“Supreme Court Denies Trump’s Last-Ditch Effort to Avoid Sentencing; After the court declined in a 5-to-4 decision to block Donald J. Trump’s criminal sentencing, he is scheduled to face a New York judge on Friday morning”: Ben Protess, Kate Christobek, and Adam Liptak of The New York Times have this report.
Ann E. Marimow and Justin Jouvenal of The Washington Post report that “Supreme Court refuses to delay Trump’s hush money sentencing; President-elect Donald Trump turned to the Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort to stop the sentencing, citing the conservative majority’s explosive immunity opinion.”
David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Supreme Court turns down Trump plea to block New York sentencing for hush money conviction.”
Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Supreme Court Won’t Block Trump’s Sentencing in Hush-Money Case; Justices deny president-elect’s bid to avoid finalizing his felony conviction for covering up six-figure payment to an adult-film star.”
Maureen Groppe of USA Today reports that “Divided Supreme Court denies Trump bid to block his criminal sentencing in NY; Trump argued the sentencing for his conviction of falsifying business records interferes with preparations for his Jan. 20 return to office; Prosecutors had called it an ‘extraordinary’ request.”
And Alex Swoyer and Tom Howell Jr. of The Washington Times report that “Supreme Court declines to stop Trump sentencing in N.Y.”
You can access this evening’s order of the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.
“Yet Another Totally Perfect Phone Call; Dissecting Trump and Alito’s chummy phone call, which happened a mere day before Trump asked SCOTUS to dismiss his criminal sentence”: Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern have this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.
And online at Balls and Strikes, Jay Willis has an essay titled “I, For One, Find Sam Alito’s Explanation of His Phone Call With Donald Trump Very Reasonable and Not at All Weird; On what basis, I ask, would you not extend the benefit of the doubt to principled public servants like Donald Trump and Sam Alito?“
“Trump Is Poised to Turn the DOJ Into His Personal Law Firm; The question the Senate confirmation process must address is whether the department’s tradition of independence will be supplanted by a new value: loyalty.” Bob Bauer has this essay online at The Atlantic.
“Judges Speak On Classical Legal Theory: A Model Opinion By Judge Matey and an Illuminating Lecture By Lord Sales.” Adrian Vermeule has this post at “The New Digest” Substack site.
“State Supreme Court Blitz [Deep Dive #5]: The most important decisions from state supreme courts in December 2024.” Adam Feldman has this post at his “Legalytics” Substack site.
“Should Trump’s Sentencing Go Forward? Yes. Will It? We’ll See.” Michael C. Dorf has this post at his blog, “Dorf on Law.”
“Bonus 116: Trump v. New York; 11 days before his inauguration, President-Elect Trump’s emergency request that the Supreme Court block his sentencing in the New York hush money case presents an early litmus test for the justices.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.
“Media’s Latest Alito Conspiracy Theory Is Particularly Ridiculous”: Mollie Hemingway has this essay online at The Federalist.
“Trump asks the Supreme Court to place him even further above the law; Trump is appealing to the same six Republicans who already ruled that he has broad immunity from the law; So he’s probably going to win”: Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.
“How the Supreme Court’s TikTok Ban Decision Could Weaken Free Speech Rights For Everyone: If the government can shut down a platform by uttering the magic words ‘national security,’ the First Amendment might as well not exist when it comes to online speech.” G.S. Hans has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.
“Breyer Is Back Lobbing Hypotheticals at First Circuit Return; Stephen Breyer returns to robe after two year hiatus; Demeanor consistent with Supreme Court oral arguments”: Allie Reed of Bloomberg Law has this report.
And Nate Raymond of Reuters reports that “Retired US Supreme Court Justice Breyer returns to ‘old home’ to hear appeals.”
“Biden’s Top Supreme Court Lawyer Back for One Last Argument; Court to consider law that could shutter TikTok in US; Prelogar to make her last argument for Biden administration”: Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson of Bloomberg Law has this report.
“Trump speaks with Justice Alito amid push to halt criminal sentencing; Alito spoke to Trump to recommend an ex-clerk for a job in his administration”: Katherine Faulders, Jonathan Karl, and Devin Dwyer of ABC News have this report.
“Maine tourist town goes to court to keep out tourists; The First Circuit can’t seem to decide if sightseers have a constitutional right to travel to places where they’re unwanted”: Thomas F. Harrison of Courthouse News Service has this report.
And Kelley Bouchard of The Portland Press Herald reports that “Appeals court takes up challenge to Bar Harbor’s cruise passenger limit; Businesses claim a voter-approved cap on the number of cruise passengers that can visit the town near Acadia National Park is unconstitutional.”
“Trump asks Supreme Court to halt Friday sentencing in hush money case; The petition is the latest effort by President-elect Donald Trump to avoid sentencing for his 34-count felony conviction related to a 2016 hush money payment”: Ann E. Marimow and Shayna Jacobs of The Washington Post have this report.
And Brent Kendall of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Trump Asks Supreme Court to Block Hush-Money Sentencing; President-elect is due to be sentenced by a New York judge Friday on 34 felonies.”
You can access President-elect Trump’s stay application filed in the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.
“Dems picked the wrong senator for Senate Judiciary leadership; They need a fighter on the committee, not a go-alonger”: Columnist Jennifer Rubin has this essay online at The Washington Post.
“NC Supreme Court blocks state from certifying Riggs as the winner in high court election”: Kyle Ingram of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina has this report.
Patrick Marley and Colby Itkowitz of The Washington Post report that “GOP-led N.C. Supreme Court blocks finalizing election for Democratic justice; Justice Allison Riggs (D) eked out a 734-vote victory over Jefferson Griffin, but the Republican challenged about 60,000 ballots cast by voters who have not provided election officials with their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.”
Will Doran of WRAL reports that “NC Supreme Court orders elections board not to certify Riggs-Griffin court race; The decision was 5-1, with all five Republican justices ruling in Jefferson Griffin’s favor and Democratic Justice Anita Earls dissenting; Democratic Justice Allison Riggs has recused herself from the deliberations.”
Rusty Jacobs of WUNC reports that “Federal court considers appeal, state Supreme Court issues stay in battle for NC Supreme Court seat.”
Lynn Bonner of NC Newsline reports that “Republicans on the NC Supreme Court block certification of the Democratic incumbent’s election.”
The Carolina Journal has reports headlined “NC Supreme Court grants stay, blocks certification of election between Griffin, Riggs” and “Elections board asks 4th Circuit to order Myers to take back NC Supreme Court dispute.”
And Sydney Haulenbeek of Courthouse News Service reports that “North Carolina Supreme Court halts election certification in associate justice race; The election for associate justice will remain unfinalized for the moment as Judge Jefferson Griffin’s request for legal intervention in the race processes through multiple courts.”
“Biden Administration Moves to Halt Sept. 11 Plea Deal; Justice Department lawyers are defending the defense secretary’s decision to back out of the agreement that avoided a death penalty trial, moving the question from military to civilian courts”: Carol Rosenberg of The New York Times has this report.
“Abortion Pills Prescribed by Pharmacists Are Newest Effort in Abortion Fight; Washington State’s program is the first, but other states are expected to try allowing pharmacists to prescribe the pills to counter growing efforts to curtail abortion access”: Pam Belluck of The New York Times has this report.
“Federal judge sends Republican challenge of 60,000 ballots back to NC Supreme Court”: Kyle Ingram of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina has this report.
Sydney Haulenbeek of Courthouse News Service reports that “North Carolina Supreme Court may ultimately decide its own next justice; The North Carolina Supreme Court will now weigh a judge’s request to throw out 60,000 ballots cast in the race for an associate justice seat.”
Will Doran of WRAL reports that “NC Supreme Court could now decide who should win the election for a seat on the court; After incumbent Democratic Justice Allison Riggs appeared to defeat Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court, Griffin has been seeking to throw out 60,000 ballots; His case could now be heard by the same court he’s trying to join.”
Rusty Jacobs of WUNC has reports headlined “Federal judge punts disputed judicial race back to North Carolina’s conservative state Supreme Court” and “Griffin, trailing in race, tries to make North Carolina Supreme Court election a matter of states’ rights.”
And Lynn Bonner of NC Newsline reports that “A federal judge sends NC Republican Judge Griffin’s contested voters case back to state court; Board of Elections certifies results of remaining state legislative contests.”
“Arkansas Supreme Court Chief Justice speaks out on controversial firings on first week in office”: Samantha Boyd of KARK has this report.
“Jimmy Blacklock named new chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court; Blacklock replaces Nathan Hecht, the longest serving justice on the high court; Gov. Greg Abbott also appointed his general counsel, James Sullivan, to the bench”: Eleanor Klibanoff of The Texas Tribune has this report.
“Jimmy Carter never had a SCOTUS pick. He still transformed the judiciary. President Jimmy Carter appointed more judges to the federal bench than any other president has done in a single term.” Gillian Brockell of The Washington Post has this report.
“California PAGA Cases All Have Individual Claims, Justices Say; Opinion points to limits of recent Balderas ruling; PAGA claims have both representative and individual pieces”: Maia Spoto of Bloomberg Law has this report on a decision that California’s Second District Court of Appeal issued last Monday.
“Another pivotal Wisconsin Supreme Court election offers two familiar outcomes; Either liberals will cement their control through 2028 or Justice Brian Hagedorn will regain the pivotal swing vote”: Jack Kelly of Wisconsin Watch has this report.
“Biden’s DOJ just asked the Supreme Court to do a huge favor for Donald Trump; The Court has a chance to resolve a years-long fight over ‘nationwide injunctions,’ just days before Trump takes office”: Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.
“Abbott Appoints James Sullivan to Texas Supreme Court, Elevates Jimmy Blacklock to Chief Justice; Sullivan has served as general counsel to Abbott since 2021”: Cameron Abrams of The Texan has this report.
“Retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to hear Maine cases in return to appeals court”: Nicole Ogrysko of Maine Public Radio has this report.
“Courts in ‘State of Disarray’ on Law Disarming Felons; The Supreme Court has repeatedly ducked Second Amendment challenges to the law; Starkly differing decisions from federal appeals courts last month may change that”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this new installment of his “Sidebar” column online at The New York Times.
“TikTok should lose its big Supreme Court case; The Supreme Court case asking if the government can ban TikTok is easier than it looks”: Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.
“Trump Likely to Test Supreme Court on Agency Powers, Immigration; Trump could force Supreme Court on independent agencies; New president expected to try to stretch old laws”: Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson of Bloomberg Law has this report.
“Arkansas Supreme Court majority blocks chief justice’s attempt to fire 10 judiciary employees; Chief Justice Karen Baker does not have the authority to fire certain employees, five justices said, calling her actions ‘retaliatory’”: Tess Vrbin of Arkansas Advocate has this report.
“The Promise and Perils of Presidential Power”: You can access today’s new episode of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast via this link and on YouTube.
“History’s Lessons on Anti-Immigrant Extremism: Even Donald Trump’s recent assertion that he would use executive action to abolish birthright citizenship has a historical link to the Chinese American experience.” Michael Luo has this Comment in the Talk of the Town section of the January 13, 2025 issue of The New Yorker.
“Judicial Notice (01.05.25): Brave New World; A filing requirement lawyers need to know about, Biglaw bonus reversals, Kirkland’s continuing conquest, and the trailing off of Trump litigation.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.
