“Alito Defends the Courts; The Justice calls out progressive attacks on judicial independence”: This editorial will appear in Saturday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“Alito homes in on gay marriage, gun rights, religious liberty in stern speech to conservatives”: Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has an article that begins, “When a public official says he is pessimistic that his comments won’t be twisted or misunderstood but then adds, ‘here goes,’ even he knows something controversial is coming up.”

“Trump Loses String of Election Lawsuits, Leaving Few Vehicles to Fight His Defeat; The president’s efforts to use the courts to delay or block President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory were turned aside in cases in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona”: Alan Feuer will have this article in Saturday’s edition of The New York Times.

And Hannah Knowles, David A. Fahrenthold, and Rosalind S. Helderman of The Washington Post report that “Trump’s attempts to challenge the election results suffer further setbacks.”

“Precedent on Precedent”: Law professor Nina Varsava has this essay at the University of Pennsylvania Law Review Online.

“The Corpus and the Critics”: Justice Thomas R. Lee of the Supreme Court of Utah and Stephen C. Mouritsen have posted this article, forthcoming in the University of Chicago Law Review, online at SSRN.

“Alito’s Culture-War Speech Called ‘Insane,’ ‘Moving’ by Lawyers”: Jordan S. Rubin and Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson of Bloomberg Law have this report.

“ACA: The Lay of the Land; Where things stand after oral argument.” Stephen Sachs has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“Lawyers For Mentally Ill Woman Set To Be Executed By U.S. Contract Coronavirus; Lisa Montgomery has asked for a stay of execution until her attorneys are well enough to work on her clemency application”: Melissa Jeltsen of HuffPost has this report.

And Ann E. Marimow and Spencer S. Hsu of The Washington Post report that “Death row inmate’s lawyers suffering from coronavirus, seek delay in execution.”

“Trump Taps First Circuit Pick as White House Term Wanes”: Madison Alder of Bloomberg Law has this report (subscription required for full access) on an announcement that the White House issued today.

“Could State Legislatures Pick Electors to Vote for Trump? Not Likely; Some Trump allies have suggested that Republican lawmakers should override the will of voters who elected Joe Biden the next president.” Trip Gabriel and Stephanie Saul of The New York Times have this report.

“Supreme Court goes idle on Trump-related disputes and time is running out”: Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has this report.

“Trump team persists in Pa. court fights despite COVID quarantine, quitting lawyers, and courtroom losses”: Jeremy Roebuck and Julie Shaw of The Philadelphia Inquirer have an article that begins, “President Donald Trump’s effort to contest the Nov. 3 election in court suffered a series of setbacks Friday, leaving his house-of-cards legal strategy to reverse the results in Pennsylvania teetering on the edge of collapse.”

“Samuel Alito’s viral speech signals where conservative Supreme Court is headed”: Joan Biskupic of CNN 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.

In early news coverage, Erin Mulvaney of Bloomberg Law reports that “California Farmers Get Supreme Court Review of Union-Access Rule.”

“Trump Cries Voter Fraud. In Court, His Lawyers Don’t. Pressed by judges, some attorneys representing Trump back away from claims.” Byron Tau and Sara Randazzo of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

“Law Firm Stops Representing Trump Campaign in Pennsylvania Suit; Porter Wright said in a court filing that it would no longer represent the campaign in a federal lawsuit alleging widespread voter irregularities”: David Enrich, Rachel Abrams, and Jessica Silver-Greenberg of The New York Times have this report.

“Lawsuit aims to remove Confederate monuments at N.C. courthouses, with Gaston’s first”: Michael Gordon has this front page article in today’s edition of The Charlotte Observer.

“Federal court rejects effort to block late-arriving ballots”: Mark Scolforo and Maryclaire Dale of The Associated Press have a report that begins, “A federal appeals court in Philadelphia on Friday rejected an effort led by a Republican congressional candidate to block about 9,300 ballots that arrived after Election Day.”

You can access today’s ruling of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit at this link. Chief Judge D. Brooks Smith wrote the opinion.

“Biden’s Top SCOTUS Lawyer Should Be Woman, Court Watchers Say”: Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson and Jordan S. Rubin of Bloomberg Law have this report.

“Parties tussle for control in state supreme court elections”: Rick Linsk of Reuters Legal has this report.

And Danielle Battaglia of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina reports that “Chief justice race in North Carolina changes lead as election boards keep counting votes.”

“Election lawsuits land with Obama-appointed judges — but Trump picks loom”: Alex Swoyer has this front page article in today’s edition of The Washington Times.

“Justice Alito says pandemic has resulted in ‘unimaginable’ restrictions on individual liberty”: Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has this report.

Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Justice Alito Responds to Liberal Critics, Says Covid-19 Is ‘Constitutional Stress Test’; The Justice spoke to Federalist Society, held virtually.”

Jessica Gresko of The Associated Press has a report headlined “Justice Alito: COVID restrictions ‘previously unimaginable.’”

Ariane de Vogue of CNN reports that “Alito raises religious liberty concerns about Covid restrictions and same-sex marriage ruling.”

Brie Stimson of Fox News reports that “Justice Alito warns of dangers to free speech, religious liberty in Federalist Society address; ‘In certain quarters religious liberty has fast become a disfavored right,’ Alito said.”

Josh Gerstein of Politico reports that “Alito’s politically charged address draws heat; The Supreme Court justice warned that not only is freedom of belief under threat, but freedom of expression is as well.”

Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson and Jordan S. Rubin of Bloomberg Law report that “Justice Alito Warns of Covid-Era Religious Rights Infringements.”

Jordan Williams of The Hill has a report headlined “Justice Alito: Coronavirus has caused ‘previously unimaginable’ restrictions on liberty.”

Sanjana Karanth of HuffPost reports that “Samuel Alito Goes Full Political Commentator In Federalist Society Speech; The conservative justice criticized science-backed COVID-19 restrictions and condemned the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision to legalize same-sex marriage.”

In commentary, online at Slate, Mark Joseph Stern has a jurisprudence essay titled “Sam Alito Delivers Grievance-Laden, Ultrapartisan Speech to the Federalist Society; The justice railed against COVID restrictions, same-sex marriage, abortion, and the alleged persecution of conservatives.”

And at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Josh Blackman has a post titled “Video and Transcript of Justice Alito’s Keynote Address to the Federalist Society; He talked about COVID and Religious Liberty, the Second Amendment, Free Speech, and ‘Bullying’ of the Supreme Court by U.S. Senators.”

The Federalist Society has posted the video of Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr.’s remarks on YouTube at this link.