Strict Scrutiny

SCOTUS Again Takes on the 2nd Amendment—What Could Go Wrong?

30 snips
Feb 23, 2026
Elliot Williams, journalist and former DOJ official who wrote Five Bullets, and Steve Vladeck, legal scholar and commentator, dig into SCOTUS developments. They discuss lower-court noncompliance, ethics and stock-rule tweaks, upcoming asylum and Second Amendment arguments, and the Bernie Goetz subway shooting’s place in 1980s New York and modern gun politics.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
INSIGHT

Judicial Conference Encourages Judges To Speak Out

  • The Judicial Conference advised judges they may publicly defend judicial independence and each other, signaling institutional support.
  • Vladeck notes this quiet shift aims to empower lower-court judges to speak without violating conduct canons.
INSIGHT

Ticker Labels Replace Real Supreme Court Ethics Reform

  • The Supreme Court's modest stock-ticker rule change shows minimal ethics reform despite capacity to act.
  • Kate Shaw criticizes the court for requiring tickers while continuing permissive personal stock holdings.
INSIGHT

Himani Exposes Tension Between Bruen And Rahimi Tests

  • United States v. Himani tests Bruen's history-and-tradition approach against Rahimi's modern-dangerousness framing.
  • The government leans on 'habitual drunkards' analogies while petitioner stresses vagueness of 'unlawful user.'
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app