“Climate Cowards: Federal judges are folding under political pressure from state AGs.” Reynolds Holding has this post at his “Better Judgment” Substack site.

“Federal judge set to nuke restrictive Pentagon press policy; ‘Asking a question is not a crime,’ U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman said, noting the importance of military transparency as the nation enters a war with Iran”: Ryan Knappenberger of Courthouse News Service has this report.

“Trump DOJ Fights to Revive Big Law Orders After Reversal”: Justin Henry of Bloomberg Law has an article that begins, “The Justice Department Friday aired its first defense of President Donald Trump’s executive orders against law firms after reversing course on a move to drop the case earlier this week.”

You can view the Brief for Appellants at this link.

“Judge Gives Trump Administration More Time to Distribute Tariff Refunds; A federal judge pared back an earlier order requiring the government to immediately begin the process of refunding the duties”: Lydia Wheeler and Louise Radnofsky of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

“Iran War Poses Test for Justice Dept. After Firings Deplete National Security Ranks; Firings, resignations and diversions to the president’s priorities have left elite counterterrorism and counterintelligence units stretched thin, current and former officials say”: Alan Feuer and Glenn Thrush of The New York Times have this report.

And Perry Stein of The Washington Post reports that “Mass firings leave national security ranks thinned as war raises threats; FBI and Justice Department have lost decades of experience over the past year in key security positions.”

“Indiana court blocks abortion law in ACLU religious freedom case”: Jade Jackson of The Indianapolis Star has this report.

Niki Kelly of Indiana Capital Chronicle reports that “Indiana Attorney General’s Office appeals religious freedom ruling on state abortion ban.”

David Wells of Courthouse News Service reports that “Indiana court blocks abortion ban on religious grounds; In 2023, the Indiana Supreme Court upheld the state’s near-total abortion ban, with limited exceptions only in cases of lethal fetal anomalies, the mother’s health, rape and incest.”

And Mary Anne Pazanowski of Bloomberg Law reports that “Indiana Abortion Law Halted for Violating Non-Christians’ Rights.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the Marion (Ind.) Superior Court at this link.

“Supreme Court’s Gender Identity Ruling Leaves Schools Seeking Clarity”: Mark Walsh of Education Week has this report.

“The Justice Department’s Only Job Is Settling Trump’s Weird Grievances at Taxpayer Expense; The government dropped its defenses of the executive orders attacking law firms; Then the president saw some headlines he didn’t like”: Jay Willis has this post at his “Balls & Strikes” Substack site.

And at the “Checks & Balances” Substack site, Alberto R. Gonzales has a post titled “The Cathedral of Justice is Crumbling; A former attorney general’s call to action.”

“Watson v. RNC: Six Flaws in the Argument that Federal Statutes Bar Mailing Ballots Through Election Day; States have the option.” Richard D. Bernstein has this post at the “Checks & Balances” Substack site.

“2026 Hallows Lecture”: Marquette Law School has posted this video on YouTube.

“Third Circuit Nixes NJ ‘Majority’ Worker Discrimination Burden”: Alex Ebert of Bloomberg Law has this report (subscription required for full access).

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit at this link. Circuit Judge Emil J. Bove wrote the opinion of the court and a concurring opinion.

“Florida Bar Backtracks on Saying Halligan Is Under Investigation”: Ben Penn of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Supreme Court Stays to State Courts: a few thoughts on the relationship of 28 U.S.C. 1257 and 28 U.S.C. 1651(a).” William Baude has this post at the “Divided Argument” Substack site.

“States Sue to Stop Trump From Reviving Steep Tariffs; The lawsuit filed by two dozen attorneys general seeks to invalidate the president’s new, 10 percent global tax on imports”: Tony Romm of The New York Times has this report.

Alec Dent of The Washington Post reports that “Democratic state attorneys general sue Trump over tariffs; The lawsuit accuses the president of trying to ‘sidestep’ a Supreme Court ruling that overturned many of his previous levies.”

And James Fanelli of The Wall Street Journal reports that “States Sue to Stop Trump’s Latest Global Tariff; Case challenges the legal basis for new duties imposed after the Supreme Court struck down previous tariffs.”

“Interview with Judge Lawrence VanDyke — University of Florida Federalist Society Chapter”: Josh Blackman has posted this video on YouTube.

“Nearly 200 Ex-Judges Tell Supreme Court: Your Unreasoned Emergency Orders Are Not Binding; More than 175 former federal and state judges signed an amicus brief responding to the Trump administration’s argument that lower courts are ‘flouting’ the Supreme Court’s unexplained emergency orders.” Jimmy Hoover of The National Law Journal has this report.

You can access the amicus brief at this link.

“Supreme Court Continues to Shoot Self In Foot In Second Amendment Cases; The Bruen decision is somehow getting even more embarrassing with time”: Madiba K. Dennie has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Lindsey Halligan Is Under Investigation by the Florida Bar; The actions of Ms. Halligan, who as a U.S. attorney brought criminal cases against President Trump’s enemies, are under review by the organization that licensed her to practice law”: Devlin Barrett and Jonah E. Bromwich of The New York Times have this report.

And yesterday, Barrett and Bromwich had a related article headlined “Trump Justice Dept. Seeks to Stall State Bar Discipline of Its Lawyers; The administration has no control over the disciplinary authorities of state bar associations, but a new proposal would let the attorney general ask them to suspend proceedings involving department lawyers.”

“Why Trump First Ended the Law Firm Suits, Then Didn’t; We can’t know for sure, but he ended in a worse place than before”: Bob Bauer has this post at the “Executive Functions” Substack site.

“This OLC Opinion Is ‘Bullshit’; When lawyers are motivated to ‘get to yes,’ their work is prone to bullshit (in the technical sense); And this OLC opinion is full of it”: Dan Maurer has this post at the “Lawfare” blog.

“The Supreme Court makes a common-sense decision on parental rights in California; The government of California doesn’t supersede parental rights; Even at school”: Erin Morrow Hawley has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“The End of Limits on a President’s Wars; Past conflicts eroded Congress’s ability to decide when to go to war; Donald Trump’s attack on Iran destroyed it”: Ruth Marcus has this essay online at The New Yorker.

Also online at The New Yorker, Jill Lepore has an essay titled “Do U.S. Presidents Have the Power to Declare War? On paper, declaring war is reserved for Congress; The Tonkin Gulf Resolution turned a constitutional requirement into a legislative habit of looking away.”

Charlie Savage of The New York Times has an Ideas article headlined “How the Decision to Start a War Became the President’s; Presidents have sidestepped Congress to launch limited military strikes for decades; Trump’s decision to attack Iran is an aggressive escalation.”

And at the “Lawfare” blog, Scott R. Anderson has a post titled “The Law of Going to War with Iran, Redux; The Trump administration’s attack on Iran pushes even the executive branch’s generous understandings of the President’s legal authority to their limits.”

“He Didn’t Kill Anyone. Alabama Is About to Execute Him Anyway.” Elizabeth Vartkessian has this guest essay online at The New York Times.

“A Judge’s ‘Battle Royale’ With Trump and the Supreme Court; After repeated but cryptic rebukes from the justices, Judge Brian Murphy last week again ruled against one of the administration’s signature immigration programs”: Adam Liptak has this new installment of his “The Docket” newsletter online at The New York Times.

“An Assertive Supreme Court Turns to Curbing State Courts; Liberal justices accused their colleagues of expanding use of the emergency docket again in two orders issued this week”: Ann E. Marimow of The New York Times has this news analysis.

“Trump Is Playing Rope-a-Dope With Elite Law Firms”: Jeffrey Toobin has this guest essay online at The New York Times.

“‘Facts matter’: Former U.S. Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith discussed his Harvard years, his long career as a prosecutor, and his belief in the rule of law.” Colleen Walsh of Harvard Law Today has this report.

Harvard Law School has posted on YouTube a video titled “A conversation with Jack Smith ’94.”

“Shedding light on the Supreme Court’s shadow docket; Legal scholars debate whether the surge in emergency orders is merely a response to rising presidential power or a threat to the rule of law”: Rachel Reed of Harvard Law Today has this report.

Harvard Law School has posted on YouTube a video titled “Harvard Law School Rappaport Forum: The Supreme Court’s Emergency Orders.”

“States led by New York expected to sue to block Trump’s latest tariffs, calling them an illegal end-run around Supreme Court”: Hugh Son of CNBC has this report.

“Larry Tribe Slams Sotomayor to Obama; ‘Bluntly put, she’s not nearly as smart as she seems to think she is’”: Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.

“Bonus 214: Emergency Relief from State Courts; At a moment in which the Supreme Court’s emergency docket is *already* busier than ever, Monday’s stay grant in the Malliotakis case wrongly expands it to encompass countless state-court rulings, too.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“Justice Dept., Under Pressure From Trump, Fails to Build Autopen Case Against Biden; Prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington were unable to build a case, underscoring the department’s increasing inability to follow through on the president’s desire to indict his rivals”: Michael S. Schmidt, Devlin Barrett, and Alan Feuer of The New York Times have this report.

Update: In other coverage, Ryan J. Reilly and Kyla Guilfoil of NBC News report that “DOJ quietly shelves Biden autopen investigation that Trump demanded; President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed former President Joe Biden used an autopen without knowing the contents of what he signed.”

“Man held at gunpoint after officers entered wrong home challenges qualified immunity rulings; Tyler Harrington is asking the Fifth Circuit to breathe new life into his civil rights lawsuit after a federal judge found the officers did not act unreasonably”: Christina van Waasbergen of Courthouse News Service has this report.

You can access the audio of today’s oral argument before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit at this link.

“Judge Orders Government to Begin Refunding More Than $130 Billion in Tariffs; More than 2,000 lawsuits have been filed by companies in the court seeking to recoup their money after Supreme Court invalidated tariffs last month”: Lydia Wheeler, James Fanelli, and Louise Radnofsky of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

And Tony Romm and Ana Swanson of The New York Times report that “U.S. Court Takes First Steps Toward Ordering Tariff Refunds; The Trump administration is likely to appeal the move, as it ramps up its attempt to slow or potentially block the repayment of billions in past duties.”

“DOJ to appeal judge’s order barring search of Post reporter’s devices; The Justice Department said it plans to appeal a judge’s decision that blocked the government from searching Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s electronic devices”: Perry Stein of The Washington Post has this report.