“Originalism Diluted”: Eric Segall has this post at “Dorf on Law.”

“Federal courts impose new COVID-19 restrictions amid surge”: Denise Lavoie of The Associated Press has this report.

“Supreme Court, other DC buildings evacuated as police investigate bomb threat on Capitol Hill”: Dan Mangan and Kevin Breuninger of CNBC have this report.

“Filmmaker Overcomes Supreme Court Setback to Pursue North Carolina for Stealing Footage; It looked hopeless for Rick Allen’s Nautilus Productions when the high court ruled against him in 2020. But now, he’s got a shot in his suit thanks to the Fifth Amendment”: Eriq Gardner of The Hollywood Reporter has this report.

“Where We Stand: Assessing Vacancies and Nominations in the Federal Judiciary — The Northeast.” Harsh Voruganti has this post at his blog, “The Vetting Room.”

“Appeals court upholds Texas law to ban abortion procedure”: Kevin McGill of The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A Texas law outlawing an abortion method commonly used to end second-trimester pregnancies was upheld Wednesday by a federal appeals court in New Orleans.”

And Shannon Najmabadi of The Texas Tribune reports that “Texas can ban common abortion procedure in second trimester, appeals court rules; The ruling is yet another blow to reproductive rights advocates after Texas passed a law this year that goes into effect Sept. 1 banning abortions as early as six weeks; That law is also currently being challenged in court.”

You can access today’s en banc ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit at this link.

“The judicial black box of Supreme Court recusal”: Sarah Lipton-Lubet and law professor Steven Lubet have this essay online at The Hill.

“Chicago group asks Supreme Court to block Obama library construction”: Rachel Frazin and John Kruzel of The Hill have this report on an emergency stay request filed this week with the U.S. Supreme Court.

“No Legal Duty for Couples to Reveal Sexual Orientation, Israel’s Supreme Court Rules; Israel’s Supreme Court decided that a person is not legally bound to uncover their object of passion with their partners”: Chen Maanit of Haaretz has this report.

And Yonah Jeremy Bob of The Jerusalem Post has a report headlined “Supreme Court: Couples do not have legal duty to reveal sexual preference; Ex-wife tried to sue her ex-husband for hiding he was gay and secular rather than heterosexual and religious.”

“#MeToo Has Changed the World — Except in Court; Judges continue to enforce a standard that makes proving claims of sexual harassment incredibly difficult”: Danielle Bernstein recently had this essay online at The Atlantic.

“Democrats have finally identified the greatest threat to voting rights — the Supreme Court; Nancy Pelosi is planning a vote on a bill that would undo many of the Court’s attacks on democracy”: Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.

“Court rejects CWA challenge, tees up Supreme Court showdown”: Jeremy P. Jacobs and Hannah Northey of E&E News have this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued Monday.

“Remembering two Harvard Law grads killed in Afghanistan”: Jenna Greene has this essay online at Reuters.

“ExamSoft ‘Deeply Sorry’ for Glitches That Crashed Bar Exams”: Sam Skolnik of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“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.”

“Judiciary Renews Calls for Security Funding”: The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts today issued a news release that begins, “Judiciary leaders are expressing deep concern that Congress has failed to provide funding to protect federal judges and courthouses, and are urging House and Senate leaders to appropriate money to address a ‘worsening’ safety environment.”

“Tribes’ Victory in Oklahoma at Risk in Bold Request to the Supreme Court; Last year, the court ruled 5 to 4 that much of the state is an Indian reservation. Oklahoma wants a do-over, testing the court’s respect for the power of precedent”: Adam Liptak will have this new installment of his “Sidebar” column in Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times.

“The Justice Scalia Mythology that Still Haunts our Politics and our Law”: Eric Segall has this post at “Dorf on Law.”

“Justice Beth Robinson — Nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit”: Harsh Voruganti has this post at his blog, “The Vetting Room.”

In Bashman news from the Bronx: NBC New York reports that “Bronx Trio Bash Man With Wrench, Beat Him Unconscious: Police; One of the suspects was allegedly armed with a wrench.”

“A Taney descendant joins the effort to rename Philly’s Taney Street; Joy Taney, a descendant of the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Roger B. Taney who authored the Dred Scott decision joined a group of Philadelphia activists seeking to rename a street named for the justice”: Sarah Gantz of The Philadelphia Inquirer has this report.