“Jet-Setting With Clarence Thomas Puts Spotlight on an Eccentric Billionaire; The justice’s relationship with Harlan Crow has raised questions about whether a friendship can be separated from politics and intensified calls for an ethics code for the justices”: Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has this report.

“Texas Judge Cosplaying as Medical Expert Has Consequences Beyond Abortion Pill; The FDA has the power to ignore the mifepristone ruling, legal experts say; But only the courts can cure its dangerous implications”: Jordan Smith has this post online at The Intercept.

“Anti-abortion advocates are using junk science to usurp the will of the American people”: Law professors Michele Goodwin and Mary Ziegler have this essay online at CNN.

“Will the Texas judge’s abortion overreach be matched by the Supreme Court?” Law professor Mary Ziegler has this essay online at The Los Angeles Times.

Online at The Hill, law professor Erwin Chemerinsky and Dennis Aftergut have an essay titled “Abortion pill issue will show us what this Supreme Court is really made of.”

And at the “Intelligencer” blog of New York magazine, Ed Kilgore has a post titled “Will the Supreme Court Uphold an Abortion-Pill Ban?“

“The question presented here is whether a district court’s sua sponte decision to strike unvaccinated prospective jurors for cause from a properly assembled venire during the COVID-19 pandemic violates the Sixth Amendment’s fair-cross-section requirement. It does not.” So held a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in a ruling issued today.

Update: In news coverage, Avalon Zoppo of The National Law Journal reports that “Striking Unvaccinated Jurors Didn’t Violate 6th Amendment Requirement, Appeals Court Says; The controversial issue of excluding unvaccinated jurors cropped up in a number of high-profile trials in the last two years as courts began reopening their doors.”

“Is a ruling in Texas on abortion the Supreme Court’s next stress test? A decision by a Trump-appointed judge that casts doubt on federal approval of a key drug used for medication abortion could reach the justices in short order.” Laura Jarrett and Lawrence Hurley of NBC News have this news analysis.

“The Fight Over the Abortion Pill Is Just Getting Started; Dueling rulings in Texas and Washington over FDA approval of mifepristone are the most significant turn in the next big reproductive rights battle”: Madlin Mekelburg of Bloomberg News has this report.

“The horrible ‘zombie law’ inside the Texas abortion pill ruling; What happens when a Texas judge resurrects baseless arguments and once-dead law to wreak havoc on our settled legal principles”: Law professor Jessica Levinson has this essay online at MSNBC.

“The Next Stage of the Abortion Pill Case Is a Major Test for These Conservative Judges; At the 5th Circuit, GOP-appointed judges will have to decide whether their personal and political views outweigh their legal principles”: David Coale has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“What Israel’s Judicial Crisis Can Teach Us About Our Own”: Michael Dreeben has this post at “Just Security.”

“9th Circuit asks OR Supreme Court to rule on whether COVID-19 could cause physical loss, damage to businesses”: Maxine Bernstein of The Oregonian has this report on an order that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued yesterday.

“Will the Iowa Supreme Court allow a 6-week abortion ban? Lawyers make their case.” Katie Akin of The Des Moines Register has this report.

The Iowa Courts have posted on YouTube the video of today’s oral argument at this link.

“Medication abortion case could set up another explosive Supreme Court ruling — but it may not look like last year’s”: Joan Biskupic of CNN has this news analysis.

“Clarence Thomas Is as Free as Ever to Treat His Seat Like a Winning Lottery Ticket”: Columnist Jamelle Bouie has this essay online at The New York Times.

Programming note: This afternoon, I will be heading to Bloomsburg, Pa., where tomorrow I will be arguing an appeal before a three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Terrie Morgan-Besecker of The Times-Tribune of Scranton has this preview of the case, in which I am representing the insured-appellant.

Then, this weekend, I will be heading to Phoenix, Arizona, where on Tuesday of next week I will be arguing before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on behalf of the appellants in the first case listed for oral argument there next Tuesday morning.

That will then complete my current stretch of five appellate oral arguments in fewer than 45 days.

“Scapegoating Thomas?” Lawrence Lessig has this post at Medium.

“Trump Appeals Ruling That Pence Has to Testify to Jan. 6 Grand Jury; Pence said he would not appeal on separate privilege claim; Judges have repeatedly rebuffed Trump on executive privilege”: Zoe Tillman of Bloomberg News has this report.

“54 Years Ago, a Supreme Court Justice Was Forced to Quit for Behavior Arguably Less Egregious Than Thomas’s”: Adam Cohen has this guest essay online at The New York Times.