“Fifth Circuit Struggles With Federal Bump Stock Ban”: Lydia Wheeler of Bloomberg Law has this report (subscription required for full access) on an oral argument (access the audio via this link) that the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard today.

“DOJ urges appeals court to uphold federal employee vaccine mandate”: Brendan Pierson of Reuters has this report.

And Cameron Langford of Courthouse News Service reports that “Full Fifth Circuit dissects Covid vaccine mandate for federal workers; Some judges on the New Orleans-based appeals court criticized President Biden’s mandate since vaccines are not ironclad protection against catching the virus.”

You can access the audio of today’s oral argument before the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit via this link.

“Skirts-only charter school seeks Supreme Court review in latest SCOTUS culture war”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Reuters has this post about a petition for writ of certiorari pending at the U.S. Supreme Court.

“West Virginia lawmakers pass bill that restricts abortion with narrow exceptions”: Brad McElhinny of West Virginia’s MetroNews has this report.

Campbell Robertson of The New York Times reports that “West Virginia Passes Strict Abortion Ban; The bill, which has some exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother, will go into effect immediately if the governor signs it.”

And Katie Shepherd of The Washington Post reports that “West Virginia becomes 2nd state to pass strict abortion ban post-Roe.”

“Lindsey Graham’s Abortion Bill Gets Cold Shoulder From Some Republicans; Supreme Court ruling has made abortion access a top issue in midterm elections”: Katy Stech Ferek and Lindsay Wise of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

Lisa Lerer and Elizabeth Dias of The New York Times report that “Republicans Struggle to Unite Party Around National Abortion Restrictions.”

Amy B Wang and Caroline Kitchener of The Washington Post report that “Graham introduces bill to ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks.”

Valerie Richardson of The Washington Times reports that “Lindsey Graham fuels abortion debate with bill to limit most abortions after 15 weeks.”

And in commentary, The Wall Street Journal has published an editorial titled “Lindsey Graham’s 15-Week Abortion Ban: It’s constitutionally dubious and risks misreading the politics.”

“Ken Starr, Independent Counsel in Clinton Investigation, Dies at 76; Mr. Starr’s family said he died of complications from surgery”: Peter Baker of The New York Times has this early report.

“John Roberts Can’t Admit What’s Happened to the Supreme Court; But he’s too smart not to understand it”: Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“The Dan Markel Case: No Bail For Charlie Adelson; Plus a new recording of Harvey Adelson, and two new books about the tragedy and its aftermath.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“Biden Appellate Pick Freeman Fails in Confirmation Vote; At least two Democrats missing from vote in narrowly divided Senate; Freeman would become first woman of color on Third Circuit if Confirmed”: Madison Alder of Bloomberg Law has this report.

And Avalon Zoppo of The Legal Intelligencer reports that “Senate Fails to Confirm Public Defender Arianna Freeman to the 3rd Circuit; Freeman’s nomination was backed by Big Law and former federal prosecutors.”

Update: In other coverage, Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times reports that “Biden judicial nominee loses Senate confirmation vote.”

Nate Raymond and Mike Scarcella of Reuters report that “U.S. appeals court nominee Freeman fails in rare setback.”

And Alexander Bolton of The Hill reports that “Biden court nominee fails to win confirmation as two Democrats miss vote.”

You can access the U.S. Senate‘s official vote tally rejecting the nomination of Arianna J. Freeman to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit by a vote of 50-to-47 at this link.

“Senate Democrats continue rush of judicial votes with 9th Circuit appointment”: Nate Raymond and Mike Scarcella of Reuters have this report.

And the Public Information Office of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit yesterday issued a news release titled “Senate Confirms Salvador Mendoza Jr. to Seat on U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.”

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate voted 46-to-40 to confirm U.S. District Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr. (E.D. Wash.) to a seat on the Ninth Circuit.

“Justice Kagan cautions Supreme Court can forfeit legitimacy”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report.

Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson of Bloomberg Law reports that “Disregarding Precedent Can Harm Judicial Legitimacy, Kagan Says.”

Ariane de Vogue of CNN reports that “Kagan calls leak of draft opinion overturning Roe ‘horrible’ and expects investigation update by month’s end.”

Beth Harpaz of Forward reports that “Supreme Court’s only Jewish member warns of judges ‘undermining their own legitimacy’; Elena Kagan, speaking at a synagogue, discussed her ‘quasi-bat mitzvah,’ Chinese food on Christmas — and concerns about ‘politics’ on the high court.”

And Andrew Silow-Carroll of New York Jewish Week reports that “Elena Kagan, in synagogue talk, says courts lose legitimacy when they stray from precedent.”

Video of Justice Elena Kagan’s talk is not yet available for on-demand viewing.

“Trump banned bump stocks after deadly Las Vegas shooting. Now the issue is in the Supreme Court’s hands. Experts say the Supreme Court may be waiting for additional lower court rulings before wading into the question of whether bump stocks count as machine guns under federal law.” John Fritze of USA Today has this report.

“Supreme Court justices respond to public criticism with distance and denial”: Joan Biskupic of CNN has this news analysis.