“Thomas Girardi’s Legal Drama Approaches Its Hollywood Ending; Class action lawyer facing fraud charges goes on trial; Girardi accused of stealing millions from his clients”: Isaiah Poritz and Maia Spoto of Bloomberg Law have this report.

And David Thomas of Reuters reports that “Disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi to face jury in client embezzlement case.”

“The Constitution and Your Cellphone Bill: The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals tosses a ‘universal service’ tax delegated by Congress to the FCC.” The Wall Street Journal has published this editorial.

“Supreme Court Rejects Long-Shot Challenge to Trump Hush Money Case; Missouri sought to sue New York under the court’s ‘original jurisdiction,’ which sometimes allows suits between states to be brought directly to the justices”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report on an order that the U.S. Supreme Court issued today.

“A ‘legal giant’: First Black NJ Supreme Court justice, James H. Coleman Jr., dies.” Lori Comstock of The New Jersey Herald has this report.

“The Law as Justice Gorsuch Sees It: In an interview with The Atlantic, Neil Gorsuch discusses his dream of a legal system that falls closer to the ‘golden mean’ — not too much law, but not too little either.” Rebecca J. Rosen has this interview online at The Atlantic.

“Colorado Supreme Court’s new chief justice reflects on ‘rough waters’ for judiciary as she takes helm; Monica Márquez succeeds Justice Brian Boatright in rotating three-year chief justice position”: Shelly Bradbury of The Denver Post has this interview.

“One of the Most Conservative State Supreme Courts in the Country Just Rebuked Dobbs”: Law professor Mary Ziegler has this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch warns of federal law overreach in new book”: CBS News has posted this video on YouTube.

“Landry, attorney general defend Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law, ask judge to dismiss lawsuit”: Meghan Friedmann and Elyse Carmosino of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans have this report.

“Ketanji Brown Jackson Is Redefining What It Means to Be a Liberal Justice; During her short time on the Supreme Court, Jackson has articulated a skepticism toward judicial power that feels particularly urgent in a post-Roe world”: Elie Mystal has this article in the August 2024 issue of The Nation.

“Texas Border Fight Floats an Odd Legal Argument; The clash over a river barrier at Eagle Pass came to the Fifth Circuit, which failed to refute the Lone Star state’s most alarming claims”: Law professor Stephen L. Carter has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“Yes, New Jersey Can Ban the AR-15. Here’s Why. Lower court judges may think their hands have been tied by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bruen. But they’ve been wrong before.” Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“Judicial Council Upholds Dismissal of Complaint Against Judges Who Vowed Not to Hire Columbia Law Clerks”: Avalon Zoppo of The National Law Journal has this report on a decision that the Appellate Review Panel of the Judicial Council of the Fifth Circuit issued Friday.

Nate Raymond of Reuters reports that “US judges cleared of misconduct over Columbia clerk hiring boycott.”

And Suzanne Monyak of Bloomberg Law reports that “Judges’ Clerk Ban Over Israel-Hamas Protests Ethical, Panel Says; Clerk hiring ban found to not violate ethics code; Conservative judges refused to hire Columbia grads over Israel protests.”

In the August 12, 2024 issue of The New Yorker: Amy Davidson Sorkin has a Comment titled “The Supreme Court Needs Fixing, but How? President Biden has proposed radical changes to the Court. Reviewing them is a reminder of why reform is so hard, despite dissatisfaction and a wealth of ideas.”

And Rachel Monroe has an American Chronicles article titled “How Tribal Nations Are Reclaiming Oklahoma: After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of tribal interests, suddenly nearly half of the state was Native territory. What exactly does that mean?“

“Justice Thomas Failed to Reveal More Private Flights, Senator Says; Senator Ron Wyden sent a letter to the wealthy conservative donor Harlan Crow’s lawyer after records showed undisclosed flights between Hawaii and New Zealand with the Supreme Court justice in 2010”: Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has this report.

“Project 2025 (cont.): DEI for Men With Terrible Personalities.” You can access today’s new episode of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast via this link (and on YouTube too).

“Why Donald Trump Sues Everyone: ‘All lawsuits, all the time’ was Trump’s business model; Now it’s his campaign strategy.” You can access the new episode of Slate’s “Amicus” podcast via this link.

“The Fifth Circuit is still Fifth Circuit-ing: The appeals court takes swipes at the Voting Rights Act and federal control over immigration; Also: Schumer shows how the Hill could respond to SCOTUS overreach.” Chris Geidner has this post at his Substack site.

“Judicial Notice (08.04.24): Reversal Of Fortune; A $2 billion appellate win, three lawyers under VP consideration, notable new Fifth Circuit rulings, and another high-profile hire by Paul Hastings.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“Jurisdiction-Stripping and the Supreme Court; A new reform bill raises an old question about how far Congress can go to keep appeals away from the Supreme Court; My own view is that Congress’s Exceptions Clause power is broad, but *not* plenary”: Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.