“Janet Malcolm, Provocative Journalist With a Piercing Eye, Dies at 86; Her subjects ranged widely, but she took special aim at journalism itself, writing that every journalist ‘knows that what he does is morally indefensible'”: Katharine Q. Seelye of The New York Times has written this obituary.

“Affordable Care Act Survives Latest Supreme Court Challenge; The court sidestepped the larger issue in the case, whether the 2010 health care law can stand without a provision that required most Americans to obtain insurance or pay a penalty”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Robert Barnes of The Washington Post reports that “Affordable Care Act survives third Supreme Court challenge, as case from GOP-led states and endorsed by Trump administration is rejected.”

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Supreme Court saves Obamacare again, rejecting GOP challenge from Texas.”

Brent Kendall, Jess Bravin, and Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal report that “Supreme Court Leaves Affordable Care Act Intact; The high court preserves the 2010 healthcare law, the signature legislative accomplishment of the Obama administration.”

John Fritze and Richard Wolf of USA Today report that “Supreme Court turns back Obamacare challenge, allowing individual coverage mandate to stand.”

Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has an article headlined “‘Obamacare’ survives: Supreme Court dismisses big challenge.”

Robert T. Garrett of The Dallas Morning News reports that “Texas loses again as Supreme Court dismisses multi-state challenge to Obama health law; Texas AG Ken Paxton insists he will keep fighting the law even after the court ruled 7-2 to keep it intact, reversing lower court opinions.”

Benjamin Wermund of The Houston Chronicle reports that “Supreme Court upholds Affordable Care Act, tossing Texas challenge.”

Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report on the ruling.

Lawrence Hurley of Reuters reports that “U.S. Supreme Court rejects Trump-backed challenge to Obamacare.”

Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Supreme Court Rejects GOP Challenge to Affordable Care Act.”

Susannah Luthi and Josh Gerstein of Politico report that “Supreme Court tosses lawsuit challenging Obamacare; The justices found that a group of red states lacked legal standing to bring a challenge that could have upended the health care law.”

John Kruzel of The Hill reports that “Supreme Court upholds ObamaCare in 7-2 ruling.”

Todd Ruger of Roll Call reports that “Supreme Court tosses out major Obamacare challenge; Affordable Care Act survives its third challenge at the high court.”

Paul McLeod and Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News report that “The Supreme Court Saved Obamacare Again By Throwing Out A Republican Lawsuit; The 7–2 decision saw justices nominated by Donald Trump join with the court’s liberals.”

Karen Brooks Harper of The Texas Tribune reports that “Supreme Court tosses Texas-led Affordable Care Act challenge, preserving sweeping health care law; The 7-2 ruling said the plaintiffs didn’t have standing to sue over the law; The court’s ruling did not include an official opinion on whether the law, commonly known as Obamacare, was constitutional.”

Brandi Buchman of Courthouse News Service has a report headlined “Texas, Who? High Court Quashes Challenge to Health Care Law; Backing the law still cheekily called Obamacare for the third time, the Supreme Court saw its conservative justices sharply divided on whether Texas and other state challengers have standing.”

On today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” Nina Totenberg had an audio segment titled “Obamacare Wins For The 3rd Time At The Supreme Court.”

In commentary, Friday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal will contain an editorial headlined “The ObamaCare Massacre That Wasn’t; So much for all those alarums about Justice Amy Coney Barrett.”

And online at Bloomberg Opinion, law professor Noah Feldman has an essay titled “Supreme Court’s ACA Ruling Is a Win for Common Sense; Obamacare lives again, this time in a 7-2 ruling that rejects an embarrassing argument lodged by 13 conservative states.”

“‘Pure insanity’: How Trump and his allies pressured the Justice Department to help overturn the election; New documents and emails reveal how far the president and his supporters were willing to go to try to keep Donald Trump in office in a frenzied three-week stretch that tested Justice Department leaders.” Matt Zapotosky, Rosalind S. Helderman, Amy Gardner, and Karoun Demirjian have this front page article in today’s edition of The Washington Post.

“Activists, academics step up pressure on Justice Breyer to retire”: Robert Barnes has this article in today’s edition of The Washington Post.

“Federal appeals court sharply questions legality of Maryland’s ‘broadcast ban’ on court proceedings”: Justin Fenton of The Baltimore Sun has this report.

Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has a post titled “Journalists win as 4th Circuit orders redo in challenge to Md. trial-tape ban.”

And at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Eugene Volokh has a post titled “Ban on Broadcasting Court’s Own Recordings of Criminal Hearings Likely Unconstitutional; The Fourth Circuit holds that Maryland’s ban must be subject to strict scrutiny, a test that the prohibition is highly unlikely to satisfy.”

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

“Obamacare’s Win at the Supreme Court Is Even Bigger Than it Appears”: Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“The Truth Teller of the Supreme Court”: Columnist Linda Greenhouse has this essay online at The New York Times.

Access today’s rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court in argued cases: The Court issued rulings in three argued cases.

1. Justice Stephen G. Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court in California v. Texas, No. 19-840. Justice Clarence Thomas issued a concurring opinion. And Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. issued a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Neil M. Gorsuch joined. You can access the oral argument via this link.

2. Justice Thomas announced the judgment of the Court and delivered the opinion of the Court in part in Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe, No. 19-416. Justice Gorsuch issued a concurring opinion in which Justice Alito joined in one part and Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh joined in another part. Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment. And Justice Alito issued a dissenting opinion. You can access the oral argument via this link.

3. Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court in Fulton v. Philadelphia, No. 19-123. Justice Amy Coney Barrett issued a concurring opinion, in which Justice Kavanaugh joined in full and Justice Breyer joined except for its first paragraph. Justice Alito issued an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which Justices Thomas and Gorsuch joined. And Justice Gorsuch issued an opinion concurring in the judgment in which Justices Thomas and Alito joined. You can access the oral argument via this link.

“Obamacare, LGBTQ rights, voting laws in play during Supreme Court’s final weeks”: Ariane de Vogue of CNN has this report. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to issue one or more rulings in argued cases starting at 10 a.m. eastern time today.

Registration is now open for the 2021 Appellate Judges Education Institute Summit in Austin, Texas: The event will occur from November 11 to 14, 2021. I am planning to attend, and I hope to see you there!

You can learn more about the event and register to attend via this link.

“Conservative Judges Keep Doing This Thing They Say They Hate; Republican opposition to nationwide injunctions seems to have evaporated upon Joe Biden’s inauguration”: Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“A Breyer retirement could help depoliticize the Supreme Court”: The Los Angeles Times has published this editorial.

“Colorado court rules against Jack Phillips, Christian baker refusing to make gender-transition cake”: Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has an article that begins, “Jack Phillips, a Christian baker in Colorado who has been caught up in lawsuits for nearly a decade, will appeal a court ruling this week that his refusal to bake a cake celebrating a gender transition is in violation of state law.”

You can view yesterday’s ruling of the Denver, Colorado-based state District Court at this link.

“Appeals court: No birthright citizenship for American Samoa.” Steve Limtiaco of The Pacific Daily News of Guam has this report.

Jennifer Sinco Kelleher of The Associated Press reports that “American Samoa culture plays role in US citizenship ruling.”

And Amanda Pampuro of Courthouse News Service reports that “American Samoans Are Not Born Into US Citizenship; A federal appeal panel says it is Congress, not the courts, that should decide whether to foist U.S. citizenship on people of a territory thousands of miles away who may not want it.”

You can access yesterday’s 98-page ruling of a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, in which all three judges issued an opinion, at this link.

“Appeals court refuses to reinstate N Carolina abortion ban”: Gary D. Robertson of The Associated Press has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued today.

“Nothing Justice Stephen Breyer has said publicly suggests he’s ready to quit”: Joan Biskupic of CNN has this report.

“Getting Back to Original Meaning: Had justices faithfully interpreted the Establishment Clause in light of its original public meaning, Lemon‘s absurdities could have been avoided.” Mark David Hall has this post at the “Law & Liberty” blog.

“For immigrants with protected status in Texas, U.S. Supreme Court ruling about green card ineligibility sent a ‘shockwave’; The high court ruled that immigrants granted protection from deportation due to conditions in their homeland are not eligible for green cards if they entered the country illegally”: Colleen DeGuzman of The Texas Tribune has this report.

“Bathroom battle begun by trans teen is back at Supreme Court, years after he finished high school”: John Fritze of USA Today has this report.

“Jack B. Weinstein, U.S. Judge With an Activist Streak, Is Dead at 99; In 53 years on the bench and nearly a decade as the chief judge of the Eastern District of New York, he was known for his bold jurisprudence and his outsize personality”: This obituary written by Laura Mansnerus appears in today’s edition of The New York Times.

And Corinne Ramey of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Jack Weinstein, Iconoclastic Federal Judge for Five Decades, Dies at 99; The Brooklyn jurist was known for pushing the boundaries of the law in the pursuit of justice.”

“The Political, Legal, and Moral Minefield That Donald Trump Left for Merrick Garland; Some fear that a former judge with a passionate belief in fairness and neutrality cannot effectively counter Trump”: David Rohde has this post online at The New Yorker.

“A National Injunction Setback for the Biden Administration”: Samuel Bray has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“Joe Biden’s Craven Death Penalty Reversal in the Boston Bomber Case”: Professor Austin Sarat has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Citations to Briefs in Oral Arguments and Opinions”: Adam Feldman has this post at The Juris Lab.

“I’ve urged Supreme Court justices to stick around — but never to retire. Until now.” Columnist Ruth Marcus has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“Kemp gets six finalists for upcoming Georgia Supreme Court vacancy”: Bill Rankin of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has this report.

“Progressives urge Supreme Court Justice Breyer to step down and allow Biden to fill seat”: Jennifer Haberkorn of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

“A Xitronix Sequel? Walker Process & Patent Jurisdiction; The Federal Circuit might have started another game of jurisdictional hot potato over appeals involving Walker Process claims.” Bryan Lammon has this post at his “final decisions” blog.

“First Circuit Affirms Work-for-Hire Copyright Ruling Against ‘Life’ Board Game Creator; The First Circuit ruled ‘Game of Life’ co-creator Bill Markham doesn’t hold copyright termination rights to the board game”: Josh Russell of Courthouse News Service has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued yesterday.

“A leading voting rights expert is among Biden’s new round of judicial nominees”: Carl Hulse of The New York Times has this report.

And Maeve Sheehey of Politico reports that “Biden nominates five new court candidates amid Democrats’ urgency; This announcement comes amid a push by Senate Democrats to fill vacancies on the federal bench.”

Today, the White House issued a news release titled “President Biden Announces 4th Slate of Judicial Nominations.”

“GirlsDoPorn actor sentenced to 20 years for sex trafficking, conspiracy; Authorities say company tricked young women into performing sex acts on camera”: Teri Figueroa of The San Diego Union-Tribune has this report.

Matthew Gault and Emanuel Maiberg of Vice News report that “Girls Do Porn Performer Is Going to Jail for 20 Years; Ruben Andre Garcia, the performer in Girls Do Porn videos, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to ‘conspiracy to commit sex trafficking’ and ‘sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion.’”

And Bianca Bruno of Courthouse News Service reports that “GirlsDoPorn Actor-Recruiter Sentenced to 20 Years in Human Trafficking Scheme; The largest courtroom in the Southern District of California felt like a sorority meeting Monday, as one by one young women coerced into filming videos for GirlsDoPorn gave a tongue-lashing to the porn actor who trafficked them.”

“Death penalty should be reinstated for Tsarnaev in Boston Marathon bombings case, Biden administration tells US Supreme Court”: John R. Ellement of The Boston Globe has this report.

Alanna Durkin Richer of The Associated Press reports that “US urges court to reimpose Boston bomber’s death sentence.”

Ronn Blitzer of Fox News reports that “Biden admin asks Supreme Court to reinstate death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; A court of appeals had vacated Tsarnaev’s death sentence.”

And John Kruzel of The Hill reports that “DOJ asks Supreme Court to revive Boston Marathon bomber death sentence.”

You can access the federal government’s opening U.S. Supreme Court merits brief at this link.

“The one Biden priority Democrats are confident they can get done: Now that the Senate has confirmed most of Biden’s Cabinet, Democrats are turning their focus to judges.” Marianne LeVine of Politico has this report.

“McConnell sparks new Supreme Court fight”: Jordain Carney of The Hill has this report.

“Supreme Court puts off decision on reviewing Harvard race-conscious admissions system”: Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has this report.

In today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, Brent Kendall and Melissa Korn have an article headlined “Supreme Court Seeks Biden Administration Views on Harvard Admissions Policies; The high court is weighing whether to hear a legal challenge alleging the school discriminated against Asian-American applicants.”

In today’s edition of The Boston Globe, Deirdre Fernandes reports that “Supreme Court asks Biden administration for view on Harvard affirmative action case.”

Vivi E. Lu and Dekyi T. Tsotsong of The Harvard Crimson report that “Supreme Court Delays Decision on Reviewing Harvard Admissions Lawsuit.”

And Alexandra Jones of Courthouse News Service has a report headlined “Inviting Government Input, Justices Push Off Harvard Admissions Fight; Only months after Biden’s Justice Department abandoned the prior administration’s opposition to race considerations in student admissions, it is being asked now to weigh in on a case against Harvard.”