⚖ 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.

Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube /feed.xml Open RSS Status

McClanahan v. Noel — 5th Cir. (Sep 2, 2026)

No. 25-30614 Argued September 2, 2026 Published September 2, 2026; updated September 6, 2026

The Fifth Circuit reviews a First Amendment case from a 2017 Baton Rouge council meeting. The district court ruled that officials violated Michael McClanahan’s and Eugene Collins’s rights by removing them during public comment, but rejected Gary Chambers’s claim. Celia Cangelosi represents appellant Brandon Noel, now the mayor pro tempore. She will argue that dismissing the City-Parish ended the official-capacity case and that former council chair Scott Wilson enforced meeting rules, rather than set city policy.

McClanahan v. Noel (No. 25-30614) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, argued September 2, 2026.

Sources
Argument audio — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (public domain, 17 U.S.C. § 105):https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/OralArgRecordings/25/25-30614_9-2-2026.mp3
Argument record — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit:https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/oral-argument-recordings/results?docket=25-30614
Argument calendar — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit:https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/court-calendars/sitting?d=2026-09-02
District-court findings and conclusions — GovInfo:https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-lamd-3_17-cv-01720/pdf/USCOURTS-lamd-3_17-cv-01720-2.pdf
District-court jurisdiction ruling — GovInfo:https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-lamd-3_17-cv-01720/pdf/USCOURTS-lamd-3_17-cv-01720-1.pdf
Earlier jurisdiction opinion — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit:https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/21/21-30106.0.pdf
Brandon Noel profile — City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge:https://www.brla.gov/581/District-1---Mayor-Pro-Tempore-Brandon-N
District-court judgment report — WAFB:https://www.wafb.com/2025/09/22/i-team-federal-judge-rules-ebr-metro-council-violated-citizens-rights/
District-court judgment report — WBRZ:https://www.wbrz.com/news/federal-judge-rules-ebr-metro-council-violated-rights-of-alton-sterling-protestors-at-2017-meeting
William Brock Most counsel listing — Supreme Court of the United States:https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/23-513.html
Opinion search — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit:https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/results?docket=25-30614

0:00
0:00