“Pivotal Trial Begins in Texas: Will Johnson & Johnson’s Third Talc Bankruptcy Survive? U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez heard opening statements on Tuesday in a two-week trial over the fate of Johnson & Johnson’s third talcum powder bankruptcy.” Amanda Bronstad has this report online at Texas Lawyer.

“Could the U.S. See a Canceled Election? It happened in Romania, and Washington practiced Europe-style censorship during the Biden years.” Former Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski will have this op-ed in Thursday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“Justice Dept. Official Suggests That Aiding Trump Outweighs Prosecutions; Emil Bove III, the acting deputy attorney general, tried to persuade a judge to let him drop a corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams; He said the mayor was crucial to the president’s agenda”: Jonah E. Bromwich, Benjamin Weiser, Hurubie Meko, and William K. Rashbaum of The New York Times have this report.

Shayna Jacobs and Jeremy Roebuck of The Washington Post report that “Acting deputy AG Emil Bove defends move to drop Eric Adams case; A federal judge questioned the acting deputy attorney general about his reasoning in dropping corruption charges but has limited authority to refuse the motion.”

And James Fanelli and Corinne Ramey of The Wall Street Journal report that “Judge Questions Justice Department Over Decision to Drop Eric Adams Case; Department’s acting No. 2 defends move that set off a political crisis for New York City’s mayor and prompted several federal prosecutors to quit.”

“Missouri Clinics Resume Abortions, Following Abortion Rights Referendum; Abortion opponents had tried to block, or severely limit, the procedure, against the will of voters who in November enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution”: Kate Zernike of The New York Times has this report.

“Republican lawmaker seeks US judge’s impeachment over ruling against Trump”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has this report.

Jacqueline Thomsen of Bloomberg Law reports that “House Republican Moves to Impeach Judge Who Blocked Trump’s DOGE; Paul Engelmayer accused of judicial misconduct, abuses of authority; Follows Elon Musk’s call for judicial impeachments.”

And Benjamin S. Weiss of Courthouse News Service reports that “GOP lawmaker moves to impeach judge who blocked DOGE from Treasury data; Republicans and Elon Musk accused Southern District of New York Judge Paul Engelmayer of political bias after he stopped Department of Government Efficiency staffers from accessing the Treasury Department’s payments system.”

“Clement stepping down from state Supreme Court, paving way for bigger Democratic majority”: Beth LeBlanc of The The Detroit News has this report.

Arpan Lobo of The Detroit Free Press reports that “Michigan Chief Justice Elizabeth Clement will step down from Supreme Court.”

Matthew Miller of MLive reports that “Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Elizabeth Clement to step down.”

And Simon D. Schuster of Bridge Michigan reports that “Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Beth Clement stepping down.”

The Supreme Court of Michigan today issued a news release titled “Statement from Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Elizabeth T. Clement.”

“Lawyer asks federal judge to recuse himself due to pronoun policy in courtroom; Judge S. Kato Crews is one of six judges on Colorado’s US District Court requiring parties to use others’ ‘applicable pronouns’ in their courtrooms”: Michael Karlik of Colorado Politics has this report.

You can access the motion at this link.

“Parents Lose Appeal Over School’s Gender Identity Notification Policy”: Mark Walsh of Education Week has this report.

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s First Circuit ruling can be accessed here.

“We’re about to learn just how eager the Supreme Court is to help Trump; The first Supreme Court showdown of Trump’s second term is upon us”: Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.

“Poof! The Independent Agencies Are No Longer Independent; A Sea Change in US Government.” Cass Sunstein has this post at his “Cass’s Substack” site.

“Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor inspires Miami students to protect democracy and drive change”: Daniella Krasney of The Miami Hurricane has this report.

“Elon Musk looks beyond Washington toward Wisconsin; Not satisfied with massively remaking Washington, the tech mogul’s allies look to exert his influence in the states”: Jessica Piper and Liz Crampton of Politico have this report.

“Trump Tests His Sway at Supreme Court in Push to Oust Official; He seeks early high court help as judges pause his initiatives; Trump seeking to fire head of independent whistleblower agency”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.

“For California’s attorney general, the fight against Trump is personal”: Columnist Mark Z. Barabak has this essay online at The Los Angeles Times.

“President Trump’s Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship is Unconstitutional; Trump is doing many great things but trying to get rid of birthright citizenship is not one of them”: Steven Calabresi has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“The Supreme Court has helped presidential power expand. Trump may test its limits.” Henry Gass of The Christian Science Monitor has this report.

And in commentary, online at TPM, Devon Ombres has an essay titled “The Supreme Court’s Final Test Approaches: Will we have a president or a king?“

“Trump Issues Order to Expand His Power Over Agencies Congress Made Independent; The president has already challenged statutory protections against summarily firing officials overseeing such agencies without cause”: Charlie Savage of The New York Times has this report.

And in commentary, in today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, columnist William A. Galston has an op-ed titled “‘You’re Fired’? Not So Fast. Court precedent may yet protect officials at independent agencies from at-will removal.”

“The Battle over Judge Newman’s Unconstitutional ‘Stealth Impeachment’ Continues; Judge Newman files a powerful reply to the unprecedented claim of the Federal Circuit’s Judicial Council that she can be suspended from her duties indefinitely; And the Judicial Council’s recent hiring of adversarial experts raises new questions about bias against Judge Newman”: Paul Cassell has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“The Supreme Court gave Trump immunity. He’s using it as a blank check.” Joan Biskupic of CNN has this news analysis.

“Youngstown native becomes first black woman to serve on Kentucky Supreme Court”: Sean Barron of The Vindicator of Warren, Ohio has this report.

“The Supreme Court can fix this mess of its own making; The woeful 2005 Kelo ruling attacked property rights; Now the court can make amends”: Columnist George F. Will has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“Judge in Adams Case Has Faced Trump Administration in Court Before; Dale Ho, who will decide whether the Justice Department can drop corruption charges against Eric Adams, argued successfully against Trump policy in a 2019 Supreme Court case”: Hurubie Meko of The New York Times has this report.