“California churches’ last hope for indoor Christmas worship depends on emergency injunction”: Valerie Richardson of The Washington Times has this report.

And tonight, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued this order denying the “Urgent Motion for an Injunction Pending Appeal” filed by the South Bay United Pentecostal Church.

“Biden under pressure to revamp the judiciary”: Harper Neidig of The Hill has this report.

“Federal appeals court turns down Donald Trump push to overturn election results in Wisconsin”: Bill Glauber of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has this report.

And Josh Gerstein of Politico reports that “Trump campaign suffers another legal setback in Wisconsin case; Republicans also lost a Georgia court case related to the Jan. 5 runoffs.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit at this link.

“Sidney Powell’s secret intelligence contractor witness is a pro-Trump podcaster”: Jon Swaine of The Washington Post has this report.

“Jeffrey Rosen Takes Reins of a Justice Department Under Pressure; Acting attorney general is expected to face continuing demands from President Trump regarding election”: Rebecca Ballhaus and Byron Tau of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

“Presidential election hostilities may fuel fight over courts”: Marc Levy of The Associated Press has a report that begins, “The angst, anger and hostility over Pennsylvania’s presidential election result will flow past New Year’s Day. Republicans who control the state Legislature could use the first weeks of 2021 to fast-track a constitutional amendment that would remake the Democratic-majority state Supreme Court after Republicans and President Donald Trump accused the court of acting illegally or, baselessly, conspiring to steal the election.”

“Effective Storytelling in Appellate Briefs | Jason Steed”: You can access this week’s installment of the “Texas Appellate Law Podcast” via this link.

The podcast this week returns to a Texas-based guest following two weeks featuring officious interlopers (here and here).

“Ninth Circuit rejects California church’s appeal of Christmas shutdown; The church had to seek the emergency order because a district court took more than two weeks to make a decision on a previous court filing”: Dom Calicchio of Fox News has this report on an order that a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued late last night.

Also yesterday, a different three-judge Ninth Circuit panel issued this scheduling order in an appeal raising similar issues.

“Sister of woman killed in crash with state police patrol car files suit”: Linda Satter of The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette had an article in May 2018 that began, “The sister of a 26-year-old Hot Springs woman who was killed in 2016 when a car in which she was riding was struck by a speeding state trooper who had his lights and siren turned off has sued the now-retired trooper and the director of the Arkansas State Police.”

Yesterday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued this decision, in which each of the three judges issued an opinion, affirming the district court’s dismissal of the lawsuit.

“Fifth Circuit Court Rules San Antonio Does Have Unhealthy Levels of Smog”: The Environmental Defense Fund issued this news release about a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued yesterday.

“14-Year Delay of Capital Murder Trial Prompts Judge to Dismiss Indictment”: In March 2020, Cameron Langford of Courthouse News Service had a report that begins, “A Houston man accused of beating two immigrants to death with cohorts in his human-smuggling ring had his indictment thrown out Thursday by a federal judge who blasted prosecutors for delaying his trial for 14 years.”

Yesterday, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued this decision reversing the district court’s dismissal of the indictment.

“Gun Use in US Suicides Kept Secret With 2nd Circuit Ruling”: Nina Pullano of Courthouse News Service has this report.

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Second Circuit ruling can be accessed here.

“Justices Staring Down Another Slow Term Despite Head Start”: Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Inside Trump and Barr’s Last-Minute Killing Spree: Private executioners paid in cash. Middle-of-the-night killings. False or incomplete justifications. ProPublica obtained court records showing how the outgoing administration is using its final days to execute the most federal prisoners since World War II.” Isaac Arnsdorf of ProPublica has this report.

“Businesses Feared a Flood of Covid-19 Lawsuits. It Hasn’t Happened. Personal-injury claims over infections are either too hard to prove or get funneled into the workers’ compensation system.” Jacob Gershman of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

“In Houston’s Zoom court proceedings, decorum often gets muted”: Gabrielle Banks of The Houston Chronicle has this report.

“Edward Douglass White statue removed from steps of Louisiana Supreme Court; U.S. chief justice targeted because he fought for Confederacy, upheld racial segregation”: Bryn Stole has this front page article in today’s edition of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans.

And Bryan Anderson of The Associated Press reports that “NC Supreme Court removing portrait of slave owner ex-justice.”

“Episode 3: Parenting is a Mess (with Rep. Mikie Sherrill).” You can access this week’s new installment of the “In Loco Parent(i)s” podcast, featuring Karen and Steve Vladek and their guest, U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), via this link.