“Prosecutor to Jeffrey Epstein victims: I’m sorry deal labeled you as prostitutes; Assistant U.S. attorney says the young women were mistreated and misled.” Jane Musgrave of The Palm Beach Post has this report.
Tom Hals of Reuters reports that “Judges skeptical of bid by alleged Epstein victims to void non-prosecution deal.”
Kayla Goggin of Courthouse News Service reports that “Full 11th Circuit Asked to Revive Challenge to Epstein Plea Deal.”
And Raychel Lean of the Daily Business Review has an article headlined “Could Jeffrey Epstein’s Alleged Co-Conspirators Be Prosecuted? Court Hears Courtney Wild’s Petition; Courtney Wild’s attorney told the court, ‘She wants to go to the prosecutors in Florida and say, “Prosecute the men and women who abused me.”‘”
You can access via this link the audio of today’s en banc reargument of this appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
“Kentucky religious school defies Covid mandate, court ruling by continuing in-person class; Classes at the Maryville Independent Christian Academy of Hope remained in session even after the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed an order to close schools”: Doha Madani of NBC News has this report.
“Pro-Trump legal crusade peppered with bizarre blunders; Spelling errors, misplaced states and client mix-ups are the main results so far of Sidney Powell’s legal efforts to overturn the election”: Zach Montellaro and Kyle Cheney of Politico have this report.
And online at Politico Magazine, Rich Lowry has an essay titled “The Conspiracy Theory That Could Hand Joe Biden the Senate: There is no evidence that Lin Wood and Sidney Powell are secretly working for the Democratic National Committee, but no one has definitively disproved it, either.”
“How Jenna Ellis Rose From Traffic Court to Trump’s Legal Team; The 36-year-old’s career includes six months as a local prosecutor and a book interpreting the Constitution through a biblical lens”: Mark Maremont and Corinne Ramey of The Wall Street Journal have this report.
“Trump’s losses stack up further as Wisconsin Supreme Court declines to hear campaign challenge to election results”: Rosalind S. Helderman, Emma Brown, and Elise Viebeck of The Washington Post have this report.
“‘Good Grief’: 11th Circuit Judges Get Into Scathing Exchange in Fractious Order; Chief Judge William Pryor and Judge Kevin Newsom said Judge Robin Rosenbaum’s strong dissent threatened the circuit court’s collegiality.” R. Robin McDonald of The Daily Report of Fulton County, Georgia has this article about an order denying rehearing en banc and the opinions concurring therein and dissenting therefrom that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued today.
“Wisconsin Supreme Court rejects Trump’s election lawsuit”: Patrick Marley and Molly Beck of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have this report.
My earlier coverage of today’s Wisconsin Supreme Court order can be accessed here.
“A New Look at Who’s Activist and Restrained on the Court”: Adam Feldman has this post at his “Empirical SCOTUS” blog.
“Justices Tell Federal Judge to Reconsider Virus Limits on California Churches; The move followed a decision last week lifting restrictions on religious services in New York”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.
Robert Barnes of The Washington Post reports that “Supreme Court sides with California church protesting coronavirus restrictions.”
David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Supreme Court gives partial win to churches fighting California’s limits on indoor worship services.”
Richard Wolf of USA Today reports that “Supreme Court grants California church’s challenge to coronavirus restrictions.”
Lawrence Hurley of Reuters reports that “U.S. Supreme Court sides with challenge to California’s COVID-19 religious service curbs.”
Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Supreme Court Orders New Look at California Worship-Service Limits.”
Ariane de Vogue of CNN reports that “Supreme Court sides with California religious ministry against state Covid restrictions.”
And in commentary, at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Josh Blackman has a post titled “SCOTUS Creatively Punts in COVID Appeal from 9th Circuit: Grants Cert Before Judgment, then Vacates and Remands; Given the likely trajectory of COVID-19, the Court may never have to decide a pandemic case on the merits.”
You can access today’s order of the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.
“The Supreme Court Is Colliding With a Less-Religious America; Justices’ drive to promote ‘religious liberty’ may only become more intense”: Ronald Brownstein of The Atlantic has this report.
“COVID-19 ruling reveals much about the new Supreme Court”: Law professor Erwin Chemerinsky has this essay online at ABA Journal.
“Why Prosecuting Trump Is a Very Bad Idea: The goal would be to renew faith in our government, but its effect would be the opposite.” Law professor Eric Posner has this essay online at The New York Times.
“Houses of Worship Shouldn’t Be Treated Like Bars or Gyms; The risk of spreading Covid-19 in any crowded venue is real; So is the value of religion”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.
“The Dangerous Possibilities of Trump’s Pardon Power”: Law professor Jeannie Suk Gersen has this post online at The New Yorker.
“Wisconsin Supreme Court declines to take up Trump lawsuit challenging election results”: Riley Vetterkind of The Wisconsin State Journal has a report that begins, “The Wisconsin Supreme Court handed a defeat to President Donald Trump on Thursday, declining to take up his case challenging Wisconsin’s election results and likely guaranteeing President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state.”
According to the article, “The court voted 4-3 to deny review of the case.”
In other coverage, Scott Bauer of The Associated Press reports that “Wisconsin high court declines to hear Trump election lawsuit.” According to The AP, “The court ruled 4-3 against Trump, with swing Justice Brian Hagedorn joining three liberal justices in denying the petition.”
You can view today’s order of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, and the opinions concurring in and dissenting from that order, at this link.
“Alito’s Way: Justice Samuel Alito’s speech shows that originalism will be the parole of the Court going forward, and that Alito will be the originalist of tradition.” John O. McGinnis has this post at the “Law & Liberty” blog.
“Supreme Court’s liberals face a new era of conservative dominance”: Joan Biskupic of CNN has this report.
“Newby leads NC Supreme Court race after statewide recount, Beasley calls for second recount”: Danielle Battaglia of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina has an article that begins, “Justice Paul Newby led North Carolina’s Supreme Court chief justice race after a statewide recount finished late Wednesday night, but the election isn’t over.”
“‘Civility is overrated'”: David Oscar Markus has this post at his “SDFLA Blog” about the opinions concurring in and dissenting from an order denying rehearing en banc that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued today.
“Does a veterinarian have a right to engage in telemedicine for a pet he has not physically examined?” Five years after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rejected this right, the question has returned, and yesterday a decision of a partially divided three-judge panel of that court produced a somewhat different result.
“Michael Flynn’s firing: A lie, a leak, and then a liability; Inside the 25 days that shook the Trump presidency.” Carol E. Lee of NBC News has this in-depth report.
“How Is Trump’s Lawyer Jenna Ellis ‘Elite Strike Force’ Material? She bills herself as a ‘constitutional law attorney’; Her experience doesn’t align with the sort of lawyer she plays on TV.” Jeremy W. Peters and Alan Feuer of The New York Times have this report.
“With Barrett on Supreme Court, California’s church COVID limits in legal jeopardy”: Ben Christopher of CalMatters has this report.
“Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s Choice: Will she join the Supreme Court’s grievance conservatives?” Columnist Linda Greenhouse has this essay online at The New York Times.
