“Biden Made the Judiciary More Diverse — but Not More Liberal; Judicial nominees largely succeeded other like-minded judges, failing to offset Trump’s conservative legal inroads”: Jan Wolfe of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

“Pentagon Appeals Court Upholds Plea Deals in Sept. 11 Case; The three-judge decision appeared, at least for now, to put plea proceedings for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and two others back on track to take place in early January at Guantánamo Bay”: Carol Rosenberg of The New York Times has this report.

“The chief justice takes a swipe at JD Vance; The vice president-elect has repeatedly suggested that government officials may defy court orders”: Columnist Ruth Marcus has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“Judge orders NC elections board to explain why Griffin protest belongs in federal court”: The Carolina Journal has this report, along with a report headlined “Daschle, Gephardt file brief opposing Griffin in NC Supreme Court ballot dispute.”

“‘Lawless’: Trump’s TikTok brief asks Supreme Court to overreach, legal experts say; Lawyers believe the president-elect’s request for the Supreme Court to delay the TikTok law lacks a legal basis — and they fear it’s an early sign that Trump plans to blow past precedent.” Brendan Bordelon of Politico has this report.

“Big Cases by the Numbers [December 30, 2024]: This first edition highlights several important cases litigated by some of the biggest national firms over the last month.” Adam Feldman has this post at his “Legalytics” Substack site.

“Trump Tries to Save TikTok From the Law; He wants the Supreme Court to treat him as if he’s already President”: The Wall Street Journal has published this editorial.

It concludes, “One last legal point: Mr. Trump’s brief is signed by John Sauer, his nominee to be Solicitor General. But the SG isn’t supposed to be Mr. Trump’s personal attorney, and Mr. Sauer’s brief won’t help his credibility with the Justices if he is confirmed by the Senate. We trust the Justices will ignore this amicus sophistry.”

“Trump may tally the most Supreme Court appointments of any president in recent history”: Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has this report.

“Chief Justice Roberts Condemns Threats to Judicial Independence; In his year-end report on the federal judiciary, the chief justice decried violence, intimidation and disinformation and warned against defiance of court rulings”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Justin Jouvenal of The Washington Post reports that “Chief Justice Roberts warns of threats to judges in year-end report; Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. presented an annual year-end report on the state of the judiciary.”

Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Chief Justice Says Intimidation and Violence Threaten Judicial Independence; But John Roberts’s year-end report remains silent on Supreme Court ethics.”

Maureen Groppe of USA Today has an article headlined “Chief Justice John Roberts: Courts’ independence under threat from violence; Roberts said not everyone engages in ‘informed criticism’ of the court, ‘or anything resembling it.’”

And at his Substack site, Chris Geidner has a post titled “John Roberts attacks court criticism that he decides lacks a ‘credible basis’ as ‘illegitimate’; Conflating violence against judges with broad criticism the court faces for its extremism, the chief justice ultimately sends a chilling end-of-year report.”

You can access Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.’s “2024 Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary” at this link.

“Jewish group shielded from kosher inspector’s work-related lawsuit, US court says”: Daniel Wiessner of Reuters has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued today.

“Retired US Supreme Court Justice Breyer to sit with appeals court in January”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has this report.

“Fight over ‘forum shopping’ heads for US Supreme Court; Case could give justices a chance to curb the rush to sue in the most ideologically friendly venues”: Brooke Masters and Stefania Palma of Financial Times have this report.

“Supreme Court Goes Back to Normal in Term With Few Blockbusters; Justices show ‘buyer’s remorse’ in opinions; Emergency docket could get busier under Trump”: Lydia Wheeler of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Jimmy Carter never appointed a Supreme Court justice, but he left a remarkable judicial legacy”: Joan Biskupic of CNN has this news analysis.

And Nate Raymond of Reuters reports that “Former US President Carter broke records diversifying judiciary.”

“Can SCOTUS Issue An Administrative Injunction In the TikTok Case To Preserve The Status Quo? It is common enough for the Court to issue administrative stays on the emergency docket to afford itself more time, and maintain the status quo. What about an administrative injunction that would maintain the status quo?” Josh Blackman has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“Appeals court upholds $5 million E. Jean Carroll verdict against Trump; A jury handed down the award after finding Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer”: Dareh Gregorian of NBC News has this report.

And Jonathan Stempel of Reuters reports that “Trump loses appeal of E. Jean Carroll $5-million defamation, sexual assault verdict.”

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

“115. President-Elect Trump’s Law-Free TikTok Brief: A friend-of-the-Court brief filed by the incoming President’s nominee to be the next Solicitor General is a revealing — and alarming — example of political arguments wholly divorced from law.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“Some Justice Department Lawyers Look for Protection — and the Exits; Officials who worked on politically sensitive cases weigh moves ahead of Donald Trump’s second term”: Sadie Gurman and C. Ryan Barber of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

“How an S.F. man’s 1898 Supreme Court victory established birthright citizenship; As President-elect Donald Trump vows to repeal birthright citizenship, a descendant of Wong Kim Ark reflects on his family’s role in its history”: Ko Lyn Cheang of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.

“The Unprecedented Dynamics of Trump’s TikTok Brief; Trump wants to make a deal so SCOTUS doesn’t have to”: Josh Blackman has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“Dead Amendment Walking: We answer your smart, incisive, sometimes panicked, questions about the courts, the law, and the constitution, as we slide into Trump 2.0.” You can access the new episode of Slate’s “Amicus” podcast via this link.

“David Boris Rivkin Jr., 1956-2024; The immigrant from Soviet Russia became a leading champion of the U.S. Constitution”: This editorial appeared in yesterday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“An End — And a Beginning”: At his “The Vetting Room” blog, Harsh Voruganti has a post that begins, “So it’s finally here. After nearly eight years, and more than four hundred nominee profiles, it’s time to close the final chapter on the Vetting Room.”

Those of us who follow federal judicial nominations closely owe Harsh a huge debt of gratitude for the amazing work he has performed at his site over such a long amount of time!

“Trump Urges Supreme Court to Pause TikTok Ban; The president-elect took no position on the app’s First Amendment challenge to the law, which sets a Jan. 19 deadline to sell or close the popular platform”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

“Leading Conservative Lawyer, Touted by Trump, David Rivkin Has Died”: Meghan Tribe of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Simulating DOGE: Everything you ever wanted to know about impoundment but were afraid to ask.” Adam Unikowsky has this post at his Substack site, “Adam’s Legal Newsletter.”

“Newman Accuses Fed. Cir. of Concealing Files to Control Media; Documents allegedly illustrate medical record demands; Federal Circuit says it’ll release materials in ‘a matter of weeks’”: Annelise Levy of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“What Judges Can Do for the Rule of Law Under Trump”: Nancy Gertner and Joel Cohen have this guest essay online at The New York Times.

“Senate adjourns without confirming D.C. judges as ‘vacancy crisis’ persists; Local officials decried the court vacancies as a problem for public safety”: Jenny Gathright of The Washington Post has this report.

“The Supreme Court Case Over Trans Youth Could Also Decimate Women’s Equality; The principle of sex equality itself is at stake”: Law professor Naomi Schoenbaum has this essay online at Politico Magazine.

“Donna Adelson will stand trial for murder and conspiracy this June; Opening statements are expected to start on or before June 9, according to a new court filing”: WCTV of Tallahassee, Florida has this report.

“The Universe of TikTok v. Garland in a Nutshell: Everything you want to know about the case boiled down into a few pages.” Adam Feldman has this post at his “Legalytics” Substack site.

“‘Disastrous initiatives’: Ex-Supreme Court chief Esther Hayut slams gov’t calls for judicial reform; These are Hayut’s first public remarks since retiring from the bench in October 2023, after serving on the Supreme Court since 2003 and as chief justice since 2017.” The Jerusalem Post recently had this report.

“Retiring DC Circuit Executive Trades Judges for Vermont Alpacas”: Suzanne Monyak of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Before Scopes, Clarence Darrow fought another battle. He was accused of bribing a jury.” Christopher Goffard of The Los Angeles Times has this report.