“Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: Up-And-Coming Feeder Judges; Plus Justice Jackson’s interesting new hiring process, and clerks with unusual backgrounds (and more familial connections).” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“Appeals court upholds CIAC’s transgender policy”: Lori Riley of The Hartford Courant has this report.

Valerie Richardson of The Washington Times reports that “Female track athletes lose appeal against Connecticut’s transgender sports policy.”

Dave Collins of The Associated Press reports that “Court upholds Connecticut’s transgender athlete policy.”

Devan Cole of CNN reports that “Federal appeals court throws out case brought by Connecticut high school girls challenging trans-inclusive sports policy.”

Bianca Quilantan of Politico reports that “2nd Circuit tosses Connecticut transgender athlete challenge; The case could be the first in the nation to allow the Supreme Court to weigh in on transgender students’ rights to play on teams that match their gender identity.”

Brooke Migdon of The Hill reports that “Transgender athletes score legal victory in Connecticut case.”

Matt Dwyer, Frankie Graziano, and Patrick Skahill of Connecticut Public Radio report that “Connecticut lawsuit against transgender girls competing in women’s athletics is dismissed.”

And Mark Walsh of Education Week reports that “Appeals Court Upholds Connecticut’s Pro-Transgender Student Athletics Policy.”

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

“‘Ghost gun’ group loses bid to restore Texas claims against N.J. official”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Reuters has this post about a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued yesterday.

“Tech groups ask Supreme Court to rule on hot-button Texas social media law”: Brian Fung of CNN has this report.

And Rebecca Kern of Politico reports that “Tech trade groups petition SCOTUS on Texas social media law; With Thursday’s action, the Supreme Court has now received petitions from two conflicting split circuit rulings related to state laws that seek to force platforms to carry certain speech.”

You can view the petition for writ of certiorari at this link.

“Judicial security measure clears U.S. Congress as part of defense bill”: Nate Raymond and Patricia Zengerle of Reuters have a report that begins, “The U.S. Congress on Thursday passed legislation that would allow U.S. Supreme Court justices and federal judges to shield their personal information from being viewed online in response to a rising number of threats targeting them.”

And Tierney Sneed of CNN has a report headlined “What to know about a judicial privacy bill Congress is passing with a major defense package.”

In Bashman news from Philadelphia International Airport: 6 ABC News Philadelphia has a report from Jillian Mele headlined “Looking to make a last-minute trip? Here are some tips to score the best deal; Your points are more valuable when cash prices are high, according to the experts.”

“Where’s Lyle? At 91, famed court reporter still loves deadlines.” Robin Bravender of GreenWire has this report.

“Montana Supreme Court hears arguments in abortion provider case”: Tom Kuglin of The Helena Independent Record has this report.

“Congress approves removing statue of Supreme Court chief justice who wrote Dred Scott decision; The legislation, which now heads to Biden’s desk, directs that Roger Taney’s statue be replaced with a bust of Thurgood Marshall, the high court’s first Black justice”: Zoë Richards of NBC News has this report.

“Antiabortion movement seeks to jail people for ‘trafficking’ illegal pills; Six months after their Supreme Court victory, conservatives complain that strict new laws are not being sufficiently enforced”: Caroline Kitchener of The Washington Post has this report.

“One Nation Under Guns: How this year’s Supreme Court ruling on Second Amendment rights is changing everything.” Ryan Busse has this essay online at The Atlantic.

“SCOTUS Bar Superstar: An Interview With Lisa Blatt; She’s argued 43 Supreme Court cases, more than any woman in history — and she’s won almost 90 percent of them.” You can access today’s new episode of David Lat’s “Original Jurisdiction” podcast via this link.

“The Supreme Court missed an easy win on transparency when it really needs one; The beleaguered court said it will resume announcing opinions from the bench, but those announcements won’t be livestreamed; There’s no good reason for that archaic approach”: Columnist Jordan Rubin has this essay online at MSNBC.

“Why Kavanaugh partying with right-wing conservatives raises ethical questions”: Columnist Ruth Marcus has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“Gov. Kate Brown commutes sentences of all 17 people on Oregon’s death row”: Hillary Borrud of The Oregonian has this report.

And Bill Poehler of The Statesman Journal of Salem, Oregon reports that “Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to commute 17 people with death sentences to life without parole.”

“U.S. Senate confirms first Black woman to conservative-leaning 5th Circuit”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has this report.

Today, the U.S. Senate voted 65-to-31 to confirm U.S. Magistrate Judge Dana M. Douglas (E.D. La.) to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

“Inside Chuck Schumer’s Long Game On Judges: The Senate majority leader told HuffPost his goal is to ‘achieve balance’ on every appeals court in the next two years with Biden’s judicial picks.” Jennifer Bendery of HuffPost has this report.

“A notorious Trump judge just fired the first shot against birth control; In retrospect, it was inevitable that this particular judge would come for contraception”: Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.

“Military interests parachute into Supreme Court cases on LGBTQ rights, elections; How much influence do amicus briefs tied to military interests have on the Supreme Court? It depends, experts say, but one played a major role in a 2003 case dealing with affirmative action.” John Fritze of USA Today has this report.

“DOJ says judge doesn’t need to hire historian to understand Supreme Court gun ruling”: Ariane de Vogue of CNN has this report.

You can access at this link the federal government’s filing yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.

“The Context-Specific Case for Supreme Court Reform”: Andrew Coan has this post at the “Balkinization” blog.

“No insurance coverage for business COVID losses, says Ohio top court”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has this report on a ruling that the Supreme Court of Ohio issued yesterday.

“Biden to Sign Bill to Protect Same-Sex Marriage Rights; Proponents of the legislation argued that Congress needed to be proactive in ensuring a future Supreme Court would not invalidate same-sex marriages around the country”: Michael D. Shear of The New York Times has this report.

“Iowa’s ‘fetal heartbeat’ abortion law to remain blocked, court rules; Kim Reynolds to appeal”: William Morris of The Des Moines Register has this report.

And Katarina Sostaric of Iowa Public Radio reports that “Judge denies Iowa governor’s request to revive ‘fetal heartbeat’ law.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the Iowa District Court for Polk County at this link.

“Hochul’s Big Choice: Picking New York’s Most Powerful Judge; The Court of Appeals shifted to the right under the polarizing leadership of Chief Judge Janet DiFiore; Democrats hope the governor’s nominee to replace her will move it to the left.” Rebecca Davis O’Brien of The New York Times has this report.

“New York’s New Gun Law Remains Intact for Now After Appeals Court Ruling; A three-judge panel temporarily halted a lower court’s ruling blocking a section of the law, the third such stay the panel has issued this month”: Ed Shanahan of The New York Times has this report.

And Nate Raymond of Reuters reports that “Court allows New York to enforce limits on guns on private property.”

You can access today’s order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit at this link.

“First Black woman on Delaware high court confirmed to federal bench”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has this report.

Today, the U.S. Senate voted 55-to-35 to confirm Justice Tamika R. Montgomery-Reeves of the Supreme Court of Delaware to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

“Kavanaugh’s Holiday Party Appearance Renews Supreme Court Ethics Questions”: Lydia Wheeler of Bloomberg News has this report.

“Jones Day Hires Seven Supreme Court Clerks in Annual Spree”: Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson of Bloomberg Law has this report.

And Jones Day has issued a news release titled “Jones Day adds seven U.S. Supreme Court clerks from the October 2021 Term.”

“Supreme Court resurrects pre-pandemic tradition: announcing opinions from bench.” Ariane de Vogue of CNN has this report.

“How the 303 Creative case threatens to roll back the 21st century”: You can access today’s new episode of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast via this link.

“The Year Originalism Became a Four-Letter Word”: Eric Segall has this blog post at “Dorf on Law.”

“Supreme Court Off to Historically Slow Start in Contentious Term”: Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“I Called the Federal Judge Who Mocked Me to the Federalist Society; I got a rare look inside the elusive and influential group”: Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence interview online at Slate.

And at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Jonathan H. Adler has a post titled “What Happened When Mark Joseph Stern Interviewed Judge William Pryor; Slate’s legal correspondent questioned the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit about the Federalist Society.”

Access today’s Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court: At this link. The Court did not grant review in any new cases but called for the views of the Solicitor General in two cases.