“How Worried Should We Be About the Midterm Elections? And how we learn to trust elections again.” Guest host Sarah Isgur hosts law professor Richard Pildes on today’s new episode of the “Interesting Times” podcast from The New York Times.

“Who Is the Trump-Appointed Judge Who Blocked the White House Media Ban? Judge Timothy J. Kelly had worked as counsel for Senator Charles E. Grassley, who called him a ‘very talented attorney’ in 2017.” Mattathias Schwartz of The New York Times has this report.

“Trump Administration Scrambles to Stop Third-Country Deportations After Court Ruling; The decision adds a new burden for the government as it attempts to rapidly remove migrants from the United States without interference from their lawyers”: Hamed Aleaziz of The New York Times has this report.

“Trump Migrant Detention Policy Again Finds Friendly 5th Circuit”: Megan Crepeau and Jacqueline Thomsen of Bloomberg Law have this report.

I will link to the audio of today’s en banc reargument of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit once it becomes available online.

“Retirement Ceremony for Clerk Lyle W. Cayce”: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has posted this video on YouTube.

“Trump’s Retribution Campaign May Face Supreme Court Test; The justices have been asked to rule on whether the president can appoint allies as top prosecutors”: Adam Liptak has this new installment of his “The Docket” newsletter online at The New York Times.

“How Betty Fletcher Won by a Day and Lost for Nineteen Years; Jockeying over seniority, mixed with a surprising oversight”: Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.

“Blanche Vows Supreme Court Review in Third-Country Removal Case”: Brian Dowling of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“The court strikes the opening brief. A corrected opening brief, adhering to length limits allowed by FRAP 32(a)(7), is due 09/29/2026.” So begins an order that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued today in the United States v. Thomas C. Goldstein appeal.

Goldstein’s appellate counsel will need to cut more than 27.7 percent of his over-the-word-limit brief previously submitted to adhere to the 13,000-word limit found in Fed. R. App. P. 32(a)(7).

“Third Time’s the Charm?” You can access today’s new episode of the “Advisory Opinions” podcast via this link and on YouTube.

“Murder-in-Law — Donna Adelson was the archetypal meddling mother-in-law: overbearing, hypercritical and intrusive, but manageable — until her daughter’s marriage started to crumble; Then she and her son hatched a gruesome plan; The twisted story of a domestic contract killing.” Katherine Laidlaw has this article online at Toronto Life.

“Judge Blocks Trump’s White House Ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico; Judge Timothy J. Kelly issued a temporary restraining order and told the White House to immediately restore the press credentials for the employees of the three news outlets”: Erik Wemple of The New York Times has this report.

Victoria Craw of The Washington Post reports that “Some journalists still barred from White House after judge blocks Trump’s ban; U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the White House to temporarily restore the journalists’ credentials and said the ban was likely unconstitutional.”

Gareth Vipers and Lydia Wheeler of The Wall Street Journal report that “Judge Orders Trump to Lift Ban on CNN, MS NOW, Politico; The president had banned the news organizations over their coverage of his administration.”

Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney of Politico report that “Judge restores White House access for POLITICO, CNN and MS NOW; U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the return of press credentials President Donald Trump had revoked.”

And Megan Messerly of Politico reports that “POLITICO barred from White House after court ruling restoring access; The Secret Service confiscated a POLITICO reporter’s press pass Thursday morning despite a federal judge’s decision hours earlier that a media ban appeared to violate the constitutional due process rights of three outlets whose White House access has been revoked.”

You can access today’s decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia at this link.

“Security Concerns Spur D.C. to Consider Privacy Protections for Judges; One federal judge is said to have received dozens of unsolicited pizza deliveries”: Martin Austermuhle of The Washington Sun has this report.

“The Tell: Chapters 9 and 10; Tom Goldstein throws away a winning hand in front of thousands of viewers; Then the Supreme Court lawyer takes the stand in his own tax-fraud trial.” Bradley Hope has this post online at The Foundry.

“Trump Flexes Legal Muscle to Expand Power Over US Elections; The Justice Department’s aggressive strategy includes suing states for voter records, investigating election officials and fighting for GOP redistricting measures”: Zoe Tillman of Bloomberg News has this report.

“Washington lawyer Goldstein loses bid for release as he appeals tax crime conviction”: Mike Scarcella of Reuters has this report.

“COURT ORDER filed denying Motions for release pending appeal, for expanded word limits, and to accelerate case processing”: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued this order today in the United States v. Thomas C. Goldstein appeal.

Goldstein’s previously submitted Brief for Appellant presumed that the request for an expanded word limit would be granted and consisted of 17,990 words according to the attached word-count certification.

“Ninth Circuit finds lower court missed the mark in Hawaii firearms regulation case; An en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit determined Hawaii’s gun licensing rules are objective and non-abusive, making them presumptively constitutional”: Alan Riquelmy of Courthouse News Service has this report.

You can access yesterday’s 6-to-5 en banc decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

“Texas A&M drag ban cases before federal judges after conflicting rulings; Student groups in two cases concerning drag performances on Texas A&M System campus venues argue the bans violate First Amendment protections”: Jessica Priest of The Texas Tribune has this report.

And Jacqueline Thomsen of Bloomberg Law reports that “Fifth Circuit Searches for Free-Speech Line in Drag-Show Case.”

You can access the audio of today’s en banc oral argument of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit at this link.

Update: In other coverage, Christina van Waasbergen of Courthouse News Service reports that “LGBTQ student groups challenge Texas A&M bans on campus drag shows; The groups are asking the Fifth Circuit to rule policies prohibiting drag shows at university venues violate the First Amendment.”

“Donald Trump’s Drive for Unimpeded Control of the Administration ‘Message’; It includes both banning news organizations from the White House and casting aside limits on the Attorney General and other senior officials’ partisan political advocacy”: Bob Bauer has this post at the “Executive Functions” Substack site.

“Mike Lee could soon be in position to grant Trump a big Senate wish; Senate Republicans have so far defended the ‘blue slip’ tradition giving them a veto over some presidential appointments; But a key MAGA ally could go his own way”: Jordain Carney and Chris Marquette of Politico have this report.

“Delaware Supreme Court denies Hocker’s absentee voting challenge”: Tim Carlin of Spotlight Delaware has this report.

You can access Monday’s decision of the Supreme Court of Delaware at this link.

“Chief Justice Rehnquist and Chief Justice Roberts Did Not See Eye-to-Eye About Dames & Moore v. Regan; In the South Texas Law Review, Rehnquist described his opinion in Dames & Moore as ‘similarly important’ to Gibbons v. Ogden; His law clerk, and future Chief Justice, would disagree”: Josh Blackman has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“NH Supreme Court delays argument in case after attorney raises ethics concerns”: Todd Bookman of New Hampshire Public Radio has this report.

“Whites Only: The disaster the justices have unleashed has its roots in one of the darkest periods of our history.” Ari Berman and Pema Levy have this article in the September+October 2026 issue of Mother Jones.

“The Tell: Chapters 7 and 8; The winnings were gone, the debts remained and federal agents were asking questions; Tom Goldstein needed another opponent; He found Andy Beal, a billionaire banker with a taste for the highest stakes.” Bradley Hope has this post online at The Foundry.

“Dispute Over Missouri’s Congressional Map Again Returns to Supreme Court; A federal appeals court sided with Republicans seeking to use district boundaries redrawn last year to give the G.O.P. an advantage in the upcoming midterms”: Ann E. Marimow and Mitch Smith of The New York Times have this report.

Josh Gerstein of Politico reports that “Missouri’s House map heads to Supreme Court for third time; Redistricting opponents are asking the high court to once again block a map that would likely give the GOP an additional seat.”

And Madlin Mekelburg of Bloomberg News reports that “Supreme Court Asked to Again Block Missouri’s GOP Voting Map.”

You can access the court filing at this link.

“The Supreme Court has a good chance to start fixing a bad law; The Indian Child Welfare Act’s main concern is identity politics, not children’s welfare”: Columnist George F. Will has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“Three justices on N.H. Supreme Court worked to keep chief’s disciplinary proceedings confidential; Court records show their attorney warned that premature disclosure would create an ‘unmistakable’ impression that they, too, had been accused of judicial misconduct”: Steven Porter of The Boston Globe has this report.

“Trump cites national security, midterms coverage to defend press ban; The president’s lawyers are asking the courts to overrule a longstanding precedent that protects journalists’ access to the White House”: Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein of Politico have this report.

Erik Wemple of The New York Times has an article headlined “In Court Filing Defending Media Ban, White House Says Access Is a ‘Privilege’; President Trump determined that CNN, MS NOW and Politico were in ‘violation of the standards of professionalism and decorum’ expected at the White House.”

Victoria Craw of The Washington Post reports that “Trump tells judge media ban is necessary to protect national security; Ahead of a court hearing, the administration cited reports about the White House ballroom and the Iran war to defend its ban against CNN, MS NOW and Politico.”

And Madlin Mekelburg of Bloomberg News reports that “DOJ Tells Judge Trump White House Media Ban Is Lawful.”

You can access the court filing at this link.

“Judges’ Casual Writing Embraces Slang — and Not Everyone’s a Fan”: David Lat has this new installment of his “Exclusive Jurisdiction” column online at Bloomberg Law.

“Aesthetic Standing First Principles: some very sketchy thoughts.” William Baude has this post at this “Divided Argument” Substack site.

“Supreme Court Order Gives Parents Custody of Baby in Surrogacy Fight; A surrogate refused to have an abortion after the fetus was diagnosed with a serious heart problem; She asked the justices to block a court order giving custody to the biological parents”: Ann E. Marimow and J. David Goodman of The New York Times have this report.

Julian Mark, Praveena Somasundaram, and Justin Jouvenal of The Washington Post report that “Kagan declines appeal from surrogate mother who refused to get abortion; McKenna West gave birth to a child with a serious heart defect against the wishes of the biological parents; She has been fighting for a say in the baby’s care, but the Supreme Court will not get involved.”

And Louise Radnofsky of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Supreme Court Turns Away Surrogate Appeal in Messy Custody Fight; Dispute over infant with heart defect touched on abortion and parental rights.”

“Arkansas pushes Eighth Circuit to revive Ten Commandments requirement in schools; A group of parents claim the law violates students’ constitutional rights, but the state argues there’s nothing coercive about a poster”: Joe Harris 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 Eighth Circuit at this link.

“I’m Nebraska’s attorney general. No state can dictate the law for America. Each state is sovereign. Colorado must not have heard.” Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers has this essay online at The Washington Post.