“Brett Kavanaugh has very bad news for Donald Trump; A federal judge just blocked Trump’s domestic spending freeze; His opinion relies heavily on another one by Justice Kavanaugh”: Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.

“Spouses of NC Supreme Court justices gave maximum contributions to the GOP judicial candidate”: Lynn Bonner of NC Newsline has this report.

“Goldstein Case Raises The Stakes For A DOJ Office In Tumult”: Phillip Bantz of Law360 has this report (subscription required for full access).

“New York Doctor Indicted in Louisiana for Sending Abortion Pills There; The case opens a new front in the battle between states that ban abortion and states that support providing abortion anywhere in the country”: Pam Belluck and Emily Cochrane of The New York Times have this report.

Ellyn Couvillion and Matt Bruce of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans report that “New York doctor charged for sending abortion pill to Louisiana minor; mom allegedly coerced her to end pregnancy.”

Matt Bruce of The Times-Picayune reports that “NY governor vows to block extradition of doctor charged in Louisiana abortion pill case.”

And Lorena O’Neil of Louisiana Illuminator reports that “Louisiana mother, New York doctor indicted for allegedly giving minor abortion pills.”

“William Pryor Takes Tortuous Path to Eleventh Circuit; His shocking testimony guarantees Democratic filibuster”: Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.

“White House eyes fight to expand Trump’s power to control spending; Trump’s early, extraordinary steps pose a direct challenge to Congress’s constitutional power of the purse”: Tony Romm and Jeff Stein of The Washington Post have this report.

“Arkansas Supreme Court chief justice says dispute over her authority could lead to litigation; Baker again says she hopes to pick new Administrative Office of the Courts director”: Tess Vrbin of Arkansas Advocate has this report.

“President Trump expects to end birthright citizenship with support from Supreme Court”: Bart Jansen of USA Today has this report.

“Kim Davis’ lawyer eager for next step as he argues same-sex marriage case before appeals panel”: Sarah Ladd of Kentucky Lantern has this report.

“Judge denies Charlie Adelson request for new sentencing hearing over scoresheet error”: Jeff Burlew of The Tallahassee Democrat has this report.

“Appeals Court Strikes Down Federal Ban on Handgun Sales to Teenagers; The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit applied the Supreme Court’s ‘historical tradition’ test”: Mattathias Schwartz of The New York Times has this report.

Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times reports that “Federal appeals court strikes down feds’ handgun ban on those under 21; Judges declare law unconstitutional, say 18-20-year-olds have right to keep and bear arms.”

And Christina van Waasbergen of Courthouse News Service reports that “Fifth Circuit declares age restrictions on adult handgun purchases unconstitutional; The appellate panel ruled that a federal law prohibiting firearms dealers from selling handguns to adults under 21 is inconsistent with firearm regulations at the time of the country’s founding.”

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

“Donna Adelson gives surprise testimony about jailhouse talk and family ‘blackmail’”: Jeff Burlew of The Tallahassee Democrat has this report.

“Justice Jackson punches out her frustrations with the conservative Supreme Court in the boxing ring”: Mark Sherman and Lindsay Whitehurst of The Associated Press have this report.

“Is Texas due for a judicial pay raise? Here’s what chief justice says and what’s proposed.” Alex Driggars of The Austin American-Statesman has this report.

“Raheem Mullin confirmed as chief justice of CT Supreme Court”: Mark Pazniokas of CT Mirror has this report.

“Arizona’s first Latina justice is in no way a ‘diversity hire’; Maria Elena Cruz is the Arizona Supreme Court’s first Latina justice; But that’s not the most important reason why she got the job”: Elvia Díaz has this essay online at The Arizona Republic.

“‘Heightened Scrutiny’ Review: A Transgender Attorney Heads to the Supreme Court in an Emotional and Informative Doc; Sam Feder’s documentary follows the ongoing case of United States v. Skrmetti — and takes aim at how news media can foster prejudice in lawmaking.” Siddhant Adlakha of Variety has this review.

“Atlanta family in mistaken FBI raid gets case before U.S. Supreme Court; Ruling could set national precedent in cases against the federal government and its employees”: Rosie Manins of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has this report.

“The March for Life Exposed Abortion Foes’ Biggest Weakness”: Law professor Mary Ziegler has this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Trump’s Firings Are Baiting the Supreme Court; The president wants the court to hold that he can fire anyone within the executive branch”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“Gov. Katie Hobbs appoints Maria Elena Cruz to the Arizona Supreme Court”: Stacey Barchenger of The Arizona Republic has this report.

Howard Fischer of The Arizona Daily Star reports that “Hobbs appoints first Latina and Black justice to Arizona Supreme Court.”

Sejal Govindarao and Gabriel Sandoval of The Los Angeles Times report that “Arizona governor appoints first Latina and Black justice to state Supreme Court.”

And Caitlin Sievers of AZ Mirror reports that “Hobbs names Maria Elena Cruz, the first Latina justice, to Arizona Supreme Court.”

“The Supreme Court Invited Trump to Defy It; The justices’ decisions in recent years have made the Court especially vulnerable to exactly the kind of authoritarian pressure it should be positioned to resist”: Law professor Pedro Gerson has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Indicted SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein can’t switch collateral, magistrate judge rules”: Debra Cassens Weiss has this post at ABA Journal.

“Plea Deal May Be Best Strategy For SCOTUSBlog Publisher”: Asha Glover of Law360 has this news analysis (subscription required for full access).

And Ali Sullivan of Law360 has an article headlined “Tom Goldstein Seeks To Shield DC Home In Tax Crimes Case” (subscription required for full access) that begins, “Appellate lawyer and SCOTUSblog publisher Tom Goldstein asked a Maryland federal judge Wednesday if he could put up three South Carolina properties as collateral for his pretrial release in place of his Washington, D.C., home as he faces charges of tax evasion and mortgage fraud.”

“Four Circuit Seats Await as Trump Renews Plan to Shape Judiciary”: David Lat has this new installment of his “Exclusive Jurisdiction” column online at Bloomberg Law.

“Appeals court weighs if U.S. can nix accused 9/11 plotters’ plea deal; If the Pentagon were ever to get courts’ leeway to withdraw a pledge not to seek the death penalty, the United States says, it should be for the alleged mastermind of the 2001 attacks”: Spencer S. Hsu and Missy Ryan of The Washington Post have this report.

And Ryan Knappenberger of Courthouse News Service reports that “DC Circuit skeptical feds can back out of plea deal with 9/11 plotters; The federal government agreed not to seek the death penalty in a plea deal with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 terror attacks — but tried to back out just days later.”

You can access the audio of yesterday’s lengthy oral argument before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit at this link.

“As Establishment Warms to Trump, Elite Law Firm Takes On His Appeal; The involvement of Sullivan & Cromwell in the appeal of President Trump’s criminal conviction underscored how New York’s legal power players have moved toward Mr. Trump”: Jonah E. Bromwich of The New York Times has this report.

“Defying Legal Limits, Trump Firings Set Up Tests That Could Expand His Power; The prospect of legal challenges to President Trump’s purges may be a feature, not a bug, for adherents of sweeping presidential authority”: Charlie Savage of The New York Times has this news analysis.

“Amid Big Bets, Tom Goldstein Argued ‘Poker Is Not Gambling’”: Jeff Overley and Cara Salvatore of Law360 have this report (subscription required for full access).

And Jon Sofen of PokerNews reports that “Court Orders Indicted Lawyer to Stop Playing Poker While Awaiting Trial.”

“Trump’s Attack on Birthright Citizenship; The 14th Amendment and court precedent run counter to the president’s order”: Columnist William A. Galston will have this op-ed in Wednesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“Tom Goldstein of SCOTUSblog Fame Pleads Not Guilty to Tax Crimes; Goldstein among the most experienced high court advocates; Indictment alleges he used law firm to conceal gambling funds”: Holly Barker of Bloomberg News has this report.

And David Thomas of Reuters reports that “Supreme Court lawyer pleads not guilty in tax case tied to poker winnings.”

“Supreme Court to decide whether FBI can be held liable for mistaken raid; An FBI SWAT team smashed the front door of a suburban Atlanta home in 2017 as they attempted to serve a search warrant; They had the wrong home”: Justin Jouvenal of The Washington Post has this report.

“Federal appeals court considers NC GOP challenge of 65,000 votes in Supreme Court election”: Kyle Ingram and Avi Bajpai of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina has this report.

Lynn Bonner of NC Newsline reports that “A federal appeals court considers who should decide whether NC votes are thrown out; State Supreme Court contest is the last statewide race in the nation without a declared winner.”

Will Doran of WRAL has a report headlined “Challenged NC ballots: After intense questioning in court, federal judges to choose who will decide fate of 60,000 votes; The lawsuit is proceeding in state and federal court at the same time, a rare occurrence that mirrors the rare nature of the attempt to throw out ballots months after the election ended.”

The Carolina Journal reports that “Federal Appeals Court wrestles with proper venue for NC election dispute.”

And Sydney Haulenbeek of Courthouse News Service reports that “Fourth Circuit weighs arguments over disputed North Carolina associate justice race; A Fourth Circuit panel heard arguments Monday over where a case challenging the results of the North Carolina associate justice race belongs: state or federal court.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has posted the audio of today’s oral argument on YouTube at this link.

“119. The Federal Government as a Party: Each of the last two terms, the United States has been a party to at least half of the cases on the Supreme Court’s merits docket; That’s a big deal, and not just because it’s *never* happened before.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“Trump Argues That His Immunity Extends to E. Jean Carroll’s Lawsuits; The president, who was found liable for sexually abusing the writer E. Jean Carroll, is contending that he doesn’t have to pay the $83 million he owes for defaming her”: Benjamin Weiser of The New York Times has this report.