“The Seashells Case Against Comey at a Crossroads; A judge will soon rule on whether the former F.B.I. director must face trial for an Instagram post”: Adam Liptak has this new installment of his “The Docket” newsletter online at The New York Times.

“Douglass’s Two Constitutions: When Frederick Douglass began to appreciate the Constitution, it was a turning point in the drama of emancipation.” John O. McGinnis has this book review post at the “Law & Liberty” blog.

“Harvard Law Library Book Talk | Supremacy: How Rule by the Court Replaced Government by the People.” Harvard Law School has posted this video on YouTube.

“Samuel Alito’s Tortured Attempts to Explain Himself; In the midst of his will-he-or-won’t-he retirement tour, the justice is at great pains to make his view of originalism make a lick of sense”: Matt Ford has this essay online at The New Republic.

And online at Reason, Damon Root has a post titled “Alito’s ‘Practical Originalism’ Doesn’t Sound Very Originalist; The conservative justice seems to favor the kind of results-oriented judging that originalists are supposed to oppose.”

“The Supreme Court Is Playing With Fire”: You can access today’s new installment of “The Conversation” between Emily Bazelon and David French online at The New York Times.

“Justice Alito Calls Out Empty Reporting From ‘Court Watcher’ Joan Biskupic; Biskupic no longer has any inside information so instead she is forced to make up reporting based on the Justice’s apparent body language”: Josh Blackman has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“Pepperdine Caruso School of Law Hosts US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, Judge Allison Jones Rushing, and Judge Andrew Oldham for Armand Arabian Advocacy Tournament”: Pepperdine Newsroom has published this news release.

“Justice Alito explains why he thought Clarence Thomas was ‘scary’”: Stephen Dinan and Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times have this report, along with an article headlined “Justice Alito says ‘very little was done’ about intimidating protests.”

“SUNCOR Gets Complicated”: You can access today’s new episode of the “Advisory Opinions” podcast via this link and on YouTube.

“‘Time for a Woman’: Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign pledge runs into a harsh reality.” Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.

“Man Who Threatened Supreme Court Justices Avoids Jail Sentence”: Jordan Fischer of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Ted Cruz Explains How Justice Thomas Goes Further; Senator Ted Cruz’s new biography about Justice Clarence Thomas, Going Further, is a must-read contribution to this third genre of Supreme Court books”: Josh Blackman has this post at Civitas Outlook.

“Bonus 256: The Original ‘First’ Amendment; In 1789, Congress submitted *twelve* amendments to the states; The only one that was never adopted would have (for a time) grown the House in proportion to the growing country; We should revisit it.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“The Rise of New York’s Most Powerful Judge”: Bloomberg Law has posted this video on YouTube.

“The Collaborators: The cronies of Trump’s second term are more brazen than the old ones; They’re also heading for a harsher comeuppance.” Frank Rich has this article in the October 5, 2026 issue of New York magazine.

“The New Supreme Court Term Looks Boring. That’s a Good Thing.” David Lat has this new installment of his “Divided Argument” column online at Bloomberg Law.

“‘Use your majority’: In the unlikely event of a Supreme Court vacancy, Republicans are ready to act; A Senate flip to Democrats could essentially shut down confirmations of President Donald Trump’s court nominees — but not until January.” Jordain Carney and Calen Razor of Politico have this report.

“Trump’s SCOTUS succession dilemma: His favorite justices are also the court’s oldest; Speculation about Justice Samuel Alito’s plans has increased in recent months ahead of the midterms.” Josh Gerstein of Politico has this report.

“Justice Alito on Sports Gambling, ‘Nutty’ Law Reviews, and a Judge’s Fighting Spirit; Alito tells National Review what a justice needs and reads, and what worries him the most about the future”: You can now access part two of Dan McLaughlin’s interview online at National Review.

“11th Circuit lets Georgia family sue FBI agent over wrongful raid; An Atlanta mother was held at gunpoint in front of her 7-year-old son after FBI agents broke into their home in 2017”: Megan Butler of Courthouse News Service has this report.

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

“Christa Pike, Awake and Confused, Is at the Center of a Legal Storm; Her awareness and condition deepen ethical and legal questions after Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute her for murdering a classmate decades ago”: Emily Cochrane of The New York Times has this report.

“Supreme Court wrestles with fight over Air Force munitions-disposal site on Guam; A nonprofit group contends that exploding the ordnance threatens the island’s main water source, sea turtles and an Indigenous cultural site”: Justin Jouvenal of The Washington Post has this report.

Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times reports that “Supreme Court Weighs if Military May Explode Bombs on a Tropical Beach; The justices heard arguments over whether the U.S. Air Force can keep destroying munitions on a Guam beach under a program it began in 1982.”

And Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service reports that “Supreme Court review goes beyond military waste disposal for Guam residents; The high court seemed to question when, not if, the Air Force should face environmental review challenges to disposing hazardous waste on Guam’s beaches.”

“Sam Alito Wants You to Forget How the Conservative Legal Movement Always Works; Conservative activists are chipping away at the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell because Alito told them exactly how to do it”: Jay Willis has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Ninth Circuit reinstates suit over sex trafficking claims in Nevada brothels; A lower court dismissed the suit over the plaintiff’s desire to remain anonymous”: Alan Riquelmy of Courthouse News Service has this report.

You can access today’s unpublished, non-precedential decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

“Anti-Abortion Activists Finally Overreached at the Supreme Court”: Law professor Mary Ziegler has this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Justice for Our Daughter Christa; Message to Italy: We don’t seek the death penalty for Lee Gilley.” Chris and Sharon Bauer have this op-ed in today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“The Death Penalty Has Become a Torture Machine; Christa Pike’s botched lethal injection proves there is no humane form of execution”: Jeet Heer has this essay online at The Nation.

“‘So Ordered’ Review: A Practical Originalist; Pundits and academics theorizing about Justice Samuel Alito’s aims would profit from reading his speeches on the law.” Columnist Barton Swaim has this book review online at The Wall Street Journal.

And Devin Dwyer of ABC News reports on the book in an article headlined “Alito calls same-sex marriage a ‘decisive’ turn ‘against religious liberty’ in new book; In a new book, the Supreme Court justice reflects on his ‘pet issue’ of faith.”

“Like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice Alito Is Gambling on Outliving His Critics”: Ed Kilgore has this post at the “Intelligencer” blog of New York magazine.

“Justice Alito Speaks Out on Media Harassment and Why the Rules Still Matter; The author of Dobbs sits down with National Review”: Dan McLaughlin has part one of his interview online at National Review.

“Justice Alito ‘amused and puzzled’ by false retirement report; Alito, one of the court’s most conservative justices, told USA Today he wondered how many people were ‘crest-fallen’ when they realized he’s not retiring”: Maureen Groppe of USA Today has this report, along with an article headlined “Courting controversy: Alito on religion, racism and big Supreme Court moments.”

“Alito says Supreme Court can’t stem emergency appeals and voices concern over Trump’s rhetoric”: Lindsay Whitehurst of The Associated Press has this report.

“Justice Alito: Lower courts haven’t ‘gotten the message’ on affirmative action, guns.” Stephen Dinan and Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times have this report, along with an article headlined "Justice Alito: Supreme Court isn’t using AI; Bush appointee says AI is ‘pretty formidable.’”

“Trump Approves Plan to Put Fort Hood Shooter to Death by Firing Squad; Nidal Hasan was sentenced to death in 2013 by a jury of fellow officers at the Texas Army base”: Anne Flaherty of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

“Girl asks Supreme Court to block Wash. state rules allowing trans athletes; The high court has upheld bans on transgender athletes on girls’ and women’s sports teams; It has not said whether states can allow them to participate”: Julian Mark of The Washington Post has this report.

You can access the court filing at this link.