“The Challenges for Legal Commentary in the Last Weeks Before Election Day”: Bob Bauer has this post at the “Executive Functions” Substack site.

“Bonus 252: TROs vs. Preliminary Injunctions; The Eighth Circuit’s shenanigans in the Missouri redistricting case are a good excuse to reflect on the (collapsing) distinctions between the two most common types of emergency trial court relief.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“Appeals court allows Pentagon to label Anthropic a national security risk; The government retains wide latitude to use the supply-chain risk label”: Hassan Ali Kanu of Politico has this report.

And Zoe Tillman, Madlin Mekelburg, and Rachel Metz of Bloomberg News report that “Anthropic Faces Court Setback on US Supply Chain Risk Label.”

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.

“Jackson says all is not well on the Supreme Court emergency docket; The most junior member of the high court has been outspoken about her objections to her colleagues’ actions on the emergency docket”: Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service has this report.

“Trump Invites Supreme Court Picks to State Dinner After Barbs”: Seth Stern of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“The Tell: Chapter 11; Tom Goldstein has made his case; Now the jury returns, and the Supreme Court lawyer faces the verdict in his own tax-fraud trial.” Bradley Hope has this post — the final of the series — online at The Foundry. You can access the entire lengthy 11-part series via this link.

“From 16,000 to 185 to Zero: Trump’s Claims of Illegal Voting in Nevada Fizzle. It was the Trump administration’s latest stumble in its effort to find proof of widespread noncitizen voting, despite decades of evidence that it is extremely rare.” Nick Corasaniti of The New York Times has this report.

“Why Trump’s lawsuit against Selzer, Des Moines Register failed on every level”: Laura Belin has this post at the “Bleeding Heartland” blog.

“The Most Likely Avenue for Supreme Court Reform: Among the many ideas to change a wayward court, there is one that already has broad support — and is very likely to succeed.” Simon Lazarus has this essay online at The New Republic.

“A timeline of turmoil — Philly DA Larry Krasner’s uncertain future: How a routine case devolved into controversy.” Chris Palmer of The Philadelphia Inquirer has this report.

“Riverside sheriff had no right to seize 650,000 ballots, California Supreme Court rules”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.

Sonja Sharp of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Ballot seizure by Riverside County sheriff was ‘unlawful,’ California Supreme Court rules.”

Tim Arango and Soumya Karlamangla of The New York Times report that “Republican Sheriff Illegally Seized California Ballots, Court Rules; The California Supreme Court ordered Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County to return ballots to election officials after he confiscated them for an investigation.”

Patrick Marley of The Washington Post reports that “California Supreme Court rules sheriff must return seized ballots; The court ruled unanimously in two cases stemming from a vote last year on a ballot measure.”

And Alan Riquelmy of Courthouse News Service reports that “California justices slap down Riverside County sheriff over ballot grab; A city council member and attorney general made separate requests of the high court in their respective suits.”

You can access today’s decision of the Supreme Court of California at this link.

“Tennessee’s Abortion ‘Recruitment’ Ban Deemed Unconstitutional”: Eric Heisig of Bloomberg Law has this report (subscription required for full access).

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

“Appeals court appears skeptical of former Sen. Bob Menendez’s conviction; The court seemed receptive to his argument that his actions were protected”: Erica Orden of Politico has this report.

And Josh Russell of Courthouse News Service reports that “Ex-Senator Menendez seeks Second Circuit rescue from bribery conviction; Former New Jersey Senator Menendez has repeatedly mounted the same arguments before the trial court to little success, both prior to his sentencing and his surrender to federal prison on the bribery and corruption convictions.”

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

“Fourth Circuit calls real-time cellphone tracking a search; The panel is the first to hold the use of a cell-site simulator constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment”: Sydney Haulenbeek of Courthouse News Service has this report.

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

“Jackson Says Supreme Court ‘Less Restrained’ on Emergency Docket”: Jordan Fischer of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“The White House Press Fight Shows How Tricky Free Speech Can Be”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Allow Deportations to Third Countries; A lower federal court on Wednesday imposed restrictions on deporting migrants to countries other than their own”: Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has this report.

Justin Jouvenal of The Washington Post reports that “Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow ‘third country’ deportations for now; A lower court blocked the policy, which has sent thousands of migrants to countries where they are not citizens.”

And Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney of Politico report that “Trump admin asks Supreme Court to lift limits on third-country deportations; An emergency appeal says lower-court rulings have upended diplomacy with nations that agreed to take deportees who aren’t their citizens.”

You can access the court filing at this link.

“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.

Update: You can access the oral argument audio via this link.

And in other coverage, Christina van Waasbergen of Courthouse News Service reports that “Immigrants ask Fifth Circuit to axe mandatory detention policy; They argue a Trump administration policy denying bond hearings for all immigrants who entered the country unlawfully, regardless of how long they’ve lived in the U.S., violates due process.”

“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 in the September 2026 issue of Toronto Life magazine.

“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.