E21 - CONTENT WARNING / TRIGGER WARNING: references to child sex abuse, child  sex abuse  materials, survivor accounts

Watch this episode on YouTube!

The Epstein Files have been released--or have they? Days after the Department of Justice's delayed and poorly-redacted release of millions of new documents connected with the world's most infamous sex trafficker, we sit down for a first look at what is (and isn't) in here. We begin with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's attempt to fight for the right to party with Jeffrey Epstein before evaluating the DOJ's efforts to comply with its Congressional mandate to release the files more than a month after they were supposed to. We also look at a heartbreaking journal from an anonymous survivor to  try to understand before Matt pulls out some selections from keyword searches which implicate Elon Musk, mega-financier Leon Black, magician David Copperfield,  sitting Secretary of the Treasury Howard Lutnick, former Obama administration lawyer Kathy Ruemmler, and many more.  Also: what to make about the wilder allegations you may have heard involving Donald Trump, and what it means to "be in the Epstein files" at all.

NEXT TIME: the most disgusting plea deal in American history somehow gets… worse? 

1. Epstein Files Transparency Act, PL 119-38 (11/19/2025)

2. Epstein Library search page, DOJ.gov

3. (CW/TW) Anonymous survivor's  journal, removed from DOJ Epstein Library but backed up to Archive.org on 2/1/26 (CW/TW)

Published: February 4, 2026

Host: Thomas Smith
Host: Matt Cameron

OA1232 - Hey OA-ers, this episode was a Gavel Gavel bonus, but we wanted to be sure everyone was updated on what's going on with the Luigi Mangione trials. New York public defender Liz Skeen is here to break it all down! And since the judge made some rulings on 1/30, I've got an update for ya!

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

Published: February 2, 2026

Host: Thomas Smith
Host: Matt Cameron

OA1231 -

The DHS funding battle is important, but really can't accomplish what you might hope it can. When it comes to the Fed, ALL OF A SUDDEN the court cares about the real world effects of their decisions. And a figure skating related footnote!

Published: January 30, 2026

Host: Thomas Smith
Host: Matt Cameron

Part 2 of 2.

OA 1230 - Seeing all the obstacles to holding government officials accountable, Congress created Section 1983, allowing citizens to sue for money damages for violations of their civil rights. We cover how that works, the one weird trick it uses to get around state sovereign immunity, and how that accidentally created the infamous qualified immunity doctrine that has made police seemingly unaccountable. We also discuss proposed reforms that might fix issues of qualified and sovereign immunity.

• 42 U.S.C § 1983

• Pierson v Ray, 386 U.S. 547 (1967)

• Graham v Conner, 490 U.S. 386 (1989)

• Pearson v Callahan, 555 U.S. 223 (2009)

• Kisela v Hughes, 584 U.S. 100 (2018)

• Barnes v Felix, 605 U.S. 73 (2025)

• Barnes v Felix, 138 Harvard L. Rev. 291 (2025).

• Julia Yoo, The Problem with Policing in the United States, ADVOCATE (Feb. 2021).

• David J. Ignall, Making Sense of Qualified Immunity: Summary Judgment and Issues for the Trier of Fact, 30 Cal. W. L. Rev. 201 (1994). (NOTE: Good review for basics, but note the date!)

• Bivens v. Six Unknown-Named Agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971)

• Egbert v Boule, 596 U.S. 482 (2022)

• S. 122 Qualified Immunity Act of 2025 119th Cong. (2025)

• S. 3186 Constitutional Accountability Act 119th Congr. (2025)

• H.R. 6091 Bivens Act of 2025 119th Congr. (2025)

• H.R. 4944 Ending Qualified Immunity for ICE Agents Act 119th Congr. (2025)

• Qualified Immunity Abolition Act of 2026 (no bill number assigned yet)

  • Gelinas, S. (2026, January 18). Markey, Pressley renew push to end qualified immunity after ICE shooting death. Athol Daily News.

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

Published: January 28, 2026

Host: Thomas Smith
Host: Matt Cameron

Part 1 of 2.

OA 1229 - What happens when a government worker does you wrong? How is it different to prosecute and sue them? When does qualified immunity come in to play?

We discuss the steps involved in prosecuting and suing someone for a simple battery, and how that differs for a regular person versus a state actor. We cover how and when defenses can be raised, federal and state sovereign immunity, suing in official versus personal capacity, the difference between absolute and qualified immunities, and the ways this will apply differently to criminal prosecution versus civil litigation.

• Siegell v Herricks Union Free School District, 7 AD3d 607 [2d Dept 2004] (Elements of civil battery in NY)

• N.Y. Penal Law § 120 (NY criminal "battery")

• Fla. Stat. § 776.032 (Florida self-defense as an affirmative defense and immunity)

• Ohio Rev. Code § 2901.05 (Ohio self-defense as a standard defense)

• N.Y. Penal Law § 35 (NY justification defenses)

• Roger Fairfax, The Grand Jury's Role in the Prosecution of Unjustified Police Killings - Challenges and Solutions, 52 Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 397 (2017).

• Michael Gentithes, Harvesting the Grand Jury's "Lay Expertise" in Officer-Involved Shootings, U. Ill. L. Rev. 989 (2025).

• In re Neagle, 135 U.S. 1 (1890)

• Gregory C. Sisk, A Primer on the Doctrine of Federal Sovereign Immunity, 439 Okla. L. Rev. 58 (2005).

• 28 U.S.C. § 2680(h)

• Miles McCann, State Sovereign Immunity, National Association of Attorneys General (Nov. 11, 2017)

• State Sovereign Immunity - Generally, Interstate Commission for Juveniles, https://www.juvenilecompact.org/bench-book/chapter-6-1

• Ex Parte Young, 209 U.S. 123 (1908)

• Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232 (1974)

• Moor v. County of Alameda, 411 U.S. 693 (1973)

• O'Shea v Littleton, 414 U.S. 488 (1974)

• Judicial Immunity at the (Second) Founding: A New Perspective on § 1983, 136 Harvard L. Rev. 1456 (2023).

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Published: January 26, 2026

Host: Thomas Smith
Host: Matt Cameron

OA1228 - On this week's Rapid Response Friday: we take on all of your legal questions about this whole Greenland thing--including how a 1916 diplomatic treaty with Denmark also enabled some of Jeffrey Epstein's worst crimes. Also discussed: what it took to finally force Lindsay Halligan to stop telling everyone that she was the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and how a Minnesota judge designed her unique order to protect Minneapolis protesters and observers from ICE's lawless violence. Finally, in today's footnote: is it enough that McDonald's can promise that their most elusive sandwich is "100% pork"? We dig into a recent lawsuit over the McRib to see if there is any meat on the bone.

1. The US-Denmark Defense of Greenland Agreement (1951)

2. "How Congress Can Preserve NATO and Greenland: Using 22 USC 1928f to Protect the Peace," Alberto J. Mora,  Just Security (1/16/2026)

3. Judge Novak's order officially striking Lindsay Halligan's appearance from the record and requiring that she stop "masquerading" as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (1/20/2026)

4. Tincher v. Noem docket

5. Judge Menendez's preliminary injunction in Tincher v. Noem (1/16/2026)

6. Complaint in Lynch et al v. McDonald's, Eastern District of Illinois (12/25/2025)

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

Published: January 23, 2026

Host: Thomas Smith
Host: Matt Cameron

E20 - Detention Watch Network executive director Silky Shah has been organizing against ICE on the ground to fight throughout the agency's entire 23-year existence. We are excited to welcome her and her unique perspective to Opening Arguments to discuss both the urgency and the hope of our current moment, the challenges faced by organizers and advocates, what lawyers can (and can't) do in the face of a lawless system, and imagining life after ICE.

You can also watch this episode on YouTube!

1. Unbuild Walls: Why Immigrant Justice Needs Abolition, Silky Shah (2024) 

2. "Congress Has Made ICE the Largest Law Enforcement Agency In The Country," Silky Shah, Truthout (1/20/2025)

3. Detention Watch Network website

4. Donate directly to support Detention Watch Network

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

Published: January 21, 2026

Host: Thomas Smith
Host: Matt Cameron

OA1227 - Come play the worst ever round of the Connections game and figure out what on earth Tuskegee Alabama, the CDC, Southern Denmark University, and the West African country of Guinea-Bissau all have in common, as RFK Jr. continues his campaign of "just asking questions" that we already have the answer to.

• Black men untreated in Tuskegee syphilis study. Heller, J. (July 25, 1972; republished May 10, 2017). Associated Press.

• The untreated syphilis study at Tuskegee timeline. Centers for Disease Control. (September 4, 2024).

• 45 CFR 46 Protection of Human Subjects. (Department of Health and Human Services regulations to implement the National Research Act and create Institutional Review Board policies).

• Hepatitis B. World Health Organization (July 23, 2025).

• Should the U.S. model its vaccine policy on Denmark's? Experts say we're nothing alike. Godoy, M. (December 26, 2025). NPR.

• RFK Jr. overhauls childhood vaccine schedule to resemble Denmark's in unprecedented move. Lovelace Jr., B., Edwards, E., Fattah, M., & Bendix, A. (January 5, 2026). NBC News.

• What is actually the emerging evidence about non-specific vaccine effects in randomized trials from the Bandim Health Project? Støvring, H., Ekstrøm, C.T., Schneider, J.W., & Strøm, C. (2025). Vaccine, 68, 1-4.

• Notice of award of a single source unsolicited grant to fund University of Southern Denmark (SDU). Department of Health and Human Services. (December 15, 2025).

• U.S. plan for $1.6m hepatitis B vaccine study in Africa called 'highly unethical'. Schreiber, M. & Lay, K. (December 19, 2025). The Guardian.

• CDC awards $1.6 million for hepatitis B vaccine study by controversial Danish researchers. Szabo, L. (December 18, 2025). Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.

• CDC funds controversial hepatitis B vaccine trial in African newborns. Offord, C. (December 18, 2025). Science Insider.

• Research ethics and compliance support. Southern Denmark University.

Further reading:

• Qiao, H. (2018). A brief introduction to institutional review boards in the United States. Pediatric Investigation, 2, 46-51.

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. International compilation of human research standards. https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/international/compilation-human-research-standards/index.html

• University of North Carolina. Nuremberg Code. https://research.unc.edu/human-research-ethics/resources/ccm3_019064/

• Torrance, R.J., Mormina, M., Sayeed, S., Kessel, A., Yoon, C.H., & Cislaghi, B. (2024). Is the U.N. receiving ethical approval for its research with human participants? Journal of Medical Ethics, 51, 1-4.

• Barchi, F. & Little, M.T. (2016). National ethics guidance in Sub-Saharan Africa on the collection and use of human biological specimens: A systematic review. BMC Medical Ethics, 17, 1-25.

• Salhia, B. & Olaiya, V. (2020). Historical perspectives on ethical and regulatory aspects of human participants research: Implications for oncology clinical trials in Africa. JCO Global Oncology, 6, 959-965.

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

Published: January 19, 2026

Host: Thomas Smith
Host: Matt Cameron

OA1226 - We begin with a review of the unprecedented lawsuit that Minnesota has filed against ICE with the extreme leftist radical demand that they obey the law and U.S. Constitution. How much power do states have to limit federal operations, and what are the chances a court order might put some guardrails on the largest enforcement operation in ICE history? We then consider the legal and political merits of articles of impeachment filed against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. Finally: we honor the passing of civil rights hero Claudette Colvin, whose bravery as a 15-year-old on a Montgomery, Alabama bus nine months before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat put the final nail into the "separate but equal" justification for racial segregation established by the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson.

1. State of Minnesota v. Noem, complaint filed 1/12/2026

2. "House Resolution 935: Impeaching Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense for the United States for high crimes and misdemeanors," Rep. Shri Thaneder (12/9/2025)

3. "House Resolution 944: Impeaching Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services  for high crimes and misdemeanors," Rep. Haley Stevens (12/10/2025)

4. "House Resolution ___: Impeaching Kristi Lynn Arnold Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors," Rep. Robin Kelly (1/13/2026)

5. "Firm Tied to Kristin Noem Secretly Got Money from $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts," ProPublica (11/14/2025)

6. "Impeachment: The Constitution's Fiduciary Meaning of 'High Crimes and Misdemeanors,'" Robert G. Natelson, The Federalist Society (6/19/2018)

7. "Claudette Colvin, who refused to move seats on a bus at start of civil rights movement, dies" (NPR, 1/13/2026) 

8. Browder v. Gayle, 142 F.Supp. 707 (1956)(aff'd per curiam by U.S. Supreme Court 12/20/1956)

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

Published: January 16, 2026

Host: Thomas Smith
Host: Matt Cameron

E19 - In the wake of Renee Nicole Good's murder, we've seen a terrible number of bad takes: from the events of that day, the overall purpose of I.C.E., and what the law says about where we go from here. Matt, Thomas, and Lydia come together to start with perhaps the biggest douchebag in the United States as part of our amuse douche (TM), followed by a pair of articles touching on why the Left was wrong about ICE in 2018 and is apparently at fault to this day for all horrors committed by ICE (eyeroll). Finally, we finish it up with questions from our amazing patrons!

Watch this episode on YouTube!

• "Abolishing ICE is a very bad idea" (Nate Bruggeman & Ben Rohrbaugh, The Philadelphia Inquirer), 3/23/2018

• "The Problem Isn't ICE. It's ICE Watch." (Dan McLaughlin, National Review), 1/10/2026

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

Published: January 14, 2026

Host: Thomas Smith
Host: Matt Cameron

OA1225 - Jenessa is here to dig deeper into Van Buren v. United States as we explore the implications and meaning when legislative deliverables, legal analysis, work industry, and general common sense push and pull in different directions. We had a lot of questions and comments on the original Van Buren episode from the community, so we thought it would be fun to spend some more time and battle it out!

• Reviving Lenity - Daniel Harawa, SCOTUSBlog (Dec 26, 2025)

• US v Rodriguez, 628 F.3d 1258 (11th Cir. 2010)

• US v Nosal, 676 F.3d 754 (9th Cir. 2012)

• US v Nosal, 844 F.3d 1024 (9th Cir. 2016)

Further reading:

W. Cagney McCormick, The Computer Fraud & Abuse Act: Failing to Evolve with the Digital Age, 16 SMU SCI. & TECH. L. REV. 481 (2013).

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

Published: January 12, 2026

Host: Thomas Smith
Host: Matt Cameron

OA1224 - In this episode recorded only hours after an ICE officer killed U.S. citizen Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis with extreme impunity, we contrast mirror-universe opposite views of immunity and impunity: the Trump administration's response to this tragedy as opposed to everything that they have done to rewrite the history of January 6, 2021 for this week's fifth anniversary of the insurrection. And in today's footnote: will Lindsay Halligan be the first lawyer in US history to have a bar complaint filed against her for lying to a federal court about being a US Attorney?

1. "How Many People Have Been Shot in ICE Raids?" The Trace, 12/8/2025

2. Department of Justice's new J6 website

3. "At least 33 pardoned insurrectionists face other criminal charges—but many are now going free," Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (12/18/2025) 

4. Order re:  Lindsay Halligan in USA v. Jefferson, EDVA Judge David J. Novak (1/6/2026)

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

Published: January 9, 2026

Host: Thomas Smith
Host: Matt Cameron

OA1222 and OA1223 - Actual sane coverage of Trump's kidnapping of a foreign leader

OA NYC correspondent Liz Skeen joins Thomas and Matt for this emergency episode recorded the day after the US bombed Caracas in a truly unprecedented military operation to kidnap Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife and transport them to Brooklyn to stand trial on federal narco-terrorism charges. We field dozens of patron questions as we try to understand how any of this could possibly be legal. How does this situation compare to the charges against former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, and how is Trump's record on narcotrafficking these days anyway? What is in this indictment, and what kinds of defenses might Maduro have? Is the federal government going to let this defendant pay his lawyer? Should a federal court be able to consider that this defendant was illegally abducted from his country by the US military while acting as the head of state of a sovereign nation?  What kinds of consequences could there be for Venezuelans in the U.S.?  And what can we--and the world--do to stop Trump from doing anything like this again? 

1. 2020 SDNY indictment of Nicolas Maduro et al

2. 2026 superseding indictment 

3. United States v. Alvarez-Machain, 504 U.S. 655 (1992)

4. "Authority of the Federal Bureau of Investigation To Override International Law In Extraterritorial Law Enforcement Activities," Assistant Attorney General William P. Barr, Office of Legal Counsel (June 21, 1989)

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

Published: January 6, 2026

Host: Thomas Smith
Host: Matt Cameron

OA1222 - Actual sane coverage of Trump's kidnapping of a foreign leader PART 1

OA NYC correspondent Liz Skeen joins Thomas and Matt for this emergency episode recorded the day after the US bombed Caracas in a truly unprecedented military operation to kidnap Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife and transport them to Brooklyn to stand trial on federal narco-terrorism charges. We field dozens of patron questions as we try to understand how any of this could possibly be legal. How does this situation compare to the charges against former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, and how is Trump's record on narcotrafficking these days anyway? What is in this indictment, and what kinds of defenses might Maduro have? Is the federal government going to let this defendant pay his lawyer? Should a federal court be able to consider that this defendant was illegally abducted from his country by the US military while acting as the head of state of a sovereign nation?  What kinds of consequences could there be for Venezuelans in the U.S.?  And what can we--and the world--do to stop Trump from doing anything like this again? 

1. 2020 SDNY indictment of Nicolas Maduro et al

2. 2026 superseding indictment 

3. United States v. Alvarez-Machain, 504 U.S. 655 (1992)

4. "Authority of the Federal Bureau of Investigation To Override International Law In Extraterritorial Law Enforcement Activities," Assistant Attorney General William P. Barr, Office of Legal Counsel (June 21, 1989)

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

Published: January 5, 2026

Host: Thomas Smith
Host: Matt Cameron

Since it's been a while since we last did a GG crossover, I wanted to share the new trial we are doing over there!

It's a new Gavel Gavel trial! We are excited to announce that we will be producing a totally new full trial re-enactment working from our EXCLUSIVE access to the transcript of the federal prosecution of Sean Dunn, better known to the world as the "Sandwich Guy" after being federally charged for assaulting a CBP officer with a fully-loaded 12-inch Subway sandwich on the streets of DC. But before we get to the meat of 2025's Trial of the Century, legal sandwich artist Matt Cameron is here to slice up everything you need to know. From Dunn's notably underreported motive to the significance of the date and location of the alleged assault to a shot-by-shot analysis of the only known video of the incident, we've got this one wrapped.

1. U.S. v. Dunn docket

2. Sean Dunn's GoFundMe

3. Video of Sean Dunn throwing a Subway sandwich at a uniformed CBP agent near 14th and U in Washington DC on August 10, 2025

4. U.S. v. Dunn complaint (filed 8/13/25)

5. Sensationalized video of Dunn's arrest in his house by a swarm of federal agents posted on the official White House X account (8/14/25)

Published: January 2, 2026

Host: Thomas Smith
Host: Matt Cameron