“Ted Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, has died in federal prison at 81”: Michael Balsamo and Lindsay Whitehurst of The Associated Press have this report.

“A Trump-Appointed Judge Who Showed Him Favor Gets the Documents Case; The surprise assignment of Judge Aileen Cannon could be a setback for prosecutors as they unveiled a sweeping classified files indictment”: Charlie Savage of The New York Times has this news analysis.

Registration is now open to attend the 2023 Appellate Judges Education Institute Summit in Washington, DC November 2–5, 2023: More details and a link to register can be accessed here.

How many events can you attend at which Fifth Circuit Judge James C. Ho, Dahlia Lithwick, and law professor Erwin Chemerinsky are all on the list of scheduled speakers?

“Solicitor General Seeks Staff as Justices Request More Responses; SG’s office handles US government high court cases; Justices can ask for response when government previous waived it”: Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“The Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act ruling is no victory for democracy”: Law professors Melissa Murray and Steve Vladeck have this op-ed online at The Washington Post.

And online at Justia’s Verdict, law professor Michael C. Dorf has an essay titled “A Decade After Gutting the Voting Rights Act, Chief Justice Roberts Rescues It.”

“Did Breyer Nomination Cost Al Gore the 2000 Presidential Election? Ralph Nader blasts Stephen Breyer as ‘extremist’ supporter of ‘corporate power.'” Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.

“Supreme Court Rules Against Dog Toy Resembling Liquor Bottle; The case, a trademark dispute, pitted Jack Daniel’s against Bad Spaniels Silly Squeakers, which looks like the distiller’s distinctive bottle and adds potty humor”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Supreme Court Says Jack Daniel’s Can Sue Maker of ‘Bad Spaniels’ Dog Toy; Unanimous opinion finds whiskey distiller has a case that parody product breaches trademark protection.”

John Fritze of USA Today reports that “Poop-themed dog toy maker loses to Jack Daniel’s in Supreme Court trademark dispute.”

And Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times reports that “Supreme Court sides with Jack Daniel’s in trademark dispute with dog poop toy.”

“The Worst Trump Judge In America Is Neomi Rao: Find something you love doing in this life as much as Neomi Rao loves running interference for Donald Trump.” James LaRock has this post at Balls and Strikes.

“A courtroom prop, a song, and another surprise”: Mark Walsh has this “A View from the Court” post at “SCOTUSblog.”

“John Roberts Throws a Curveball”: Law professor Richard L. Hasen — founder of the “Election Law Blog” — has this guest essay online at The New York Times.

Online at Slate, law professor Richard H. Pildes has a Jurisprudence essay titled “The Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Decision Is Even Better Than It Looks.” Dahlia Lithwick has a Jurisprudence essay titled “Why John Roberts Reversed Himself This Time on Voting Rights.” And Mark Joseph Stern has a Jurisprudence essay titled “John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh Really Did Just Save the Voting Rights Act.”

Ian Millhiser of Vox has an essay titled “Surprise! The Supreme Court just handed down a significant victory for voting rights; The Court’s new voting rights decision is one of the most reassuring opinions it’s handed down in years.”

And Friday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal will contain an editorial titled “Racial Gerrymandering by Supreme Court Order; Five Justices say Alabama must create a second black district in Allen v. Milligan.”

“Supreme Court Rejects Voting Map That Diluted Black Voters’ Power; Voting rights advocates had feared that the decision about redistricting in Alabama would further undermine the Voting Rights Act, which instead appeared to emerge unscathed”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has a report headlined “Supreme Court: Alabama’s voting maps unfair to Black residents.”

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Supreme Court upholds Voting Rights Act in surprise ruling against Alabama Republicans.”

Jess Bravin and Jan Wolfe of The Wall Street Journal report that “Supreme Court Blocks GOP-Drawn Alabama Voting Map Challenged by Black Voters; Ruling departs from court opinions in the past decade narrowing the scope of the Voting Rights Act.”

John Fritze of USA Today reports that “Supreme Court rejects Alabama congressional map that diluted Black vote in surprise ruling.”

And Alex Swoyer and Stephen Dinan of The Washington Times have an article headlined “Supreme Court: Alabama violated Voting Rights Act by drawing only one Black congressional district.”

“Progressive Judges May Have Found a Use for Clarence Thomas’ Terrible Guns Ruling”: Mark Joseph Stern has this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

Access today’s rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court in argued cases: The Court today issued rulings in four argued cases.

1. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson delivered the opinion of the Court in Health and Hospital Corp. v. Talevski, No. 21-806. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch issued a concurring opinion. Justice Amy Coney Barrett issued a concurring opinion, in which Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. joined. Justice Clarence Thomas issued a dissenting opinion. And Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. issued a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Thomas joined. You can access the oral argument via this link.

2. Justice Elena Kagan delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court in Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, No. 22-148. Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a concurring opinion, in which Justice Alito joined. And Justice Gorsuch issued a concurring opinion, in which Justices Thomas and Barrett joined. You can access the oral argument via this link.

3. Justice Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the Court in Dubin v. United States, No. 22-10. And Justice Gorsuch issued an opinion concurring in the judgment. You can access the oral argument via this link.

4. Chief Justice Roberts delivered the opinion of the Court in large measure in Allen v. Milligan, No. 21-1086. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh issued an opinion concurring in all but one part of the opinion. Justice Thomas issued a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Gorsuch joined in full and Justices Alito and Barrett joined to various extents. And Justice Alito issued a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Gorsuch joined. You can access the oral argument via this link.

“Ron DeSantis is drawing from the Trump Supreme Court playbook”: Joan Biskupic of CNN has this news analysis.

“Justices Thomas and Alito Delay Release of Financial Disclosures; The justices asked for extensions to file annual forms that detail gifts, travel and real estate holdings”: Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has this report.

“Blasting rap at work might count as sex discrimination, court says”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued today.

And in other coverage, Richard Vanderford of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Risqué Music at Work Might Be Illegal, Court Says; A federal appeals court said it would allow to proceed a lawsuit brought by warehouse workers who claimed music from Eminem and others turned their workplace hostile.”

“2022 Data Breakdown: Gender Diversity.” At the “High School SCOTUS” blog, Elise Spenner has a post that begins, “Although we are yet to receive opinions from the Court in almost 30 cases, the oral argument phase of the term has officially concluded. While we wait for opinions, I took some time to analyze the gender diversity among advocates at the Court this year.”

“Justice Jackson reports flowers from Oprah, designer clothing as Thomas delays filing disclosure”: Mark Sherman and Jessica Gresko of The Associated Press have this report.

Andrew Chung and John Kruzel of Reuters report that “US Supreme Court’s Clarence Thomas delays filing annual financial disclosure.”

Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has reports headlined “Supreme Court Justices’ 2022 Financial Disclosures Released; Disclosures come amid controversy over Justice Clarence Thomas; Critics have accused the Supreme Court of ethics violations” and “Justice Clarence Thomas Gets Extension for Financial Report; Thomas has received criticism over close ties to Harlan Crow; Supreme Court justices’ 2022 financial disclosures released.”

Lawrence Hurley of NBC News reports that “Justice Clarence Thomas delays filing financial disclosure amid increased ethics scrutiny; Oprah Winfrey’s $1,200 flower arrangement given to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was among the gifts disclosed by justices as part of annual financial disclosure process.”

And Ariane de Vogue and Devan Cole of CNN report that “Clarence Thomas gets extension to file financial disclosures amid scrutiny of relationship with GOP megadonor.”

The organization Fix the Court has posted the available financial disclosures at this link.

“Free Speech and Trademarks: From Poop-Themed Dog Toys to Anti-Trump-Themed T-Shirts.” Michael C. Dorf has this post at his blog, “Dorf on Law.”

“Becoming Justice Thomas: Where Clarence Thomas came from, how he rose to power, and how he’s brought the rest of us along with him, whether we like it or not.” That’s the title of Season 8 of Slate’s “Slow Burn” podcast, the first two episodes of which are now available for listening.

Episode one was titled “America’s Blackest Child: How Clarence Thomas went from an aspiring priest to a campus radical.”

And episode two, released today, is titled “Smiling Faces: Racial preferences gave Clarence Thomas a leg up. They also made him feel degraded.”

“Most Federal Employees Face More Oversight Than Clarence Thomas and Supreme Court; Ethics rules at US agencies limit gifts, require disclosure; Chief Justice Roberts says high court standards are sufficient”: David Voreacos of Bloomberg News has this report.

“Court Picks Face Trickier Path as Senate Eyes Red-State Judges”: Zach C. Cohen and Tiana Headley of Bloomberg Law have this report.

“US appeals judge, onetime Supreme Court contender joins Wilson Sonsini”: Chinekwu Osakwe of Reuters has this report.

“Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hears CIAC transgender case again”: Lori Riley of The Hartford Courant has this report.

Laura Kusisto and Louise Radnofsky of The Wall Street Journal report that “Transgender Sports Rules Are Considered by Federal Appeals Court; Judges hear argument on Connecticut policy allowing transgender girls to participate in female categories.”

Daniel Wiessner of Reuters reports that “Student athletes’ graduation may doom challenge to Conn. transgender policy.”

And Thomas F. Harrison of Courthouse News Service reports that “Trans athletes face tough referees in Second Circuit; High school female runners who couldn’t defeat transgender girls on the track might yet win a victory in the courtroom.”

“Senate hints at subpoena for megadonor Crow amid SCOTUS ethics probe; The real estate magnate has so far resisted the investigation of his ties to Justice Clarence Thomas, framing any scrutiny as unconstitutional”: Benjamin S. Weiss of Courthouse News Service has this report.

“Man Convicted of Nonviolent Crime Can Own Gun, U.S. Court Rules; The decision, which national groups had been closely watching, was a potential setback to gun regulations spurred by a Supreme Court ruling last year that vastly expanded the right to bear arms”: Glenn Thrush of The New York Times has this report.

“What is the Significance of an Attorney General’s Confession of Error in a State Capital Case? In my Supreme Court amicus brief for the victim’s family in Oklahoma v. Richard Glossip, I argue that the Oklahoma Attorney General’s unfounded confession of ‘error’ should not dictate the case’s outcome.” Paul Cassell has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy” highlighting a rarely seen amicus brief in opposition to certiorari in a case in which the parties appear to be largely in agreement with each other.

“US cannot disarm people convicted of non-violent crimes — appeals court”: Brendan Pierson of Reuters has this report on an en banc ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued today.

“Explaining Litigation Challenging the ACA’s Preventive Services Requirements: Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra.” Laurie Sobel, Usha Ranji, Kaye Pestaina, Lindsey Dawson, and Juliette Cubanski of KFF recently had this report.

At 3 p.m. central time today, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will hear oral argument on the federal government’s appeal in the case. The oral argument audio will be livestreamed via this link.

“Female athletes head to court against Connecticut transgender sports policy”: Kaelan Deese of Washington Examiner has a report that begins, “A federal appeals court in New York is set to consider a closely watched and yearslong legal challenge over transgender girls’ participation in female school sports competitions. The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit will consider a decade-old Connecticut policy that permits high school students to compete on teams that correspond with their gender identity, even if it differs from the sex on their birth certificate.”

At 2 p.m. eastern time today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will hold reargument en banc in the case. The Second Circuit will livestream the oral argument audio via YouTube.

“Trade Groups Back Marine Insurer In High Court Fight”: Emily Enfinger of Law360 has this report (subscription required for full access). You can access the filings in the case via this link.

“Catholic charter school proposal greenlighted for Oklahoma state sanctioning, taxpayer funding”: Andrea Eger of The Tulsa World has this report.

And Sarah Mervosh of The New York Times reports that “Oklahoma Approves First Religious Charter School in the U.S.; The school will offer online, Roman Catholic instruction funded by taxpayers; Its approval is certain to tee off a legal battle over the separation of church and state.”

“Court: No lawsuit immunity for Michigan official who had rifle during online meeting.” Ed White of The Associated Press recently had this report about a ruling that a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued last week.

Chief Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton‘s dissenting opinion begins, “If you work long enough as a judge, you can expect to see just about everything.”

“With an ode to the First Amendment, a judge rebuffs the war on woke”: Columnist Jennifer Rubin has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“The Supreme Court Is Corrupt Because It’s Conservative. It isn’t a coincidence. The court is corrupt, both judicially and ethically, because of the extreme ideology six of its justices serve.” Michael Tomasky has this essay online at The New Republic.