“Justices to Hear Case on South Carolina’s Bid to Defund Planned Parenthood; The issue in the case is whether Medicaid beneficiaries may sue under a law that lets them choose care from any provider qualified to perform the required services”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.
Justin Jouvenal and Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post report that “Supreme Court to hear South Carolina’s bid to block funding for Planned Parenthood; The Supreme Court will review South Carolina’s decision to cut off state funding for Planned Parenthood clinics because the care they offer includes abortion.”
Maureen Groppe of USA Today reports that “Can Planned Parenthood be stripped of Medicaid funding? Supreme Court to weigh in; The Supreme Court agreed to review a lower court’s decision that Medicaid patients have the right to choose their health care provider.”
And Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times reports that “Supreme Court to weigh Medicaid dollars going to abortion providers.”
“Supreme Court Fast-Tracks TikTok Case in Face of Jan. 19 Deadline; The company and its Chinese parent invoked the First Amendment in urging the justices to step in before a deadline to sell or be shut down”: Adam Liptak and Sapna Maheshwari of The New York Times have this report.
Ann E. Marimow and Eva Dou of The Washington Post report that “Supreme Court to hear challenge to banning TikTok in U.S.; The justices will quickly take up the constitutionality of a federal law that would shutter TikTok next month unless the company divests from Chinese ownership.”
Andrea Chang and David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times report that “Supreme Court to hear TikTok case before ban deadline.”
Jacob Gershman of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Supreme Court to Consider TikTok Ban; Justices to hear oral arguments next month, days before ban is supposed to take effect.”
Maureen Groppe of USA Today reports that “Supreme Court to decide if law that could force a U.S. ban on TikTok violates First Amendment; President-elect Donald Trump has promised to save TikTok; It is unclear how that would happen.”
And Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times reports that “Supreme Court takes up TikTok challenge over law banning Chinese-owned platform.”
“The Postal Service Says It Will Keep Mailing Abortion Pills — For Now; In a statement to NOTUS, the USPS left the door open for guidance around the Comstock Act to change, but it plans to ‘continue to act consistent’ with a DOJ memo until then”: Oriana González of NOTUS has this report.
“Federal judge broke ethics rules by criticizing Justice Alito over flag flying, report finds”: Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has this report.
And Jacqueline Thomsen of Bloomberg Law reports that “Judge Apologizes for Criticizing Alito’s Ethics Over Flags; Senior judge was found to have committed misconduct; Wrote essay calling justice’s flag-flying ‘improper.’”
You can view the op-ed at this link. And you can access the decision on the judicial complaint at this link.
“Aide-de-camp”: You can access the new episode of the “Divided Argument” podcast via this link.
“The Changing Face of Supreme Court Oral Arguments [Deep Dive #2]; How ‘hot’ is the bench? Here are some data driven answers.” Adam Feldman has this post at his “Legalytics” Substack site.
“Watch Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Make Broadway Debut in & Juliet; The hit jukebox musical continues at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre”: Andrew Gans of Playbill has this report.
And Vladimir Duthiers and Analisa Novak of CBS News have a report headlined “Backstage with Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as she made her Broadway debut.”
“Judge’s criticism of US Supreme Court’s Alito over flags is deemed improper”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has this report.
“Plaintiffs move to dismiss lawsuit that led to Alabama Supreme Court IVF decision; The couple in the final remaining lawsuit over the destruction of embryos at a Mobile facility moved to end the suit last week”: Alander Rocha of Alabama Reflector has this report.
And Howard Koplowitz of AL.com reports that “Judge dismisses couple’s IVF lawsuit that led to controversial Alabama Supreme Court ruling.”
“Big loss for ISPs as Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to $15 broadband law; ISPs fear more states will regulate prices as New York law survives challenge”: Jon Brodkin of Ars Technica has this report.
You can access yesterday’s Orders List of the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.
“Americans Pass Judgment on Their Courts: Sharp decline in confidence in judiciary is among the largest Gallup has ever measured.” Benedict Vigers and Lydia Saad of Gallup have this report.
And Adam Liptak of The New York Times reports that “Confidence in U.S. Courts Plummets to Rate Far Below Peer Nations; Very few countries have experienced similar declines, typically in the wake of wrenching turmoil; Experts called the data, from a new Gallup poll, stunning and worrisome.”
“Share of Black Harvard Law Students Drops in First Class After Affirmative Action Ruling”: Akshaya Ravi of The Harvard Crimson has this report.
And Deena Zaru of ABC News has an article headlined “Steep decline in Black, Hispanic enrollment at Harvard Law after Supreme Court ruling; The Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that affirmative action is unconstitutional.”
“A new Supreme Court case about religion has a hidden trap for workers; Catholic Charities v. Wisconsin has a sympathetic plaintiff, and alarmingly high stakes for workers”: Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.
“Texas Abortion Lawsuit Against New York Doctor Kicks Off a New Legal Civil War”: Law professor Mary Ziegler has this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.
“Judges ‘Unretire’ After Trump Wins; Democrats don’t hold up their end of a bipartisan Senate bargain”: This editorial will appear in Wednesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.
“How a long-ago fight over a dormant constitutional weapon echoes today; Controversies over presidential power and recessing Congress aren’t new; See: Andrew Jackson.” Columnist Jason Willick and Philip Huff have this essay online at The Washington Post.
“The Federalist Society Announces Its Next Leader; The process by which Sheldon Gilbert was selected was full of twists and turns, but turned out well in the end”: David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.
“TikTok Asks US Supreme Court to Block Government Ban; New US law set to ban popular social-media app next month; TikTok, Chinese parent seek high court action by Jan. 6”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.
You can view at this link the Emergency Application for Injunction filed today at the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Will U.S. Supreme Court forgo investor class actions after Meta, Nvidia dismissals?” Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Reuters has this post.
“113. Direct Appeals from State Criminal Convictions: The Supreme Court’s docket for the October 2024 Term includes *zero* appeals from state criminal convictions; That’s part of a broader trend — and one with significant downstream implications.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.
“Sheldon Gilbert to Become Next Federalist Society President and CEO”: This post appeared Saturday at the “FedSoc Blog.”
“Judicial Notice (12.15.24): The Next Generation; FedSoc’s new president, $1 million associate bonuses, Luigi Mangione’s lawyers, and Jones Day’s latest SCOTUS clerk haul.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.
“Alito and Thomas Have Already Taken the Most-Contradictory Positions of the Supreme Court Term”: Law professor Hila Keren has this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.
“Recess Appointments of Judges: From George Washington forward, quite a history.” Ed Whelan recently had this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.
“Photo ID undermines Republican challenge in NC Supreme Court race”: Steve Harrison of WFAE has this report.
And in commentary, online at Slate, Billy Corriher has a Jurisprudence essay titled “The North Carolina GOP’s Latest Ploy to Steal a State Supreme Court Seat.”
“Jingle Bells, the Fifth Circuit Is Hell”: You can access today’s new episode of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast via this link and on YouTube.
“Historic Muslim Appellate Pick Laments Attacks on Nomination; Adeel Mangi condemns judicial nominations process as ‘fundamentally broken’; No path forward for Mangi’s confirmation”: Tiana Headley of Bloomberg Law has this report.
And Charles Toutant of New Jersey Law Journal reports that “3rd Circuit Nominee Mangi Sees ‘No Pathway to Confirmation,’ Derides ‘Organized Smear Campaign’; Adeel Mangi said in a letter to the White House that the system for approving federal court judges is ‘fundamentally broken’ and has turned into ‘a channel for the raising of money based on performative McCarthyism before video cameras.’”
You can access Adeel A. Mangi’s letter to the White House at this link.
“The Supreme Court’s Bond With Baseball; A new book reveals the long-standing kinship among justices, lawyers and baseball.” Tony Mauro has this post at his “The Marble Palace Blog” online at The National Law Journal.
“Judicial Misconduct Complaint Against Judge Vaden For Columbia Boycott Referred to Seventh Circuit’s Judicial Council; The Fifth and Eleventh Circuits already dismissed similar complaints, but the Chief Judge of the Court of International Trade asked the Chief Justice to refer it to another circuit, and Roberts did so”: Josh Blackman has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”
“After NC’s Tillis blocked appellate judge’s replacement, judge cancels retirement”: Danielle Battaglia of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina has this report.
Stephen Dinan of The Washington Times reports that “Judges defy Trump by revoking retirements, blocking him from naming replacements.”
Tiana Headley of Bloomberg Law reports that “Judge Wynn Reverses Retirement Plans, Denies Trump Vacancy; Third judge to reverse plans since Election Day; Sen. Tillis says ethics complaints, recusal demands warranted.”
Nate Raymond of Reuters reports that “US appeals court judge rescinds retirement after Trump’s win.”
You can access Fourth Circuit Judge James Andrew Wynn‘s letter to the White House at this link.
“Texas Attorney General Sues New York Doctor for Mailing Abortion Pills; The lawsuit appeared to be among the first attempts to stop doctors from mailing the medication to states that ban abortions”: J. David Goodman and Pam Belluck of The New York Times have this report.
Kim Bellware of The Washington Post reports that “Texas AG sues out-of-state doctor over mail-order abortion pills; In 2023, New York enacted a ‘shield law’ protecting medical professionals who mail abortion medication to states that ban or restrict the drugs.”
Jennifer Calfas and Laura Kusisto of The Wall Street Journal report that “Texas Sues New York Doctor, Challenging Abortion Provider Shield Laws; Lawsuit says doctor violated Texas law in prescribing pregnancy-ending medication through telemedicine.”
And Eleanor Klibanoff of The Texas Tribune reports that “Ken Paxton sues New York doctor accused of prescribing abortion pills to Texas woman; This case sets up a legal battle between Texas’ near-total abortion ban and New York’s shield law that protects doctors from out-of-state prosecution.”
“What is the Future of the Federalist Society? The Federalist Society’s playbook must change if it is to continue leading the conservative legal movement.” Josh Blackman has this essay online at Civitas Outlook.
“When should a judge recuse? The decision should take 5 minutes. When in doubt, I follow my five-minute rule.” Former D.C. Circuit Judge David S. Tatel has this essay online at The Washington Post.
“U.S. Court Denies TikTok’s Request to Freeze Sale-or-Ban Law; TikTok had sought to temporarily freeze a law that requires its Chinese parent to sell the app or face a U.S. ban next month; The case may now head to the Supreme Court”: Sapna Maheshwari of The New York Times has this report.
“Federal judge who refuses mental evaluation at age 97 fights suspension; Judge Pauline Newman is the nation’s oldest federal judge”: Michael Dorgan of Fox News has this report. [Fact check — Judge Newman is not the oldest federal judge, although she may be the oldest in active service.]
Ishita Srivastava of The Daily Mail (UK) reports that “America’s oldest federal judge, 97, desperately trying to cling on to her job as others say she’s past her prime.”
And at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Paul Cassell has a post titled “Is Judge Newman Entitled to Her Day in Court to Challenge Her ‘Stealth Impeachment’? Other former judges and I have just filed an amicus brief in the D.C. Circuit, making the case that the federal courts should consider Judge Newman’s challenge to being effectively removed from her position on the Federal Circuit in violation of her constitutional rights.” You can view the amicus brief, in which two former Federal Circuit judges have joined, at this link.
