“Rudy Giuliani doubles down on false Pennsylvania election fraud claims in disciplinary hearing; Facing possible professional sanctions, the former New York City mayor maintained he’s become the victim of persecution for leading up Trump’s 2020 Pennsylvania election challenge in court”: Jeremy Roebuck of The Philadelphia Inquirer has this report.
“6th Circ. Upholds $40M Teflon Cancer Verdict Against DuPont”: Madeline Lyskawa of Law360 has this report (subscription required for access) on a noteworthy ruling that a partially divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued today.
“Supreme Court to decide how much authority state legislatures have over elections”: Alex Swoyer and Stephen Dinan of The Washington Times have this report.
“Can the Supreme Court Define a State’s ‘Legislature’? Whether state judges can review election laws is up to the state constitution, not the justices.” Law professor Steven G. Calabresi will have this op-ed in Tuesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.
“How Right-Wing Groups Set the Stage for the Supreme Court to Rig Future Elections; The ‘independent state legislature’ theory was once considered a fringe notion; Then the Federalist Society and its allies stepped in”: Ari Berman of Mother Jones has this report.
“Supreme Court Seems Ready to Back Web Designer Opposed to Same-Sex Marriage; The justices are expected to settle a question left open in 2018: how to reconcile claims of religious liberty with laws barring discrimination based on sexual orientation.” Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.
Charlie Savage of The New York Times has an article headlined “Alito Teases Kagan About Dating Sites and Black Children in K.K.K. Outfits; Monday’s Supreme Court arguments involved many hypothetical scenarios’ A few riffs provoked snickers in the generally serious chamber.”
Robert Barnes of The Washington Post reports that “Supreme Court seems to side with web designer opposed to same-sex marriage; Colorado’s Lorie Smith says being forced to create websites for gay couples would violate her right to free speech.”
David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Supreme Court leans in favor of a Christian website designer’s right to turn away gay weddings.”
Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Supreme Court Hears Arguments Pitting Gay Rights Against Free Speech; Website designer gets support from conservative justices for her claim of a right to refuse commissions from same-sex couples.”
John Fritze of USA Today reports that “Supreme Court signals support for website designer who wants to decline same-sex weddings; Conservative justices worried Colorado’s anti-discrimination law may force the designer to endorse same-sex marriage while liberals were concerned about the impact on race and gender discrimination.”
And Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times reports that “Supreme Court grapples with Christian business owner’s objection to Colorado’s pro-LGBTQ law.”
The U.S. Supreme Court has posted online the transcript and audio of today’s oral argument in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, No. 21-476.
“The Supreme Court Is About to Ask the Wrong Question About the First Amendment”: David Cole has this essay online at The New York Times.
“Alito’s mentions of Ashley Madison and children wearing KKK costumes cap an awkward Supreme Court day”: Ariane de Vogue of CNN has this report.
And Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Alito’s Quip About Black Children in KKK Outfits Creates Awkward Supreme Court Moment.”
“Conservative justices come to same-sex marriage controversy with minds made up”: Joan Biskupic of CNN has this news analysis.
“‘Scenes with Santa’ and online-dating inquiries at the 303 Creative argument”: Mark Walsh has this “A View from the Courtroom” post at “SCOTUSblog.”
“You Won’t Even Believe Where Oral Arguments at SCOTUS Went Today; When a justice starts making jokes about a Black child wearing a KKK outfit as a hypothetical, something has gone incredibly awry”: Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.
“Considering the Usefulness of Rebuttal Oral Argument; By tradition, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court — the oldest appellate court in the United States in continuous operation — does not permit rebuttal oral argument”: This month’s installment of my “Upon Further Review” column will appear in tomorrow’s print edition of The Legal Intelligencer, Philadelphia’s daily newspaper for lawyers.
“Donald Trump Is No Lover of the Constitution; Trump’s incoherent constitutional philosophy summed up: The Constitution provides a first option, but if for some reason he doesn’t like it, he’s happy to discard it.” David A. Graham has this essay online at The Atlantic.
“Supreme Court Justice Alito jokes about Black Santa and Ashley Madison during arguments in same-sex weddings case; The justices heard arguments in the case of a web designer who is seeking to avoid working on same-sex weddings because she is a conservative evangelical Christian”: Summer Concepcion of NBC News has this report.
And Cheyanne M. Daniels of The Hill reports that “Alito jokes about Black kids in KKK outfits during Supreme Court argument.”
“4. ‘A Court of Review, Not First View’: More than ever before, the Supreme Court is resolving major legal questions at the beginning of lawsuits; What’s less clear is whether that’s a good thing.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.
“Supreme Court Signals Support for Website Designer Opposed to Same-Sex Marriage”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.
And Ariane de Vogue of CNN reports that “Supreme Court conservatives seem to side with website designer who doesn’t want to work with same-sex couples.”
“The CFPB Engages in Legal Deception; The bureau’s Supreme Court petition contradicts its own repeated claims about its funding structure”: Adam J. White has this op-ed in today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.
“Supremely Slow Out of the Gates”: Adam Feldman has this post at his “Empirical SCOTUS” blog.
“The Supreme Court Needs Real Oversight: Without an effective system in place, problems like leaks and conflicts will not be adequately addressed, and public confidence in the Court will continue to plummet.” Glenn Fine has this essay online at The Atlantic.
“May ‘Bad Spaniels’ Mock Jack Daniel’s? The Supreme Court Will Decide. The justices have agreed to hear a trademark dispute with First Amendment overtones involving a dog toy’s bathroom humor and a distinctive whiskey bottle.” Adam Liptak will have this new installment of his “Sidebar” column in Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times.
“An Anti-Abortion Activist’s Quest to End the Rape Exception; For Rebecca Kiessling, helping mothers who’ve conceived children through sexual assault is part of a strategy for curtailing reproductive rights”: Eren Orbey has this article in the December 12, 2022 issue of The New Yorker.
Access today’s Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court: At this link. The Court did not grant review in any new cases.