“Nation’s oldest juvenile lifer, Joe Ligon, leaves Pa. prison after 68 years”: Samantha Melamed of The Philadelphia Inquirer has this report.

“Why Mary Sarah Bilder Gets Originalism Wrong; Originalists and historians should not be in conflict, so why is fruitful collaboration so rare?” John O. McGinnis has this post at the “Law & Liberty” blog.

“What Mitch McConnell Got Right: Under Trump, Republicans reshaped the federal judiciary; Now Democrats have the chance to do the same.” Law professor Erwin Chemerinsky has this essay online at The New York Times.

“Does Brief-Writing Quality Affect Who Prevails at the U.S. Supreme Court?” Ross Guberman has this post at The Juris Lab.

“Let’s Not Forget Trump’s Failure to ‘Take Care’; His administration subverted that constitutional mandate by undermining core missions of the government”: Linda Greenhouse has this essay online at The New York Times.

“Direct Collateral Review”: Z. Payvand Ahdout has this article in the current issue of the Columbia Law Review.

“Rethinking Standards of Appellate Review”: Adam Steinman has this post at the “Civil Procedure & Federal Courts Blog” discussing his recent law review article bearing that same title.

“Crocs’ Competitor Cleared to Continue With Design Patent Appeal”: Perry Cooper of Bloomberg Law has this report (subscription required for full access) on an order that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued today.

“Avenatti v. Fox News Getting Funner (at Least for Law Geeks Like Me); Third Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas has been appointed to hear the case”: Eugene Volokh has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit applies Taliban law: You can access yesterday’s Federal Circuit ruling at this link.

“Complaints, Actions & Finality After Dismissals Without Prejudice; The D.C. Circuit split on finality after a dismissal without prejudice, with one judge questioning the distinction between dismissals of complaints and dismissals of actions”: Bryan Lammon has this post at his “final decisions” blog.

“Inmate With Mental Illness Should Have Been Given a Lawyer”: Blake Brittain of Bloomberg Law has this report on a ruling that a partially divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Circuit Judge Frank H. Easterbrook issued a noteworthy opinion dissenting in part.

“She sued a prosecutor for mishandling her rape case. She lost, but a judge called it ‘sickening.'” Joe Gyan Jr. has this front page article in today’s edition of The Advocate of Baton Rouge, Louisiana reporting on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued Tuesday.

“Mom Given Death Penalty for Killing Young Daughter Wins Relief”: Bernie Pazanowski of Bloomberg Law had this report (subscription required for full access) on an unpublished per curiam decision that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued in July 2019.

On Tuesday, a sharply divided en banc Fifth Circuit issued this 115-page decision on rehearing denying federal habeas relief by a vote of 10-to-7.

“Strip Clubs Violated Models’ Publicity Rights by Misusing Photos”: Bloomberg Law has this report (subscription required for full access) on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued Tuesday.

“2nd Circuit upholds NY state rules restricting ballot access”: Larry Neumeister of The Associated Press has this report.

And at Ballot Access News, Richard Winger has a post titled “Massive Ballot Access Defeat in New York.”

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

“Warrantless Digital Device Searches at U.S. Border Ruled Valid”: Andrea Vittorio of Bloomberg Law has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued Tuesday.

Update: In other coverage, Thomas F. Harrison of Courthouse News Service reports that “1st Circuit Upholds Border Searches of Phones and Laptops; The ruling says customs officials can rummage through highly personal information even absent any reason to think their owner did something wrong.”

“Harvard Law Review elects its first Muslim president”: Sahar Akbarzai of CNN has this report.

“The Ideological Status-Quo in Supreme Court COVID-19 Litigation”: Adam Feldman has this post at his new endeavor, The Juris Lab.

“In-person courses and conferences aren’t in most judges’ 2021 plans, survey suggests”: Michelle Werdann of the National Judicial College has this report on the results of a survey that organization conducted recently.

“CIA Can Shield Records on Syrian Rebel Funding; The CIA can reject a public records request seeking information on U.S. payments to Syrian rebel forces because a tweet from former President Trump didn’t officially acknowledge such records exist”: Brad Kutner of Courthouse News Service has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued Tuesday.

District court’s dismissal of action without prejudice gives rise to an appellate tangle at the D.C. Circuit: A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued this decision Tuesday.

“The Seventh Circuit on Guerrero-Lasprilla & Cancellation of Removal; The Seventh Circuit suggested (but didn’t hold) that Guerrero-Lasprilla applies in the cancellation-of-removal context”: Bryan Lammon has this post at his “final decisions” blog.