“The American Bar Association on Monday filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking to preserve cy pres awards in class-action suits because they are an important source of funding for legal services organizations that help provide access to justice.” So begins a news release that the ABA issued today. You can access the amicus brief at this link.

“Federal Court Holds FHFA Unconstitutional: A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit concludes that the Federal Housing Finance Agency violates the separation of powers.” Jonathan H. Adler has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy” about a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued today.

“U.S. judge defends actions as trial on Texas’ fetal burial law begins”: Chuck Lindell of The Austin American-Statesman has an article that begins, “A federal trial over the future of a Texas law requiring that fetal remains be buried or cremated got off to an unusual start Monday when the judge defended himself from a federal appeals court that had questioned his motives in the case.”

Andrea Zelinski of The Houston Chronicle reports that “Judge mentions Supreme Court shift as Texas fetal burial trial begins.”

And Jon Herskovitz of Reuters reports that “Texas fetal tissue burial law on trial at U.S. court.”

“The ‘Roe v. Wade’ movie has an all-star conservative cast and a bone to pick with the media”: Travis M. Andrews of The Washington Post has this report.

“State’s highest court rules that judges may force defendants with drug addiction to stay sober”: Maria Cramer of The Boston Globe has this report.

And Jan Hoffman of The New York Times reports that “Defendants on Probation Can Be Jailed for Drug Relapse, Court Rules.”

You can access today’s ruling of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts at this link.

“While Kavanaugh was a member, DKE flew under the radar”: Hailey Fuchs, Britton O’Daly, and Isabel Bysiewicz of The Yale Daily News have this report.

“How the Supreme Court Unleashed Business: Lewis Powell’s appointment in 1971 marked a sea change for corporate America; It’s his seat that Brett Kavanaugh now hopes to fill.” Justin Fox has this essay online at Bloomberg View.

“With another Supreme Court pick, Trump is leaving his mark on higher federal courts”: John Gramlich of Pew Research Center has this report.

“Should Democrats even bother to fight Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination?” Law professor Erwin Chemerinsky has this essay online at The Sacramento Bee.

And for a competing view, online at The San Francisco Chronicle, Willie Brown has an essay titled “Resisting Trump’s Supreme Court pick isn’t worth Democratic Senate seats.”

“How the Supreme Court Popularity Contest Got Out of Control: From ditch digging to being a great carpool dad, SCOTUS nominees try to present themselves as wonderful people, not just good jurists.” Neil A. Lewis has this article online at Politico Magazine.

“‘Undecided’ Rand Paul worries about Kavanaugh’s views on government surveillance”: Dave Boyer has this front page article in today’s edition of The Washington Times.

Thomas Novelly of The Louisville Courier Journal reports that “Rand Paul is ‘very worried’ about Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Kavanaugh.”

And the SenatorRandPaul YouTube account yesterday posted online a video clip titled “Senator Rand Paul joins Fox News to discuss the Supreme Court and NATO expansion.”

“The Supreme Court Is About to Get a Lot Less Honest About Its Fake Originalism”: Law professor Eric Segall has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Report Card From the US Supreme Court: How Third Circuit Fared in 2017-18 Term.” Tomorrow’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer — Philadelphia’s daily newspaper for lawyers — will contain this month’s installment of my “Upon Further Review” column, which has become something of an annual tradition each July.

“Seattle Attorney Eric D. Miller Nominated to to Seat on Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals”: The Public Information office of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued this news release today.

“Comments by former clerks may backfire on Trump’s high court pick”: Lawrence Hurley of Reuters has this report.

“Texan’s plans for homemade guns get OK from feds, and he says that spells doom for gun control”: Dana Branham has this front page article in today’s edition of The Dallas Morning News.

“Texas’ fetal burial law to go on trial in federal court”: Chuck Lindell has this front page article in today’s edition of The Austin American-Statesman.

In today’s edition of The Houston Chronicle, Andrea Zelinski has a front page article headlined “Fetal burial trial marks a new chapter in Texas abortion debate.”

Jackie Wang of The Dallas Morning News has an article headlined “Should abortion clinics have to bury fetal remains? Suit over Texas law goes to trial.”

And Marissa Evans of The Texas Tribune reports that “Texas fetal remains burial trial gets underway; The law at the center of the case is Senate Bill 8, passed in 2017, which requires the burial or cremation of fetal remains.”

The start of trial today no doubt helps explain the timing of this Fifth Circuit decision issued last night, which I first noted in this earlier post.

“Getting Rid of those Amicus Blues”: Adam Feldman has this post at his “Empirical SCOTUS” blog.

“The Artful Dodge That Saved Kavanaugh From Supreme Court Doom”: Sahil Kapur of Bloomberg News has this report.

“Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s Supreme Court pick, could have a major impact on gun laws, rejecting assault-weapon bans”: David G. Savage has this front page article in today’s edition of The Los Angeles Times.

“Will Kavanaugh Curb Sloppy White House Deregulation? The judge insists that federal agencies stay within the limits of law and delegated authority.” Law professor Jonathan H. Adler has this essay online at The New York Times.

“$18,000 in tuition and 1,200 hours of study for a license to braid hair? New Jersey lawmakers say no.” Jan Hefler has this article in today’s edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Why are juvenile lifers from Philly getting radically different sentences from those in the rest of Pennsylvania?” Samantha Melamed has this front page article in today’s edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer.