Programming note: On Wednesday, I am scheduled to argue an appeal before a nine-judge en banc panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. This will be my second en banc oral argument before that court, but the first one in-person, as the previous one occurred via video during the Covid lockdown.

I originally argued this case before a three-judge Pa. Superior Court panel on June 26, 2024. That three-judge panel never issued a ruling. Instead, the Pa. Superior Court issued an order granting en banc review of the case on November 15, 2024.

As a result, additional posts will appear here on Wednesday night.

“Gov. Kay Ivey appoints Bill Lewis to the Alabama Supreme Court”: Anna Barrett of Alabama Reflector has this report.

And the Alabama Governor’s Office today issued a news release titled “Governor Ivey Appoints Judge Bill Lewis to Serve on Supreme Court of Alabama.”

“A Charge on Gettysburg”: You can access today’s new episode of the “Advisory Opinions” podcast via this link.

“Former Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter ’61 Remembered as ‘the Model of a Justice’”: Caroline G. Hennigan and Bradford D. Kimball of The Harvard Crimson have this report.

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Charles Barzun has a post titled “The quiet radicalism of Justice Souter.”

“Rep. Laurel Libby regains right to vote in House from Supreme Court; The nation’s highest court sides with the Republican lawmaker who was blocked from voting after she identified a transgender student athlete in a critical social media post”: Randy Billings of The Portland (Me.) Press Herald has this report.

Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times reports that “Supreme Court Orders Maine House to Restore Voting Power to Censured Lawmaker, for Now; State Representative Laurel Libby, a Republican, had been banned from voting over comments opposing transgender athletes in girls’ sports.”

Justin Jouvenal of The Washington Post reports that “Supreme Court for now overturns Maine official’s censure on trans sports; Maine lawmakers stripped voting rights from state Rep. Laurel D. Libby (R) after her online post about a transgender high school pole vaulter.”

Jan Wolfe of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Supreme Court Backs Maine Republican Censured for Transgender-Athlete Post; Justices grant emergency reprieve to state Rep. Laurel Libby, who was prohibited from voting while the punishment was in place.”

And Mark Walsh of Education Week reports that “Supreme Court Gives Relief to Maine Legislator in Transgender Sports Controversy.”

You can access today’s order of the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.

“A Supreme Court Injustice to a District Judge; Justice Alito’s dissent gets it right: James Hendrix handled the Alien Enemies Act case commendably.” Law professor Paul G. Cassell will have this op-ed in Wednesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“The Supreme Court’s Last Chance to Rein in Universal Injunctions; The measures block the enforcement of laws nationwide, making it increasingly difficult for presidents to govern”: Michael A. Fragoso has this essay online at City Journal.

“Supreme Court ruling on TPS stuns South Florida, leaves Venezuelan families in fear”: Verónica Egui Brito, Sonia Osorio, Grethel Aguila, Nora Gámez Torres, and Syra Ortiz Blanes of The Miami Herald have this report.

And Christine Armario of The Washington Post reports that “Supreme Court ruling on Venezuelans ripples through Miami’s ‘Doralzuela’; Venezuelans have long considered the Miami suburb of Doral their refuge. Trump’s immigration crackdown is calling that into question.”

“Five years after George Floyd’s death, calls to reform qualified immunity mostly fall silent; Police officers continue to benefit from the legal defense that helps them fend off civil rights claims, including allegations of using excessive force”: Lawrence Hurley of NBC News has this report.

“Justice Jay Mitchell resigns from Alabama Supreme Court to run for Attorney General in 2026”: Grayson Everett of Yellowhammer has this report.

“Liberal Chris Taylor to challenge conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley in 2026”: Alison Dirr and Molly Beck of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have this report.

“Who Gets to Be an American? Since the earliest days of the Republic, American citizenship has been contested, subject to the anti-democratic impulses of racism, suspicion, and paranoia.” Michael Luo has this essay online at The New Yorker.

“Justices Give Alternative Path to Block Trump Orders Nationwide; ‘Quiet bombshell’ dropped on fight over nationwide injunctions; Relief available to parties in proposed class actions”: Lydia Wheeler of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Court Rules for Retired 7th Circuit Judge Posner in Breach-of-Contract Case; The lawsuit alleged unjust enrichment and breach of contract, accusing Posner — who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit — of not paying $170,000 to Brian Vukadinovich for his more than a year of work as executive director of the Posner Center of Justice for Pro Se’s”: Avalon Zoppo of The National Law Journal has this report on a decision that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana issued yesterday.

“The Supreme Court Gives Three Cheers to the Rule of Law”: Richard Bernstein has this post online at the Society for the Rule of Law.

“Will Trump Nominate DOJ Henchman Emil Bove to Appellate Seat?” Ed Whelan has this post at National Review’s “Bench Memos” blog.

“Trump admin must seek return of wrongly deported man to El Salvador, appeals court rules; It’s the second time the Virginia-based court declined to intervene after lower courts ordered the administration to facilitate the return of improperly deported immigrants”: Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney of Politico have this report.

And David Voreacos of Bloomberg News reports that “US Court Orders Return of Another Deportee From El Salvador.”

You can access today’s ruling of a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit at this link.

“Why the Supreme Court quashed Trump’s due-process-free deportations; After a late-night intervention, the court shut down the administration’s legal bait-and-switch”: Columnist Jason Willick has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“Alito and Roberts take stock as they near their third decade on the bench”: Joan Biskupic of CNN has this news analysis.

“Supreme Court recusals in book publisher case affect quorum; The recusals left the court in the rare position of not having six judges available to make a decision on considering the lawsuit against Ta-Nehisi Coates”: Justin Jouvenal of The Washington Post has this report.

“Supreme Court Lets Trump Lift Deportation Protections for Venezuelans; A federal judge had blocked the administration’s plan to remove the temporary protected status of more than 300,000 immigrants”: Abbie VanSickle and Adam Liptak of The New York Times have this report on an order that the U.S. Supreme Court issued today.

“Milbank Lawyer Wins Supreme Court Case After Switching Firms; Standard for evaluating use of deadly force questioned; Government’s continued support unclear after inauguration”: Lydia Wheeler of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Indicted Supreme Court lawyer Goldstein asks judge to toss US tax charges”: Mike Scarcella of Reuters has this report.

“Bove, Top Justice Dept. Official, Is Considered for Circuit Court Nomination; Emil Bove III has emerged as a top contender to fill a vacancy on the appeals court covering Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, people familiar with the matter said”: Glenn Thrush and Charlie Savage of The New York Times have this report.

“152. Non-Party Relief and Judicial Supremacy: Thursday’s birthright citizenship oral argument hits at least somewhat different after and in light of Friday’s Alien Enemies Act ruling — in which the Court . . . provided relief to non-parties.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“Judicial Notice (05.18.25): The Other ‘Ninth Circus’; A Biglaw AI ‘debacle,’ young(ish) stars of the SCOTUS bar, a Florida judge behaving badly, and Wachtell Lipton’s latest billion-dollar deals.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“Trump Has His Law Firms Right Where He Wants Them”: Jeffrey Toobin has this guest essay online at The New York Times.

“The Stakes of the Birthright-Citizenship Case: The Trump Administration is trying to use the case to stop lower-court judges from issuing ‘nationwide injunctions’ against its unconstitutional executive orders.” Ruth Marcus has this Comment in the Talk of the Town section of the May 26, 2025 issue of The New Yorker.

“The Website Where Lawyers Mock ‘Yellow-Bellied’ Firms Bowing to Trump; Above the Law, a legal industry website with a long history of skewering the nation’s most elite firms, has found a moment and plenty of inside tipsters”: Elizabeth Williamson of The New York Times has this report.

“The Legacy of Justice Souter”: The National Constitution Center has posted the audio of this podcast on YouTube.

“Federal Courts’ Emerging Bottom Line: Due Process Rights for Immigrants; The Trump administration’s aggressive push to deport migrants has run up against resistance from the judiciary.” Alan Feuer and Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times have this news analysis.

“Boeing May Avoid Guilty Plea Over Deadly Max Crashes, Lawyers Say; A decision by the Justice Department not to pursue a guilty plea from Boeing would be the latest about-face in a long effort to hold the plane maker accountable for the crashes of two 737 Max jets”: Niraj Chokshi of The New York Times has this report.

“151. The Supreme Court’s (Alien Enemies Act) Patience is Wearing Thin; A very quick breakdown of Friday afternoon’s quietly significant ruling slapping down the lower courts in the Northern District of Texas Alien Enemies Act litigation — and what it means going forward.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“Supreme Court maintains block on some Trump deportations of migrants; The justices did not address the broader question about whether Trump officials can legally invoke the Alien Enemies Act to target alleged gang members”: Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post has this report.

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Supreme Court rebukes Texas judges, backs hearing before deportation for detained Venezuelans.”

Jess Bravin and C. Ryan Barber of The Wall Street Journal report that “Supreme Court Issues New Halt on Trump Deportations Under Wartime Law; Justices say administration can’t use Alien Enemies Act to expel migrants while litigation continues.”

Maureen Groppe of USA Today reports that “Supreme Court deals blow to Trump, says in emergency order he can’t deport Venezuelan migrants; President Trump’s aggressive approach to immigration has put the administration on a collision course with the courts.”

Stephen Dinan of The Washington Times reports that “Supreme Court blocks Trump’s Alien Enemies deportations, demands more due process.”

Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney of Politico report that “Supreme Court extends block on Trump’s deportation bid under Alien Enemies Act; The justices faulted the administration for its attempt last month to carry out swift deportations just one day after providing a bare-bones deportation notice to the detainees.”

Lawrence Hurley of NBC News reports that “Supreme Court rules administration must give Venezuelans more time to challenge deportation under Alien Enemies Act; Venezuelan men held in Texas had urged the court to prevent the government from sending them to a prison in El Salvador before they could challenge the move in court.”

And Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service reports that “Supreme Court finds Trump violated migrant due process rights with speedy deportations; President Donald Trump’s push to quickly deport migrants to foreign prisons without due process left him in a standoff with the high court.”

“A Trees Guy in a Forest Court”: You can access today’s new episode of the “Divided Argument” podcast via this link.