“Judicial Notice (04.08.23): Flying Justice Thomas; A Biglaw partner turned Trump defender, a Paul Hastings slide deck gone viral, and other legal news from the week that was.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“22. The Mifepristone Mess: In Dobbs, the Court claimed that it was returning abortion access to the states; After Friday’s dueling mifepristone rulings, the Justices may have to revisit that promise as early as this week.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“Mifepristone and the rule of law, part II: The district court’s decision is wrong; It must be reversed.” Adam Unikowsky has this post at his Substack site, “Adam’s Legal Newsletter.”

“Supreme Court justices are allowed to have friends”: Law professor Scott Douglas Gerber has this essay online at The Hill.

“Q&A: Joan Biskupic.” C-SPAN has posted this video online.

“The Wisconsin Supreme Court Election Was the Most Honest Election In America; Janet Protasiewicz was honest with voters about what it means to be a judge; They rewarded her for it”: Jay Willis has this post at Balls and Strikes.

“The Texas Abortion-Pill Ruling Signals Pro-Lifers’ Next Push: Get used to hearing a lot more about the Comstock Act.” Law professor Mary Ziegler has this essay online at The Atlantic.

And online at The New York Times, columnist Michelle Goldberg has an essay titled “The Hideous Resurrection of the Comstock Act.”

“Texas Abortion-Pill Ruling Ignites New National Battle; Decision to suspend approval of pill could upend access even in liberal states such as New York and California”: Laura Kusisto of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

Michelle Hackman of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Abortion-Pill Ruling Draws Muted Response From GOP; Republicans are wary of a political fight on abortion after a string of electoral defeats in several states.”

And in commentary, Monday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal will contain editorials titled “A Legal Clash Over the Abortion Pill; Many on the right and left want courts to set national abortion policy again” and “Democrats for Defying Court Orders; Ron Wyden and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorse law-breaking over an abortion drug.”

“Texas judge delivers on the hopes of his antiabortion world; Matthew Kacsmaryk has long been immersed in a community that is staunchly opposed to abortion”: Caroline Kitchener of The Washington Post has this report.

And in commentary, online at The Washington Post, columnist Ruth Marcus has an essay titled “The worst federal judge in America now has a name.”

“With Dueling Rulings, Abortion Pill Cases Appear Headed to the Supreme Court; One federal judge said the F.D.A.’s approval of the drug mifepristone was invalid, while another federal judge ordered the agency to keep the pill available; The legal fallout is just beginning”: Abbie VanSickle and Pam Belluck of The New York Times have this report.

“The abortion pill’s 1992 Supreme Court battle and the woman who started it”: Timothy Bella of The Washington Post has this report.

“Pa. primary election 2023: Supreme Court candidates with party backing show fundraising advantage; The PA Supreme Court candidates running in the 2023 primary election have raised $365,000 from wealthy donors, their own bank accounts, and more.” Kate Huangpu and Stephen Caruso of Spotlight PA have this report.

“Justice Department asks Supreme Court to reverse ruling striking down bump stock ban”: Tierney Sneed of CNN has this report.

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

“Dobbs Claimed to Return the Issue of Abortion to the People. We’re Seeing Now How Ridiculous That Is. The ruling against mifepristone is pure chaos.” Law professor Leah Litman has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Republicans Lose Another Anti-Trans Smear Campaign; The tactic failed again in this week’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election”: Melissa Gira Grant has this essay online at The New Republic.

“How right-wing judges in Texas are erasing Americans’ rights everywhere”: Columnist Michael Hiltzik has this essay online at The Los Angeles Times.

“Rival rulings on medication abortion hypercharge the post-Roe legal war”: Tierney Sneed of CNN has this report.

David Ovalle, Laurie McGinley, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post report that “Texas abortion pill ruling threatens FDA; ‘This opens the door to the courts’ second-guessing any FDA approval — especially for drugs for controversial areas like gender-affirming care,’ expert says.”

In commentary, online at The Los Angeles Times, Amy Hagstrom Miller has an essay titled “A judge’s attempt to restrict medication abortion nationwide shows extremists aren’t done yet.”

And online at Slate, Mark Joseph Stern has a jurisprudence essay titled “The Lawless Ruling Against the Abortion Pill Has Already Prompted a Constitutional Crisis; This unprecedented abuse of judicial power with no basis in law or fact will soon force the Supreme Court’s hand.”

“Here We Go Again! Who of the New List of Seven Candidates Will Be the Next Chief Judge of New York?” Rob Rosborough has this post at his “New York Appeals” blog.

“Some legal experts compare Justice Thomas’s acceptance of lavish trips to a 1969 Supreme Court scandal”: Travis Andersen of The Boston Globe has this report.

In commentary, online at Slate, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern have a jurisprudence essay titled “Clarence Thomas Broke the Law and It Isn’t Even Close; It probably won’t matter; But it should.” And Alex Aronson has a jurisprudence essay titled “Clarence Thomas Had the Ideal Tutor for Skirting Ethics Laws.”

“Clarence Thomas’s Billionaire Benefactor Collects Hitler Artifacts; Harlan Crow also reportedly has a garden full of dictator statues”: Sylvie McNamara of Washingtonian has this report.

“Judge Invalidates F.D.A. Approval of the Abortion Pill Mifepristone; The Texas judge’s ruling was quickly contradicted by another federal judge in Washington State who ordered the F.D.A. to keep mifepristone available”: Pam Belluck of The New York Times has this report. And Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has an article headlined “For Texas Judge in Abortion Case, a Life Shaped by Conservative Causes; Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk issued a preliminary ruling in a closely watched Texas case that could make it harder for patients to get abortions throughout the country.”

Ann E. Marimow, Caroline Kitchener, and Perry Stein of The Washington Post report that “Texas judge suspends FDA approval of abortion pill; second judge protects access; Federal lawsuit by conservative groups followed the Supreme Court’s elimination of the constitutional right to abortion last June.”

Jenny Jarvie and Jennifer Haberkorn of The Los Angeles Times have an article headlined “Abortion pill ruling: Texas judge orders hold on FDA approval, but another judge contradicts him.”

Laura Kusisto and Liz Essley Whyte of The Wall Street Journal report that “Abortion-Pill Approval Suspended by Federal Judge in Texas; A different judge in Washington state issues contrary decision that could preserve access to the drug.”

Christine Fernando, Nada Hassanein, and Jeanine Santucci of USA Today report that “Dueling federal rulings plunge future of abortion pill into legal uncertainty.”

And Valerie Richardson of The Washington Times reports that “Abortion pill’s status upended as federal judges issue conflicting rulings; Democratic Sen. Wyden urges FDA to ‘ignore’ Trump-appointed judge’s injunction.”

You can access the Texas federal district court ruling here, while the Washington State federal district court ruling can be accessed here.

“The GOP’s Abortion Flop; A Wisconsin Supreme Court drubbing is the latest indication of the need to find the sensible middle”: Columnist Kimberley A. Strassel has this op-ed in today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

And online at The New York Times, columnist Michelle Goldberg has an essay titled “The Abortion Ban Backlash Is Starting to Freak Out Republicans.”

“The Smearing of Clarence Thomas: The left gins up another phony ethics assault to tarnish the Supreme Court.” This editorial will appear in Saturday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Majority on divided three-judge Ninth Circuit panel rejects First Amendment challenge to a California law that prohibits honking a vehicle’s horn except when reasonably necessary to warn of a safety hazard: You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

“Justice Thomas Says He Was Advised Lavish Gifts Didn’t Need to Be Reported; In a statement released by the Supreme Court, the justice said he had followed past guidance from others at the court and believed he was not required to report the trips”: Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has this report.

Amy B Wang, Robert Barnes, and John Wagner of The Washington Post report that “Justice Thomas addresses report he accepted luxury travel from GOP donor for years.” And yesterday, Emma Brown and Shawn Boburg of The Washington Post reported that “Clarence Thomas has reported receiving only two gifts since 2004; Eighteen years ago, the Los Angeles Times detailed how Thomas had reported receiving thousands of dollars’ worth of gifts — far more than the other justices on the Supreme Court at the time; That story appears to have marked a turning point for Thomas’s public disclosure of gifts.”

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Justice Clarence Thomas says he will disclose his free trips in the future.”

Jan Wolfe of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Justice Clarence Thomas Defends Luxury Travel Paid for by Billionaire GOP Donor; Supreme Court justice says hospitality ‘from close personal friends’ didn’t have to be reported.”

Michael Collins of USA Today reports that “Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas says he wasn’t required to report trips with GOP donor.”

And Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times reports that “Justice Thomas says vacations with GOP megadonor were cleared by judicial advisers.”

“Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip’s conviction should be overturned, new AG says”: Nolan Clay of The Oklahoman has this report.

And Carmen Forman of The Tulsa World reports that “Oklahoma AG asks court to vacate Richard Glossip’s conviction.”

“White House pulls its punches over GOP judicial nomination blockade; The latest refusal by a Republican senator to return a blue slip has been met with restraint by the administration”: Jennifer Haberkorn of Politico has this report.

“Religious Freedom is for Everyone; The idea that religious protections apply only to members of ‘minority’ religions and not to traditional Christians runs into several problems”: John O. McGinnis has this post at the “Law & Liberty” blog.

“Idaho Passes Law To Restrict Interstate Travel For Abortion Care For Minors; Abortion trafficking is now a felony offense in the state, punishable by up to five years in prison”: Alanna Vagianos of HuffPost has this report.

“Stanford Law Students’ Infantile Protests”: Andrew Koppelman has this post at the “Balkinization” blog.

“Los Angeles Times reported about Justice Thomas’ gifts 20 years ago. After that he stopped disclosing them.” David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

Back on December 31, 2004, Richard A. Serrano and David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times had an article headlined “Justice Thomas Reports Wealth of Gifts.” This blog was also in existence back in December 2004, and my contemporaneous posts linking to that article can be accessed here and here.

“Supreme Court refuses to reinstate West Virginia’s transgender athlete ban”: Robert Barnes and Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post have this report.

You can access today’s Order of the U.S. Supreme Court, from which Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. issued a dissent, in which Justice Clarence Thomas joined, at this link.

“No-Opinion Federal Circuit Orders Face Long Shot at High Court”: Kelcee Griffis of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“At U.S. Supreme Court, ‘serial’ clerks are more the norm, study finds”: Karen Sloan of Reuters has this report.

“Hilton pension case sparks appellate split over ‘free standing’ rule against fail-safe classes”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Reuters has this post.