“Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference to Convene in Spokane, Washington”: The Public Information Office of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued this news release today.

“The Trump Administration’s Bid To Swap Lawyers In The Census Cases Is Not Going Well; Federal judges in California, Maryland, and New York rejected DOJ’s first attempt at switching lawyers, saying the government didn’t submit enough information about the late change”: Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News has this report.

“McGrath flip-flops on whether she would have voted to put Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court”: Phillip M. Bailey of The Courier Journal of Louisville, Kentucky has this report.

And Niels Lesniewski of Roll Call reports that “Amy McGrath walks back remarks on Kavanaugh confirmation; Kentucky Democrat is challenging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2020.”

“Connecticut Supreme Court agrees to hear appeal in lawsuit by Sandy Hook parents against InfoWars broadcaster Alex Jones”: Dave Altimari of The Hartford Courant has this report.

And Daniel Tepfer of The Connecticut Post reports that “State Supreme Court to hear InfoWars appeal in Sandy Hook case.”

“Silver bullets, blue pencils, and the future of the ACA”: Nick Bagley has this post at the “Take Care” blog.

“Ninth Circuit Review — Reviewed: Supreme Court Puts Wind in Sails of Court’s Critics of Morally Turpitudinous Crimes in Immigration Law.” William Yeatman has this guest post at the “Notice & Comment” blog of the Yale Journal on Regulation.

“Did the Trump Justice Department Seek to Change its Legal Team in the Census Case Because the Original Lawyers Refused to Lie?” Law professor Michael C. Dorf has this essay online at Justia’s Verdict.

And at the “Dorf on Law” blog, he has a related post titled “The Not-So-Fine-Line Between Creative Lawyering And Dishonesty.”

Sixth Circuit judges opine for and against using corpus linguistics to construe federal statutes: In clashing concurring opinions issued today, Circuit Judge Amul R. Thapar came out in favor, while Circuit Judge Jane B. Stranch (who also wrote the majority opinion) came out mostly against. And the third person on the panel, Senior Circuit Judge John M. Rogers, kept his views on this subject to himself.

“The Clarence Thomas Effect: The notoriously quiet Supreme Court justice has had a far-reaching influence on the personnel of the Trump administration, which may be his most lasting legacy.” Emma Green of The Atlantic has this report.

“Appellate Jurisdiction in the Fourth Circuit’s Emoluments Appeals: The Fourth Circuit took the extraordinary (and possibly improper) step of directing a district court — via a writ of mandamus — to certify a § 1292(b) appeal in an emoluments case.” Bryan Lammon has this post at his “Final Decisions” blog.

“Objections to Protecting Transgender People Under Title VII Are Meritless”: Joshua Matz has this post at the “Take Care” blog.

“Because a reasonable observer would conclude that exposure to the Fresno Bee article neither influenced the magistrate judge’s verdict nor prevented him from adjudicating Carey’s case impartially, he was not required to recuse himself.” So holds a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in a decision issued today in a case in which the defendant was challenging his conviction for misdemeanor offenses stemming from an unlawful BASE jump in Yosemite National Park.

The Fresno Bee article at issue was headlined “He leaps off Yosemite cliffs, knowing it’s illegal. Can his court case make BASE jumping legit?“

“Water-rights dispute Florida v. Georgia seems to have stalled”: Lara Fowler has this guest post at “SCOTUSblog.”

“Are dinosaur fossils ‘minerals’? The Montana Supreme Court will decide high stakes case.” Jeremy P. Jacobs of Greenwire has this report (via Science magazine).

“Justice Lee Johnson to retire from Supreme Court in September”: Tim Carpenter of The Topeka Capital-Journal has an article that begins, “Kansas Supreme Court Justice Lee Johnson plans to bring a nearly 20-year career on the appellate bench to a close in September, granting Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly an opportunity to put an imprint on the state’s highest court.”

And Jonathan Shorman of The Wichita Eagle reports that “Kansas Supreme Court justice retiring ahead of expected GOP push to change system.”

“Executive Council rejects MacDonald nomination for chief justice”: John Koziol of The Union Leader of Manchester, New Hampshire has an article that begins, “The Executive Council voted 3-2 Wednesday on party lines against appointing Attorney General Gordon MacDonald to serve as chief justice on the New Hampshire Supreme Court, handing Republican Gov. Chris Sununu a defeat he likened to Washington, D.C., politics.”

And Holly Ramer of The Associated Press reports that “Council rejects attorney general as chief justice.”

“Federal Appeals Court Rules for Trump in Emoluments Case”: Sharon LaFraniere of The New York Times has this report.

Ann E. Marimow and Jonathan O’Connell of The Washington Post report that “Appeals court dismisses emoluments lawsuit involving President Trump’s D.C. hotel.”

Stephen Dinan of The Washington Times reports that “Appeals court tosses suit against Trump, says president can run hotel.”

Jan Wolfe of Reuters reports that “U.S. appeals court hands win to Trump in hotel ’emoluments’ case.”

Andrew M Harris of Bloomberg News reports that “Trump Wins Dismissal of Emoluments Case by Maryland and D.C.”

Allan Smith of NBC News reports that “Appeals court dismisses emoluments clause case against Trump involving Washington hotel; The president immediately celebrated the decision on Twitter.”

Katelyn Polantz, Evan Perez, and Betsy Klein of CNN report that “Appeals court hands Trump a victory over Democratic challenge to DC hotel.”

Jacqueline Thomsen of The Hill reports that “Appeals court dismisses Emoluments Clause lawsuit in win for Trump.”

And Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News reports that “Trump Can’t Be Sued By DC And Maryland Over His Hotel, A Federal Appeals Court Ruled; The 4th Circuit questioned whether the lawsuit filed by DC and Maryland against Trump was ‘an appropriate use of the courts.’”

Today, the same unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued two decisions in two related cases, and you can access those decisions here and here.

“Originalism: A Unitarian Church for the Legal Profession?” Michael S. Greve has this post at the “Law & Liberty” blog.

“Dear Judges Elrod, Engelhardt and King”: Marty Lederman has this post at the “Balkinization” blog.