“Leahy’s hospitalization shows Dems’ majority hangs by thread; The Democrat’s health scare is a reminder that a sudden retirement or illness could shift the Senate’s balance of power”: Burgess Everett of Politico has this report.

“California Supreme Court allows high-ranking justice to be removed from office”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.

Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Top California court upholds ouster of L.A.-based judge for sexual misconduct.”

And at the “At the Lectern” blog, David Ettinger has a post titled “Supreme Court won’t save Court of Appeal justice’s job.”

“Can a former president be subject to an impeachment trial? The Constitution is murky.” Ann E. Marimow and Robert Barnes of The Washington Post have this report.

“Make the Filibuster Difficult Again: Here’s a way to address the tactic used to stall the Senate and upend presidential agendas.” Law professors Burt Neuborne and Erwin Chemerinsky have this essay online at The New York Times.

“Episode 05: May It Please The Court.” The “Lady Justice: Women of the Court” podcast posted online this new episode today.

“Pa. could become a national outlier in how it elects appellate judges. Here’s why experts are worried.” Marie Albiges of Spotlight PA has this article online at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Constitutional Priorities in the First 100 Days”: Georgetown Law earlier today hosted this event, featuring Neal Katyal and Paul Clement. You can view the video via this link on Facebook. At least one of the speakers may have had his collection of #SCOTUS quills on display in the background.

“Federal Judges Are Retiring Now That Joe Biden Will Pick Their Replacements; It’s not just Democrat-appointed judges, either”: Jennifer Bendery of HuffPost has this report.

“Is it constitutional to hold an impeachment trial for a former president? The Constitution is not at all clear about whether Trump remains vulnerable to impeachment.” Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.

And at the “Law & Liberty” blog, Stephen Wirls has a post titled “The Trump Trial Is Unconstitutional; The text and Hamilton’s commentary are sufficiently clear: those in office are subject to impeachment and trial; those out of office are not.”

“Trump Judge Issues Bizarre, Unenforceable Injunction Against Biden’s Deportation Pause”: Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Goldman to Supreme Court: Make it easier for defendants to escape shareholder suits.” Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this post.

“Why John Roberts’s absence from Senate trial isn’t a surprise”: John Kruzel of The Hill has this report.

“With court appointments and GOP legislatures, Roe vs. Wade is under attack”: California State Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris has this essay online at The Daily Pilot of Fountain Valley, California.

“Biden won the fight over the filibuster without saying a word; Biden had nothing to gain and everything to lose from fighting a quixotic war over the filibuster just days into his presidency”: Jonathan Allen of NBC News has this news analysis.

“Why the Senate Shouldn’t Hold a Late Impeachment Trial”: Philip Bobbitt has this post at the “Lawfare” blog.

In somewhat related news, Bryan A. Garner announced yesterday that Bobbitt is participating in a new Garner-led enterprise titled Lexegesis LLC.

“How to Fix the U.S. Litigation Position in Key Pending Cases”: Scott Roehm and Hina Shamsi have this post at “Just Security.”

“Biden starts staffing a commission on Supreme Court reform; He pushed the idea as a candidate during the Amy Coney Barrett confirmation fight; Now, he’s getting it going”: Tyler Pager of Politico has this report.

“Mitt Romney joins GOP senators seeking to block court packing with constitutional amendment; Liberals revived expansion idea in retaliation for GOP rushing confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett”: Lee Davidson of The Salt Lake Tribune has this report.

“Biden Was Against Packing The Supreme Court. A New Progressive Group Wants To Change His Mind. A new coalition wants to build momentum on the left to add seats to the Supreme Court and undo Trump’s legacy on the bench.” Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News has this report.

“An appeals court upheld a campaign finance conviction for Bob Brady’s onetime political guru”: Jeremy Roebuck of The Philadelphia Inquirer has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued yesterday.

“Court upholds order for Dakota Access environmental review”: Dave Kolpack of The Associated Press has this report.

And Samantha Hawkins of Courthouse News Service reports that “Court Slams Army’s Failure to Study Dakota Access Pipeline; Oil has continued to flow through the 1,172-mile pipeline pending appeal, but opponents can still secure an injunction.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit at this link.

“DC Circ. Won’t Hear DOD Atty’s Gitmo Public Access Fight”: Law360 has this report (subscription required for access) on a decision that Circuit Judge Justin R. Walker issued yesterday on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The opinion begins:

In this case, a defense attorney named Philip Sundel (with no client) petitioned a court (with no jurisdiction) to reverse a procedural ruling (excluding the public from a classified hearing) in an appeal filed by other attorneys who (like Sundel) have no client. Welcome to Guantanamo Bay.

“Trump Trial Without Chief Justice Lets GOP Talk Optics, Not Riot”: Greg Stohr, Mike Dorning, and Kimberly Robinson of Bloomberg News have this report.