“Trump’s Impeachment Trial Offers a Chance to Seize the Initiative on the Future of Free Speech”: Steve Coll has this post online at The New Yorker.

“The Free Speech Debate About Social Media Is Broken; Our broad protections of the right to lie rest on an inadequate understanding of human psychology”: Law professor Cass R. Sunstein has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“Impeachment Doesn’t Violate Trump’s First Amendment Rights; The former president’s lawyers have advanced three lines of defense, all unconvincing”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

And online at The Atlantic, Peter D. Keisler and Richard D. Bernstein have an essay titled “The First Amendment Is No Defense Against Impeachment; Freedom of speech does not limit the removal and disqualification powers conferred on Congress by the Constitution.”

“It’s not a typical trial. Lawyers in the Trump impeachment case will argue big constitutional questions.” Ann E. Marimow and Tom Hamburger of The Washington Post have this report.

“The Trump Trial Wouldn’t Have Been Possible Without This Impeachment; The House managers in 1876 thought they had established a precedent; They did not count on modern Republicans”: Richard White has this essay online at The New York Times.

“Colorado Chief Justice Brian Boatright has one more chance to reform the Judicial Department; Colorado voters should prepare to force change upon a branch of government that operates in an unaccountable silo”: The Denver Post has published an editorial that begins, “The Colorado Judicial Department is operating in an unaccountable silo where the chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court wields power without transparency or oversight. The Denver Post has spent two years uncovering evidence of judicial misconduct being hidden from the public. Something must change.”

“Inside Merrick Garland’s Year as Brennan Clerk at Supreme Court; ‘He is a person of exceptional talent and great personal integrity,’ the late justice William Brennan Jr. wrote in a letter in 1995; ‘I have had over 100 law clerks and Merrick is one of the best.'” Marcia Coyle of The National Law Journal has this report.

“11th Circuit’s strict new rule for data breach standing will figure in Equifax appeal”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this post.

“The New Gender Dynamics of the US Courts of Appeals”: Adam Feldman has this post at the blog of his new endeavor, The Juris Lab.

“When Your Law-School Homework Is Stranger Than Fiction: RonNell Andersen Jones, a law professor at the University of Utah, can’t update the curriculum for her First Amendment seminar fast enough.” Andrew Marantz has this report in the Talk of the Town section of the February 15, 2021 issue of The New Yorker.

“Forfeiture case that went to SCOTUS before Indiana high court for third time”: Olivia Covington of The Indiana Lawyer has this post.

And online at Reason, Billy Binion has a post titled “Indiana Argues That the State Should Be Able To Take Everything You Own if You Commit a Drug Crime; The state used civil asset forfeiture to seize Tyson Timbs’ car in 2013; His nightmare hasn’t ended.”

“The Justice Department Is Way Too White: Biden has taken some critical first steps in making the Department of Justice more representative of America, but there’s more work to be done.” Ankush Khardori has this essay online at The New Republic.

“We Sued Trump for Emoluments Violations. That Fight’s Just Getting Started. Congress needs to take the baton now to prevent presidential corruption. Here’s how.” Karl Racine, Brian Frosh, and Norman Eisen have this essay online at Politico Magazine.

“Roberts won’t preside over impeachment trial, but Leahy set to follow his 2020 script”: Joan Biskupic of CNN has this report.

“On COVID and worship services, Supreme Court gets it wrong (again)”: Steve Benen has this essay online at MSNBC.

And presenting a different view, at The Federalist, Scott J. Street as a post titled “Supreme Court Pushback On California Should Be Just The Start Of Courts Standing Up Against Endless Lockdown; It’s reasonable to defer to executive branch officials during an emergency; But that deference cannot last forever, and it should depend on the nature of the government’s actions.”

“Yes, the Senate has the power to try Trump. He was impeached in office.” Law professors Michael W. McConnell and Ken Gormley have this op-ed in today’s edition of The Washington Post.

“Who Are David Schoen and Bruce Castor, Trump’s Impeachment Trial Lawyers? The former president’s defense team brings together an Alabama civil rights and criminal defense lawyer and a former Pennsylvania prosecutor best known for not charging Bill Cosby.” Charlie Savage of The New York Times has this report.

And Karen Heller of The Washington Post has an article headlined “Bruce Castor is a magnet for controversy. Naturally, he’s Trump’s impeachment attorney.”

“Adding Supreme Court justices? Progressives may be on collision course with Joe Biden.” John Fritze of USA Today has this report.