“DOJ’s targeting of Trump critics ramps up with attempt to indict lawmakers; The case is the first time the Justice Department has attempted to classify critical speech from prominent Trump detractors as a crime”: Jeremy Roebuck, Perry Stein, Theodoric Meyer, and Salvador Rizzo of The Washington Post have this report.
And in commentary, online at The New York Times, Chesa Boudin and law professor Eric S. Fish have a guest essay titled “A Grand Jury Will Indict a Ham Sandwich? Not in the Trump Era.”
“The Conservative Movement Was Ready For Antonin Scalia’s Death; The sequence of events kicked off by Scalia’s passing a decade ago might feel improbable; But the right was waiting for its chance to capture the Court, and didn’t let it go to waste”: Jay Willis has this essay online at his “Balls & Strikes” Substack site.
“Solicitor General Pushing Justices to Take More Cases Uninvited”: Justin Wise and Jordan Fischer of Bloomberg Law have this report.
“Supreme Court Schedules Opinions on Feb. 20 as Tariff Case Looms”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.
“Trump Yet to Announce Judicial Nominations in Some Red States”: Tiana Headley of Bloomberg Law has this report.
“Justice Antonin Scalia’s Legacy: 10 Years Later | Day 2”: American Enterprise Institute has posted this video on YouTube.
And Avalon Zoppo of The National Law Journal reports that “Judges Recount Scalia Clerkships Ahead of 10-Year Anniversary of His Death; ‘You learned very quickly as a Scalia clerk that he wouldn’t respect you if you wouldn’t disagree,’ said Judge Jeffrey Sutton.”
“How a supplier of nuts and bolts could curb Trump’s tariff overreach; A new lawsuit reveals how businesses are forced to navigate an opaque and arbitrary system”: Scott Lincicome and Inu Manak have this essay online at The Washington Post.
“On Trump’s Tariffs, Supreme Court Hurries Up and Waits; The justices put the case on a fast track at the administration’s urging; But they don’t seem in a rush to rule on the president’s signature economic program”: You can access the first installment of Adam Liptak’s weekly “The Docket” newsletter online at The New York Times at this link.
“Americans Are Paying the Bill for Tariffs, Despite Trump’s Claims; Research from the New York Fed confirms that U.S. companies and consumers are bearing tariff costs, despite the president’s assertions otherwise”: Ana Swanson and Sydney Ember of The New York Times have this report.
“Samuel Alito Is a Great Man, According to a Former Alito Clerk Arguing Cases at the Supreme Court; Ben Aguiñaga, Louisiana’s solicitor general, has argued before the justices three times this term; In a possibly related story, he just wrote an op-ed describing his old boss as ‘kind, humble, thoughtful and selfless’”: Jay Willis has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.
“Judge halts transfer of former federal death row inmates to ‘supermax’ prison; Attorney General Pam Bondi had vowed to transfer the prisoners”: Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein of Politico have this report.
You can access yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia at this link.
“‘If We Don’t Have Free Speech, Then We Just Don’t Have a Free Country’; Donald Trump’s attempt to criminalize political expression is crossing a line that’s held since 1798”: Susan B. Glasser has this essay online at The New Yorker.
“Red-state senators must pick up the pace to get Trump judges confirmed; Nearly two dozen district court vacancies remain unfilled in red states including Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas”: Mike Davis has this essay online at Fox News.
“Pam Bondi’s Contempt for Congress; The Attorney General treats oversight like roller derby”: Ruth Marcus has this essay online at The New Yorker.
“Goldstein Grilled on Past Lies, Accused of Playing the Victim”: Holly Barker of Bloomberg Law has this report.
And Mike Scarcella of Reuters reports that “Lawyer Tom Goldstein admits ‘mistakes’ but denies tax crimes at US trial.”
“Barack Obama’s Supreme Court Confirmation Battles vs. Bill Clinton’s; What a difference 16 years makes”: Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.
“Even Trump’s own appointees are ruling against ICE’s mass detention strategy; A POLITICO review shows more than 350 judges have rejected the administration’s approach”: Kyle Cheney of Politico has this report.
And in commentary, online at The New York Times, columnist David French has an essay titled “A Very Dangerous Ruling in New Orleans.”
“Study Reveals the Elite Lawyers Dominating the Supreme Court Docket; A group of law professors have tabulated the most successful Supreme Court lawyers when it comes to getting the justices to agree to hear their cases”: Jimmy Hoover of The National Law Journal has this report.
“A Justice Alito-Authored Majority Opinion in Callais Effectively Killing Off the Voting Rights Act Might Not Get 5 Votes; What Choices Do the Court’s Conservatives Have?” Rick Hasen has this post at his “Election Law Blog.”
“Lincoln’s Struggle With the Constitution; He respected the law, though it didn’t yet recognize that all men are created equal”: Allen C. Guelzo has this op-ed in today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.
“U.S. Attorney Chosen to Replace Trump Pick Is Quickly Fired by White House; Federal judges had appointed Donald Kinsella, a veteran litigator, as top prosecutor in the Northern District of New York after the Trump administration’s nominee was found to be serving unlawfully”: Jonah E. Bromwich of The New York Times has this report.
“What I Suffered Being ‘Transgender’; I’m suing the people who did this to me, and the Texas Supreme Court heard my case this week”: Soren Aldaco will have this op-ed in Thursday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.
“Murdaugh Takes Appeal of Murder Convictions to South Carolina’s Top Court; The appeal by Alex Murdaugh, once a well-connected member of a prominent family law firm, seeks to overturn his conviction in the murders of his wife and son”: Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Chris Hippensteel of The New York Times have this report.
And Valerie Bauerlein of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Murdaugh’s Double-Murder Case Appeal Reunites Devoted Courtroom Coterie; True-crime fans, authors and legal minds reconvene in South Carolina to see whether Alex Murdaugh would be granted a retrial.”
News 19 WLTX has posted on YouTube a video titled “Full hearing: Alex Murdaugh appeal at the South Carolina Supreme Court.”
“Team USA’s Newest Olympic Star Is a Personal-Injury Attorney in His 50s; Curler Rich Ruohonen could become the oldest American athlete in Winter Olympics history; All he needs is for someone to slip and fall”: Ben Cohen and Jared Diamond of The Wall Street Journal have this report.
“The Situation: Grand Juries in Savage Times; They really are an important civil liberties protection.” Benjamin Wittes has this post at the “Lawfare” blog.
“A Law Firm Chair Resigned After Epstein Revelations. Here’s the Reality. Brad Karp stepped down as chair of Paul, Weiss — but it was a soft landing.” Ankush Khardori has this essay online at Politico Magazine.
“Fourth Circuit revives mass shooting victims’ suit over gun marketing; The victims seek to hold firearm industry members accountable for advertising they claim targets the kind of impressionable young men who commit the majority of mass shootings”: Joe Dodson of Courthouse News Service has this report on a decision that a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued today.
“Supreme Court lawyer Tom Goldstein takes stand at his criminal tax trial”: Mike Scarcella of Reuters has this report.
And Holly Barker of Bloomberg Law reports that “Tom Goldstein Claims Overpayment of 2016 Taxes in Fraud Trial.”
Update: In other coverage, Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman of The National Law Journal has an article headlined “‘Risk Everything’: Tom Goldstein Denies Tax Fraud Charges in Jury Trial Testimony; ‘I would build up debts, but I would always pay them,’ appellate attorney Tom Goldstein said as a witness testifying in his own defense at his white-collar criminal jury trial in Maryland federal court; He has pleaded not guilty to all counts and denied tax-evasion allegations in his live testimony.”
And Connor Richards of PokerNews has an article headlined “‘All On the Line’: Tom Goldstein Testifies About Poker in Tax Trial.”
“Justice Antonin Scalia’s Legacy: 10 Years Later | Day 1”: American Enterprise Institute has posted this video on YouTube.
And Jordan Fischer of Bloomberg Law reports that “Minnesota Judge Jokes He’s Been Branded ‘Progressive Activist.’”
“Federal judge acknowledges ‘abusive workplace’ in court order”: Carrie Johnson of NPR has this report.
And Seth Stern and Suzanne Monyak of Bloomberg Law report that “US District Judge Acknowledges ‘Abusive Workplace’ in Chambers.”
You can access the memorandum and order of the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit at this link.
Access online the prosecution’s response in opposition to Thomas C. Goldstein’s motion for judgment of acquittal: At this link. Update: You can view the defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal at this link.
You can also access online Goldstein’s motion in limine regarding his testimony.
“Paul Weiss’ Progressive Culture Fell Victim to the Vampire Rule”: David Lat has this new installment of his “Exclusive Jurisdiction” column online at Bloomberg Law.
“The Insignificance of Judicial Opinions”: Law professor Justin Driver has this essay in the current issue of California Law Review.
“Trump DOJ Asks US Attorneys for Judicial Impeachment Fodder”: Ben Penn of Bloomberg Law has this report.
“Climate Change Is Erased From a Manual for Federal Judges; After Republican criticism, a group that offers professional resources to judges withdrew a climate science chapter from its Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence”: Karen Zraick of The New York Times has this report.
And Suzanne Monyak of Bloomberg Law reports that “Judiciary Cuts Climate Part of Science Manual After Backlash.”
