“I worked for Justice Alito. What I saw up close shatters the media smear. As a clerk on the Supreme Court, I experienced myriad examples of Justice Alito’s decent character.” Louisiana Solicitor General Ben Aguiñaga has this essay online at Fox News.

“Paul Clement’s Cook Argument Is a Master Class in Oral Advocacy”: David Lat has this new installment of his “Exclusive Jurisdiction” column online at Bloomberg Law.

“Memorandum of Law in Support of Non-Parties Jeffrey Toobin and Rudy Lee’s Motion to Quash”: This document was filed today in the United States v. Thomas C. Goldstein case (via Josh Gerstein).

“Minnesota’s chief judge, a veteran in conservative legal circles, takes on ICE; The low-key George W. Bush appointee confronting Trump’s immigration tactics ordered the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to his courtroom”: Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein of Politico have this report.

And Jacqueline Thomsen and Suzanne Monyak of Bloomberg Law report that “Minnesota Chief Judge in ICE Fight Seen as Steady Conservative.”

“Impeaching Judges Over Politics Will Damage Courts, Both Parties”: Former U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm has this essay online at Bloomberg Law.

“Crystal Clanton Lands On Her Feet; The controversial conservative clerk has a new job — with a controversial conservative employer”: David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“The court dismisses this proceeding for failure to prosecute pursuant to Local Rule 45.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued this order last Friday in the appeal captioned United States v. Thomas C. Goldstein, appellant.

“Trump Reigns Supreme in High Court Emergency Docket Decisions”: Suzanne Monyak and Jacqueline Thomsen of Bloomberg Law have this report.

“If ICE Can Kill With Impunity, the Rule of Law Is Already Gone”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“Trump-Targeted Law Firms Clash With DOJ Over Future of Cases”: Justin Henry of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Do Federal Officials Really Have ‘Absolute Immunity’? After killings by ICE and Border Patrol in Minneapolis, a legal expert discusses how agents might be held to account by local authorities.” Online at The New Yorker, Isaac Chotiner has this “Q&A” with law professor Steve Vladeck.

“Lindsey Halligan is no longer employed by the Justice Department after her departure from Virginia U.S. attorney’s office; Halligan, who had no prosecutorial experience, stepped down from her post in the Eastern District of Virginia after a judge ruled she was ‘masquerading’ as U.S. attorney”: Ryan J. Reilly and Dareh Gregorian of NBC News have this report.

“This May Be the Only Path to Accountability for the Minneapolis Shootings”: Law professors Barry Friedman and Stephen I. Vladeck have this guest essay online at The New York Times.

“Limits on ICE Agents in Minnesota Blocked by Appeals Court”: Peter Blumberg and Zoe Tillman of Bloomberg News have this report.

You can access today’s per curiam decision of a partially divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit at this link.

“Court Affirms Ruling That Alina Habba Served Unlawfully as U.S. Attorney; The Justice Department lost a bid to challenge a decision that had found Ms. Habba was serving unlawfully as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor”: Jonah E. Bromwich and Tracey Tully of The New York Times have this report.

And Celine Castronuovo of Bloomberg Law reports that “DOJ Rebuffed by Judges in Bid to Return Habba as Prosecutor.”

You can view today’s 8-to-3 order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit denying rehearing en banc at this link.

“Tom Goldstein Says Prosecutors Withheld Exculpatory Material”: Holly Barker of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“ICE’s Actions Are Gutting the Fourth Amendment”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“206. “Administrative Warrants” and the Percival Op-Ed: ICE is claiming the authority to search private homes without a judicial warrant if it’s looking for non-citizens under a ‘final order of removal’; DHS’s public defense rests on two incorrect claims.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“Will the Court Actually Push Back Against Trump’s Unlawful Firings?” You can access today’s new episode of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast via this link and on YouTube.

“This Supreme Court Gun Case Isn’t Getting Enough Attention”: Law professor Stephen L. Carter has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“Judicial Notice (01.25.26): Weathering The Storm; Jack Smith’s congressional testimony, an attack on a judge and his wife, a deal for U.S. TikTok (finally), and a slew of group moves in Biglaw.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“Why Pam Bondi Didn’t Publish All the Epstein Files in 30 Days; The answer is simple: It was not possible.” William P. Barr has this essay online at The Wall Street Journal.

“Who Gave ICE Permission to Trample the Constitution? The Supreme Court’s expanding doctrine of qualified immunity is swallowing your constitutional rights whole.” You can access the new episode of Slate’s “Amicus” podcast via this link.

“Appeals Court Rejects Justice Dept. Push for Arrest Warrant for Don Lemon; The department had made an extraordinary request for the appeals court to force a judge to issue warrants for Mr. Lemon and four other people in connection with a church protest in Minneapolis”: Alan Feuer of The New York Times has this report.

And Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney of Politico report that “Appeals court rejects DOJ’s emergency bid to arrest Don Lemon, church demonstrators; The ruling by a panel that included two Trump appointees followed a sharp rebuke of prosecutors by the chief federal judge in Minnesota.”

You can view Friday’s order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit at this link.

“Prominent Appellate Attorney Cate Stetson ’94 Joins Faculty; Stetson Has Served as an Instructor of Law’s School’s Appellate Litigation Clinic”: Cooper Allen of the University of Virginia School of Law has this report.

“With executive power rampant, the right book has arrived; Decades ago, a Supreme Court justice explained how to think today about Trump’s power grabs”: Columnist George F. Will has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“205. Chief Judge Schiltz and the Department of Justice: Every federal judge (and justice) should read the two letters from Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz in the church protest case — and what they tell us about the Department of Justice’s litigation behavior.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

And earlier, Vladeck had a post titled “204. Accountability After Minneapolis: A short post explaining (1) why it’s so hard to hold federal officers and/or the federal government liable for violating our rights; and (2) how a one-sentence statute could (and *SHOULD*) fix it.”

“Anti-Abortion March Brings Thousands to D.C., and a Sense of Frustration; At the March for Life, Vice President JD Vance acknowledged ‘a fear that some of you have that not enough progress has been made’”: Elizabeth Dias of The New York Times has this report.

And Natalie Allison of The Washington Post reports that “Trump administration seeks to curb antiabortion leaders’ ‘disappointment’; Conservative activists who have long been loyal to Trump over his first-term work to curb abortion rights now say they sense less urgency from the president.”

“Appeals court weighs challenge to Texas gun signage laws; Churches and businesses argue state trespass rules force them to choose between speech and the right to exclude firearms”: Gabriel Tynes of Courthouse News Service has this report.

You can access the audio of today’s oral argument before the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit at this link.

“Judge prods Altoona deputy on search of Luigi Mangione’s backpack; Mangione is set to go to federal trial later this year, depending on whether he’ll face the death penalty in the 2024 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson”: Erik Uebelacker of Courthouse News Service has this report.

“5 Arrested in Shooting of Indiana Judge and His Wife; The police said the attack was part of a plot to kill Judge Steven Meyer to halt a trial he was to conduct; He and his wife were injured but are recovering”: Stephanie Saul of The New York Times has this report.

And Gaya Gupta of The Washington Post reports that “Five arrested after shooting of Indiana judge and his wife; Three people from Indiana and two from Kentucky are now in custody in connection to the Sunday attack that wounded Judge Steven P. Meyer and his wife, Kimberly, officials said.”

“Paucity of vacancies slows Trump’s effort to reshape courts”: Russell Wheeler has this commentary online at The Brookings Institution.

“What just happened at the President’s House? Philadelphians are grappling with the aftermath of Thursday’s abrupt removal of all exhibits at the President’s House ahead of 250th anniversary celebrations.” Fallon Roth of The Philadelphia Inquirer has this report.

And on YouTube, The Philly Captain has posted this related video.

“Trump to Supreme Court: Posting On Truth Social Is Due Process, If You Think About It; The justices confront some of the more unsettling implications of this era of government by right-wing influencer.” Jay Willis has this post at his “Balls & Strikes” Substack site.

“A Law School Dean Signed a Brief Defending Trans Rights. She Lost Her Job Because of It. The revocation of Emily Suski’s offer at the University of Arkansas sends a chilling message to law professors who take positions that Republican culture warriors do not like.” G.S. Hans has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.