“The Case For Sonia Sotomayor’s Retirement Is Not Just About Sonia Sotomayor; Democrats must reconceptualize what it means to serve responsibly on the Supreme Court, where a handful of unexpected vacancies can flip the balance of power for generations”: Jay Willis has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

And online at The Washington Post, columnist Jim Geraghty has an essay titled “Nervous Democrats tell Sotomayor a ‘lifetime’ appointment is temporary.”

“Judge reinstates Wawa class action fee award shot down by appeals court”: Mike Scarcella of Reuters has this report.

“Florida and Arizona show why abortion attacks are not slowing down; The judges aren’t done”: Rachel M. Cohen of Vox has this report.

“Washington Judge Cedes Credit Card Late Fee Suit to Texas Court; Fifth Circuit blocked transfer of the case from Texas; Industry is seeking an injunction blocking $8 fee cap”: Evan Weinberger of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“US judicial panel proposes greater amicus brief financial disclosures”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has this report.

“George W. Bush Makes a Shocking Supreme Court Nomination; How it happened”: Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.

“First Muslim American appellate court nominee faces uphill battle to salvage nomination”: Kevin Freking of The Associated Press has this report.

And at his Substack site, Chris Geidner has a post titled “A judicial nomination under attack — and now in peril; The attack on Adeel Mangi’s nomination gives way to appalling cowardice from a trio of Democratic senators.”

“Putting Abortion Question to Florida Voters Is Unlikely to End Court Fights; Though the Florida Supreme Court allowed a ballot question on expanding abortion rights, it also laid out a way for anti-abortion groups to challenge such an expansion”: Patricia Mazzei of The New York Times has this report.

“The Fidelity of ‘Originalist’ Justices Is About to Be Tested”: Law professor Nelson Lund has this Second Amendment-related guest essay online at The New York Times.

“I Served on the Florida Supreme Court. What the New Majority Just Did Is Indefensible.” Barbara Pariente has this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“She Fled the Nazis. Reagan Republicans Put Her on the Federal Bench. 40 Years Later, She’s Still Surprising Everyone.” Online at Slate, Mark Joseph Stern has this interview with Seventh Circuit Judge Ilana Diamond Rovner.

“The Supreme Court will decide if states can ban lifesaving abortions; A federal law requires hospitals to provide abortions when necessary to prevent serious health consequences; The justices could neutralize that law”: Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.

“Arizona’s Zombie Abortion Ban Is Back. It’s Every State’s Future If Trump Wins.” Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern have this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Some Jan. 6 rioters win early release, even before key Supreme Court ruling; The Supreme Court’s pending review of a key federal charge levied against Jan. 6 defendants — and Donald Trump — is already triggering early releases of some high-profile defendants”: Spencer S. Hsu of The Washington Post has this report.

“‘Whose house?’ Congress’ house, appeals court rules, rejecting Jan. 6 defendant’s challenge; The ruling upholds a statute that criminalizes parading, picketing or demonstrating in a Capitol building.’” Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein of Politico have this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued today.

“Abortion in Arizona set to be illegal in nearly all circumstances, state high court rules”: Ray Stern and Stacey Barchenger of The Arizona Republic have this report.

Howard Fischer of The Arizona Daily Star reports that “Court ruling makes nearly all abortions in Arizona illegal.”

Jack Healy and Kellen Browning of The New York Times report that “Arizona Reinstates 160-Year-Old Abortion Ban; The state’s highest court said the law, moribund for decades under Roe v. Wade, was now enforceable, but put its decision on hold for a lower court to hear other challenges to the law.”

Danielle Paquette and Molly Hennessy-Fiske report that “Arizona Supreme Court issues near-total ban on abortion.”

And Laura Kusisto and Eliza Collins of The Wall Street Journal report that “Arizona Supreme Court Revives 160-Year-Old Abortion Ban; Decision will put abortion front and center in 2024 presidential race in swing state.”

You can access today’s 4-to-2 ruling of the Supreme Court of Arizona at this link.

“Trump Says Abortion Restrictions Should Be Left to the States; After months of mixed signals, Donald Trump said that whatever states decide ‘must be the law of the land,’ adding that he was ‘strongly in favor of exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother’”: Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, and Michael Gold of The New York Times have this report.

Hannah Knowles and Marianne LeVine of The Washington Post report that “Trump says abortion should be left to states, does not endorse national limit.”

Alex Leary, Catherine Lucey, and Laura Kusisto of The Wall Street Journal report that “Trump Says States Should Chart Their Own Paths on Abortion; Former president had floated the idea of a 15- or 16-week ban.”

Susan Ferrechio of The Washington Times has an article headlined “Rejecting a federal abortion limit, Trump blunts Democrats’ most powerful weapon for November.”

In commentary, online at The New York Times, columnist Michelle Goldberg has an essay titled “Trump Says Abortion Will Be Left to the States. Don’t Believe Him.”

And online at The Washington Post, columnist Eugene Robinson has an essay titled “Trump’s abortion position just made his 2024 reelection even harder.”

“Prosecutors Ask Supreme Court to Reject Trump’s Immunity Claim in Election Case; The filing was the main submission from Jack Smith, the special counsel prosecuting the former president; The case will be argued on April 25”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

And Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post reports that “Special counsel urges Supreme Court to reject Trump’s immunity claim.”

You can access the Special Counsel’s merits brief at this link.

“Stephen Breyer to the Supreme Court Majority: You’re Doing It Wrong; In our system of government, the Constitution has the final say; But it doesn’t come with a user manual.” Louis Menand has this Books essay in the April 15, 2024 issue of The New Yorker.

“The Fifth Circuit’s lawlessness is now spreading from California to D.C.; Two federal judges in Texas recently granted motions to transfer cases to other courts; Then the Fifth Circuit got involved; Now, it’s a nationwide mess”: Chris Geidner has this post at his Substack site.

“Sam Alito’s Dobbs Opinion Has Somehow Aged Even Worse Than You Expected; The majority in Dobbs argued that Roe v. Wade didn’t ‘work’; A new amicus brief demonstrates that Dobbs doesn’t ‘work,’ either — and that the status quo is far worse”: Madiba K. Dennie has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Florida man found with contraband; The latest on the Presidential Records Act saga”: Adam Unikowsky has this post at his Substack site, “Adam’s Legal Newsletter.”

“Trump promises a ‘deal’ on abortion that will please everyone. It likely doesn’t exist. Should Trump appear vague or duck the issue, some of his supporters fear it will allow the Biden campaign to tie him to the more extreme wing of the anti-abortion movement.” Alice Miranda Ollstein and Megan Messerly of Politico have this report.

“Judicial Notice (04.07.24): Age Is Just A Number; Judge Aileen Cannon’s shrewd move, a conservative hire at Yale Law, Winston’s interesting new offering, and other legal news from the week that was.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“Biden’s Judges Have Made the Judiciary More Diverse. How Are They Shaping the Law? While it’s likely too early to see major swings in the law, the president’s appointees’ individual opinions on criminal law and qualified immunity show the impact the judges’ diverse professional backgrounds have on their jurisprudence.” Avalon Zoppo of The National Law Journal has this report.

“Democratic senator suggests Sonia Sotomayor weigh ‘competing factors’ in decision to retire: ‘Learn a lesson’; Blumenthal told NBC News that ‘graveyards are full of indispensable people, ourselves in this body included.’” Hanna Panreck of Fox News has this report.

“No, Stephen Breyer, the Supreme Court Is Not Our Friend; The former justice is calling on Americans to emulate the civility of Supreme Court justices, never mind the extreme harm some of those justices are doing”: Elie Mystal has this essay online at The Nation.

“US court rejects transfer of credit card fees rule case amid focus on ‘judge shopping’”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has a report that begins, “A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that a Texas judge wrongly transferred to another court in Washington, D.C., an industry-backed lawsuit challenging an agency rule on credit card late fees, highlighting the debate over ‘judge shopping’ in the U.S.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit at this link.

“After years on the run, GirlsDoPorn boss faces ‘beginning of the end’ in San Diego”: Sonja Sharp of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

“Opposition to Muslim Judicial Nominee Leaves Biden With a Tough Choice; Adeel Mangi would be the first Muslim American to be a federal appeals court judge, but has faced vitriolic attacks from the G.O.P.; The president could run out of time to fill the seat”: Carl Hulse of The New York Times has this report.

And in commentary, online at The New York Times, columnist Lydia Polgreen has an essay titled “Three Democratic Senators Are Stuck Indulging an Outdated Fantasy.”

“Trump’s Lawyers Told the Court That No One Would Give Him a Bond. Then He Got a Lifeline, but They Didn’t Tell the Judges. An appeals court reduced Trump’s bond by more than 60% after his attorneys claimed it was a ‘practical impossibility’ to pay the full amount. Their failure to disclose a proposal from a billionaire financier may have violated ethics rules.” Robert Faturechi, Justin Elliott, and Alex Mierjeski of ProPublica have this report.

“Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Breyer to hear cases on appeals court”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has this report.

The new episode of the “Politics War Room with James Carville & Al Hunt” podcast is titled “243. The Court & The Constitution with Justice Stephen Breyer.”

“Republican Politicians Keep Learning That Abortion Is Popular and They Are Not; Florida Amendment 4 gives 22 million people the chance to protect abortion access over the strident objections of Republican elected officials”: Jay Willis has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Sonia Sotomayor’s Retirement Is Not the Point; Calls are mounting for the liberal justice to take her leave; Instead, Democrats should focus on winning elections”: Matt Ford has this essay online at The New Republic.

“Court of Appeals sides with ACLU on allowing abortion for religious objectors”: Binghui Huang of The Indianapolis Star has this report.

Leslie Bonilla Muñiz of Indiana Capital Chronicle reports that “Indiana Court of Appeals affirms RFRA-based abortion ban challenge; But court remands for narrower injunction while case continues.”

David Wells of Courthouse News Service reports that “Abortion ban likely violates religious freedoms, Indiana appeals court says; Jewish women in Indiana fought against one of the nation’s strictest abortion laws, arguing that the restrictions conflict with their religious belief that abortions are necessary if the health of the pregnant person is compromised.”

And Mary Anne Pazanowski of Bloomberg Law reports that “Non-Christians Win Temporary Pause to Indiana’s Abortion Ban; Exemptions doom compelling interest in preserving unborn life; Court notes that lawmakers exempted in vitro fertilization.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the Court of Appeals of Indiana at this link.