Cato Podcast
Cato Podcast
Cato Institute
One and a Half Cheers for SCOTUS
37 minutes Posted Jul 31, 2025 at 12:00 pm.
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Show notes

Cato's Clark Neily and Mike Fox give the most recent SCOTUS term a B- grade on criminal law. While they celebrate some unanimous victories like Barnes v. Felix (requiring courts to consider totality of circumstances in police use-of-force cases) and Martin v. United States (allowing federal tort claims against law enforcement), they express frustration with the Court's repeated refusal to hear cases involving the "petty offense doctrine," appellate waivers in plea bargains, and felon-in-possession gun laws—all issues with clear circuit splits that affect large numbers of people.


The episode concludes with a celebration of Fox's efforts that led to presidential pardons for John Moore and Tanner Mansell, achieving justice where the courts failed.



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