How Appealing



Saturday, June 13, 2026

“ICE’s detention policy won at the 5th Circuit. Then judges found another way to reject it. District court judges have ordered bond hearings or the release of ICE detainees more than 1,200 times since the appeals court’s ruling, a POLITICO analysis shows.” Jessie Blaeser and Kyle Cheney of Politico have this report.

Posted at 7:58 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump Again Picks Personal Lawyer for a Top Job, as U.S. Attorney in Manhattan; James M. McDonald, a veteran former federal prosecutor and regulator, has more recently been part of President Trump’s legal team, appealing his criminal conviction”: Maggie Haberman, Benjamin Weiser, and Alan Feuer of The New York Times have this report.

Corinne Ramey and James Fanelli of The Wall Street Journal report that “Trump Picks Sullivan & Cromwell Partner as Top Manhattan Federal Prosecutor; James McDonald, one of the president’s personal lawyers, would replace Jay Clayton, nominated as national intelligence director.”

Maegan Vazquez and Dan Diamond of The Washington Post report that “Trump to tap former defense team member for powerful Manhattan prosecutor post; James M. McDonald, picked for U.S. attorney for New York’s Southern District, would succeed Jay Clayton, whom the president named director of national intelligence.”

And Gregory Svirnovskiy of Politico reports that “Trump picks James McDonald to run SDNY; The move may serve as welcome relief for Manhattan prosecutors.”

Posted at 7:56 PM by Howard Bashman



Friday, June 12, 2026

“Bonus 232: The Term of the Summary Reversal; The Supreme Court has summarily reversed eight lower-court rulings so far this term — after just two last term and zero the term before; That uptick says a lot about how the justices sees their role.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

Posted at 9:55 PM by Howard Bashman



“Judge Offers New Apology for Her In-Chambers Affair and Other Misconduct; In a second apology letter, Judge Eleanor Ross said her actions were ‘patently wrong’; Some House Republicans want her impeached”: Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Mattathias Schwartz of The New York Times have this report.

Posted at 9:24 PM by Howard Bashman



“Sam Bankman-Fried Loses Appeal of Conviction for FTX Fraud”: Bob Van Voris and Ava Benny-Morrison of Bloomberg News have this report.

And Josh Russell of Courthouse News Service reports that “Second Circuit denies Sam Bankman-Fried’s bid to overturn FTX crypto fraud conviction; The convicted FTX founder has already filed an application for a presidential pardon, according to Department of Justice records.”

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

Posted at 3:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Senate Must Not Confirm Any More Trump Judges Who Are This Bad at Parking; A closer look at Judge Ryan Nelson’s deeply embarrassing bid to fight a stranger in a mostly empty parking lot”: Jay Willis has this post at his “Balls & Strikes” Substack site.

Posted at 2:19 PM by Howard Bashman



“Federal judge indefinitely blocks Trump’s $1.8 billion payout fund; U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema said the government has not provided ‘absolute certainty’ it won’t try to resurrect the fund in the future”: Katie Mettler and Jeremy Roebuck of The Washington Post have this report.

Josh Gerstein of Politico reports that “Judge extends block on Trump’s ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’; Judge Leonie Brinkema said she’ll likely dismiss a lawsuit over the project if top officials formally kill it.”

Zoe Tillman of Bloomberg News reports that “Judge Rejects DOJ Assurance ‘Weaponization’ Fund Is Defunct.”

And at his “All Rise News” Substack site, Adam Klasfeld has a post titled “Judge BLOCKS Trump’s $1.776 slush fund: Highlights from the hearing; It took U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema less than 30 minutes to gut Trump’s slush fund.”

Posted at 12:31 PM by Howard Bashman



Thursday, June 11, 2026

“Axed activist-investor takeover leaves Supreme Court at loggerheads over legislative intent; A disagreement over judicial interpretation led to riffs from the bench on judges’ preferences supplanting the will of the people”: Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service has this report.

Reichmann also has articles headlined “Supreme Court says bankruptcy paperwork error shouldn’t knock out debtor’s injury suit; The high court considered whether an accidental bankruptcy nondisclosure could sink an Arkansas man’s personal injury lawsuit” and “Feds lose Supreme Court duel over Twitter-era obstruction probe; Justice Kagan drew on ideals the founders cemented in the Declaration of Independence to describe the unfairness of the government’s prosecution.”

Posted at 9:28 PM by Howard Bashman



“Arkansas asks Eighth Circuit to revive law targeting librarians over ‘harmful’ books; The state argues the law protects children and regulates government speech, but librarians and booksellers claim it criminalizes availability and enables viewpoint discrimination”: Gabriel Tynes 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.

Posted at 9:03 PM by Howard Bashman



“Solo dissents are uncommon. Justice Kagan just made her first. Justice Elena Kagan’s first solo dissent came nearly 16 years after she joined the Supreme Court bench.” Law professors Grant Christensen and Anne Mullins have this essay online at The Washington Post.

Posted at 8:58 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Wall Street Journal seeks second dismissal of Trump defamation lawsuit; Trump sued the publication last year for $10 billion over an article about a birthday card sent to Jeffrey Epstein; After an adverse ruling, the president revived his claims”: Alex Pickett of Courthouse News Service has this report.

Posted at 8:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“US Judge Ross Apologizes for ‘Harmful, Offensive’ Behavior”: Suzanne Monyak of Bloomberg Law has this report.

The three recently issued letters mentioned in the article can be accessed here, here, and here.

Posted at 8:36 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump and Allies Are Working on Plan to ‘Expunge’ Impeachments; Republican-backed symbolic resolution would put lawmakers on record regarding the two impeachments during Trump’s first term”: Annie Linskey, Olivia Beavers, and Natalie Andrews of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

Posted at 8:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“Penn & Teller call out ‘flim-flam’ in Supreme Court death penalty case; The master manipulators of perception said they have an obligation to expose the type of junk science they said was used to convict a man of murder”: Maureen Groppe of USA Today has this report.

Posted at 8:28 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh takes on a starring role in Maine’s Senate race; Sen. Susan Collins’ 2018 vote to confirm Kavanaugh is a fresh source of anger for Democrats, who point to his key vote to overturn Roe v. Wade — even though she indicated he wouldn’t”: Natasha Korecki and Sahil Kapur of NBC News have this report.

Posted at 3:31 PM by Howard Bashman



“More Trump Losses in Court and a Federal Judge in Hot Water; A roundup of legal news from the last week”: You can access this new installment of “The Docket” newsletter online at The New York Times.

Posted at 12:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“Standing Downstream from Dobbs; Good constitutional interpretation must distinguish invented liberties from written ones”: John O. McGinnis has this post at the “Law & Liberty” blog.

Posted at 11:20 AM by Howard Bashman



“Was Ray Howell Responsible for His Crimes? A small-town doctor’s abuse of power shocked his community and family. Then he was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition, leaving his culpability in doubt.” Adeline Goss has this article online at The New Yorker.

Posted at 11:10 AM by Howard Bashman



“Sex, Lies and Secrets: A Federal Judge’s Trysts Go Public; Now, Judge Eleanor Ross’s career and caseload are under scrutiny; And her punishment, a private reprimand, has sparked backlash.” Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Mattathias Schwartz of The New York Times have this report.

Posted at 11:06 AM by Howard Bashman



Wednesday, June 10, 2026

“Delaware Supreme Court hears arguments over constitutionality of age-restricted gun law; Delaware gun rights advocates cheered last year’s overturning of the gun control law, but took issue with the court’s method”: Sarah Mueller of WHYY has this report.

The Supreme Court of Delaware has posted this video of today’s oral argument on Vimeo.

Posted at 9:18 PM by Howard Bashman



“US Refunds $22 Billion in Tariffs, Offsetting Customs Revenue”: Daniel Flatley and Laura Curtis of Bloomberg News has this report.

Posted at 8:57 PM by Howard Bashman



“Alabama AG’s office appeals ruling declaring nitrogen gas executions unconstitutional; A federal judge Tuesday ruled that Jeffery Lee had shown the method was cruel and unusual punishment and that death by firing squad was a feasible alternative”: Ralph Chapoco of Alabama Reflector has this report.

Posted at 8:55 PM by Howard Bashman



“In Memoriam: Jake Dear, Chief Supervising Attorney of the California Supreme Court; Devoted public servant helped shape 40 years of California jurisprudence.” Merrill Balassone of California Courts Newsroom has written this news release.

Posted at 8:46 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Supreme Court Doesn’t Own the Constitution”: Columnist Jamelle Bouie has this essay online at The New York Times.

Posted at 8:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“Montana Supreme Court certifies ballot measure on corporate election spending; The high court removed one sentence from the attorney general’s ballot statement, calling it argumentative”: Alan Riquelmy of Courthouse News Service has this report.

You can access Tuesday’s decision of the Supreme Court of Montana at this link.

Posted at 8:27 PM by Howard Bashman



“Why the Supreme Court Is Debating Which Founding Fathers Were Drunks; The court’s docket increasingly features bizarre historical arguments; ‘John Adams took a tankard of hard cider with his breakfast’”: James Romoser of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

Posted at 8:24 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court set to rule on Trump, GOP policy goals ahead of summer recess; President Donald Trump’s agenda looms large at the Supreme Court as the justices prepare to ink rulings on mail-in ballots, executive branch firings and immigration”: Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service has this report.

Posted at 8:14 PM by Howard Bashman