“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.

“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.

“Is it time to rethink the office of the chief justice of the United States?” Russell Wheeler has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”

“Trump asks Supreme Court to allow DHS detention of pro-Palestinian scholar”: Stephen Dinan of The Washington Times has this report.

You can access the petition for writ of certiorari at this link.

“How States Are Pushing Back Against the Supreme Court’s Citizens United Decision; As it turns out, normal people do not like political corruption as much as the conservative legal movement does”: Madiba K. Dennie has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Man challenging 150-year-old ban on making liquor at home hopes Supreme Court takes his case; Home-brewing enthusiast wants to distill small quantities of spirits at home for himself and his wife”: Teresa Mull of Fox News has this report.

“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.

Ryan Knappenberger of Courthouse News Service reports that “DC Circuit sides with minister in battle over Capitol steps protests; In a split decision, Trump appointee Neomi Rao ruled the Eastern Steps of the U.S. Capitol are a nonpublic forum and a ‘demonstration ban’ was too restrictive under the First Amendment.”

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.