How Appealing



Tuesday, July 15, 2025

“Judicial Notice (07.13.25): Bye Bye Bondi? Pam Bondi’s critics on the right, a $515 million legal fee, a judge’s humorous order, and more defections from Biglaw firms that folded to Trump.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

Posted at 7:40 AM by Howard Bashman



Monday, July 14, 2025

“Supreme Court Clears the Way for Trump’s Cuts to the Education Department; The move by the justices represents an expansion of executive power, allowing President Trump to dismantle the inner workings of a government department”: Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has this report.

And Justin Jouvenal, Laura Meckler, and Danielle Douglas-Gabriel of The Washington Post report that “Supreme Court allows deep layoffs at Education Department for now; A lower-court ruling had prevented Trump officials from slashing more than a third of the Education Department’s more than 4,100 workers.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.

Posted at 9:20 PM by Howard Bashman



“Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley raised no money for reelection through end of June”: Anna Kleiber of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has this report.

Posted at 9:16 PM by Howard Bashman



“Senate confirms Trump’s first judicial nominee of his second term”: Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has this report.

Nate Raymond and Jack Queen of Reuters report that “Republican-led US Senate confirms Trump’s first second-term judicial nominee.”

Tiana Headley of Bloomberg Law reports that “First Trump Judicial Pick of New Term Confirmed to Sixth Circuit; Whitney Hermandorfer confirmed by Senate, 46-42; Led Tennessee AG’s strategic litigation unit.”

Hailey Fuchs of Politico reports that “Senate confirms first new judge of Trump’s second term; The president does not have as many judicial vacancies to fill as he did during his first term in office.”

And Benjamin S. Weiss of Courthouse News Service reports that “Senate confirms Sixth Circuit nominee Hermandorfer, first federal judge of Trump’s second term; Democrats warn the confirmation marks the beginning of the White House’s judicial agenda elevating federal court nominees who are loyal to Trump above all else.”

Posted at 9:10 PM by Howard Bashman



Sunday, July 13, 2025

“Justice Department acts quickly to reverse nationwide blocks following Supreme Court win”: Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has this report.

Posted at 8:44 PM by Howard Bashman



Saturday, July 12, 2025

“How some Supreme Court decisions fractured the conservative supermajority; The conservatives splintered in more than a dozen cases in which some joined with the three liberals to form a majority”: Maureen Groppe of USA Today has this report.

Posted at 9:07 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Ban Faces New Peril: Class Actions; In last month’s decision limiting one judicial tool, universal injunctions, the court seemed to invite lower courts to use class actions as an alternative.” Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Posted at 3:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“‘Egregious.’ ‘Brazen.’ ‘Lawless.’ How 48 Judges Describe Trump’s Actions, In Their Own Words.” The New York Times has published this editorial.

Posted at 3:25 PM by Howard Bashman



Friday, July 11, 2025

“The Fallout Is Growing on Trump’s Deals With Law Firms; The deals are looking worse and worse — for Trump and the law firms”: Ankush Khardori has this essay online at Politico Magazine.

Posted at 3:12 PM by Howard Bashman



“Appeals Court Overturns Plea Deal in 9/11 Case; The court found that Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III had the authority to invalidate a contract reached between the accused mastermind and a Pentagon official”: Carol Rosenberg of The New York Times has this report.

Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Court Quashes Sept. 11 Plea Bargains That Military Judge Had Approved; Ruling extends troubled Guantanamo prosecution over 2001 terrorist attacks.”

You can access today’s 125-page ruling of a partially divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit at this link.

Posted at 3:11 PM by Howard Bashman



“Third Circuit nominee Emil Bove walks tightrope on Jan. 6, DOJ firings in Senate questionnaire; Bove, a top DOJ official involved in firing federal prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6 cases, condemned illegal activity but also criticized ‘overreach and heavy-handed tactics’ by federal law enforcement”: Benjamin S. Weiss of Courthouse News Service has this report.

You can access the nominee’s responses at this link.

Posted at 1:09 PM by Howard Bashman



“Why State Supreme Court Justices Would Rather Be Federal Judges; Compensation, tenure, and other factors”: Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.

Posted at 1:05 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Supreme Court ‘kneecapped’ the lower federal courts. Or did it?” Nancy Gertner has this essay online at Boston’s WBUR.

Posted at 12:58 PM by Howard Bashman



“Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Chris Taylor sets early pace in fund-raising for 2026 race”: Jessie Opoien of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has this report.

Posted at 12:56 PM by Howard Bashman



“Ketanji Brown Jackson Is Telling the Truth About the Supreme Court; The task of interpreting the law is inherently ‘political’; But no justice has been this comfortable saying so in public”: Jay Willis has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

Posted at 12:55 PM by Howard Bashman



“Bonus 165: The Appeasement Thesis; One defense of the Court’s behavior on Trump-related emergency applications is that the justices are picking their battles; If so, the question becomes which battles they actually intend to fight.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

Posted at 12:48 PM by Howard Bashman



“A Legal Mistake at the Heart of Trump v. CASA? It is technical, but important for future cases.” Jack Goldsmith has this post at the “Executive Functions” Substack site.

Posted at 12:44 PM by Howard Bashman



Thursday, July 10, 2025

“Trump’s first judicial nominee Hermandorfer moves ahead to final confirmation vote in Senate; The president’s pick to fill a Sixth Circuit vacancy is headed to a final ballot as the first judicial nominee in years not to have been formally vetted by the American Bar Association”: Benjamin S. Weis of Courthouse News Service has this report.

Posted at 8:57 PM by Howard Bashman



“Federal judge places new block on Trump’s ban on birthright citizenship; Judge Joseph Laplante issued the temporary injunction after agreeing to certify a class-action lawsuit against the administration on behalf of U.S.-born children or future children”: David Nakamura of The Washington Post has this report.

Mariah Timms of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Judge Places New Block on Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order; Decision finds an alternate route for nationwide halt weeks after Supreme Court limited use of far-reaching district court injunctions.”

And in commentary, Friday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal will contain an editorial titled “The Birthright Citizenship Order Is Halted — Again; Now it’s a class action of babies Trump wants to deny U.S. citizenship.”

You can access today’s order of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire at this link.

Posted at 8:53 PM by Howard Bashman



“Firings without explanation create culture of fear at Justice Dept., FBI; Widespread, abrupt terminations have left Justice Department and FBI employees wondering if they will be next, people familiar with the matter say”: Perry Stein of The Washington Post has this report.

Posted at 8:46 PM by Howard Bashman



“Justice Dept. Promised to Prosecute Abrego Garcia. Now It’s Not So Clear. In the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the administration appears primarily concerned with ensuring that a man it has described as a ‘dangerous illegal alien’ never walks free on U.S. soil.” Alan Feuer and Minho Kim of The New York Times have this news analysis.

Posted at 8:40 PM by Howard Bashman



“Justice Jackson Says ‘the State of Our Democracy’ Keeps Her Up at Night; At a bar association event in Indiana, the justice told those gathered that she is focused on drawing attention to what is happening to the government”: Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has this report.

Justin Jouvenal of The Washington Post reports that “Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson says she fears for U.S. democracy; The justice has emerged as one of the court’s sharpest critics, issuing more dissents than any colleague during the Supreme Court term that ended last month.”

John Fritze of CNN reports that “Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson says ‘state of our democracy’ keeps her up at night.”

And Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson of Bloomberg Law reports that “An Emboldened Justice Jackson Warns About State of Democracy; Jackson has been critical of the Trump administration; ‘I’m not afraid to use my voice,’ she says.”

Forbes Breaking News has posted on YouTube a video titled “Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Speaks At Indianapolis Bar Association Event.”

Posted at 5:12 PM by Howard Bashman



“Why a Devoted Justice Department Lawyer Became a Whistle-Blower; In the first Trump Administration, ‘they didn’t say “Fuck you” to the courts,’ Erez Reuveni said”: Ruth Marcus has this essay online at The New Yorker.

Posted at 4:54 PM by Howard Bashman



“Tillis says he’ll ‘probably’ vote in support of Trump’s controversial judge pick; The North Carolina Republican previously doomed another nominee pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee”: Hailey Fuchs of Politico has this report.

Posted at 4:52 PM by Howard Bashman



“Justice Dept. Whistle-Blower Warns of Trump Administration’s Assault on the Law; In an interview with The New York Times, a former Justice Department lawyer, Erez Reuveni, said officials pressed subordinates to mislead judges, and dared the courts to stop it”: Devlin Barrett of The New York Times has this report.

Perry Stein and Jeremy Roebuck of The Washington Post report that “Texts, emails bolster whistleblower account of DOJ defying court order; A fired Justice Department employee has given Congress a cache of internal communications related to Emil Bove, a top Trump official now nominated as a judge.”

Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney of Politico report that “Internal DOJ messages bolster claim that Trump judicial nominee spoke of defying court orders; Emil Bove, a top DOJ official who has been nominated to be an appellate judge, is the subject of whistleblower allegations.”

Katelyn Polantz and Annie Grayer of CNN report that “Documents back up DOJ whistleblower’s claim that top official intended to ignore court orders, top Judiciary Democrat says.”

Jennifer Bendery of HuffPost reports that “Documents Back Up Whistleblower Claims That Emil Bove Wanted To Disobey Court Orders; Newly released emails and texts support allegations that Bove, Trump’s court pick, told DOJ attorneys to say ‘f**k you’ to judges who ruled against them.”

Ben Penn of Bloomberg Law reports that “DOJ Whistleblower Reinforces Claim Bove Defied Court Order; Documents may help rebut credibility attacks against fired supervisor; Durbin calls evidence a ‘declaration of defiance’ against courts.”

And Benjamin S. Weiss of Courthouse News Service reports that “New evidence supports claim that Emil Bove suggested defying court orders; A Justice Department whistleblower previously accused Third Circuit nominee Emil Bove of advising the Trump administration that it may need to tell a federal court ‘fuck you’ to carry out mass deportations.”

Posted at 4:51 PM by Howard Bashman



Wednesday, July 9, 2025

“‘A Period Of Great Constitutional Danger’: Pam Karlan; A longtime Stanford Law professor and seasoned Supreme Court advocate, Professor Karlan has strong views on the current constitutional moment.” David Lat has posted online this new installment of his “Original Jurisdiction” podcast.

Posted at 8:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“SCOTUS: The highest (and only) court; Lower court judges on the front lines of the onslaught of litigation over President Trump’s controversial policies aren’t getting a lifeline from the Supreme Court.” Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service has this report.

Posted at 8:15 PM by Howard Bashman



“Far-right lecturer asks Third Circuit to restore retaliation claims over suspension; The New Jersey Institute of Technology suspended philosophy professor Jason Jorjani after articles surfaced of him making favorable comments about Adolf Hitler and eugenics”: Jackson Healy of Courthouse News Service has this report.

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

Posted at 8:14 PM by Howard Bashman



Tuesday, July 8, 2025

“Michigan Courts’ Anti-Bias Proposal Faces Significant Opposition; Free speech cited as a major reason to reject proposal; Proposal marks another example of wading into culture wars”: Eric Heisig of Bloomberg Law has this report.

Posted at 10:20 PM by Howard Bashman