Bound By Oath by IJ

Younger abstention | Season 4, Ep. 4

In 1966, Los Angeles officials tried to put a man in prison for handing out leaflets in protest of a fatal police shooting. Today, we know the case as Younger v. Harris,

Oath or Affirmation. (And Treason.) | Season 4, Ep. 3

On this episode, we recover a lost part of the Fourth Amendment that the Supreme Court essentially erased in 1960. In the case of Jones v. United States, the Court ignore

Needless Friction. And Treason.

On this episode: the story of Pullman abstention, the first of several abstention doctrines the Supreme Court invented to let federal judges decline to decide cases that

Rooker and Feldman and Treason | Season 4, Ep. 1

Next week, the Supreme Court is going to hear a huge civil rights case that no one is talking about—because the legal issue before the Court is the Rooker-Feldman doctrin

Indian Country | Season 3, Ep. 14

In our final episode of the season, we head to Indian Country and survey several strands of Supreme Court precedent that prevent Native Americans from putting their prope

Neat Takings Tricks | Season 3, Ep. 13

The Fifth Amendment says that the government must pay just compensation when it takes private property for public use, a command that, regrettably, is often treated as a

Trust But Verify | Season 3, Ep. 12

In 1973, federal narcotics agents raided a pair of homes in Collinsville, Illinois by mistake. They didn’t find any drugs, but they did terrorize two innocent families. T

Everything You Eat, Drink, and Wear | Season 3, Ep. 11

Government officials must obtain a warrant before forcibly entering a home (absent consent or an emergency). That rule goes back to the Founding. But in a series of cases

Special Weapons and Tactics | Season 3, Ep. 10

In 2020, a police SWAT team blew up Vicki Baker’s house after a fugitive barricaded himself inside. On this episode, we ask: who pays the tab when the government damages

Punishment Without Crime | Season 3, Ep. 9

Civil forfeiture is a civil rights nightmare, allowing police and prosecutors to seize billions of dollars’ worth of property annually—cash, cars, houses, bank accounts,

Public Purpose | Season 3, Ep. 8

In 2005, in the case of Kelo v. New London, the Supreme Court allowed officials to seize and raze an entire neighborhood of well-maintained homes and businesses in the ho

The Despotic Power | Season 3, Ep. 7

On this episode: Berman v. Parker, the Supreme Court’s decision in 1954 to abandon previous constitutional limits on the government’s power to take property from Person A

This is Mine | Season 3, Ep. 6

On this episode, we take a break from case law and go way back to the beginning to examine the origins and justifications of private property. Click here for episode tr

The Blessings of Quiet Seclusion | Season 3, Ep. 5

On this episode we return to the subject of zoning. With the doors to federal courthouses barred shut, advocates for reforming zoning have turned to state courts and stat

A Pig in a Parlor | Season 3, Ep. 4

In 1926, in the case of Euclid v. Ambler, the Supreme Court upheld zoning, giving elected officials and city planners vast, new, and largely unchecked power to tell peopl

A Lost World | Season 3, Ep. 3

On Episode 3, we journey back to a lost world: the world before zoning. And we take a look at a trio of historic property rights cases. In In re Lee Sing, San Francisco o

Groping in a Fog | Season 3, Ep. 2

In 1922, Scranton, Pennsylvania was said to be on the verge of collapsing into the vast coal mines beneath the city; residents, buildings, and streets alike were being sw

Mr. Thornton’s Woods | Season 3, Ep. 1

In 1984, the Supreme Court ruled that the Fourth Amendment’s protections against warrantless searches do not apply to “open fields.” Which means that government agents ca

Season 3 Teaser

Season 3 of Bound By Oath is coming soon! Click here for transcript.

State Remedies | Season 2, Ep. 11

With the doors to federal court closing on civil rights claims, this final episode of Season 2 heads to new terrain: state court. Click here for transcript. Click here f