Ahoy, Matey! David Shortell of CNN reports that “Former Christie lawyer grilled on Bridgegate ties in Judiciary nomination hearing.”
Matt Friedman of Politico reports that “Hearing for former Christie official could be a sign of things to come.”
Tim Ryan of Courthouse News Service reports that “Third Circuit Nominee Feds Off Questions About Christie Antics.”
And in local coverage, Herb Jackson of The Record of Hackensack, New Jersey has an article headlined “Chris Christie attorney general preview? Senate grills court nominee about NJ scandals.”
You can view the video of today’s U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for judicial nominees, including Third Circuit nominee Paul B. Matey, via this link.
“U.S. Supreme Court to take up Virginia redistricting case on racial gerrymandering”: Gregory S. Schneider and Robert Barnes of The Washington Post have this report.
Richard Wolf of USA Today has an article headlined “Supreme Court agrees to hear Virginia case on racial redistricting. Will partisan gerrymandering be next?”
Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times reports that “Supreme Court to consider Virginia racial gerrymandering challenge.”
Graham Moomaw of The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that “U.S. Supreme Court agrees to take up GOP appeal in Va. redistricting case.”
Dave Ress of The Virginian-Pilot reports that “U.S. Supreme Court may consider Virginia GOP’s appeal on gerrymandering case — with a catch.”
Lawrence Hurley of Reuters reports that “U.S. top court to review Virginia voting districts in race case.”
And in related commentary, online at ThinkProgress, Ian Millhiser has an essay titled “Supreme Court to hear a subtle but terrifying threat to Obamacare; Life is scary when you can’t trust judges to act within the law.”
“Asian-American High School Seniors Closely Watching Harvard Affirmative Action Case”: Kat Chow had this audio segment on this evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
“Justices debate fairness, future of death penalty”: Joan Biskupic of CNN has this report.
“Want to get politics out of the Supreme Court? It’ll take more than #RibsForRuth.” Columnist Michael McGough has this essay online at The Los Angeles Times.
“On Appeal, Waiting for the Trial Judge’s Opinion Can Be the Hardest Part”: This month’s installment of my “Upon Further Review” column, appearing in The Legal Intelligencer — Philadelphia’s daily newspaper for lawyers — can be accessed here.
“Trump looks to reshape liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals”: ave Boyer of The Washington Times has this report.
“Embrace the unexpected, says Elena Kagan, U.S. Supreme Court Justice and U of T honorary degree recipient”: Romi Levine of University of Toronto News has this report.
“Ginsburg, 85, back to work at Supreme Court”: The Associated Press has this report.
“Trump nominates Neomi Rao to replace Kavanaugh on DC Circuit”: Noah Gray of CNN has this report.
Jesus Rodriguez of Politico reports that “Trump nominates deregulation ace to fill Kavanaugh’s seat on D.C. court.”
Tal Axelrod of The Hill reports that “Trump announces Kavanaugh replacement for DC circuit court.”
And Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News reports that “Trump Is Nominating Neomi Rao To Take Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Former Seat; Neomi Rao, a former law professor and clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas, leads the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.”
Back in July 2017, Steve Eder of The New York Times had a profile of the nominee headlined “Neomi Rao, the Scholar Who Will Help Lead Trump’s Regulatory Overhaul.”
“Ex-Supreme Court Justice Kennedy: ‘This culture is becoming vulgar.'” Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has this report.
In the November 19, 2018 issue of The New Yorker: Jeffrey Toobin has an article headlined “Deval Patrick’s Presidential Prospects: Can an Obama acolyte be elected after Trump?”
In the Talk of the Town section, Amy Davidson Sorkin has a comment headlined “The Post-Midterms Dangers of Donald Trump: In firing the Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, the President is bringing the country closer to a constitutional crisis; Many Republicans seem fine with it.”
And Jeanie Riess has a Talk of the Town item headlined “The President of NARAL Gets Coiffed for Battle: Between speaking engagements, Ilyse Hogue gets a pre-midterms blowout and reflects on the fight over Kavanaugh’s confirmation.”
“Whitaker’s Appointment as Acting Attorney General Faces Court Challenge”: Charlie Savage has this article in today’s edition of The New York Times.
Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post reports that “Maryland to challenge legality of Whitaker’s appointment as acting U.S. attorney general.”
In today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, Sadie Gurman and Byron Tau have an article headlined “Justice Department Poised to Issue Legal Opinion Supporting Whitaker Appointment; Agency lawyers to cite 2003 guidance for President George W. Bush.”
Michael Dresser of The Baltimore Sun reports that “Maryland AG Frosh files motion challenging Trump’s choice of acting attorney general.”
And in commentary, online at The Los Angeles Times, law professor Andrew Coan has an essay titled “Matthew Whitaker is the new Harriet Miers. Conservatives should make Trump withdraw his appointment.”
“Bipartisan Sentencing Overhaul Moves Forward, but Rests on Trump”: Nicholas Fandos and Maggie Haberman have this article in today’s edition of The New York Times.
“Deference Bests Division With Kavanaugh on Supreme Court Bench”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.
Access today’s Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court: At this link. The Court granted review in one new case and postponed consideration of jurisdiction to the hearing on the merits in one direct appeal.
In Reynolds v. Florida, No. 18-5181, Justice Stephen G. Breyer issued a statement respecting the denial of certiorari. In response, Justice Clarence Thomas issued a concurrence in the denial of certiorari. And Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a dissent from the denial of certiorari.
