. Sham elections. Voter fraud.

In the months leading up to the 2024 presidential election, election lawsuits are flooding courts across the U.S., with the timing of some geared more toward grabbing headlines than achieving legal resolutions. Allegations aren’t considered true until a judge’s final order, but that doesn’t stop people from believing them.

In our 10th episode this season, we uncover the raw truths behind the politicized world of election integrity starting in Grand Junction, Colo., where a 2021 municipal election became a flashpoint for ideological battles and unfounded claims of voter fraud leading to the intricate legal quagmire surrounding Tina Peters, a former Colorado election official embroiled in controversy.

From there, we zero in on the world of pre-election litigation and voter registration errors in legal battles raging across states like Arizona, Ohio and Pennsylvania, touching on the delicate balance between security and transparency.

Special guests:

• Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr.  
• Bobbie Gross, clerk and recorder for Mesa County, Colo.
• Abe Herman, mayor of Grand Junction, Colo.
• Marly Hornik, chief executive officer of United Sovereign Americans   
• Leah Tulin, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice’s Democracy Program
• Witold "Vic" Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

Known for his unwavering conservative stance, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's career has been marked by significant legal battles, including a protracted securities fraud case and intense impeachment proceedings that left an indelible mark on his legacy.

And yet, his trajectory from state representative to Texas’ top cop continues upward, setting him up as a possible candidate for a potential second Donald Trump administration.

In our ninth episode this season, we unravel how a group of whistleblowers reported alleged misconduct by Paxton to the FBI, sparking a series of retaliatory actions and a legislative probe that set the stage for a dramatic showdown in a high-stakes impeachment trial that led to a not guilty verdict.

What broader implications for the state Republican Party's internal dynamics awaited post-acquittal? Dear listener, tune in so you don't miss out on this exploration of one of Texas' most polarizing and powerful political figures.

Special guests:

• Lara Hollingsworth, partner at Durham, Pittard & Spalding
• Cal Jillson, political science professor at Southern Methodist University
• Ann Johnson, representative of Texas House District 134
• Tom Nesbitt, attorney at DeShazo & Nesbitt
• Jonathan Saenz, president of Texas Values

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

All aboard, fair listeners, as we take you on a summer tour of the fascinating world of courthouse architecture and how it shapes our justice system.

Can courthouse design impact justice?

You’ve joined us right in the middle of America’s greatest era of civics construction. Over the last 30 years, the federal government spent more than $10 billion building or renovating more than 200 federal courts, not to mention all the new state ones. Due to growing caseloads, more judges get appointed, who, in turn, need more space for more staff.

In our eighth episode this season, we detail the history behind grand, historical courthouse and the innovation of more modern designs, like the “Cube” in Los Angeles. From the architects crafting light-filled, functional courthouse spaces to the sheriffs seeking to amplify light inside to prioritize mental health and security for inmates and staff alike, we bring you the thoughts behind the critical evolution in courthouse design.

A quick editor’s note: we are off for our summer break until August. See you then, same time, same place!

Special guests:

• Curtis Fentress, principal in charge of design at Fentress Architects
• Denver Sheriff Elias Diggins 
• Denver County Court Judge Frances Simonet
• Kate Merrill, wedding photographer

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

In the past few years, there’s been an explosion of nationwide injunctions coming from single-judge divisions in the federal court system. These judges were handpicked by the people filing these lawsuits.

You may have heard of one: U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk. With Kacsmaryk’s rulings, Texas has been able to dictate federal discrimination guidance for transgender employees and commandeer the Biden administration’s immigration policies. He also tried to limit abortion access nationwide, issuing a ruling that would have removed the abortion drug mifepristone from shelves across the country.

In Sidebar’s seventh episode this season, we bring you the inside baseball of judge shopping. Federal rules govern how many judges are assigned to a court, and when a court has a division with only one judge at the helm, it becomes easier to know who will hear your case.

Special guests:

• Brook Gotberg, law professor at Brigham Young University
• Laura Coordes, law professor at Arizona State University
• Steve Vladeck, law professor at the University of Texas at Austin
• Jonas Anderson, law professor at the University of Utah

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

Receipts. Proof. Timeline. Screenshots. 

What fuels the flames of drama in episodes of Bravo’s hugely successful “Real Housewives” franchise can also come into play off the screen when current and former reality stars duke it out in court against in each other and their former producers and employer. 

In our sixth episode this season, we expose the dark side of reality TV chaos. From claims of an unsafe work environment and intentional infliction of emotional distress made by cast members against producers, to sexual assault by their costars, how much of what we see is actually ... well, real? 

What does the future of these shows look like in light of these burgeoning legal battles and amid a call to arms by former start Bethenny Frankel to unionize in a “reality TV reckoning”? Does any accountability fall at the gilded doorstep of Bravo and Andy Cohen for the behaviors of their Bravolebrities? 

Tune in to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start being real. Real litigious. 

Special guests:

• Attorney Mark Geragos, who represents former “Vanderpump Rules” stars Rachel Leviss and Faith Stowers
• Brian Moylan, author of “The Housewives: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives”
• Attorneys Cesie Alvarez and Angela Angotti of “The Bravo Docket” podcast

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

Would you believe us if we told you copyright law is the biggest regulation on free speech in the United States? 

When you exercise your First Amendment right to paint a picture or write the next great American novel, your speech belongs to you. No one can take it and pass it off as their own. 

But when all the power is vested solely in one person, the rights of others slowly begin to dwindle. 

If you think copyright is just a term for media executives and lawyers, come along as we unravel its constitutional underpinnings. 

In our fifth episode this season, we dissect this intricate balance that copyright law maintains between protecting creators and ensuring the public’s unfettered access to cultural treasurer, detailing the symbiotic relationship between artistic works and the fundamental right to speak freely. 

Copyright is all around us because speech is all around us. 

Special guests:

• Jennifer Jenkins, a Duke University professor of law and director of the university's Center for the Study of the Public Domain
• Mike Masnick, writer and founder of Techdirt
• Corynne McSherry, legal director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Keith Kupferschmid, CEO of Copyright Alliance

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

The landscape of abortion rights in America is unrecognizable in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

Join us for our fourth episode this season as we navigate this tumultuous terrain, dissecting the seismic shifts and looming legal — and political — battles that promise to keep this issue at the forefront of national discourse. As states become battlegrounds with polarized stances on reproductive laws, how will the growing schism impact our collective moral compass and individual liberties?

Hold onto your seats as we examine the Supreme Court’s potential reshaping of federal authority over FDA-approved abortion medications like mifepristone and the state-level legislation redrawing the battleground of reproductive rights by either restricting or safeguarding abortion access, spotlighting Alabama’s legal contortions over fetal personhood and its deep entanglement with in vitro fertilization treatments that could eventually redefine reproductive autonomy. 

Special guests:

• Dale Cecka, director of the Family Violence Litigation Clinic at Albany Law School
• Chelsey Youman, national legislative advisor for Human Coalition Action 
• Grace Howard, associate professor of justice studies at San Jose State University
• Dana Sussman, deputy executive director at Pregnancy Justice
• Aziza Ahmed, law professor at Boston University

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

Editor’s note: This episode is not family friendly due to some colorful language.

A long-running feud between eviction lawyers Dennis Block and Danny Bramzon cumulated into a Twitter parody account and a libel lawsuit that made it all the way to a jury trial.

In the third episode this season, we take the temperature of defamation law in the 21st century when it comes to X, formerly known as Twitter.

Block isn’t the only one unsuccessful in the courtroom. A lawsuit that sought to take down Elon Musk over his infamous “pedo guy” tweet failed, as did efforts by “badass lawyer” Todd Levitt and former Congressman Devin Nunes over their Twitter impersonators.

Why is it so hard to win a defamation lawsuit when digital satire is at play? The courtroom becomes a crucible, with jurors and judges wrestling over the true nature of parody, leaving us pondering the potential repercussions of a legal system scrambling to catch up with the online world’s rapid evolution.

Special guests:

• Eric Anderson, an attorney for Bramzon’s firm, Basta
• Christopher Frost, an attorney for Block
• Eugene Volokh, UCLA law professor and blogger at The Volokh Conspiracy 
• Gordon Bloem, an attorney sued by Levitt
• Paul Alan Levy, an attorney at Public Citizen 
• Ryan Mac, tech reporter at The New York Times 

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

Surprise, listeners! We’re coming to you, almost live, with a special breaking news mini episode on the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to keep former President Donald Trump on Colorado’s ballot.

Our very own Amanda Pampuro and Kelsey Reichmann meticulously dissect the twists and turns of the legal journey that led to this point, from the initial lawsuit by concerned Colorado voters to the constitutional debates the ensued before SCOTUS.

How great is the magnitude of this ruling, not just for Trump’s potential return to the highest office in the land, but for its groundbreaking implications on the constitutional standards that determine who can lead the nation?

Special guest: 

·         Mark Graber, law professor at the University of Maryland

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

Look around, dear listener. 

Everything is heart-shaped and pink. People are getting ready for a special night with their special someone. 

In our second episode this season, we take you through the dark alleyways of online dating, where $1.3 billion vanished into the pockets of scammers in just one year, and peel back the layers of marketing sleights of hand that extend far beyond the realm of matchmaking. 

From mimosas without champagne to candy heart boxes with more filler than chocolate, we dissect the conflict between what's advertised and what lands in consumers' hands — a legal battlefield constantly redefining the line between enticing and misleading. 

Special guests:

• “Al,” pro se plaintiff who sued Bumble  
• Kevin Lewis, sociology professor at UC San Diego
• Attorney Spencer Sheehan
• Attorney Robert Freund
• Jennifer Pomeranz, public health attorney and NYU professor
• Bonnie Patten, executive director of Truth in Advertising

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

Welcome to season four of Sidebar! We're kicking off our first episode of 2024 by traversing the digital terrain of internet sleuths, those armchair detectives whose keyboards are the new magnifying glasses.

Everyone has a hobby. Something to keep them busy, pass the time or unwind after work. Maybe listening to your favorite podcast is that thing. One such hobby that has grown with the help of the internet and social media is internet sleuthing. On websites like TikTok, Reddit and Websleuths, people post the latest theories about mysteries big and small.

Since the high-profile murder of Gabby Petito, it feels like hobby investigators have gained more prominence, from the initial mystery of the University of Idaho student murders to the Rainey Street Ripper, the Austin, Texas, serial killer that wasn't.

What's behind the psychological forces that drive this online phenomenon?

Special guests:

• David Schmid, professor of English at the University of Buffalo
• Rachel Monroe, author of “Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession”
• Chance Townsend, assistant editor at Mashable

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

Season four of Sidebar, a podcast from Courthouse News, kicks off just around the corner. Join our hosts and reporters as they take you around the nation to break down lawsuits, the law and how they impact you and the life you live. Follow us on Twitter @SidebarCNS and www.courthousenews.com for more.

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

Welcome to our end-of-the-year gala episode of Sidebar.

It's hard to divvy out awards for the most important or interesting cases of 2023 when former President Donald Trump has dominated so many of them. This was the year Trump took over Courthouse News, appearing in court as a defendant many times.

From charges in New York that Trump schemed to make illegal hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and an indictment over Trump mishandling classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago resort to another indictment in Georgia over conspiracy to change the results of the 2020 presidential election, 2023 saw Trump dominating headlines. This trend is unlikely to die down next year as the cases ramp up and he forges ahead as the Republican Party's No. 1 guy to run against President Joe Biden.

But it wasn't all about Trump. No courtroom drama is off-limits as we also spotlight the fraud trial of cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried and the murder trial of South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh. Sit back, pop some bubbly and join us as we sift through the year's most riveting legal tales.

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

No institution in American life has a far-reaching and outsized role in communities quite like the public school system.

Take a seat, Sidebar listeners, as we dive into the heart of public education and its role in our democracy for our penultimate episode this season. We take you beyond the classroom, looking at landmark rulings like Brown v. Board of Education and highlighting the dual role of public schools: to educate and to unite individuals of various backgrounds in a shared vision.

Gear up to navigate the treacherous waters of the school choice movement with us, from religious schools to church-state separation and the impact on the future of public education.

Special guests:

• Derek Black, law professor at the University of South Carolina
• Steve Suitts, adjunct lecturer at Emory University
• Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State
• John Bursch, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom
• Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

Happy Halloween, all you goblins and ghouls. Prepare yourselves for a real spooky season treat as we traverse the gloomy annals of witch trials. Join us for our 12th episode this season as we dispel myths and shine a light on how and why these judicial proceedings played out across Europe and the United States. We're talking grand juries, indictments, spectral evidence and even acquittals in what were considered by the standards of the time to be fair trials.

There are no tricks here as we examine the chilling circumstances behind the notorious Salem witch trials and the ensuing paranoia that led to widespread accusations and tragic executions. How has Salem maintained its hold on the American psyche for more than 300 years?

Hold on to your broomstick as we ride through this spine-chilling side of the past.

Special guests:

• Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer and author of “The Witches: Salem, 1692”
• Marion Gibson, Renaissance and magical literatures professor at the University of Exeter and author of “Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials”

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.