How Appealing



Thursday, May 15, 2025

“Supreme Court appears skeptical of allowing Trump to implement birthright citizenship plan; The court is considering whether to allow the proposal to go into effect at least in some parts of the country while litigation continues in lower courts”: Lawrence Hurley of NBC News has this report.

Posted at 4:24 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court Understands the Assignment on Birthright Citizenship; The justices appear to recognize that judges need tools to stop President Trump’s unlawful executive orders”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

Posted at 4:18 PM by Howard Bashman



“Larry L. Turner, celebrated Philadelphia attorney and education advocate, has died at 65; He was inspired to pursue a legal career by former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and TV attorney Perry Mason.;’I saw myself as a cross between the two,’ he said”: Gary Miles of The Philadelphia Inquirer has written this obituary.

Posted at 3:18 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump Solicitor General Hedges on Always Following Court Orders; Circuit precedent isn’t binding ‘necessarily in every case’; Executive doesn’t have to follow unlawful court orders, several officials have said”: Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson of Bloomberg Law has this report.

Posted at 2:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“Justice David Souter Was the Antithesis of the Present; His jurisprudence has been overshadowed by that of his showier colleagues but was a model of principled restraint”: Law professor Jeannie Suk Gersen has this essay online at The New Yorker.

Posted at 2:08 PM by Howard Bashman



“The 20th Century’s Timeless Values: Growing up in the postwar years, I learned to prize education, civil rights and the rule of law.” Stephen Breyer has this essay online at The Wall Street Journal.

Posted at 2:06 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court grapples with nationwide orders blocking birthright citizenship ban; The Supreme Court appeared divided about whether to scale back nationwide orders that have blocked President Donald Trump’s ban on birthright citizenship”: Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post has this report.

And Stephen Dinan and Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times report that “Trump’s birthright citizenship order strains Supreme Court.”

Posted at 2:04 PM by Howard Bashman



“In Birthright Citizenship Case, Supreme Court Examines the Power of District Judges; The Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether federal judges can block Trump administration policy across the country”: Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has this report.

On today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” Nina Totenberg had an audio segment titled “Supreme Court to hear arguments on birthright citizenship.”

And online at Politico Magazine, you can access an item titled “‘A Moral, Ethical, Legal, Constitutional Travesty’: As the Supreme Court considers a nationwide injunction blocking Trump’s move to end birthright citizenship, two legal scholars debate whether lower court judges should be able to stop him.”

Posted at 8:27 AM by Howard Bashman



Wednesday, May 14, 2025

“At Supreme Court, a Once-Fringe Birthright Citizenship Theory Takes the Spotlight; Before the Trump presidency, there was broad consensus that the 14th Amendment established birthright citizenship for children born in the United States”: Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has this report.

And in commentary, Thursday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal will contain an editorial titled “Birthright Citizenship Reaches the Supreme Court; Does the 14th Amendment cover illegal aliens, and are national injunctions abused?

Posted at 9:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“House lawmakers spar over impeachments, framing judiciary as ‘wayward’ or ‘essence’ of balance; The head of the federal judiciary’s administrative office warned budget-conscious congressional appropriators that courts need a dramatic boost in security spending to deal with proliferating threats”: Benjamin S. Weiss of Courthouse News Service has this report.

Posted at 8:26 PM by Howard Bashman



“Texas Burn Victim Gets Samsung Suit Reinstated by Fifth Circuit; Business contracts constituted purposeful availment for case; Notion that commercial market and consumer one differed failed”: Shweta Watwe of Bloomberg Law has this report (subscription required for full access) on a ruling that a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued today.

Posted at 8:21 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump Isn’t Attacking Universal Injunctions. He’s Attacking Universal Rights. In Trump v. CASA, the administration is asking the Supreme Court for a backdoor way to override the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship.” Madiba K. Dennie has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

Posted at 5:02 PM by Howard Bashman



“Eighth Circuit, on 2-1 Vote, Holds Private Plaintiffs Cannot Enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act through a Section 1983 Action, a Ruling Which if Applied Nationally Would Devastate Voting Rights Act Enforcement in the United States”: Rick Hasen has this post at his “Election Law Blog” about a decision that a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued today.

Posted at 3:14 PM by Howard Bashman



“Domestic Violence Misdemeanors May Lead to Ban on Gun Possession; Law is facially constitutional under recent SCOTUS precedent; US has history of disarming those who pose threat to safety”: Bernie Pazanowski of Bloomberg Law has this report (subscription required for full access) on a ruling that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued today.

Update: In other coverage, Joe Dodson of Courthouse News Service reports that “Fourth Circuit upholds firearms ban for domestic violence offenders; The three-judge panel found the statute fits with the historical tradition of preventing individuals who threaten physical harm to others from misusing firearms.”

Posted at 3:07 PM by Howard Bashman



“SC Supreme Court upholds state’s six-week abortion ban”: Anna Wilder of The Post & Courier of Charleston, South Carolina has this report.

Joseph Bustos of The State of Columbia, South Carolina reports that “SC Supreme Court rules on when fetal heartbeat abortion restrictions begin.”

And Jeffrey Collins of The Associated Press reports that “South Carolina Supreme Court decides heartbeat definition allows six-week abortion ban.”

You can access today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of South Carolina at this link.

Posted at 3:02 PM by Howard Bashman



“150. The State of Play in the Alien Enemy Act Litigation: A series of outwardly inconsistent developments in different courts in the Alien Enemy Act cases underscores the difficulties that litigants challenging Trump policies face without nationwide relief.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

Posted at 2:44 PM by Howard Bashman



Tuesday, May 13, 2025

“Remembering David Souter: Recollections of a true gentleman.” Mark Movsesian has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

Posted at 10:12 PM by Howard Bashman



“His great-grandfather enshrined birthright citizenship. Norman Wong is trying to save it. Wong has assumed the role of living testament to the multigenerational fight for American citizenship at a time when fundamental values are again under threat.” David Nakamura of The Washington Post has this report.

Posted at 10:05 PM by Howard Bashman



“Boy Scouts Beat Bankruptcy Plan Appeal Over Liability Shield; Boy Scouts’ historic abuse settlement survives court appeal; Controversial bankruptcy plan unaffected by Purdue case”: Alex Wolf of Bloomberg Law has this report.

And Alexandra Jones of Courthouse News Service reports that “Third Circuit rejects sex abuse victims appeal of Boy Scouts bankruptcy deal; Lamenting that no amount of money could ever outweigh ‘the abuse claimants have suffered,’ the court shot down the appeal of a small fraction of sexual abuse victims who appealed the plan’s terms.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit at this link.

Posted at 9:52 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump’s Habeas Corpus Threat: No president, even Lincoln, has ever suspended the writ without Congress.” Columnist William A. Galston will have this op-ed in Wednesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Posted at 9:40 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump’s First Judicial Nomination Would Replace a Union-Side Labor Lawyer with a Baby Alito; That ‘deal’ Senate Democrats made during the lame-duck session is looking worse by the day”: Jenny Hunter has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

Posted at 3:10 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Universal Injunction Cases, Part 4: The Court’s Options.” Samuel Bray has this post at the “Divided Argument” Substack site.

Posted at 3:03 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Next Phase of Trump’s Retribution: What the replacement of Ed Martin, who punished his own prosecutors for bringing cases against January 6th rioters, signals about the President’s signature campaign promise.” Antonia Hitchens has this post online at The New Yorker.

And Justin Wise of Bloomberg Law reports that “Ed Martin Takes DOJ Pardon Job as Trump Upends Clemency Process; New role combines Trump pardon, ‘weaponization’ priorities; Takes new job as clemency applications spike under Trump.”

Posted at 2:58 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Astonishing Threat to Suspend Habeas Corpus: The Trump Administration is stepping up its war on the rule of law; Is this bluster aimed at intimidating judges, or the start of something worse?” Ruth Marcus has this essay online at The New Yorker.

Posted at 2:46 PM by Howard Bashman



“Judiciary officials cite threats against judges as they make case to Congress for more security funding; The U.S. Judicial Conference is set to ask lawmakers to hike spending nearly 20% for programs to counter the rising risks facing federal judges and courthouses”: Benjamin S. Weiss of Courthouse News Service has this report.

And Suzanne Monyak of Bloomberg Law reports that “US Marshals’ Duty to Protect Judges Faces Test in Trump DOJ; Marshals in Justice Department with mission to protect courts; Conflict fears raised amid concern over DOJ politicization.”

Posted at 2:33 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump grows impatient with Supreme Court delay on deportations; The Trump administration claimed that almost 200 migrants would have been deported if not for the Supreme Court’s delay”: Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service has this report.

Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times reports that “Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Allow Venezuelan Deportations to Resume; The solicitor general contended that a group of migrants had barricaded themselves inside a Texas detention center and threatened to take hostages.”

And Laura Romero of ABC News reports that “Trump administration asks SCOTUS for permission to deport nearly 200 Venezuelan migrants; The solicitor general called the migrants ‘especially dangerous to maintain.’

You can access the federal government’s filing at this link.

Posted at 11:23 AM by Howard Bashman



“Substack Live with Leah Litman, Author of ‘Lawless’”: Steve Vladeck has posted this video at his “One First” Substack site.

Posted at 11:09 AM by Howard Bashman