Sex Trafficking Lawsuits, Privacy Rights, and a Court That Can’t Keep Up

Melissa Murray (0:00)

Strict Scrutiny is brought to you by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. It's back to school season, and this year, five million children across Texas are going to be greeted by the 10 Commandments in their classrooms. Texas politicians passed a law requiring the 10 Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom, forcing their religion on every kid in those schools.

Twenty-eight families in Texas, supported by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, are taking the fight to the Supreme Court, and we need you to amplify their voices before the Supreme Court gets its hands on this case.

Leah Litman (0:34)

They're going to go up, but we're going to fight to get them taken down.

Melissa Murray (0:39)

That's Texas public school parent Ted Lowe. Ted and Rebecca Lowe are an interfaith couple. Ted is Jewish and Rebecca is Christian, and their kids are in Texas public schools. The story they tell in this video is moving, and we hope everyone hears and shares it. There's a human cost of Christian nationalist policies like these Ten Commandment Laws and the decisions that the Supreme Court hands down. You can visit au.org/tenc to learn more about this case and how you can help join the fight to protect church state separation.

SPEAKER_3 (1:12)

Mr. Chief Justice, please support. It's an old joke, but when a argument against two beautiful ladies like this, they're going to have the last word.

SPEAKER_4 (1:25)

She spoke not elegantly, but with unmistakable clarity. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.

Leah Litman (1:55)

Welcome back to Strict Scrutiny, your podcast about the Supreme Court and the legal culture that surrounds it. We're your hosts today. I'm Leah Litman.

Melissa Murray (2:02)

I'm Melissa Murray.

Kate Shaw (2:03)

And I'm Kate Shaw. And yes, the band is back together. We are ready to tear it up. We have a great show in store for you today. So we're going to cover some news, including our nation's possibly accelerating slide into full-scale fascism. It has been quite a week. We will then recap oral arguments from last week's sitting at the court.

Because last Monday was a federal holiday, it was a pretty light week, but we'll still squeeze some good and bad times out of it. And we will then bring you a terrific conversation that Leah had with Alice Ollstein about Alice's new book, Side Effects, How Abortion Bans Impact Everyone's Health.

We're just trying to remind everyone that, you know, Dobbs wasn't the end of, but in some ways the beginning of, the story of how the Supreme Court has intervened and affected everyone's lives. And as usual, we will end with our favorite things. So let's get into it.

Melissa Murray (2:50)

First up, let's do some news. And we'll jump right into some breaking news on the DEI beat, the new DEI beat. That's right, the boys continue to outdo themselves. On Thursday, a civil lawsuit was filed in a Florida district court accusing Republican former Congressman Matt Gaetz of trafficking two young women. The allegations, which Gaetz has denied, are the latest developments in a long-running sexual abuse scandal slash allegations involving the politician who resigned from Congress in November 2024

Leah Litman (3:24)

Listeners, you will recall that after Gaetz resigned from Congress, the president, then the president-elect, nominated him to be attorney general. Because dick, I mean Garrett, Gaetz ultimately withdrew when it became clear that Senate confirmation for a fret paddle turned into a real live boy via Botox injections. When that didn't look like it was going to pan through for him, Pamela Jo Bondi got the nod. Ten bucks says that if Gaetz had been confirmed, he'd still be our attorney general, regardless of the sex-trafficking allegations, because DEI, dudes, ex-husbands, and imbeciles.

Kate Shaw (3:59)

But you know who did not mention these new Matt Gaetz developments in her first and maybe only turn at the lectern? The new or maybe former White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia?

SPEAKER_6 (4:11)

New and former!

Kate Shaw (4:12)

Why not both? So we're recording this on Friday afternoon. The news is breaking fast and furious. But I do believe that she is out. So I guess we're just going to talk about her one turn at the press corps podium, which really did involve never-before-seen levels of a particular kind of energy.

Let's talk about it.

Melissa Murray (4:29)

Can we talk about this energy? Because all I have to say is right now, our girl, Virgo, Caroline Levitt, is sitting somewhere in her home stroking a hairless cat. Because I don't even know what to say, listeners. Roll the tape and you'll see exactly what we mean.