Coronavirus and the courts

From the state courts all the way up to the highest court in the land, things are changing in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Supreme Court will delay oral arguments in Trump v. Mazars, the case where the court will consider whether congressional committees have the authority to subpoena the president’s accounting firm for his financial information. Is it possible there won’t be a decision before the November election?

Ken talks about his experience as courts have begun to delay and limit business and the effects on ongoing cases. How much can be done remotely? Is Clarence Thomas right about oral arguments being sort of unnecessary for the Supreme Court? And what of the staff and inmates in American prisons and jails?

How much authority do state governments and the federal government have to tell you what to do in this crisis? Ken and Josh take a listener question about the Stafford Act.

Plus: President Trump tweets he may pardon Michael Flynn, who still hasn’t been sentenced; the Department of Justice drops charges against a Russian troll farm (this from the Mueller investigation), Michael Cohen asks to serve the rest of his sentence in home confinement.