Weekend Law: DOJ Defies Judge, Guns and Drugs & Knicks Tickets | Bloomberg Law
This Bloomberg Law episode covers the Supreme Court's unanimous decision prohibiting categorical bans on gun ownership by marijuana users, the Trump administration's defiance of a federal judge's order regarding a controversial $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, and law firms' strategies for distributing highly coveted tickets to major sporting events to clients.
Summary
The episode opens with Georgetown Law Professor Louis Michael Seidman discussing the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling that the federal government cannot categorically bar marijuana users from possessing firearms. Justice Gorsuch authored the majority opinion, finding that the ban lacked historical precedent required under recent Second Amendment jurisprudence. Seidman critiques the Court's originalist methodology for analyzing gun control laws, arguing it relies on problematic historical comparisons (such as 18th-century drunk and vagrant laws) that lack meaningful relevance to 21st-century policy concerns. He contends that while the specific outcome makes logical sense to most Americans, the test the Court is using grants justices excessive discretion to strike down democratically enacted laws based on personal intuitions rather than principled constitutional analysis.
The second major segment examines the Trump administration's refusal to comply with Federal Judge Leonie Brinkema's order to submit sworn declarations confirming that the $1.8 billion anti-weaponization settlement fund will not proceed. The fund was ostensibly created to compensate alleged victims of political weaponization by the Biden administration, settled as part of Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. Amy Powell of Lawyers for Good Government explains that the Judge sought evidence of the government's intent because of Trump's contradictory public statements expressing continued support for the fund despite claims it was defunct. Powell details how the underlying settlement also included a separate order permanently barring the IRS from auditing Trump, his family, and his businesses—an extraordinarily broad immunity provision that extends to any federal agency proceeding. She describes this as egregiously overbroad and notes similar concerning patterns of large Federal Tort Claims Act settlements to Trump allies like Michael Flynn ($1.25 million) and Carter Page ($1.25 million). The administration appears to be pivoting toward alternative compensation mechanisms through individual administrative claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act rather than the blocked fund.
The final segment, reported by Bloomberg Law senior correspondent Royce Strom, explores how major law firms navigated distributing sought-after tickets to New York Knicks NBA Finals games and other premium sporting events to their clients. With demand vastly exceeding supply, partners developed strategies for determining which clients to prioritize, distinguishing between those who request directly and those who signal interest indirectly. Simpson Thacher partner Michael Cooper notes that sporting events facilitate deeper, more candid conversations with clients than traditional business meals, touching on personal topics like family satisfaction and career fulfillment. Other major sporting events driving competition include the US Open golf tournament, US Open tennis, and the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium—with the World Cup final identified as the hardest ticket to obtain due to FIFA's tight control. The segment concludes with discussion of MSG owner James Dolan's policy banning lawyers adverse to Madison Square Garden Entertainment from attending any venue events, enforced through facial recognition technology, affecting over 1,000 attorneys at 90 law firms since 2022.
About this episode
Constitutional law expert Louis Michael Seidman, a professor at Georgetown Law and author of the book “The Constitution Cannot Save Us: Why We Can No Longer Rely on Our Founding Document,” discusses the Supreme Court allowing marijuana users to have guns. Amy Powell, Litigation Director at Lawyers for Good Government and former Justice Department Senior Trial Counsel, discusses the Justice Department refusing to comply with a judge’s request for sworn statements that President Trump’s $1.8 billion fund to compensate alleged victims of so-called government weaponization, is dead. Bloomberg Law Senior Correspondent Roy Strom discusses how Big Law firms are using hard-to-get tickets to major sporting events to “bond” with their clients. June Grasso hosts See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. Host June Grasso speaks with prominent attorneys and legal scholars, analyzing major legal issues and cases in the news. The show examines all aspects of the legal profession, from intellectual property to criminal law, from bankruptcy to securities law, drawing on the deep research tools of BloombergLaw.com. Subscribe to Bloomberg Podcasts: https://bit.ly/BloombergPodcasts Listen to more Bloomberg Law: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe4PRejZgr0O5ECWvhYLVKlfzxB-ne5MF&si=3DVsVlVwvNQ190cW #Bloomberg #Podcast #Law Visit us: https://www.bloomberg.com/podcasts Follow Bloomberg Podcasts on Twitter: https://twitter.com/podcasts Visit our other YouTube channels: Bloomberg Television: https://www.youtube.com/@markets Bloomberg Originals: https://www.youtube.com/bloomberg Quicktake: https://www.youtube.com/@BloombergQuicktake For coverage on news, markets and more: http://www.bloomberg.com/video
Key Insights
- Justice Gorsuch questioned whether founding fathers like John Adams (who drank cider daily) and James Madison (who drank a pint of whiskey daily) would have been properly disqualified from gun ownership under habitual drunkard laws, highlighting the absurdity of using 18th-century historical comparisons to adjudicate modern gun policy.
- The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the government cannot ban gun ownership based on marijuana use, finding the federal restriction lacked the historical pedigree required by recent Second Amendment jurisprudence, though the decision was written narrowly to achieve consensus.
- Constitutional law expert Seidman argues the Court's originalist test for evaluating gun restrictions is fundamentally flawed because comparing any two statutes across centuries yields infinite similarities and differences, allowing justices 'more or less free range' to strike down laws based on personal intuitions rather than principled analysis.
- Federal Judge Brinkema blocked Trump's $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund indefinitely and required sworn declarations from the Acting Attorney General and Treasury Secretary, but the Justice Department refused to submit those declarations, citing separation of powers concerns.
- The settlement agreement barring the IRS from auditing Trump, his family, and businesses is 'egregiously overbroad' according to legal experts, extending immunity to any matter 'currently pending or that could be brought by any federal agency,' including hypothetical parking tickets from National Park Rangers.
- Law firms distinguish between clients who 'ask without asking' (soft pitches) and those who directly demand tickets, with partners intuitively knowing which important clients expect to be prioritized for highly coveted sporting event access.
- Simpson Thacher partner Michael Cooper reports that conversations with clients at sporting events are deeper and more candid than business meals, touching on personal topics like family and career satisfaction because the shared experience of competitive events 'opens people up' in ways that face-to-face interactions do not.
- World Cup final tickets are identified as the hardest sporting event tickets to obtain, harder than NBA Finals seats at MSG, because FIFA maintains exclusive control over ticket distribution whereas other sporting events distribute through multiple entities including teams, advertisers, and leagues.
Topics
Transcript
[0:02] This is [music] Bloomberg Law with June Grasso from Bloomberg Radio. >> John Adams took a tankard of hard cider with his breakfast every day. James Madison reportedly drank a pint of whiskey every day. Thomas Jefferson said he wasn't much of an user of alcohol. He only had three or four glasses of wine a night. Okay? Are they all habitual drunkards who would be properly disarmed for life? >> You may ask why Justice Neil Gorsuch was [0:33] questioning whether some of the founding fathers would have been considered habitual drunkards. After all, the case before the justices was about a federal law banning gun ownership by marijuana users. The answer is that the Supreme Court's recent…
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