⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

Real court arguments, crisp audio, with context.

Court recordings can be difficult to follow, and many suffer from poor audio quality. This podcast enhances the audio, provides a brief introduction to each case, and explains legal concepts that may be unfamiliar to some listeners.

We hope these enhancements make oral argument recordings easier to understand, more accessible, and more enjoyable to listen to.

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US v. Covia Smith — 4th Cir. (Oct 30, 2026)

No. 24-6528 Argued October 30, 2026 Published October 30, 2026

The Fourth Circuit considers whether a prisoner's lawyers should have challenged his career-offender classification. A jury convicted him of distributing marijuana and cocaine, and he received a twenty-five-year federal sentence. The career-offender classification raised his recommended sentencing range based on earlier convictions. Those qualifying earlier convictions are called predicates; the classification affects sentencing, not the criminal charges themselves. This is a postconviction challenge to legal representation, not a new trial of the drug charges. Ineffective assistance requires unreasonable performance and a reasonable probability of a different result without the lawyer's errors. The work must be judged using the law and circumstances at the time, not hindsight. You will also hear Rule sixty b: a limited way to seek relief from an earlier judgment.

US v. Covia Smith (No. 24-6528) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, argued October 30, 2026.

Sources
Argument audio — official Fourth Circuit recording:https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/OAarchive/mp3/24-6528-20261030.mp3
Case and argument date — official Fourth Circuit audio listing:https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/oral-argument/oral-argument-audio-files
Postconviction issue — official hearing synopsis, page 16:https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/cal/internetcalOct272026.pdf
Underlying convictions and sentence — earlier appeal 19-4545, decided October 30, 2020:https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/194545.U.pdf
Convictions, sentence and career-offender classification — U.S. Attorney sentencing release, July 15, 2019:https://www.justice.gov/usao-ednc/pr/shallotte-gang-member-sentenced-25-years-drug-distribution
Career-offender category and qualifying prior convictions — historical 2018 Sentencing Guidelines, §§ 4B1.1–4B1.2:https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2018-guidelines-manual/2018-chapter-4
Ineffective assistance — Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984):https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/466/668
Relief from a judgment — Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b):https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_60

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