“Four Columbia SC lawyers now make up core of Trump’s impeachment defense team”: John Monk of The State of Columbia, South Carolina has an article that begins, “One lawyer is an insider’s insider, working mostly behind the scenes. The other three are veteran criminal defense trial lawyers, known for being prepared to do battle for their clients. All four — insider lawyer Butch Bowers and trial lawyers Deborah Barbier, Greg Harris and Johnny Gasser — are from Columbia.”
“Kansas voters to decide abortion question; S.C. Senate approves sweeping ban”: Annie Gowen of The Washington Post has this report.
In local coverage, Titus Wu of The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that “Abortion’s status as a Kansas constitutional right to be on August 2022 ballot.”
Katie Bernard and Jonathan Shorman of The Wichita Eagle report that “Kansas voters will decide whether abortion rights are in the state constitution.”
Emily Bohatch of The State of Columbia, South Carolina reports that “SC Senate passes ‘fetal heartbeat’ abortion ban bill after female members decry it.”
And Jamie Lovegrove of The Post & Courier of Charleston, South Carolina reports that “Abortion ban bill passes SC Senate as state moves closer to likely legal battle.”
“Can Senate convict Trump of incitement based on a speech?” David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this report.
“The Supreme Court Upheld Trump’s Muslim Ban. Let’s Not Forget That. The decision offers a warning for the future.” Linda Greenhouse has this essay online at The New York Times.
“Even as Ghislaine Maxwell documents are unsealed, many of her secrets remain buried”: Ben Wieder, Kevin G. Hall, and Julie K. Brown of The Miami Herald have this report.
And Shayna Jacobs and Rosalind S. Helderman of The Washington Post report that “Ghislaine Maxwell, in newly unsealed deposition, claimed to have no knowledge of Epstein’s sex crimes.”
“The Senate’s Byrd Call: Manchin and Sinema have to do more if they’re serious about saving the filibuster.” Kimberley A. Strassel will have this op-ed in Friday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.
“Did Trump and His Supporters Commit Treason?”: Law professor Jeannie Suk Gersen has this post online at The New Yorker.
“Biden Didn’t Deserve to Lose That Immigration Case; An overzealous attorney general in Texas is clearly out to make a name for himself”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.
“Trump Judges Won’t Be Biden’s Highest Legal Hurdle; Democratic and Republican jurists will both insist that the benefits of new regulations outweigh costs and that their impact won’t be too disruptive”: Law professor Cass R. Sunstein has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.
“How the Filibuster Strengthens the Republic: The filibuster may have some costs, but it makes our polity more stable, promotes bipartisan compromise, tamps down polarization, and protects federalism.” John O. McGinnis has this post at the “Law & Liberty” blog.
“A Rush to Execute: In six months, the Trump administration put to death over three times as many people as the federal government had executed in the previous six decades.” David Cole will have this article (subscription required for full access) in the February 25, 2021 issue of The New York Review of Books.
“Through the Looking Glass, Darkly: The Supreme Court’s Muslim Travel Ban Decision.” Jonathan Hafetz has this post at the “Just Security” blog.
“The Timing of Judicial Nominations — When Can We Expect the First”: Harsh Voruganti has this post at his blog, “The Vetting Room.”
And earlier at that blog, Voruganti had a post titled “To Renominate or Not to Renominate: A Question For Any Incoming President.”
“Missouri lawmaker can block critics on Twitter, federal court says”: Robert Patrick of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has this report.
And Wendy Davis of MediaPost’s DigitalNewsDaily reports that “Missouri Lawmaker Defeats Lawsuit Over Twitter Block.”
You can access yesterday’s ruling of a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit at this link.
“Monty Wilkinson began serving as the Acting Attorney General of the United States on January 20th, 2021”: Thanks to the provision of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure governing official party substitution, you may be seeing his name on reported decisions until the U.S. Senate confirms President Biden’s Attorney General nominee.
“3rd Circ. Won’t Budge On Cookie-Shape Trade Dress Ruling”: Law360 has this report (subscription required for access) on a revised decision on panel rehearing that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued Tuesday.
“Biden Won’t Budge on the Senate Filibuster. Why Aren’t Progressives Pushing Him? The president doesn’t want to eliminate the Senate’s 60-vote threshold, an impediment to major legislation. Left-leaning Democrats disagree, but they’re holding their fire for now.” Astead W. Herndon and Lisa Lerer have this news analysis in today’s edition of The New York Times.
“Senate weighs jumping Biden judicial picks ahead of the queue; Some Democrats are urging the Judiciary Committee to reshuffle its priorities, mindful of their fragile majority and Mitch McConnell’s skill at blocking nominees”: Josh Gerstein and Marianne LeVine of Politico have this report.
