“Ninth Circuit clears feds to use tear gas at Portland ICE facility; In twin rulings, a conservative-majority appeals court tossed injunctions restricting tear gas use; A lone Biden-appointed judge dissented to both”: Monique Merrill of Courthouse News Service has this report.

You can access here and here today’s decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

“SpaceX engineers can pursue sexual harassment claims in court, appeals panel rules”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.

And Edvard Pettersson of Courthouse News Service reports that “Ninth Circuit rebuffs SpaceX bid to force arbitration of harassment claims; In a split decision, the appellate panel rejected SpaceX’s argument that sexual harassment claims must meet federal pleading standards to avoid being sent to arbitration.”

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

“NYC handgun owners secure partial win in challenge to licensing laws; The judges did not rule on the constitutionality of the challenged restrictions but said the challenges should have survived the dismissal stage”: Nina Pullano of Courthouse News Service has this report.

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

“The Blue Tsunami Threatens to Drown Originalism; Going forward, the path of advancing the conservative legal movement requires a political reorientation”: Josh Blackman has this post at Civitas Outlook.

“Supreme Court grapples with arguments over federal agencies’ power to impose fines; The case comes as the high court’s conservative majority has pared back the power of federal regulators; But even some conservatives appeared skeptical of going further”: Laura Beveridge and Julian Mark of The Washington Post have this report.

And Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service reports that “Feds warn SCOTUS against handing over policing power for immigrant labor laws; The Roberts court’s push to disarm the administration state could disrupt the Trump administration’s ability to enforce penalties for companies violating rules around foreign worker programs.”

“Blue wave could swamp Texas Supreme Court if GOP justice bails: report.” Matthew Chapman of Raw Story has this report.

“Trump DOJ Appointees Scramble to Exit as Aides Fret Over Careers”: Ben Penn of Bloomberg Law has this report, along with an article headlined “DOJ Chief Urges Wartime Footing, Warns of US Attorney Purges.”

“Trump replaces Eighth Circuit nominee Lee Rudofsky with Justice Cody Hiland; Rudofsky already had a hearing and was moving through the confirmation process; Now his nomination has been withdrawn”: Patrick McNeil has this post at his “Nomination Notes” Substack site.

“Alina Habba Mildon Loses $50 Million Contract That Enraged Trump; The former Trump lawyer had signed the contract with a family company weeks before the president gave the family’s patriarch a pardon”: Tyler Pager of The New York Times has this report.

“Confirming a Justice Before a Vacancy”: You can access today’s new episode of the “Advisory Opinions” podcast via this link and on YouTube.

“Appeals court says VOA director was fired illegally by former head Kari Lake; The decision marks the latest effort by the Trump administration to dismantle the international broadcaster”: Scott Nover of The Washington Post has this report.

Ben Johansen of Politico reports that “Appeals court blocks Trump administration from ousting Voice of America director; The D.C. Circuit upheld a lower-court ruling preventing the administration from removing Michael Abramowitz without approval from an independent advisory board.”

And Suzanne Monyak of Bloomberg News reports that “Trump Official Can’t Fire Voice of America Head, Court Says.”

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

Update: In other coverage, Ryan Knappenberger of Courthouse News Service reports that “Feds fumble firing of Voice of America director; The D.C. Circuit affirmed a lower court’s ruling that only an advisory board can terminate the news agency’s director, which has remained without quorum since Trump fired six of the seven members.”

“Trump Officially Names Judicial Nominees Already Sent to Senate”: Jacqueline Thomsen of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Appeals court narrows DOJ’s search of journalists’ records in leak probe; The Justice Department’s proposed search was too broad, the court said”: Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein of Politico have this report.

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

Update: In other coverage, Devlin Barrett and Charlie Savage of The New York Times report that “Appeals Court Rebukes Justice Dept. Over Demand for Journalists’ LinkedIn Data; The court said that the request was too broad and could reveal numerous unrelated confidential sources.”

And Joe Dodson of Courthouse News Service reports that “Fourth Circuit narrows government request for journalists’ LinkedIn records; The Fourth Circuit attempted to strike a balance between the need to protect national security and the need to protect the free press.”

“In Trump’s Washington, Prosecutors Can’t Count on Grand Juries to Take Their Side; In the past two weeks, prosecutors in the capital have failed to secure indictments in at least three cases, an acceleration of the problems the Justice Department has had with grand juries”: Alan Feuer and Michael S. Schmidt of The New York Times have this report.

“The Supreme Court could deal a death blow to civil rights precedent”: Law professor Erwin Chemerinsky has this essay online at The Los Angeles Times.

“NC Supreme Court to hear Stein’s challenge of laws limiting his appointment power”: Kyle Ingram of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina has this report.

Update: In other coverage, Sydney Haulenbeek of Courthouse News Service reports that “North Carolina governor seeks to reclaim judicial appointment power at top state court; The governor has selected appointees to fill appellate vacancies for over 150 years.”

“Not With a Bang, But a Whimper: Officials Leave the Justice Department”: Joyce Vance has this post at her “Civil Discourse” Substack site.

“Zoo Elephants Have a Right to Liberty, Group Tells Hawaii’s Top Court; At a private school that counts Barack Obama as an alumnus, the State Supreme Court heard arguments about whether two elephants in the Honolulu Zoo should be released to an animal sanctuary”: Jennifer Sinco Kelleher of The New York Times has this report.

Michael Brestovansky of Aloha State Daily reports that “Elephant rights go to Hawai‘i Supreme Court; Hundreds in attendance in case over whether Honolulu Zoo elephants Mari and Vaigai are entitled to human rights.”

And in commentary, online at The Los Angeles Times, Athar Minallah and law professor Kristen Stilt have an essay titled “Why captive elephants deserve their day in court.”

“Trump’s Supreme Court majority faces looming threat after Dem Senate takeover: ‘Stuck’; Justices Thomas and Alito, both in their late 70s, face pressure over whether to retire before Republicans lose control.” Ashley J. DiMella of Fox News has this report.

And in commentary, online at Bloomberg Opinion, law professor Stephen L. Carter has an essay titled “Alito’s Retirement Plans Are His to Make.”

“A new Supreme Court justice signed the petition to repeal Prop 4; Now the plaintiffs want him off their case; Lawyers argue Justice Michael Menssen’s signature on the repeal initiative creates an appearance of bias, say he should step aside”: Robert Gehrke of The Salt Lake Tribune has this report.

“Back to the Future: The U.S. Court for Berlin’s Lessons for the ATRC; A half-century ago, the United States brought to life a moribund court in West Berlin; that experience provides lessons for today’s ATRC.” Aaron S.J. Zelinsky has this post at the “Lawfare” blog.

“Guantanamo Dispatches: Military Judge Accepts First U.S. Navy Officer on Jury in USS Cole Bombing Case.” Carol Rosenberg has this post at the “Just Security” blog.

“Supreme Court Allows Construction of Trump’s Border Wall in Big Bend; Despite its win, the administration signaled it had adjusted construction plans in the national park with an aim to ‘preserving the unique landscape and public access’”: Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has this report.

Justin Jouvenal, Jake Spring, and Julian Mark of The Washington Post report that “Supreme Court allows major part of Trump’s border security project in Texas; The more than 500-mile stretch of road, cameras, vehicle barriers and sensors is planned in and around Big Bend National Park; It is one of the longest and most controversial sections.”

James Romoser of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Supreme Court Lets Trump Administration Build Border Wall in Big Bend; Project had been halted during legal challenge over impact on Texas border region.”

And Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service has an article headlined “Yielding to Trump, Supreme Court bulldozes barriers to Big Bend border wall; The Trump administration has rushed to erect a border wall across the pristine wilderness area despite having the lowest apprehension rates anywhere on the southern border.”

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

“Senate Republicans Are Sprinting to Confirm Trump Judges While They Still Can; The lame duck is the GOP’s last opportunity to stack the federal bench with MAGA loyalists”: JP Collins has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Supreme Court seems likely to limit prisoners’ ability to sue over claims of poor medical care; The justices did not seem ready to overturn a 1971 precedent that let individuals harmed by federal officers in violation of their constitutional rights sue for monetary damages”: Justin Jouvenal of The Washington Post has this report.

And Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service reports that “Justices look to limit lawsuits against federal prison officials; With precedent on the outs, the justices seemed to steer lawsuits against federal officials through legislative pathways.”

“Court limits California rules on companies’ greenhouse-gas disclosures”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.

Jonathan Stempel of Reuters reports that “Court blocks California from enforcing climate disclosure laws.”

And Edvard Pettersson of Courthouse News Service reports that “Ninth Circuit curtails California greenhouse gas disclosure laws; The appellate court agreed with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the laws in part amounted to compelled speech that wasn’t merited by California’s interest in reducing emissions.”

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

“Will the Blue Wave Come for SCOTUS?” You can access today’s new episode of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast via this link and on YouTube.

“Texas’ Flip to Blue Is Major Blow to Red States’ Legal Fights”: Jacqueline Thomsen, Alex Ebert, and Jordan Fischer of Bloomberg Law have this report.

“Protecting a Supreme Court Landmark; The government wants exceptions to the right to redress in federal courts in Department of Labor v. Sun Valley Orchards”: This editorial appears in today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“Why Colorado Is at the Epicenter of So Many Supreme Court Clashes; In three recent cases, the conservative-dominated bench has ruled against the state and in favor of the rights of Christian business owners”: Ann E. Marimow of The New York Times has this report.

“Arkansas GOP Senators Poised to Sink Trump Appeals Court Nominee”: Olivia Alafriz of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Trump seeks to install Elliot Gaiser into a lifetime judgeship in Texas; Gaiser’s nomination process began five days ago; This is not normal”: Patrick McNeil has this post at his “Nomination Notes” Substack site.

And in news coverage, Olivia Alafriz and Celine Castronuovo of Bloomberg Law report that “DOJ Lawyer Gets Nod for Texas Court in Late Judicial Push.”

“262. Sports Bets, Swaps, and the Kalshi Mess: Kalshi claims that it’s exempt from state gambling laws because its sports contracts are federal ‘swaps’; Three circuits have already divided, and the Supreme Court will soon have to step in.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“Pardon-Proof Accountability; Job One: Get the money back.” You can access the new episode of Slate’s “Amicus” podcast via this link.

“Judicial Notice (11.08.26): Elections Have Consequences; A fired Sidley associate headed to Congress, four new Democrats on the Texas Supreme Court, and 40 Weil refugees bound for Kirkland.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.