“Trump lawyers ask Supreme Court to add citizenship question to 2020 census”: David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

You can access the federal government’s petition for writ of certiorari before judgment at this link.

“How a Pointless Lawsuit Took Off: An error put Rahinah Ibrahim on the no-fly list; The government fought her for 14 years.” Former Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski has this op-ed in today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Readers can post comments online, as to this point 139 already have.

“Philly DA’s Office appeals judge’s ruling on Mumia Abu-Jamal”: Chris Palmer of The Philadelphia Inquirer has an article that begins, “The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office on Friday appealed a judge’s ruling that convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal should be allowed to reargue his appeal before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.”

And Maryclaire Dale of The Associated Press reports that “Philadelphia prosecutor fights new Mumia Abu-Jamal appeal.”

“Google asks Supreme Court to overrule disastrous ruling on API copyrights; Google’s Supreme Court appeal against Oracle has huge stakes for the industry”: Timothy B. Lee of Ars Technica has this report.

“Nebraska Supreme Court tosses lawsuit over death penalty referendum, says inmates have other options to challenge sentences”: Lori Pilger of The Lincoln Journal Star has this report.

And Paul Hammel of The Omaha World-Herald reports that “Nebraska Supreme court rules to uphold validity of death sentences.”

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

“Illinois Supreme Court rules against Six Flags in lawsuit over fingerprint scans. Here’s why Facebook and Google care.” Ally Marotti of The Chicago Tribune has an article that begins, “The family of a teenager whose fingerprint data was collected in 2014 when he bought a season pass to Six Flags Great America had the right to sue the amusement park company under an Illinois privacy law, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday.”

Ben Kochman of Law360 reports that “Ill. High Court Says Actual Harm Unnecessary For Biometric Case” (subscription required for full access).

And at Biometric Update, Chris Burt has a post titled “Illinois Supreme Court rules against Six Flags in landmark biometric privacy case.”

You can access today’s unanimous ruling of the Supreme Court of Illinois at this link.

“Florida may now have America’s most conservative Supreme Court; Anyone reading this column probably will be dead by the time Florida has another Supreme Court that leans left”: Adam C. Smith has this essay online at The Tampa Bay Times.

“‘I have’’t seen a more perfect couple since I set up Drake with Ruth Bader Ginsburg!’ Tahani exclaims. They were also the craziest secret celebrity hookup.” From last night’s broadcast of NBC’s “The Good Place,” as recapped by Christina Roberts (presumably no relation to the Chief Justice) at Culturess.

“Study: Trump’s judicial appointees are more conservative than those of past Republican presidents; They’re 20 percent more conservative than those appointed by George W. Bush, according to an analysis from liberal group Demand Justice.” Li Zhou of Vox has this report about the results of a study that Demand Justice posted online yesterday under the heading “Trump’s Judicial Picks Are More Extreme Than Even Past GOP Presidents’.”

“Harvard and SFFA File Another Round of Clashing Briefs in Admissions Lawsuit”: Camille G. Caldera and Sahar M. Mohammadzadeh of The Harvard Crimson have an article that begins, “Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions continued to spar over whether the College’s admissions process discriminates against Asian-American applicants in clashing court filings submitted Wednesday.”

By a vote of 8-to-7, en banc Fourth Circuit holds unconstitutionally vague the term “crime of violence” in 18 U.S.C. sec. 924(c)(3)(B): You can access today’s en banc ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit at this link.

All of the judges in dissent, except for one, were appointed by Republican presidents.

“Law schools where too many graduates fail the bar exam may face tougher sanctions; With tens of thousands of dollars in student debt, some law school grads are unable to pass the bar to become lawyers; Are their law schools to blame?” Anne Ryman, Jonathan Ellis, RJ Wolcott, and Melanie Payne of USA Today have this report.

And Anne Ryman of The Arizona Republic reports that “This law school grad has failed the bar exam 8 times and won’t give up.”

“Previously rebuffed, Google asks Supreme Court to review Java copyrights”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this post.

And in news coverage, Jan Wolfe of Reuters reports that “Google asks U.S. Supreme Court to end Oracle copyright case.”

“The Trump Administration Will Let Adoption Agencies Turn Away Jews and Same-Sex Couples. Thank SCOTUS.” Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Halfway Through the Trump Presidency, the Resistance Is Winning”: John Cassidy has this post online at The New Yorker.

Therein, Cassidy writes, “Notwithstanding Tuesday’s 5–4 vote by the Supreme Court that revived the Administration’s execrable and pointless ban on transgender people serving in the military, the first line of resistance has been the judiciary, which has slowed, and in some cases blocked entirely, the Administration’s efforts to overturn precedent and due process. Trump likes to fulminate against the members of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which forced him to revise his travel ban, but many other courts have also ruled against the Administration, including the Supreme Court.”

“Supreme Court’s actions on transgender troops, gun rights, public prayer signal conservative trend”: Richard Wolf of USA Today has this report.

“Does Journalism Have a Future? In an era of social media and fake news, journalists who have survived the print plunge have new foes to face.” Jill Lepore has this very interesting, and yet quite depressing, article in the January 28, 2019 issue of The New Yorker.

“Age bias law does not cover job applicants — U.S. appeals court”: Jonathan Stempel of Reuters has this report on an 8-to-4 en banc ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued today.

Interestingly, Circuit Judges Frank H. Easterbrook and David F. Hamilton each issued a dissenting opinion.

“Where the fight for abortion rights will take place next”: Andrea Miller has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“Why do people such as Lindsey Graham come to Congress?” Columnist George F. Will has this essay online at The Washington Post about the new chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“Another victory is looming for Mitch McConnell”: Columnist Hugh Hewitt has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“Trump’s Transgender Military Ban Gets a Boost; There was no need for the Supreme Court to reinstate a misguided ban on transgender service members”: This editorial appears online at The New York Times.

“Supersizing the Second Amendment: The Supreme Court just took a case that could lead to yet more guns on the streets.” Law professor Garrett Epps has this essay online at The Atlantic.

“The Nominees Left Out”: Harsh Voruganti has this post at his blog, “The Vetting Room.”

“Trump is undoing the diversity of the federal bench”: Derrick Johnson has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“Phoenix LGBT wedding invitation case back in court”: In today’s edition of The Arizona Republic, Jessica Boehm has a front page article that begins, “Two evangelical Christian wedding invitation designers got their day in Arizona’s high court Tuesday, the next step in their quest to nullify a portion of Phoenix’s ordinance that protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination.”

Howard Fischer of The Arizona Daily Star reports that “Arizona justices consider whether business can refuse same-sex wedding clients.”

Jacques Billeaud of The Associated Press reports that “Arizona court hears arguments over gay wedding invitations.”

And in commentary, online at The Arizona Republic, columnist EJ Montini has an essay titled “Is ‘heterosexuals only’ the same as ‘whites only’? Arizona Supreme Court will answer that.”

You can view via this link the video of yesterday’s oral argument before the Supreme Court of Arizona.

“Mitch McConnell Is Spending the Shutdown Confirming More Trump Judges; The president’s record-shattering 84 confirmed judges are already 76 percent male and 91 percent white; The next six are also all white men”: Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Bail system on trial in Denver’s 10th Circuit Court of Appeals as states push for reform; Colorado lawmakers to consider several bills concerning pre-trial release this session”: Elise Schmelzer of The Denver Post has this report.

You can access via this link the audio of yesterday’s oral argument before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

“Nevada v. Hall and Intergenerational Legal Change”: Richard M. Re has this post at “PrawfsBlawg.”

“Why There’s No Liberal Federalist Society: The legal left has a money problem, a history problem and — maybe worst of all — a big-idea problem.” Professor Evan Mandery has this essay online at Politico Magazine.

“Iowa ‘fetal heartbeat’ abortion restriction declared unconstitutional, struck down by Polk County judge”: In today’s edition of The Des Moines Register, Tony Leys has a front page article that begins, “Iowa’s ‘fetal heartbeat’ law — the most restrictive abortion limit in the country — violates Iowa Constitution and may not be enforced, a state judge ruled Tuesday.”

“Ruth Bader Ginsburg reacts to Academy Award nomination for ‘RBG'”: Sophie Tatum and Joan Biskupic of CNN have this report.

“How the Supreme Court could shape the 2020 presidential race”: Eric Bradner and Joan Biskupic of CNN have this report.

“From Cover-Ups To Secret Plots: The Murky History Of Supreme Justices’ Health”: Nina Totenberg of NPR has this report.

“Shutdown expected to hit federal judiciary on Feb. 1 as cash runs low”: Caitlin Emma of Politico has this report.