“Oklahoma to pay outside firm up to $700,000 in McGirt challenge”: Barbara Hoberock of The Tulsa World has this report.

In the August 23, 2021 issue of The New Yorker: Eyal Press has an article headlined “A Fight to Expose the Hidden Human Costs of Incarceration; The law professor Andrea Armstrong is documenting the loss of life inside jails and prisons in Louisiana, the state with the highest in-custody mortality rate.”

Joshua Rothman has an “Annals of Inquiry” article headlined “Why Is It So Hard to Be Rational? The real challenge isn’t being right but knowing how wrong you might be.”

And Adam Gopnik has a “Books” essay titled “Why Don’t the French Celebrate Lafayette? He fought for freedom both here and in France, but his own countrymen are blasé about his legacy.”

“Changing Youth’s Life Without Parole Sentence to 65 Years Valid”: Bernie Pazanowski of Bloomberg Law has this report (subscription required for full access) on an en banc ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued yesterday.

“The Irrepressible Myth of Jacobson v. Massachusetts”: Law professor Josh Blackman has posted this article at SSRN.

“Challenge to Zoning Restrictions on Shooting Clubs Can Continue; So holds the Third Circuit, applying intermediate scrutiny to limits on center-rifle shooting and to for-profit clubs”: Eugene Volokh has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy” about a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued today.

“En Banc Second Circuit Court Splits on Police Searches, Racial Profiling; The ruling, which overturned a panel’s determination, fractured sharply along ideological lines”: Tom McParland of the New York Law Journal has this report on an en banc ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued yesterday.

“2nd Circuit revives part of suit against NYU retirement plans”: Barbara Grzincic of Reuters has this report on a ruling that a partially divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued yesterday.

“Despite Texas high court ruling, some mask mandates remain”: Juan A. Lozano of The Associated Press has this report.

And Charles Scudder of The Dallas Morning News reports that “Ongoing court battle over mask orders leaves Dallas in ‘weird Alice in Wonderland limbo’; Dallas County still is under a mask mandate, even though Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins removed enforcement measures from his order Monday.”

“Long fight over New Orleans abortion clinic back in US court”: Kevin McGill of The Associated Press has a report that begins, “Planned Parenthood is asking a federal appeals court to reconsider the question of whether the state of Louisiana must grant a long-sought license for an abortion clinic in New Orleans.”

“Freedom to Speak or Freedom of Assembly? In Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta, the Supreme Court misses an opportunity.” Luke C. Sheahan has this post at the “Law & Liberty” blog.

“Ron DeSantis May Have Already Delivered the House to Republicans in 2022; By stacking the Florida Supreme Court with ultraconservatives, the governor paved the way for an extreme new GOP gerrymander”: Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Defending state sovereignty or psychological denial? Oklahoma’s attorney general pushes U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the McGirt decision.” The Tulsa World recently published this editorial.

“Arnold & Porter’s Kedem Talks SCOTUS-Argument Prep Amid Covid”: Jordan S. Rubin of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“The New York eviction moratorium decision and the problems of the shadow docket”: Mark Tushnet has this post at the “Balkinization” blog.

“Paul, Weiss inked $700K contract with Oklahoma to undo tribal rights ruling”: Mike Scarcella of Reuters has this report. According to the article, “Shanmugam normally bills at $1,824 an hour, according to the contract, but the firm agreed to a 50% discount for the state.”

The article reports, “The Paul Weiss petition, docketed last week, spurred criticism from some lawyers on social media and elsewhere, because the underlying case involves Oklahoma’s fight against a one-time state death row prisoner accused of killing a Native American woman and two children. Large firms often boast about how many hours they spend annually helping prisoners in death penalty and other cases.”