“The Supreme Court Is Turning Into a Court of First Resort”: Columnist Jamelle Bouie has this essay online at The New York Times.

“The Supreme Court’s Elections Opening in Moore v. Harper; The case is about democracy, but not in the way critics claim”: This editorial will appear in Wednesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

And also in tomorrow’s edition of that newspaper, David B. Rivkin Jr. and Andrew M. Grossman will have an op-ed titled “Judges Aren’t Part of the ‘Legislature’; The Constitution is clear: The power to govern federal elections belongs to state lawmakers.”

“Justices skeptical of bankruptcy protection for ‘unwitting’ beneficiaries of fraud”: Dietrich Knauth of Reuters has this report.

Alex Wolf and James Nani of Bloomberg Law have a report headlined “Wiping Away Debts From Others’ Fraud Weighed by Supreme Court.”

And Alexandra Jones of Courthouse News Service has a report headlined “In sickness, health and bankruptcy: Wife fights to discharge debt for husband’s fraud; She consented to the sale of a home in San Francisco but wants the Supreme Court to exonerate her for misrepresentations that her spouse made to the buyer.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has posted online the transcript and audio of today’s oral argument in Bartenwerfer v. Buckley, No. 21-908.

“Biden’s record-setting judicial confirmation efforts face three challenges in 2023-2024”: Russell Wheeler has this post at the “FixGov” blog of The Brookings Institution.

“Fourth Circuit rehears challenge to Maryland assault weapons ban; After the Supreme Court recently struck down firearm restrictions in New York, gun rights supporters say Maryland’s law is no longer constitutional”: Joe Dodson of Courthouse News Service has this report on an oral argument (access the audio on YouTube via this link) today before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

“U.S. appeals court questions $185 mln award to law firm Quinn Emanuel; Quinn partner apologized at one point after judge questioned tone; UnitedHealthcare and other objectors have called awarded fee ‘astronomical'”: Mike Scarcella of Reuters has this report on an oral argument (you can download the audio via this link) that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard yesterday.

“Citigroup, Revlon lenders say three lenders ready to settle, with end in sight”: Jonathan Stempel of Reuters has this report.

“The incredibly unsubtle Amy Coney Barrett response that should worry LGBTQ Americans; The Supreme Court has delivered a consistent chilling message over the past year: Facts and precedent don’t matter if they obstruct conservative justices’ ideological extremist ends.” Chris Geidner has this essay online at MSNBC.

“The Blindness of ‘Color-Blindness’: When the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the future of affirmative action, I knew I had to be there.” Professor Drew Gilpin Faust has this essay online at The Atlantic.

“Why the Other Eight Justices Must Censure Clarence Thomas: A justice who does not respect the rules around conflict of interest will further undermine this court.” Law professor Amanda Frost has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on Far-Reaching Elections Case; In a North Carolina case, the court is being asked to decide whether to drastically expand the authority that state legislatures have over election maps and voting laws”: Michael Wines of The New York Times has this report.

“The Supreme Court thrives on hypotheticals. Alito’s latest sparked a backlash. In a case about LGBTQ and religious protections, the justice found himself musing about children in KKK outfits and Black mall Santas.” Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has this report.

“North Carolina’s Governor Says a Fringe Claim Before the Supreme Court Would Upend Democracy”: Governor Roy Cooper (D-NC) has this guest essay in today’s edition of The New York Times.

“How William Rehnquist led to the new monumental challenge to presidential election rules”: Joan Biskupic has this news analysis online at CNN.

“Doris Pryor, IU grad, will be the first Black judge from Indiana to join Seventh Circuit”: Johnny Magdaleno of The Indianapolis Star has this report.

Nate Raymond of Reuters reports that “U.S. Senate confirms first Black federal appellate judge from Indiana.”

Madison Alder of Bloomberg Law reports that “Pryor Confirmed to Seventh Circuit as Schumer Tees Up More Votes.”

Marilyn Odendahl of The Indiana Lawyer reports that “Pryor makes history in confirmation to 7th Circuit.”

And Max Brantley of Arkansas Times reports that “Boozman, Cotton oppose historic confirmation of Arkansas native to circuit court judgeship.”

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate voted 60-to-31 to confirm Doris L. Pryor to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

“Some Culture War Moments in the 303 Creative Oral Argument”: Michael C. Dorf has this post at his blog, “Dorf on Law.”

“The Easy-to-Miss Twist That Makes the Supreme Court’s New Gay Rights Case So Strange; A graphic designer refuses to make custom websites for same-sex weddings; Colorado says that’s fine”: Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“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.