“Grindr immunity from child rape allegation upheld by US appeals court”: Jonathan Stempel of Reuters has this report.
And Edvard Pettersson of Courthouse News Service reports that “Ninth Circuit agrees Grindr is shielded from underage rape liability; The panel said the John Doe’s claims were barred because he sought to hold the dating app liable for the content that users post on it.”
You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.
“Supreme Court expected to weigh in on Trump’s firings, birthright citizenship”: Alex Swoyer and Stephen Dinan of The Washington Times have this report.
“First Circuit weighs school policy affirming students’ gender identity against parents’ right to know; Teachers should help kids swap genders and their parents have no right to know about it, a school tells the First Circuit in a case that’s a hot-button lightning rod”: Thomas F. Harrison of Courthouse News Service had this report back in September 2023.
Today, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued this per curiam decision on the matter.
“Goldstein’s Overseas Ties Make It ‘Easier To Flee,’ Judge Says”: Phillip Bantz of Law360 has this report (subscription required for full access).
“Judge Sets Wednesday Court Hearing to Weigh Dropping Eric Adams Case; Judge Dale E. Ho will hear the government’s rationale for its request to stop the corruption case against New York’s mayor; Former U.S. attorneys are asking him to investigate”: Benjamin Weiser of The New York Times has this report.
“How Trump and Senate Republicans Could Reshape the Federal Courts of Appeals, Part I; Federal appeals court judges are the final word on the law in tens of thousands of cases every year; Below, a circuit-by-circuit look at how Republicans might be able to shift the balance of power in the years to come”: JP Collins has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.
“Eric Adams Judge Sets Hearing on DOJ Move to Drop Corruption Case; Judge Dale Ho has faced calls to investigate DOJ’s actions; Several prosecutors have resigned over handling of Adams case”: Ava Benny-Morrison of Bloomberg News has this report.
In commentary, online at Bloomberg Opinion, law professor Noah Feldman has an essay titled “Why Didn’t Trump Just Pardon Adams Like the Jan. 6 Rioters? The resignations of some of the best and brightest conservatives in US government could have a lasting impact, including on the Supreme Court.”
Online at The New York Times, Carol C. Lam has a guest essay titled “Farewell, Justice Department Independence.”
And online at Slate, law professor Bennett Capers has a Jurisprudence essay titled “What Happens Next in the Eric Adams Case? It’s Up to One Judge.”
“Biden Student Debt Plan to Stay Frozen, Appeals Court Says; 8th Cir. says Congress didn’t grant authority for ‘SAVE’ plan; Biden administration had faced setbacks in seeking to slash debt”: Mike Vilensky of Bloomberg Law has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued today.
“US Supreme Court Urged to Keep Pause on Trump Firing of Whistleblower Agency Head”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.
You can view the response at this link.
“Leader of ‘Zizians’ arrested; father of associate fears son ‘under the influence of the cult’”: Megan Cassidy, Michael Barba, and Matthias Gafni of The San Francisco Chronicle have this report.
Io Dodds of The Independent (UK) has an article headlined “Inside the ‘Zizians’: How a cultish crew of radical vegans became linked to killings across the United States; They seemed like just another band of anarchist misfits scraping by on the fringes of Silicon Valley — until the deaths began; Io Dodds unravels the complex web of ideology, friendship, and bloody violence that has baffled investigators nationwide.”
And at his “Read Max” Substack site, Max Read has a lengthy post titled “The Zizians and the Rationalist death cults: What is the deal with Rationalism and cults?“
“A Supreme History — Review: ‘The Most Powerful Court in the World: A History of the Supreme Court of the United States’ by Stuart Banner.” David J. Garrow has this book review online at The Washington Free Beacon.
“Ex-Watergate prosecutor urges judge to reject request to drop charges against NYC mayor”: Larry Neumeister of The Associated Press has this report.
And at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Paul Cassell has a post titled “The Motion to Dismiss the Charges Against Mayor Adams Is Easily Supportable; The Justice Department’s decision to seek dismissal of the pending charges seems like standard fare in plea bargaining and helps to support a top Administration policy.”
“Obama-appointed judge who became Trump rival during election interference case overseeing pivotal DOGE hearing; A longtime legal foe of President Donald Trump, Judge Tanya Chutkan, was once described by the president as ‘the most evil person’”: Breanne Deppisch of Fox News has this report.
“Tough Fight May Be Brewing for Candidates in ‘Super Bowl of Judicial Retention Elections’; With three of the five Democrats on the Supreme Court up for retention in one year, a successful ‘vote no’ campaign could dramatically shift the court’s makeup”: Aleeza Furman and Max Mitchell of The Legal Intelligencer have this report.
Only once has a sitting Justice on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania lost a retention election, which involves a simple up-or-down vote with no competing candidate for office.
“J&J begins crucial battle over $10 billion baby powder settlement”: Dietrich Knauth of Reuters has this report.
“Judicial Notice (02.17.25): Constitutional Crisis? Benchslaps for two former solicitors general, Danielle Sassoon v. Emil Bove (continued), Musk’s $97 billion bid for OpenAI, and lots of lateral moves.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.
