May it Displease the Court
by Mary M Whiteside
A podcast about how our legal system doesn’t work for us.
Episodes
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Ep. 34 - Making Trans Medicine Illegal with Professor stef shuster
In June 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that marriage is a fundamental right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment that must be afforded to same-sex couples. Since then, anti-LGBTQ activists, with funding from creepy right-wing billionaires and help from Republican state legislators in gerrymandered…
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Ep. 33 - Exploring the Reform Prosecutor Movement with Justin Kollar
Here in America, the number of people we choose to incarcerate makes up 25% of the world’s prison population. And that statistic was driven by mainly by state and local “tough on crime” prosecutors. Prosecutors have a huge amount of power and control over who get criminally charged, who doesn’t,...
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Ep. 32 - Making Jury Trials More Fair with Rhian Jones
The Constitution protects our right to an impartial jury. Still, the normal process of selecting a jury often lets attorneys' unconscious or conscious biases infect jury selection. If a juror’s biases are undetected or dismissed as something that can be set aside, they can inflect the verdict...
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Ep. 31 - Cancel Culture and Wokeness with Prof. Lee Pierce
We hear the terms cancel culture and wokeness thrown around these days, but do you know what they mean? A common defense tactic of someone embroiled in a public and embarrassing controversy is to proclaim loudly, through their platforms, they have been canceled, and of course, the people…
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Ep. 30 - Originalism is Fake
The Conservative majority on the Supreme Court is upending the legal landscape overturning cases like Roe v. Wade, making it almost impossible for states to enact limits on gun possession, and more, all under the guise of a legal theory called originalism. In this episode, we bring back one of…
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Ep. 29 - Unrig Democracy with Daniel G. Newman
Political divisions are driving wedges at all levels, national, state, communities, and families. The fracture may seem unbridgable. But Americans agree that our government does not work for us. It works for the rich and powerful. Even acknowledging the problem can make you feel overwhelmed, and...
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Ep. 28 - Brighten Ax Murder Solved?
Kathy Krauseneck, a wife and mother of a three-year-old girl, was murdered with an ax while sleeping in her bed nearly 40 years ago. Her husband, James, was initially a suspect, but almost 40 years passed, and no one was charged in Kathy’s death. The District Attorney reopened the case, and a new...
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Ep. 27 - Judicial Abuse of Law Clerks with Aliza Shatzman
In this episode, we continue the taboo discussion about law clerks. Only this time, we get even more controversial. Did you know that Federal Judges empowered to judge discrimination and harassment cases are exempt from the same anti-discrimination laws that apply to other government branches and...
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Ep. 26 - Fighting Police Brutality with Don Thompson
In this episode, we examine how you can use the courts to fight police brutality. A brief review of the death of Daniel Prude, which we discussed at length in a previous episode. Imagine your brother is visiting you from out of state. Sadly, he experiences a mental health crisis and runs out of...
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Supreme Court HILF with Dawn Brodie
Mary was a recent guest on HILF - History I'd Like to F**K with Dawn Brodie to discuss the Supreme Court. Dawn is joined by lawyer, Mary Whiteside, for a journey through the often-dark history of America's highest court. Hear about the worst villains, the occasional heroes - and why Mary and Dawn...
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Trailer
A podcast uncovering all the ways our legal system is unjust.
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Ep. 24 - Usual Cruelty of the Legal System with Alec Karakatsanis
Picture a single mom sitting on her couch in Houston with her one and three-year-old when suddenly the police are at her door and arrest her. They took her to jail. Put her children in foster care. She doesn’t know where they are or who cares for them. You might think this woman must be a…
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Ep. 23 - We Don’t Talk About Law Clerks with Prof. Eric Segall
Do you think Judges who hate Black people should be allowed to decide cases? What about Judges who hire law clerks who–allegedly– “hate black people”; is that okay? The U.S. Judicial Conference reopened investigations into Judges William Pryor and Corey Maize regarding the hiring of Crystal...
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Ep. 22 - Representation Isn’t Enough
Minority representation in positions of power is increasing at all levels of government and on the bench. But, if a minority leader was chosen and promoted by the ruling elites, with an understanding that they would use their position of power to advantage the rich and powerful who put them in...
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Ep. 21 - Form Over Substance
Your host and NY appellate attorney, Mary Whiteside, looks at the arbitrary and opaque political appointment of the next Public Defender in the Monroe County Public Defender’s Office as a microcosm of America’s dysfunctional legal system. In one of the busiest court systems in the country (15,000...
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Ep. 20 - Texas Goddamn
Episode 19- Texas Goddamn – Show Notes In this episode attorney, Mary Whiteside breaks down the tyranny emerging in Texas caused by the Republican controlled state legislature, which has enacted laws written by Dark Money funded political operatives like ALEC and SNP, groups designed to write…
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Ep. 19 - No Seriously, Eat the Rich
Episode 18- No Seriously, Eat the Rich – Show Notes Appellate attorney, Mary Whiteside is joined by Professor of Rhetoric, Lee Pierce and today we are looking at how the legal system was rigged to protect the rich and well connected. To understand just how rigged the system is we have to…
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Ep. 18 - Combating FakeNews at Home and Deepfakes in the Courtroom
In this special episode of May it Displease the Court, a podcast about how unjust the court system has always been, but especially in this age of rampant misinformation, produced specifically for The Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival. The Carnival runs from August 16-19, 2021. Check out…
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Ep. 17 - Broadening the Bench with Julie Cianca
In this episode, host Mary Whiteside welcomes Julie Cianca, a Monroe County Public Defender. Julie is a 26-year veteran trial attorney running for Monroe County Court Judge. The Judiciary at the state and federal level is heavily male, white, and straight. The reform movement has focused a lot of...
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Ep. 16 - Legislation to Save Democracy
HR1 - The Most Important Bill in American History The episode looks at HR1 or S1 as it is titled in the Senate, the most important bill in Biden’s presidency and, perhaps, in modern American history. It is a must-pass for Democrats, for Biden, and for Democracy worldwide. This bold, comprehensive...
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Ep. 15 - Bail Reform Is Nothing To Fear
The first episode of Season 2 hosted by Mary welcomes back Erik Teifke, who is the Second Assistant at the Monroe County Public Defender’s Office in Rochester, NY. The episode looks at the effects of New York’s historic 2020 Bail Reform law. This law took away judges’ ability to set bail on…
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Ep. 14 - Free Speech Hate Speech Counter Speech
Free Speech Hate Speech Counter Speech The first crossover episode between May it Displease the Court, which looks at corruption in the courts from judges through dark money anti-democratic far-Right donors, and RhetoricLee Speaking, banishing banality one speech at a time. Your co-hosts, Mary…
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Ep. 13 - Blue Lives and Black Lives Actually Don’t Matter & a Daniel Prude
Host Mary Whiteside, is joined by returning guest, attorney Don Thompson, who provides an update on what is happening with the various Daniel Prude cases, which include prosecutions of the Police Officers, civil lawsuits, and the independent investigation into the official governmental response....
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Ep. 12 - Democrats Win Republicans Revolt
We are back with the first of two Season 1 Bonus Episodes In this first Bonus episode, Mary and Lee discuss this momentous time in history where the Democrats improbably won the Executive and Legislative trifecta kicking Trump and McConnell out of power. Trump and McConnell each responded...
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Ep. 11 - The Stakes Moving Forward
Find us on Twitter @courtpod Welcome to the Season One Finale of May it Displease the Court. For our final episode, we’re gonna look at where the election stands in the courts, major upcoming court battles, shadow dockets, the crucial fight to rebalance the courts, and what we’ve got in store for...
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Ep. 10 - Coded Communication: Signalling, Auditioning, and Amicus Briefs
In this episode we dive into a question that has been driving us nuts all season: HOW is the new Right coordinating this massive court takeover? I mean all those politicians, judges, big money donors...where is the paper trail? You’ve got 80, 5-4 Supreme Court decisions in favor of corporate...
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Ep. 9 - Fighting for Daniel Prude: Police Brutality and Protestor Rights with Don Thompson and Jill Paperno
This episode looks at the tragic and unnecessary death of Daniel Prude, a black man suffering from a mental health crisis when he was killed by police in March 2020 in Rochester, NY. However, the true nature of his death was concealed by police and possibly the city government until police body...
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Ep. 8 - The Difficulty of Removing Judges feat. Michael Moodian
Our legal system gives Judges power over trivial matters as well as over life or death. But who judges the Judges? The answer varies with the jurisdictions. In this episode Mary and Lee speak with Assistant Professor Michael Moodian who was appointed by the Governor of California, Jerry Brown, to...
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Ep. 7 - Courage for Profit: How the Modern Right has Weaponized Language
In this episode we’re looking at specific strategies that the anti-democratic revolutionary libertarian right, the McConnell-Trump-Koch/Dark money axis of evil for short, redefines particular words such as “liberty” and “courage” and “conservatives” so that they can dupe their supporters into...
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Ep. 6 - Innocent Then ”Proven” Guilty: Wrongful Conviction Exoneration with Don Thompson
We tell ourselves that prisons are populated by guilty people. We justify treating prisoners poorly, harshly because they "deserve to be there". There is a long tradition underlying this myth. Ben Franklin reportedly said "it is better to let a hundred guilty men go free than one guilty man be...
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Ep. 5 - Capture the Courts: The Trump-McConnell Judicial Takeover
Get ready for a whirlwind primer in the GOP donor-funded Trump-McConnell takeover of the U.S. judiciary. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has essentially shut down the Legislative Branch for anything except confirming Trump judges. They know they’re not going to finish in Trump’s first…
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Ep. 4 - McConnell Ignores Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s Dying Wish
In this BONUS episode, Mary speaks for herself and Lee, who is unable to appear on this episode. Mary pays homage to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg who recently died of pancreatic cancer. Celebrating the life of this iconic legal trailblazer who dedicated her career to challenging the...
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Ep. 3 - Captured Academics: The Myth of the Clash of Ideas
In this episode, Mary and Lee are sticking with the theme of money infiltrating cornerstone institutions of American democracy. But this episode is going to focus on academics, but not like Lee’s people, whose research is independent and rigorously evaluated. This episode is about captured...
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Ep. 2 - Do Black Lives Matter in the Courtroom?
In this episode of May it Displease the Court podcast, your hosts appellate attorney Mary Whiteside and rhetorical scholar Lee Pierce are joined by Erik Teifke, 2nd Assistant Public Defender at the Monroe County Public Defender’s Office. Together, they explore the question: do Black lives matter…
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Ep. 1 - Black-Robe-Itis: Bringing Judges Back Down to Earth
In the inaugural episode of May it Displease the Court podcast, your hosts appellate attorney Mary Whiteside and rhetorical scholar Lee Pierce explore what they believe to be the fundamental flaw in the court system: the myth of objective, impartial, independent judges that hand down justice from...
About this show
A podcast about how our legal system doesn’t work for us.
Hosted by
Mary M Whiteside
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