What does a military contractor have in common with Justice Antonin Scalia? They both manufacture things! The contractor manufactures helicopters... more

Recorded live at Stateside at the Paramount! Join us as we skewer Texas judges (not literally!), teach a robot to... more

This week, 5-4 invites you to check out an episode of Unreformed: the Story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro... more

It's not easy being a kid. Especially when the state thinks you don't have any constitutional rights. Thank goodness for... more

You know and hate qualified immunity, which allows cops to get away with murder. Now meet prosecutorial immunity, the judge-made... more

What is the greater crime? Missing a recording and pushing an episode back by a week … or using the... more

Recorded live at Harvard Law School's Corporate Capture of the Legal System conference, we're talking about Jones Day. The law... more

In this case from 1944 the Court decides that arresting someone on "suspicion of being Japanese" and putting them in... more

Here at 5-4 HQ we get a lot of questions. And while we can't answer the ones from our parents,... more

Don't get it twisted: "the point" whizzing high over the heads of Supreme Court justices is a tradition as old... more

The dictionary defines "quid pro quo" as "when a businessman walks up to a Congressman in the Capitol and hands... more

This week, 5-4 invites you to check out an episode of If Books Could Kill, featuring Michael Hobbes, of Maintenance... more

We spend the better part of the year bumming you out about the many ways the law fails to actually... more

For some strange reason, there aren't many thrillers about the Supreme Court. The Pelican Brief remedies this obvious oversight by... more

Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor is undoubtedly one of our faves. But "no robes, no masters" still applies.The full version of... more

This episode contains graphic depictions of an execution. Please take care while listening.If you're not a 5-4 Premium member, you're... more

The Fourth Amendment protects you from unreasonable search and seizure by the government. Unless the government wants to unreasonably search... more

The full version of this episode is available now to our 5-4 Premium supporters. To join, visit www.fivefourpod.com/support5 to 4 is... more

Justice Samuel Alito is deeply contemptuous of those who don't share his worldview, where abortion is murder, and the cops... more

This episode quotes outdated language about homosexuality that maybe painful to hear. Please take care while listening.If you're not a... more

The first time the Supreme Court flirted with Independent State Legislature doctrine, George W. Bush wound up in the presidency.... more

The hosts have some ~personal~ news.The full version of this premium episode is available exclusively to our Patreon supporters. To... more

The state of legal discourse is bad. There's an entire ecosystem of talkers that need the Court to exist so... more

Fun party idea: convene 11 strangers, get zooted at lunch, deal some weed, do a little coke in the bathroom... more

Having accomplished their big goals of overturning Roe and giving a praying football coach back a job he never actually... more

The Supreme Court term begins next week and for the first time in American history, a Black woman will sit... more

Welcome to citizenship in the United States of America - you knew that you weren't guaranteed to get health care,... more

Cops have to read you your Miranda rights. If they don't … nothing happens, according to this recent Supreme Court... more

Oh my god, MORE of you decided to go to law school? Even after we released this episode last year?... more

Harriet Miers was a lawyer and advisor in the Bush Administration. But what she was NOT was reliably conservative enough... more

The United States has a long, complex, and often contradictory history of firearm regulation. Clarence Thomas reached into that history,... more

Continuing its trajectory of abandoning tests that don't pass the vibe check, the Supreme Court ruled that states can prosecute... more

Live from the People's Parity convening in Washington, DC, we're talking about free speech and the right's obsession with cancel... more

Senator Elizabeth Warren, we can only assume against the advice of counsel, agreed to come on 5-4. We talked about... more

Imagine you are given a month and a half head start on a race. Do you A) start running, B)... more

John Roberts has decided that the standard for whether or not something is a "major question" is whether or not... more

In this case from the most recent term, the Court once again says we should look to history and tradition... more

This episode contains descriptions of violence against a child that may be challenging for some listeners. Please take care while... more

The Supreme Court has released the long-awaited Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision. The news is bad. Ruling in... more

In this case the Court holds that you have no right to sue a federal official, even if a border... more