Award-winning prosecutor Melissa Palepu takes us beyond the headlines to reveal the unsettling reality of human trafficking in America. This eye-opening conversation dismantles widespread misconceptions about what trafficking actually looks like and who it affects.

Forget what you think you know about human trafficking. The "white van abduction" scenario represents just 6% of cases. Instead, traffickers target vulnerable individuals through manipulation and false promises. Even more surprising? Labor trafficking—not sex trafficking—constitutes the largest category worldwide, hiding in plain sight in restaurants, farms, nail salons, and construction sites.

Palepu shares disturbing insights into how traffickers now target children through video games and social media platforms parents may not even recognize. With candid urgency, she emphasizes why open conversations with children about online dangers aren't optional—they're essential protection against predators who have adapted to the digital world.

Current political realities have created additional barriers to fighting trafficking effectively. Increased immigration enforcement has silenced many victims who fear deportation more than their exploiters. Meanwhile, high-profile cases like Epstein's become political footballs while actual victims are forgotten and trafficking networks continue operating with impunity.

For parents, educators, and concerned citizens alike, this episode provides crucial knowledge about trafficking's warning signs and how communities can respond. The prosecution of these cases faces enormous hurdles—from resource limitations to widespread misunderstanding of trafficking dynamics among judges and juries—yet remains essential to disrupting these criminal networks.

Join us to understand why human trafficking continues to flourish despite increased awareness, and what meaningful action looks like beyond hashtags and headlines. Subscribe now to hear more conversations that cut through misinformation and bring expert perspectives on the most pressing legal and social issues of our time.

AG Mayes and AG Nessel are back from a summer break to take us behind the scenes of their relentless legal battle against what they describe as the most unconstitutional administration in American history. They’ve filed over 25 lawsuits against the Trump administration in just six months, working around the clock to protect their states from illegal trespasses against their residents’ rights and devastating federal funding cuts.

The financial stakes couldn't be higher. Through successful litigation, Michigan has preserved $1.6 billion and Arizona $1.2 billion in federal funding for critical programs including healthcare, education, infrastructure, and public safety. These victories come at a crucial time as both states face potential budget shortfalls from the recently passed "big bill for billionaires" that slashes taxes for corporations and the wealthy while cutting essential services.

 The AGs walk us through their most significant wins: preventing the dismantling of AmeriCorps, protecting library funding serving millions of cardholders, saving cancer research and treatment programs, and stopping illegal conditions on roads funding. In many cases, the Trump administration simply abandoned its efforts after initial court defeats rather than pursuing appeals – a pattern the AGs attribute partly to staffing challenges at the Department of Justice, where many experienced attorneys have departed.

 Perhaps most alarming is the administration's aggressive data collection efforts. Both AGs express deep concern about federal agencies attempting to "hoover up" massive amounts of personal information from Treasury, IRS, Medicaid, and SNAP programs. This intrusive data gathering crosses partisan lines – as Mayes notes, traditionally Republicans have opposed such "Big Brother" surveillance. The question remains: what happens to all this sensitive personal data, and who controls it?

When public education comes under attack, who stands in the breach? Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes take us behind the scenes of their critical legal battles to protect students, teachers, and the very institution of public education in America.

Their fight is deeply personal. Nessel shares the story of her son with significant learning disabilities whose life was transformed by a dedicated teacher who continued teaching while battling terminal cancer. "She wasn't ready to die until Zach had finished fifth grade," Nessel recounts. That boy, once considered unlikely to read or write, later graduated from Michigan State with a 4.0 GPA. For Mayes, whose mother and sister both served as public school teachers, these attacks on education compelled her return to politics after a decade-long absence.

The attorneys general detail their successful legal actions to prevent the dismantling of the Department of Education, protect AmeriCorps programs training desperately-needed teachers, and ensure promised ESSER funds reach school districts that had already committed to projects. Their interventions have prevented devastating budget shortfalls for already underfunded schools across America.

NEA President Becky Pringle, drawing on her 31 years teaching middle school science, offers powerful insights into education's connection to democracy itself. "You could follow the trajectory of a society," she explains, noting that falling societies invariably begin by "taking away the right of its citizens to learn." From book bans to curriculum censorship to teacher intimidation, the current climate threatens not just academic achievement but the foundation of democratic participation.

The conversation exposes the false promise that dismantling federal education programs would simply transfer funds to states, pointing to evidence from Arizona where universal voucher programs have diverted billions toward private education while draining public resources. As class sizes grow, special education supports vanish, and teachers face unprecedented pressure, the attorneys general remain committed to their fight for America's educational future.

Subscribe to learn how these legal battles affect every family in America and what's at stake for our democracy itself.

A decade ago, two Michigan nurses embarked on a journey that would transform American history – not in hopes of a constitutional revolution, but because they wanted to protect their children.

April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse had been together for 18 years when they first approached attorney Dana Nessel about a seemingly simple problem. As Michigan foster parents raising three children, they faced a legal paradox: the state trusted them to foster children together but prohibited them from jointly adopting. Each parent could only legally adopt specific children, creating a precarious situation where neither had legal rights to all their children.

After surviving a near-fatal car accident, the reality hit them hard – if something happened to either mother, their family could be torn apart by the legal system they trusted to protect them. What began as an adoption rights case unexpectedly pivoted when a federal judge suggested they challenge Michigan's marriage ban instead. This fateful turn transformed their personal struggle into what would become the landmark Supreme Court case legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.

April and Jayne invite listeners into the emotional Supreme Court experience – from the sea of supporters outside, to the confusing oral arguments where Justice Kennedy's position remained unclear, to the euphoric moment when they learned they'd won. With remarkable candor, they share how they balanced raising five children while becoming reluctant civil rights pioneers, and how they found courage in looking at "those tiny faces" they were fighting to protect.

As we mark ten years since Obergefell, their story offers both inspiration and warning. While reflecting on how quickly attitudes have changed, these accidental figureheads also express concern about how easily these LGBTQ rights and protections could disappear. Their powerful testimony reminds us that behind every landmark legal decision are real families with everything at stake – and that ordinary citizens stepping up for their children can indeed change history.

Ten years after the landmark Obergefell decision legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel takes us behind the scenes of the historic legal battle she personally led. As the attorney who argued Michigan's DeBoer v. Snyder case (later consolidated with Obergefell), Nessel provides a remarkably candid account of what it took to secure marriage equality against overwhelming odds.

Nessel shares deeply personal reflections about what the victory meant, calling the day Obergefell was decided "the best day of my life." Local clerks set up impromptu wedding services for couples who had waited decades to marry legally. Beyond the emotional impact, marriage equality brought economic benefits, increased adoption rates for foster children, and crucial family stability. Nessel's own experience as a parent illustrates how marriage rights transformed everyday life – enabling her wife to legally adopt their children and make medical decisions when their son needed surgery.

This Pride Month conversation also comes with a warning. With Justice Thomas explicitly calling for Obergefell to be reconsidered and unconstitutional marriage bans still on the books in many states, the rights secured in 2015 remain vulnerable. Subscribe to hear part two of this special series featuring an interview with April and Jane themselves – the couple whose fight to protect their family changed America.

Credit: This episode includes excerpts from news segments from the Associated Press, MSNBC, NBC News, WPTV News, WSBT-TV, WXYZ-TV Detroit, KHON2 News, and other clips from Youtube. 

The fight for America's health and wellbeing takes center stage as we tackle the most alarming proposals coming from Washington. Attorneys General Dana Nessel and Kris Mayes break down their ongoing legal battles against unconstitutional actions by the Trump administration – revealing why they've each filed over 15 lawsuits (and won most of them).

Our candid conversation explores the real-world consequences of federal budget cuts already taking effect across America. From overflowing toilets at the Grand Canyon to park facility closures at Sleeping Bear Dunes, national treasures are deteriorating before our eyes. Meanwhile, vital nonprofit organizations that feed vulnerable populations face extinction as funding disappears.

The heart of our episode features Georgetown University's Joan Alker, who delivers a masterclass on Medicaid's essential role in American healthcare. As Republicans propose slashing at least $625 billion from Medicaid – the largest cuts in history – Alker explains who stands to lose the most. Did you know Medicaid covers 40% of all births nationally and nearly half of all births in rural communities? Or that it's the primary funder of long-term care for seniors and covers almost half of all children?

We examine how these proposed cuts would devastate rural healthcare systems already struggling with provider shortages and hospital closures. Alker also dissects the problematic "work requirements" some states have tried implementing – revealing shocking statistics about how they've increased bureaucracy while causing thousands to lose coverage.

What makes this episode particularly powerful is the bipartisan concern emerging around these issues. As Nessel notes, people across the political spectrum are showing up at town halls worried about these changes. The message becomes clear: speaking up works, whether through contacting representatives, writing op-eds, or joining local meetings.

Join us for this urgent conversation about protecting the programs that make America healthy. The time to make your voice heard is now.

Ever wonder who's fighting for fairness when corporations grow too powerful? Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes pull back the curtain on the world of antitrust enforcement with special guest Lina Khan, the groundbreaking former Chair of the Federal Trade Commission.

This episode of Pantsuits and Lawsuits kicks off with a stark warning: without strong federal support, states like Michigan are left powerless against corporate abuse. AGs Nessel and Mayes join FTC Chair Lina Khan to unpack how weakened consumer protections, corporate mergers, and AI-driven “surveillance pricing” are putting everyday Americans at risk—and what’s being done to fight back. 

Throughout the episode, one message resonates clearly: corporate accountability requires vigilant state-federal partnerships that stand firm against powerful interests. As Khan notes, there's growing energy among young lawyers wanting to become "trust busters" - providing hope that the next generation is ready to continue this essential work.

Check our department websites and social media to stay updated on our ongoing efforts to protect consumers from corporate abuses that affect your daily life.

The foundation of reproductive freedom in America continues to crumble beneath our feet, leaving millions without access to essential healthcare. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel sits down with Alexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, for a sobering exploration of the post-Dobbs landscape.

McGill Johnson reveals the coordinated, multi-pronged attack against reproductive healthcare access happening right now. From Title X funding cuts targeting Planned Parenthood to Supreme Court challenges that could strip Medicaid patients of their provider choices, we're witnessing a systematic dismantling of the healthcare infrastructure that millions rely upon. With 22 states now operating under abortion bans, one in three American women of reproductive age lives without access to complete healthcare.

The consequences are both immediate and far-reaching. Doctors are fleeing states with abortion bans, creating dangerous healthcare deserts. Women with pregnancy complications face delayed care until they develop life-threatening sepsis. Young families are making permanent reproductive decisions out of fear. 

Join us for this critical conversation about what's at stake and how you can fight back through ballot initiatives, community organizing, and supporting Planned Parenthood's frontline work. Because as McGill Johnson powerfully reminds us: abortion is healthcare, bodily autonomy is essential to freedom, and none of us are truly free until all of us are free.

Federal funding for crime victim services is evaporating at an alarming rate. Since 2017, the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) fund has plummeted by a staggering 83%, leaving millions of vulnerable survivors without critical support. The human cost is devastating.

We sit down with Kirstin Flores and Rebekah Snyder Cox, who lead victim services divisions in Arizona and Michigan, to understand what's at stake. Their stories from the frontlines reveal how these funding cuts threaten the very foundation of our justice system. When a sexual assault victim living in a shelter can't access a phone or transportation to participate in their case, justice remains out of reach. When domestic violence survivors have nowhere to turn because shelters can't keep their doors open, lives hang in the balance.

The conversation explores how victim advocates serve as the unsung heroes of our criminal justice system, providing crucial emotional support, safety planning, and practical assistance at every stage of a case. Without them, cases collapse, victims remain traumatized, and offenders escape accountability. As Rebekah poignantly shares, "I just called a sexual assault victim who reported her crime in 2007. The offender fled, and the case went cold. Now I'm calling her again saying 'We mean it this time.' Without the help of federal partnerships, we couldn't even locate these fugitives."

The episode also examines how post-conviction issues uniquely traumatize victims. When offenders unexpectedly receive parole or pardons without proper notification to victims, it shatters trust in the system. As one victim advocate described the impact: "It's indescribable. It takes them right back to the crime and brings everything back, but now 30 years later without their support system."

What can we do to ensure justice for crime victims? Start by understanding that victim services aren't optional—they're essential infrastructure that makes our entire legal system function. Contact your representatives about supporting VOCA funding and connect with local victim service organizations in your community to see how you can help fill the growing gaps.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes unite to sound the alarm on the environmental crisis unfolding across America. From the Grand Canyon to the Great Lakes, our national treasures are under unprecedented threat as the Trump administration slashes funding, terminates Park Service employees, and rolls back critical environmental protections.

The attorneys general reveal the shocking reality behind recent cuts – multiple-hour wait times at national parks, visitor centers forced to close, and safety concerns mounting as essential personnel disappear. "Who is it that wants to see our national parks defunded?" Nessel asks, highlighting the bewildering nature of these attacks on beloved public spaces that transcend political divides.

Environmental experts Lisa Wozniak of Michigan League of Conservation Voters and Vania Guevara of Chispa Arizona join the conversation, bringing frontline perspectives on how these federal actions directly harm local communities and ecosystems. Wozniak details the terrifying spread of invasive sea lamprey in the Great Lakes, while Guevara shares how extreme heat in Arizona claimed over 1,000 lives last year – both problems exacerbated by weakened environmental agencies.

The discussion delves into the economic devastation facing rural communities dependent on park tourism, the disproportionate impacts on communities of color, and the strategic communication needed to build environmental consensus across political lines. Despite the federal retreat from climate leadership exemplified by the Paris Climate Accord withdrawal, the conversation offers hope through state-level action and grassroots advocacy.

Join these powerful women leaders as they chart a path forward for environmental protection when Washington won't lead. Whether you're concerned about public lands, climate justice, or the economic health of your community, this episode delivers crucial insights into one of today's most urgent battles.

Subscribe now and join the conversation about how we can protect our natural heritage for future generations regardless of political headwinds.

In this episode of Pantsuits and Lawsuits, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel break down the unprecedented upheaval in the federal workforce. With mass firings sweeping across agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs, the CDC, and even the nation's nuclear weapons programs, what do these cuts mean for government stability and public safety?

Joining the discussion is Max Rose, Senior Advisor for the VetVoice Foundation and former U.S. Congressman, who shares insight on how these sweeping layoffs are affecting veterans, government efficiency, and national security.

Plus, we examine the legal challenges being mounted against the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and what’s at stake for Americans who rely on these essential services.

Credit: This episode includes excerpts from an MSNBC segment, viewable here.

In this episode of Pantsuits & Lawsuits, we dive into the fight against the Trump Administration’s executive order attempting to redefine birthright citizenship. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is joined by two powerhouse advocates—Susan Reed, co-founder of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, and Reyna Montoya, founder of Aliento Education Fund. Together, they break down the constitutional, legal, and human impact of this unprecedented attack on the Fourteenth Amendment.

How would this EO affect thousands of newborns each year? What are the economic consequences for states like Michigan and Arizona? And most importantly—what can we do to fight back? Tune in for an urgent conversation on immigrant rights, legal challenges, and the power of advocacy.

Ever wondered how Attorneys General fight harmful policies in court? Or why some lawsuits take years to resolve? In this week’s episode, Michigan AG Dana Nessel and Arizona AG Kris Mayes break down the legal process in a way that makes sense—no law degree required!

We’re kicking things off with "Litigation 101"—a crash course on how legal action serves as a defense, why cases take so long, and what terms like standing actually mean. Then, we dive into a major scam targeting people across the country: “Pig Butchering” scams.

Joining us are Alex Juarez from AARP Arizona and Mark Fetterhoff from the AARP Fraud Watch Network to help you protect both your heart and your wallet from these sophisticated fraud schemes.

Episode 1: About the Podcast and the Women Behind the Pantsuits

In this debut episode of Pantsuits and Lawsuits, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes pull back the curtain on why they launched this podcast and the journeys that led them to their roles as state attorneys general. From landmark legal battles to personal motivations, they share the defining moments that shaped their careers, their approach to justice, and their commitment to defending the rights of everyday people. Get to know the AGs beyond the headlines as they set the stage for the candid, insightful conversations to come.