“Battle over California’s ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines shows a nation divided”: Kevin Rector of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

“Judicial Notice (12.30.23): Disqualified; A judge shows holiday kindness to counsel, a Biglaw firm goes Grinch on its associates, and other legal news from the week that was.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“Angry About Your Kid’s After-School Satan Club? Blame Clarence Thomas. The Satanic Temple is helping students form after-school clubs, and parents are furious — but they’re blaming the wrong people.” Professor Adam Laats has this essay online at The New Republic.

“Chief Justice Roberts Sees Promise and Danger of A.I. in the Courts; In his year-end report, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. focused on the new technology while steering clear of Supreme Court ethics and Donald J. Trump’s criminal cases”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post reports that “Roberts sidesteps Supreme Court’s ethics controversies in yearly report.”

Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Supreme Court’s Chief Justice Focuses Year-End Report on AI; John Roberts avoids referring to court’s ethical issues or the prospect of a 2024 docket packed with election cases.”

John Fritze of USA Today reports that “Chief Justice Roberts: Courts will be ‘significantly affected’ by artificial intelligence; Roberts’ annual report steered clear of the Supreme Court’s decision to adopt a code of conduct this year in response to a series of ethics revelations.”

And Josh Gerstein of Politico reports that “John Roberts weighs in on AI, ignores looming Trump cases; In his year-end report, the chief justice stuck to an anodyne topic.”

You can access Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.’s “2023 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary” at this link.

“How Abortion-Rights Backers Changed Their Message — and Started Winning; Supporters of abortion access have emphasized ‘freedom’ and ‘values’ in successful campaigns in red-leaning states, with more to come in 2024”: Molly Ball of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

“Prosecutors Ask Appeals Court to Reject Trump’s Immunity Claims in Election Case; The filing by the special counsel, Jack Smith, was the latest move in an ongoing battle over whether former presidents can be criminally liable for things they did while in office”: Alan Feuer of The New York Times has this report.

C. Ryan Barber of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Jack Smith Asks Appeals Court to Reject Trump’s Immunity Claim; Special prosecutor responds to former president’s argument that he can’t be prosecuted for official actions.”

Zoë Richards and Matt Korade of NBC News report that “Special counsel urges appeals court to reject Trump immunity defense; Former President Donald Trump is seeking to get his federal election interference case dismissed on presidential immunity grounds.”

And Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney of Politico have a report headlined “Special counsel: Trump immunity claim threatens democracy; Special counsel Jack Smith rejected Donald Trump’s contention that the criminal indictment of him is constitutionally invalid.”

You can access the Special Counsel’s D.C. Circuit Brief for Appellee at this link. Sadly, the brief is in Century font (bad enough!) and doesn’t have the italics pack installed.

“US appeals court allows California to bar guns in most public places”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has this report.

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

“Supreme Court faces pressure to decide if Trump is on the 2024 ballot”: Patrick Marley, Azi Paybarah, Josh Dawsey, and Maegan Vazquez of The Washington Post have this report.

“Trump Should Not Be Disqualified by an Ambiguous Clause”: Law professor Kurt Lash has this guest essay online at The New York Times.

And online at The Washington Post, columnist Perry Bacon Jr. has an essay titled “Yes, Trump should be removed from the ballot.”

“Seizure of Trump’s smartphone data puts special counsel in uncharted legal waters”: Jeff Mordock of The Washington Times has this report.

“Public Christian schools? Leonard Leo’s allies advance a new cause. A tight-knit group of activists tied to Leo’s nonprofit network are rallying around an Oklahoma effort to create a public Catholic school.” Heidi Przybyla of Politico has this report.

“Michael Cohen Used Artificial Intelligence in Feeding Lawyer Bogus Cases; Donald Trump’s former fixer had sought an early end to court supervision after his 2018 campaign finance conviction; He enlisted the help of Google Bard”: Benjamin Weiser and Jonah E. Bromwich of The New York Times have this report.

“Supreme Court Arguments’ Most Memorable Moments So Far This Term”: Lydia Wheeler of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“How the Supreme Court May Rule on Trump’s Presidential Run; The legal issues are novel and tangled, experts said, and the justices may be wary of knocking a leading presidential candidate off the ballot”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this news analysis.

“Abortion debate creates ‘new era’ for state supreme court races in 2024, with big spending expected”: Christine Fernando and Andrew DeMillo of The Associated Press have this report.

“Appeals court rejects Trump’s request to pause proceedings in E. Jean Carroll case; Trump had asked the court to halt the case for 90 days while he decided whether to ask the Supreme Court to weigh in on his rejected presidential immunity argument”: Summer Concepcion of NBC News has this report.

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

“She lost her gun rights for passing a bad check; Now she wants the Supreme Court to restore them; Mindy Vincent sued the federal government and is now asking the high court to hear the case”: Dennis Romboy of The Deseret News has this report.

The petition for writ of certiorari does not yet appear to be available for download through the U.S. Supreme Court‘s website.

“Supreme Court Urged to Move Fast on Trump’s Ballot Eligibility; The Colorado Republican Party asked the justices to decide its appeal by Super Tuesday; The voters who won in the Colorado Supreme Court want to move even faster”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

You can access the U.S. Supreme Court filings in the case via this link.

“Maine secretary of state bars Donald Trump from state’s presidential primary ballot; Shenna Bellows rules that the former president is not qualified to hold the office of the president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment; Trump’s campaign condemns the ruling and says it will appeal”: Dennis Hoey of The Portland Press Herald has this report.

You can access today’s ruling of the Maine Secretary of State at this link.

“Michigan Supreme Court keeps Trump on ballot; rejects insurrectionist argument”: Paul Egan of The Detroit Free Press has this report.

And Beth LeBlanc of The Detroit News reports that “Michigan court allows Trump on primary ballot, but challenges could resurface for general.”

You can access yesterday’s order of the Supreme Court of Michigan at this link.

“Green Amendment case over massive landfill is under appeal; One of first tests for New Yorkers’ new Constitutional right to a ‘clean . . . healthful environment’”: Rick Karlin of The Times Union of Albany, New York has this report.

And Austin C. Jefferson of City & State New York reports that “Landfill case advances to appellate court, testing Green Amendment; Residents in Monroe County argue that their right to clean air and water is not being fulfilled.”

“Access to abortion pills has grown since Dobbs; How activists, clinicians, and businesses are getting abortion medication to all 50 states”: Rachel M. Cohen of Vox has this report.

“How Supreme Court Practice Has Changed (And Stayed the Same) Heading Into 2024; With cert grants having slowed to a trickle, many appellate attorneys have shifted their focus to lower courts”: Jimmy Hoover of The National Law Journal has this report.

“Republicans likely to take Wisconsin gerrymandering case back to the U.S. Supreme Court”: Jessie Opoien and Molly Beck of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have this report.

“Appeals Court Reverses Conviction of Former Nebraska Congressman; Former Representative Jeff Fortenberry had been convicted on charges of lying to the federal authorities. An appeals court said his trial was in the wrong venue”: Heather Knight of The New York Times has this report.

Maegan Vazquez of The Washington Post reports that “Conviction of former congressman Jeff Fortenberry thrown out.”

And Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle reports that “Court overturns conviction of GOP Congress member for lying to FBI about foreign campaign contributions.”

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

“Apple Appeals U.S. Ban That Halted Watch Sales; Federal trade agency’s ruling forced iPhone maker to stop selling two most popular watch models”: Joseph Pisani of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

And at his “Patently-O” blog, Dennis Crouch has a post titled “Emergency Appeal of the Apple Watch Ban.”

“Justices asked to strike down immigration law as example of systemic racism”: Stephen Dinan of The Washington Times has this report.

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

“Industry Standards Evidence Inadmissible Following ‘Tincher,’ Pa. Supreme Court Says”: Max Mitchell of The Legal Intelligencer has this report on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania‘s recent ruling (access via this link) in a case in which I serve as appellate counsel for plaintiffs.

“The Legal’s Top 5 Pennsylvania Verdicts of 2023; All of the five highest verdicts reported by The Legal Intelligencer in 2023 were in personal injury cases based in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas”: Aleeza Furman of The Legal Intelligencer has this report.

“Sandra Day O’Connor: A Remembrance.” David Hume Kennerly has this blog post.

“As election looms, Biden struggles to match Trump’s judicial appointments”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has this report.

And Tiana Headley of Bloomberg Law has a report headlined “By the Numbers: Five Big Moments on Judicial Nominations in 2023.”

“What is Missing From This Story?” At “PrawfsBlawg,” Paul Horwitz has a post that begins, “I have in the past written critical as well as positive things here about Clarence Thomas. And I have written at greater length elsewhere about why we should be leery of the clerkship-as-family approach to clerking, especially when it so frequently turns into the lamentable condition of former-clerk-as-hero-worshipper.”

“Trump Asks Appeals Court to Toss Election Case on Immunity Grounds; The court filing was the latest development in a battle between Mr. Trump and the special counsel, Jack Smith, over whether the former president can be prosecuted for his actions while in office”: Alan Feuer of The New York Times has this report.

Rachel Weiner of The Washington Post has an article headlined “As Supreme Court elects to wait, Trump takes immunity claim to D.C. Circuit.”

Sadie Gurman of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Trump Asks Appeals Court to Dismiss Election-Interference Case; Former president’s lawyers restate argument that he is immune from prosecution over ‘official acts’ he took as president.”

Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein of Politico report that “Trump asks appeals court to block 2020 election prosecution; The argument has fared poorly in other federal courts that have considered it so far.”

And in related coverage, Jordan Fabian and Kate Queram of Bloomberg News report that “Biden Says Presidents Can Be Subject to Criminal Prosecution; Supreme Court won’t immediately decide on Trump immunity case; Biden putting democracy, Jan. 6 at center of 2024 campaign.”

You can access at this link the opening brief that former president Donald J. Trump filed yesterday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

“The Non-Originalist Decision That May Save Trump; Griffin’s Case and ‘The General Spirit of the Constitution’”: Adrian Vermeule has this post at “The New Digest” Substack site.

“The FBI is looking into threats against Colorado justices after Trump ballot ruling; The involvement of law enforcement comes amid a wave of threats against the justices who ruled this week that Trump is ineligible for the state’s primary ballot”: Zoë Richards of NBC News has this report.