“Appeals court’s Capitol steps ruling may signal trouble for Trump on media ban; The D.C. Circuit reaffirmed Tuesday that government restrictions on First Amendment activity must be ‘viewpoint neutral’”: Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein of Politico have this report.

And Suzanne Monyak of Bloomberg Law reports that “Protest Limits on Capitol Steps Infringe Free Speech, Court Says.”

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

“Why a Supreme Court justice visited Utah this week”: Bridger Beal-Cvetko and Daniel Woodruff of KSL have this report.

“Drunken-Driving US Judge Agrees to Counseling for Misconduct”: Eric Heisig of Bloomberg Law has this report.

You can access yesterday’s order of the Judicial Council of the Sixth Circuit at this link.

In the September 28, 2026 issue of The New Yorker: Jill Lepore has a Brave New World Dept. article titled “Is A.I. Above the Law? Our legal system isn’t ready for machines that act on their own.”

And Louis Menand has A Critic at Large essay titled “The Curious Power of Punctuation: Commas, dashes, semicolons, and spaces have shaped how we read for centuries; What happens when machines start crafting the sentences?“

“Are Marijuana Contracts Legal in Federal Court?” You can access today’s new episode of the “Advisory Opinions” podcast via this link and on YouTube.

“Listening to the Law: An Evening With Amy Coney Barrett.” UVA Karsh Institute of Democracy has posted this video on YouTube.

“Trump’s Assault on the Free Press”: You can access the new episode of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast via this link and on YouTube.

“The Tell: Chapters 5 and 6; Alec Gores kept inviting Tom Goldstein back to his Beverly Hills mansion; By the end, Gores had lost $26 million; In Manila, the billionaire known as Tango had rated Goldstein a weak player; What he saw at the table made him suspect the lawyer was being coached.” Bradley Hope has this post online at The Foundry.

“The Thomas and Kavanaugh Hearings Restaged as a Theatre of Fact; ‘The Ford/Hill Project,’ a documentary play, may capture recent events, but it’s a product of the present: activist theatre in a moment when the idea of civic urgency is losing purchase.” Doreen St. Félix has this Critic’s Notebook online at The New Yorker.

“Antonin Scalia Prepares for His Confirmation Hearing; An insider’s account of choking up, running, eye rolling, and a smoking warning”: Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.

“Appeals Court Sides With Missouri Republicans on Redrawn House Map; The order may have little impact because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that blocked the congressional districts that favor Republicans”: Mitch Smith of The New York Times has this report.

Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein of Politico report that “Appeals court revives GOP gerrymander in Missouri that Supreme Court killed off twice; The 8th Circuit on Monday blocked a ruling from the state’s highest court that sharply rebuked the Republican secretary of state.”

Alexandra Samuels of Bloomberg Law reports that “Eighth Circuit Rules for Missouri’s GOP-Favored Election Map.”

And at his “One First” Substack site, Steve Vladeck has a post titled “252. The Eighth Circuit’s Missouri Redistricting Mishegas: The Eighth Circuit’s attempt to put Missouri’s 2025 congressional map back into effect will fail; It’s also yet another example of the mischief the Supreme Court’s shadow docket behavior can beget.”

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

“Judicial Notice (09.20.26): Problematic Progressive Prosecutors; Benchslaps for a high-profile district attorney, a Supreme smackdown of the Trump administration, and a Gibson Dunn raid on Paul Weiss’s litigation practice.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“Tom Goldstein, poker and the Supreme Court: A guide to the Supreme Court lawyer, his high-stakes poker life and Bradley Hope’s series, The Tell.” The Foundry is publishing a series of lengthy posts written by Bradley Hope about this matter, along with this guide.

Chapters 1 and 2 appear under the heading “The Tell: In public, he was the country’s top Supreme Court litigator; In private, he won close to $100 million from opponents at the highest-stakes poker games in the world; His double life cost him everything.”

And Chapters 3 and 4 appear under the heading “The Tell: Chapters 3 and 4; Tom Goldstein wanted a seat in poker’s richest private games; His legal work opened the door; Then he recruited a team of professionals to help him beat the men on the other side of the table.”

“Former Trump, DOJ Lawyer Blasts Conduct of Goldstein Prosecutors”: Holly Barker of Bloomberg Law has this report.

You can access here and here the amicus briefs filed last Thursday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

“The Latest from the Alien Terrorist Removal Court”: Jess Dawgert and Steve Vladeck have this post at the “Just Security” blog.

“The Courts Weren’t Built to Keep Up With Trump”: Law professor Stephen L. Carter has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“Justice Series Finale: You Can’t Please ‘Em All . . . . How John Roberts tried to save the Supreme Court’s legitimacy . . . and lost BOTH the left and the right.” Noah Feldman has this post at his Substack site.

“One Ballot After Another: To catastrophize, or not to catastrophize — that is (unfortunately) the question.” You can access today’s new episode of Slate’s “Amicus” podcast via this link.

“Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett discusses legal doctrines, emergency docket; In an event hosted by the Karsh Institute, Justice Barrett spoke about the Court’s approach to making rulings and how she has changed since becoming a justice”: Edward Christopher of The Cavalier Daily has this report.

“A Brief History of Sam Alito’s Delusional Obsession With Voter Fraud; His conduct in several recent cases suggests that Alito is deep in the right-wing conspiracy theory weeds”: Madiba K. Dennie has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Trump’s Not So ‘Modest’ USPS Mail-In Ballot System; The President has no authority to circumvent state law in dealing with elections”: Richard Epstein has this post at Civitas Outlook.

“The clues in ICE’s mass detention court losses that point to a win at SCOTUS; A look at the appeals courts reveals how the justices may view the fight”: Kyle Cheney of Politico has this report.

“Guantánamo Dispatch: The USS Cole Case Edges Toward Trial.” Carol Rosenberg has this post at the “Just Security” blog.

“Justice Joyce Kennard, second woman appointed to California Supreme Court, dies at 85”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.

“Law Firms Have a Big Problem: Senior Partners Aren’t Retiring; It’s not uncommon for lawyers to work well into their 80s; Firms are finding ways to get them to exit and make way for the next generation.” Erin Mulvaney of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

“‘I keep dissenting’: Justice Sonia Sotomayor talks Supreme Court during OU-Tulsa fireside chat.” Abby Young of OU Daily has this report.

“It’s not personal: US Supreme Court justices focus on law, not politics.” Bryan McKenzie of UVA Today has a report that begins, “Being the final word on law in the United States can lead to strong disagreements with colleagues, but U.S. Supreme Court justices try to keep personal feelings out of their interactions, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett told a University of Virginia audience Thursday.”

“In Memoriam: California Supreme Court Justice Joyce L. Kennard (1941–2026); Joyce L. Kennard, whose perseverance and professional excellence propelled her to become one of the longest-serving justices in the history of the California Supreme Court, has passed away; She was 85.” Merrill Balassone of California Courts Newsroom has written this news release.

“Abortion Rights Activists in Idaho Find Their Pitch: Bring Back the Doctors; Organizers of a referendum to repeal an abortion ban in deep-red Idaho are far more focused on how the ban has broadly affected health care in the state.” Anna Griffin of The New York Times has this report.

“Interstate Handgun Sale Ban Unconstitutional, Fifth Circuit Says”: Ryan Autullo of Bloomberg Law has a report (subscription required for full access) that begins, “A federal firearms ban against direct purchases of handguns across state lines is unconstitutional, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Friday, creating a split with the Second Circuit.”

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

“Appeals court rejects Trump’s third-country deportation policy; A unanimous three-judge panel ruled that deportees must have ‘a meaningful opportunity to contest’ their deportation”: Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein of Politico have this report.

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

Update: In other coverage, Mattathias Schwartz of The New York Times reports that “Appeals Court Restricts Trump Administration Deportation Effort; The ruling allows migrants to contest deportations to countries other than their place of origin; The case could head to the Supreme Court.”

And David Nakamura of The Washington Post reports that “Appeals court says Trump administration’s third-country deportation policy is unlawful; The decision marks a major setback for the administration, which has removed tens of thousands of unauthorized immigrants to countries where they are not citizens.”

“Second Circuit Rejects Limits on Border Searches of Cell Phones; And why I think they are wrong, and the Supreme Court should step in”: Orin S. Kerr has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“Trump’s Minnesota Surge Threatened Democracy, Judge Warns; In a rare interview, Patrick Schiltz, who served as the federal court’s chief judge last winter, called the administration’s actions ‘a grave threat to the rule of law’”: Mattathias Schwartz of The New York Times has this report.

“Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Defends the Power of Dissent in Phila. Bar Remarks; Accepting a Philadelphia Bar Association award Thursday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson praised Justice William J. Brennan Jr.’s commitment to democratic values and said judicial dissents reflect ‘faith in the future’”: Riley Brennan of The Legal Intelligencer has this report.

“The Case for a Shadow Court: Our constitutional system is being torn asunder; Enter an intriguing idea from a great legal mind.” Law professor Garrett Epps has this essay online at Washington Monthly.