Sidebar by Courthouse News
53 episodes - English - Latest episode: 11 days ago - ★★★★★ - 15 ratingsSidebar by Courthouse News tackles the stories you need to know from the legal world. Join reporters Hillel Aaron, Kirk McDaniel, Amanda Pampuro and Kelsey Reichmann as they take you in and out of courtrooms in the U.S. and beyond and break down all the developments that had them talking.
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Episodes
Copyright Conundrum
April 16, 2024 12:00 - 34 minutes - 23.5 MBWould 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 unrave...
Bitter Pill: Pregnancy and Personhood in a Post-Dobbs America
March 26, 2024 12:00 - 33 minutes - 23.4 MBThe 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 ...
Mean Tweets
March 05, 2024 13:00 - 32 minutes - 22.1 MBEditor’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...
Breaking News: SCOTUS Ends Trump Ballot Challenges
March 04, 2024 19:00 - 17 minutes - 12.4 MBSurprise, 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 ju...
Love Is a Lie
February 13, 2024 13:00 - 36 minutes - 24.9 MBLook 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 chocola...
The Case of the Internet Sleuth
January 23, 2024 13:00 - 35 minutes - 24.5 MBWelcome 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 Websleut...
Sidebar Season Four - Official Trailer
January 09, 2024 13:00 - 1 minute - 753 KBSeason 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 Bill Dotinga, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.
Big Bold Beautiful 2023 Recap
December 05, 2023 13:00 - 33 minutes - 23.3 MBWelcome 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 M...
Reading, Writing, Religion
November 14, 2023 13:00 - 31 minutes - 21.7 MBNo 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. ...
I Put a Spell on You
October 31, 2023 12:00 - 24 minutes - 16.6 MBHappy 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 ...
SCOTUS v. America
October 03, 2023 12:00 - 50 minutes - 34.5 MBAnother year, another five-alarm fire burning before the U.S. Supreme Court. Kelsey Reichmann, Courthouse News’ Supreme Court reporter and the newest addition to the Sidebar team, joined just in time for this year's preview of the court's upcoming term. The top court in all the land is back at it again following landmark decisions that it has delivered for the conservative legal movement in ending the constitutional right to an abortion, rewriting Second Amendment jurisprudence and allowin...
Sour Grapes
September 12, 2023 12:00 - 22 minutes - 15.6 MBThe love story between Hollywood megastars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie was destined for public fascination from the start as they merged family, philanthropy and a rather unexpected shared passion — wine. So, when they split in 2016, no one saw it coming. What followed was one of the most bitterly contested celebrity divorces in recent history. But what came after was in some ways even uglier — a lawsuit over Miraval, an estate in the south of France and home of its namesake rosé. This la...
Don't Call Me (Maybe)
August 22, 2023 12:00 - 31 minutes - 21.6 MBWelcome back, listeners, from what we hope was a calm, relaxing break. If it was anything like ours, just when you cozied up with a summer read, you were likely jarred back to reality by a pesky robocall asking about your auto warranty. Receiving unwanted robocalls remains a universal experience 32 years after Congress passed the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to empower Americans to fight off unwanted calls. In our ninth episode this season, we explain why the law did little to stop ...
Give Me a Beat!
June 27, 2023 12:00 - 28 minutes - 19.5 MBEd Sheeran and reggaeton might have more in common than you know: the artist and the genre have been the subject of battles over whether you can copyright a groove or a rhythm. In our last episode before summer break, we unravel the recent Ed Sheeran copyright trial with our New York City reporter, Josh Russell, including Sheeran's snarky cross-examination, his courtroom concert and Van Morrison's unexpected blessing. We also explore reggaeton's history and the legal dispute between Jama...
Greater Idaho Dreamin'
June 06, 2023 12:00 - 32 minutes - 22.1 MBShould state borders change to create political havens? Come along as we take a road trip through the world of secession as we look at the urban-rural divide and how it shapes these movements. Our first stop in our seventh episode this season? The Greater Idaho movement, a grassroots organization that aims to shift the Idaho state border to encompass eastern Oregon and escape the liberal politics of the Beaver State. The trip wouldn’t be complete without the State of Jefferson in rural Nor...
For a Fistful of Dollars
May 09, 2023 12:00 - 25 minutes - 17.9 MBImagine stashing your hard-earned savings in a safety deposit box, only to find out the FBI has raided the place and your money is gone thanks to the controversial practice of civil forfeiture, which allows law enforcement to seize people's assets with little explanation. That's what happened to a number of Californians who stored their cash at U.S. Private Vaults in Beverly Hills. Join us for this season's sixth episode as we tell their story and explore how their money got caught up in a ...
No Laughing Matter
April 18, 2023 12:00 - 32 minutes - 22.1 MBA note: this episode contains language that might make you or your nana blush. Pull up a chair as we bring you into the comedy club and beyond. Laughter may be the best medicine, but how does it hold up in court? Over the decades, courts carved out clear First Amendment protections for comics facing criminal obscenity and parodists taken a little too seriously. While the past informs the present, the rare joker can still find himself at the wrong end of the law over a Facebook post. In ou...
Sober Sundays
March 28, 2023 12:00 - 30 minutes - 20.8 MBBlue laws. They are quirky and annoying outdated restrictions on activities to ensure Sunday is a day of rest and worship. Some go beyond dictating when you can or cannot get a drink, and sometimes they leave you scratching your head wondering, why in the world are they still on the books? In this season's fourth episode, we dive into the history and impact of the laws. We explore the story of a Brooklyn nightclub suing New York for refusing to issue a special event permit for extended hour...
The Legal Jungle of Exotic Pets
March 07, 2023 13:00 - 33 minutes - 22.8 MBAccording to the U.S. Census Bureau, around 60 million American households have pets. That is a ton of good boys and girls out there. But have you ever stopped and wondered about the laws that define pet ownership? Are there specific pets that you can't own where you live? How regulated is the pet trade? And what about exotic animals, where the sale and trade of such creatures is a state-by-state issue? In this episode, we break down the wild and wooly world of pet law — from the protecti...
The Enforcers
February 14, 2023 13:00 - 22 minutes - 15.4 MBHeads up for listeners: this episode contains explicit language. When legal battles come down to damages, most consider the final judgment to show who won the game and by how much. But in a highly specialized area of law, that judgment is just the beginning when the losing team refuses to pay. In our second episode this season, we introduce you to a few judgment enforcement attorneys, a small specialized group that only numbers in the dozens. Judgment enforcers are lawyers expected to fi...
Space, the New Wild West
January 24, 2023 13:00 - 36 minutes - 25.1 MBWelcome to season three of Sidebar! You'll want to strap in while we bring you closer to the stars as new technology and more investors bring us deeper into space. Science fiction is rapidly becoming science fact. One thing rarely discussed in your favorite sci-fi movies is the laws that govern outer space. If billions of dollars, dozens of political manifesto and decades of Trekkie dreams come to fruition, there is nothing protecting man's interstellar impression. Even Neil Armstrong's foo...
Sidebar Season Three - Official Trailer
January 13, 2023 20:00 - 1 minute - 737 KBSeason three 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 Bill Dotinga, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.
The Year in Review
December 13, 2022 12:00 - 1 hour - 41.3 MBWhile some aspects of 2022 felt like a return to easier, simpler days, the news coming out of courthouses across the country did not stop. In this episode, we look at the year's most memorable trials: the ones that made us laugh, the ones that made us cry and the ones that made us stop and question how we got here. We take you back to the Alex Jones defamation trials in Texas and Connecticut, which garnered enormous damages for the family members of Sandy Hook victims and swamped our socia...
The Bounty Hunter
November 15, 2022 13:00 - 37 minutes - 25.6 MBBounty hunters. Figures from folk tales, fantasy and reality TV; free agents that work as an extension of the law. Whatever comes to mind, this latest chapter in vigilante justice is shaking things up even more at a polarized time in the country. The enaction of Texas's Senate Bill 8 allows private citizens to file civil lawsuits against anyone who provides or helps someone attain an abortion, with a possible award of at least $10,000 per lawsuit. Since then, California has passed a law mod...
A Nightmare on Legal Street
October 25, 2022 12:00 - 38 minutes - 26.7 MBPour yourself a hot drink, settle in beside the fire and get ready for a hauntingly good time as we bring you four chilling tales just in time for Halloween. In our first chapter: McKamey Manor, arguably the scariest haunted house in operation, with an even scarier 40-page liability waiver. Among the things that you agree to possibly experience? Medieval torture devices. Nails removed from their nail beds. You may be subjected to extreme temperatures or have your head enclosed in a box with...
Constitution Crisis: A SCOTUS Term Preview
October 04, 2022 12:00 - 33 minutes - 23.2 MBWhile this U.S. Supreme Court term shouldn't result in as many sweeping decisions as the last, which upended nationwide abortion rights and gun control precedents, it'll be far from a lightweight season. The court's cases are varied: from redistricting to artist integrity to the legality of the Indian Child Welfare Act, which gives tribal governments jurisdiction over the adoption and foster care of Native American children. In this episode, we break down some of the heavyweight appeals the...
Rap Lyrics, Criminal Prosecutions and the First Amendment
September 13, 2022 12:00 - 42 minutes - 29.1 MBIt's a First Amendment fight for the modern ages: the right to free speech versus the pursuit of justice, and the stakes are often someone's freedom. In courtrooms across the country, prosecutors are going after rappers using the artists' lyrics against them. While not a recent development in the law, the issue has entered the spotlight with the arrests of rappers Young Thug and Gunna in Georgia on charges of violating the state's RICO Act. Prosecutors allege the high-profile artists direct...
A Quirky Look at Juries
July 12, 2022 12:00 - 34 minutes - 23.8 MBJury duty. A cornerstone of the American justice system brings together complete strangers with almost no context to dispense justice. Being called to your civic duty as a juror can be confusing, like taking a class you never meant to sign up for. In this episode, we take you behind the scenes in courthouses across the country to reveal the inner workings of how juries operate. Fans of true crime and “Law & Order” create new perspectives. Social media is now an unavoidable part of the proce...
Pilgrimage to Amache
June 21, 2022 12:00 - 36 minutes - 24.9 MBFrom August 1942 to October 1945, the Amache incarceration camp on the dusty, desolate eastern plain of Colorado detained 10,000 Japanese Americans and other immigrants. Those imprisoned at Amache built their own town with a fire department, a beauty salon and schools. Detainees raised crops, grew gardens and held festivals to honor the changing seasons. Just children when uprooted with their families during World War II, the survivors of the camp were left to make sense of what happened to...
Culture Wars and the Fight Over Looted Artifacts
May 24, 2022 12:00 - 40 minutes - 27.8 MBPriceless artwork and tribal artifacts have made their way across the globe through several means, some legitimate and others … not so much. While we rely on these objects to tell us about history, tradition and culture, the way they end up in our communities sometimes raises questions about what should happen to them, where they rightfully belong and how the legal system can get them home. Congress has passed laws regulating what should happen to items taken from tribes without their perm...
My Body, My Choice
May 03, 2022 12:00 - 38 minutes - 26.4 MBIt feels like hardly a day goes by when you don't hear about the passage of a new, sweeping abortion law, an abortion-rights group challenging the law or another state weighing in on the treatment of transgender children, medically or within the school system. At the core of all this is bodily autonomy. How much say does an individual have over their own body? The phrase "my body, my choice" has been often used by those seeking to defy public health orders for the past two years. Meanwhile,...
Johnny & Amber
April 12, 2022 12:00 - 25 minutes - 17.2 MBA quick note before we jump in: this episode contains discussions about abuse. It's not often that a case goes to trial that touches on many elements that intrigue the public. Celebrity, the #MeToo movement, public opinion and the media's coverage all swirl together as cameras are ready to capture the defamation trial between Hollywood stars Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. The former husband and wife square off in court over a $50 million defamation lawsuit Depp filed after Heard wrote an op...
The Road To November
March 22, 2022 12:00 - 39 minutes - 27.4 MBNeed a primer for this year's midterm elections? We've got you covered. We talk to reporters and experts about how former President Donald Trump is still shaping American politics after losing reelection almost two years ago. The glue that binds Republicans together isn’t just "Stop the Steal" and other theories circulating about voter integrity: it’s a camaraderie built around identity and resistance to changing demographics. How is the GOP changing its messaging in "purple" districts wh...
The Right to be Forgotten
March 01, 2022 13:00 - 33 minutes - 23.3 MBThe internet never forgets. It's an invaluable tool, but also one that provides little forgiveness for some individuals whose past run-ins with law enforcement, financial woes and photos of a night out on the town become publicized. We are coming to you in this episode with a primer on why the "right to be forgotten” became law in the European Union, and how the concept plays out in courtrooms and newsrooms across the United States as the government and the media try to determine what de...
The Right To Be Forgotten
March 01, 2022 13:00 - 33 minutes - 23.3 MBThe internet never forgets. It's an invaluable tool, but also one that provides little forgiveness for some individuals whose past run-ins with law enforcement, financial woes and photos of a night out on the town become publicized. We are coming to you in this episode with a primer on why the "right to be forgotten” became law in the European Union, and how the concept plays out in courtrooms and newsrooms across the United States as the government and the media try to determine what de...
Border Wars
February 08, 2022 13:00 - 41 minutes - 28.8 MBIn this episode of Sidebar, we examine the human, ecological and political toll of the current and former administration's approaches to the U.S.-Mexico border. While physical barriers and infrastructure have entered into our collective imagery of today's border, nothing has a more tangible impact than policy. The Trump administration implemented the Remain in Mexico program in January 2019, forcing asylum-seeking migrants to wait in Mexico for their day in U.S. court. That policy remains i...
Exonerated
January 18, 2022 13:00 - 42 minutes - 29 MBWelcome to the second season of Sidebar. A quick warning before we jump in: this episode contains adult language and descriptions of violence. We speak to Maurice Caldwell and Zachary Vanderhorst – two men recently exonerated after spending decades in prison. These men now must grapple with their unjust incarcerations and the toll taken on their lives. Caldwell recently reached an $8 million settlement in a lawsuit against San Francisco after being wrongfully convicted of murder and spe...
Sidebar - Official Trailer
January 13, 2022 17:00 - 41 seconds - 511 KBSeason two 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 Bill Dotinga, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.
SCOTUS and the Texas Abortion Law
December 10, 2021 23:00 - 11 minutes - 7.98 MBJust when we think we have wrapped for the season … we're back, baby! We bring you this mini-episode to analyze Friday's decision by the Supreme Court, which allows Texas abortion providers to sue some defendants over the near-total abortion ban and leaves the Texas law in place. Kelsey Reichmann, our Supreme Court reporter, joins Sidebar producer and Austin-based reporter Kirk McDaniel to discuss what the ruling means, how we got here and where we go from here. This episode was produced b...
Have Yourself a Weird and Wacky Christmas
December 07, 2021 12:00 - 36 minutes - 24.9 MBWelcome to the season finale! We culminate 11 episodes with a look into UFOs with the experts who study them and seek to know more about if there is really life out there. What does science say, and what can we expect our government to tell us about these unidentified objects? Then, we break down the oddest, wildest cases and news events that the podcast team has covered. From monkey selfies and Lil Nas X's Satan shoes to Utah's near-ban on porn and a Halal chicken story that just doesn't q...
Wolf Wars, a Border Emergency and the Trial of Elizabeth Holmes
November 16, 2021 13:00 - 41 minutes - 28.8 MBWe kick off the penultimate episode of our first season of Sidebar in the American West, where a dispute has been brewing for decades between ranchers, the government and environmentalists over wolves. This long-standing debate over the extent to which these carnivorous mammals should be protected or hunted down and killed isn't going anywhere soon. Then we take a deep dive into a border emergency not often discussed: human waste flowing in the Tijuana River Basin. What will it take for the...
Divided Court, Divided Nation
October 26, 2021 12:00 - 46 minutes - 31.9 MBIn our ninth episode of Sidebar, we chronicle the pivotal cases the Supreme Court will hear over the next few months on divisive issues like abortion, gun control and the separation of church and state. Will the court's conservative majority pen rulings that could change the country's landscape? Then, we dive into the conspiracy theory QAnon, the Jan. 6 insurrection, the events that followed the 2020 presidential election and the effects all of this has had on the American psyche. How did d...
International Intrigue, R. Kelly and the Fight to Free Britney
October 05, 2021 12:00 - 34 minutes - 24 MBWe are coming at you in our eighth episode with three stories of power, corruption and accountability. To kick things off, we take a look with political science professor Cynthia McClintock at Peru's bid to extradite its former president, Alejandro Toledo Manrique, on charges of bribery and money laundering. Peru claims Toledo helped a Brazilian company win a lucrative contract for a major highway project in exchange for $35 million in bribes. Then we break down R&B singer R. Kelly's tria...
Patriots, Politics and Playing for Pay
September 14, 2021 12:00 - 38 minutes - 26.3 MBIn our seventh episode, we discuss how 9/11 changed the legal landscape — and our lives, as a result — the election to recall (or not) California Gov. Gavin Newsom and, just in time for college football, the long, long fight to compensate student-athletes. Firstly, we take an in-depth look at how the 9/11 terror attack has reshaped the laws of the United States and led to an enduring debate over government surveillance powers. We also break down the Republican-led effort to recall Califor...
The Dry, Dry West
August 31, 2021 12:00 - 35 minutes - 24.6 MBWe are taking a detailed look at the drought in the American West, spanning from water wars in Arizona, wildfires in California and why drought seems to be becoming the way of life across the West. First, we dive into Arizona's relationship with the Colorado River and hear about the shrinking lifeline that provides water to 40 million people in the American West. Farmers there have been the first to feel the impacts of the dehydrated planet. Then we face California's wildfires – a fact of ...
Medical Hesitance, Political Defiance
August 10, 2021 12:00 - 38 minutes - 26.3 MBIn episode 5, we take a look at political and medical efforts by groups and people to go their own way, from anti-vaxxers in California and the politically defiant in Texas and D.C. We start the episode with a dive into the FBI’s ongoing efforts to track down people who took part in the Jan. 6 insurrection and talk to former prosecutor Glenn Kirschner about how the courts are sentencing those convicted for taking part. Then we hear from several experts on the First Amendment battle betwe...
Medical Hesitance, Political Defiance
August 10, 2021 12:00 - 38 minutes - 26.3 MBIn episode 5, we take a look at political and medical efforts by groups and people to go their own way, from anti-vaxxers in California and the politically defiant in Texas and D.C. We start the episode with a dive into the FBI’s ongoing efforts to track down people who took part in the Jan. 6 insurrection and talk to former prosecutor Glenn Kirschner about how the courts are sentencing those convicted for taking part. Then we hear from several experts on the First Amendment battle betwe...
Shrooms, Sex and More Sex (Allegedly)
July 27, 2021 12:00 - 37 minutes - 25.6 MBWe dig into efforts to decriminalize psychedelic drugs and take you behind the scenes of two trials dealing with sex crimes. To start, we break down efforts by California lawmakers to light a fire on legalizing a host of psychedelics. Then, we hear from investigative journalist Sarah Berman about NXIVM, a sex cult with some high-profile members that preyed on vulnerable women. We wrap it up by detailing all you need to know about the upcoming criminal trial against R&B singer R. Kelly,...
Shrooms, Sex and More Sex (Allegedly)
July 27, 2021 12:00 - 37 minutes - 25.6 MBWe dig into efforts to decriminalize psychedelic drugs and take you behind the scenes of two trials dealing with sex crimes. To start, we break down efforts by California lawmakers to light a fire on legalizing a host of psychedelics. Then, we hear from investigative journalist Sarah Berman about NXIVM, a sex cult with some high-profile members that preyed on vulnerable women. We wrap it up by detailing all you need to know about the upcoming criminal trial against R&B singer R. Kelly,...
Porn Crimes, Tech Wars and Saving the Gunnison Grouse
June 29, 2021 12:00 - 34 minutes - 23.4 MBIn our third episode, we take a look into the digital fallout of two California cases. First, we dive into the sisterhood formed by young women coerced into filming pornography by GirlsDoPorn, a company that promised not to post the videos online. Then we take you to an Oakland courtroom, where Fortnite creator Epic Games is battling Apple over its tight grip on its app store. Lastly, we see how efforts are going in Colorado to revitalize the population of a small bird with impressive feat...