“‘I Love It’: Trump Is Still in Favor of $1.8 Billion Payout Fund; Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, said on Tuesday that the administration was ‘not moving forward with the fund, period,’ after the plan drew bipartisan backlash.” Luke Broadwater of The New York Times has this report.
Cat Zakrzewski of The Washington Post reports that “Trump says he doesn’t know whether the $1.8 billion payout fund is dead; In his first comments since the apparent collapse of the plan, the president was less definitive than acting attorney general Todd Blanche was a day earlier.”
Jeremy Roebuck, Salvador Rizzo, and Riley Beggin of The Washington Post report that “Trump’s $1.8 billion fund may be dead, but there are still paths to payouts; Even if the administration shelves the proposed fund, there are mechanisms for the Justice Department to compensate people.”
And Siobhan Hughes, Lindsay Wise, and Richard Rubin of The Wall Street Journal report that “Fight to Kill ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund Risks GOP Blowup in Senate; Votes on contentious amendments loom after Republicans advance immigration-enforcement measure.”
“This ‘necessary and proper’ ban could almost drive someone to drink; An 1868 law prohibiting home distilling shows the federal government is drunk on power”: Jarrett Dieterle has this essay online at The Washington Post.
“US Trade Judge Warns DOJ Appeal Could Upend Trump Tariff Refunds”: Zoe Tillman of Bloomberg News has this report.
“In Alabama Ruling, Supreme Court Signals Limited Role for Federal Courts in Redistricting Fights; In an emergency ruling on Tuesday night, the court’s conservative majority gave a first glimpse into congressional district battles under a weakened Voting Rights Act”: Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has this news analysis.
“Supreme Court Keeps Backing GOP Even as Justices Say They Don’t Play Politics”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.
“Top Republican Weighs Impeachment for Reprimanded Atlanta Judge”: Suzanne Monyak of Bloomberg Law has this report.
“US prosecutors seek 8-year prison term for ex-Supreme Court lawyer Goldstein”: Mike Scarcella of Reuters has this report.
“Beyond the Purcell Principle”: Samuel Bray has this post at the “Divided Argument” Substack site.
“Sex Scandal Report Highlights Judges’ Over-Delegation to Clerks”: David Lat has this new installment of his “Exclusive Jurisdiction” column online at Bloomberg Law.
“‘Infuriated’ Former Judges Take on Trump; Critics say it is unseemly for retired judges to trade on the prestige of their former positions”: Adam Liptak has this new installment of his “The Docket” newsletter online at The New York Times.
The opposing parties have filed their sentencing memos in United States v. Thomas C. Goldstein: The prosecution’s filing concludes:
For the reasons set forth above, the United States requests the Court sentence Goldstein to a term of imprisonment of 97 months’ incarceration and require him to pay $3,103,427 in restitution.
By contrast, Goldstein’s filing concludes:
The Court should impose a lengthy period of supervision with conditions that both hold Mr. Goldstein accountable but that also allow him to repay his debts, address his gambling addiction, and contribute to society. In the alternative, the Court should impose a period of home confinement. Either option is sufficient, but not more than necessary, to fulfill the purposes of a sentence given the facts and circumstances of this case.
The Peabody Award that “SCOTUSblog” won is an attachment to Goldstein’s filing.
According to the district court’s order of May 11, 2026, “the sentencing hearing and hearing on the Defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal, or, in the alternative, for a new trial begin at 9:30 a.m., on June 16, 2026, in Courtroom 4C of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, 6500 Cherrywood Lane, Greenbelt, MD 20770.”
“U.S. Support for LGBTQ+ Issues Remains Down From Peak”: Jeffrey M. Jones of Gallup has this report.
“How Harvard radicals inspired the conservative legal movement; Opposition to Cambridge leftists propelled a right-wing transformation of American society”: Peter S. Canellos has this essay online at The Boston Globe.
“Nothing racist about wolf in sheep’s clothing, state Supreme Court rules; Tiger in jungle is different stripe; In four appeals based on Racial Justice Act, judges decide only one courtroom statement used banned language, requires throwing out death sentence”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.
And the “At the Lectern” has a post titled “Three of five death sentences affirmed as justices clash on the Racial Justice Act” that contains links to the decisions.
“Cox picks LDS Church attorney and federal prosecutor to fill new Utah Supreme Court seats; Jay Jorgensen and Stephen Dent have been nominated by Gov. Spencer Cox to join the Utah Supreme Court — but first they’ll need to be confirmed in the Senate”: Robert Gehrke of The Salt Lake Tribune has this report.
And Emma Pitts of The Deseret News reports that “Church attorney and federal prosecutor selected for Utah Supreme Court; Jay Jorgensen and Stephen Dent will fill newly created seats on the state’s high court if confirmed.”
“11th Circuit says 2 Live Crew cannot reclaim music catalog; The case between the controversial rap group and the label that purchased its albums years ago spotlighted artists’ rights under U.S. copyright law”: Alex Pickett of Courthouse News Service has this report.
You can access today’s decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at this link.
“RI Ethics Commission will investigate if Shekarchi can jump to the Supreme Court”: Patrick Anderson of The Providence Journal has this report.
“The Supreme Court, Over the Dissent of the 3 Liberal Justices, Allows Alabama to Use Maps that a Lower Court Found to Be Intentionally Discriminating Against Black Voters (Now Updated with Analysis–This is a Significant and Very Bad Ruling)”: Rick Hasen has this post at his “Election Law Blog.”
“Supreme Court allows Alabama to use GOP-friendly map for midterms, cutting seat held by Black Democrat”: John Fritze of CNN has this report.
Lawrence Hurley of NBC News reports that “Supreme Court allows Alabama to use congressional map that eliminates a majority-Black district; A lower court had ruled the map intentionally discriminated against Black voters.”
Mark Sherman of The Associated Press reports that “Supreme Court allows Alabama to use congressional map favoring Republicans in this year’s elections.”
And Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Supreme Court Lets Alabama Use Republican-Friendly US House Map.”
You can access tonight’s 6-to-3 per curiam decision of the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.
“Courts may deliver the anti-vaccine movement’s biggest win; Groups demanding exemptions from vaccines on religious grounds are gaining steam, even as health chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dials back his efforts”: Lauren Weber of The Washington Post has this report.
“An astonishing interstate trade war is coming to the Supreme Court; Politics in the U.S. has hardened; Now states are waging legal battles”: Columnist Ramesh Ponnuru has this essay online at The Washington Post.
“Dear President Ozymandias”: Columnist Bret Stephens has this essay online at The New York Times.
“Republicans Can Kill Trump’s Retribution Fund for Good; The public will cheer if the GOP stops a rotten $1.776 billion deal”: This editorial will appear in Wednesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.
“Trump’s MAGA Reparations Fund; No one can, or should, defend these massive legal abuses”: Richard Epstein has this post at Civitas Outlook.
“How Trump Is Making the Federal Judiciary White Again: Many of the president’s second-term nominees share his commitment to resegregating institutions across the federal government.” Patrick McNeil has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.
“Free PACER: Senators take another stab at revamping access to federal court records; The Open Courts Act would require the federal judiciary to overhaul PACER, the online repository of court records, and make the service free to access.” Benjamin S. Weiss of Courthouse News Service has this report.
“Georgia high court clears path for COVID-delayed prisoner executions; Part of a deal protecting 9 inmates doesn’t bar their executions anymore, justices say”: Rosie Manins of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has this report.
And Megan Butler of Courthouse News Service reports that “Georgia Supreme Court resumes executions halted by Covid; The state has not carried out an execution since 2024, despite more than 30 inmates sitting on death row.”
You can access today’s decision of the Supreme Court of Georgia at this link.
“US Appeals Trade Court Order for Broad IEEPA Tariff Refunds”: Zoe Tillman and Laura Curtis of Bloomberg News have this report.
“Trump administration and Philly clash in court over President’s House slavery exhibit as 250th nears; The hearing before the federal appeals court marked the latest step in the legal saga that’s transpired following attempts sanitize history at President George Washington’s Philadelphia home”: Fallon Roth and Abraham Gutman of The Philadelphia Inquirer have this report.
And Jackson Healy of Courthouse News Service reports that “Trump fights Washington slave exhibit order at Third Circuit; Philadelphia officials argue the Interior Department violated its obligation to consult the city before removing an exhibit on nine people enslaved by George Washington at his home.”
“Usha Vance says Supreme Court, federal judges should be treated with ‘respect’; The second lady said she has been surprised by Trump’s sense of humor”: Hannah Demissie of ABC News has this report.
“Trump administration abandons $1.8 billion payout fund after revolt by GOP; With the reversal, acting attorney general Todd Blanche attempts to clear the way for Trump’s stalled immigration agenda”: Theodoric Meyer, Perry Stein, and Jarrell Dillard of The Washington Post have this report.
And Lindsay Wise, Sadie Gurman, and Siobhan Hughes of The Wall Street Journal report that “Trump’s ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund Is Dead, Blanche Says; Republican senators had condemned $1.8 billion fund and threatened to sink immigration-enforcement bill if it weren’t abandoned.”
“Florida Drag Show Ban for Minors Meets Wary Eleventh Circuit”: Alex Ebert of Bloomberg Law has this report.
You can access the audio of today’s en banc oral argument of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at this link.
“Foes of Trump’s $1.8 Billion Fund Vow to Keep Fighting in Courts”: Zoe Tillman of Bloomberg News has this report.
“Atlanta Judge Risks More Recusal Bids After Judicial Reprimand”: Jacqueline Thomsen Suzanne Monyak of Bloomberg Law have this report.
“The Roberts Court Needs To Reboot The Machinery Of Death; Judicial abolition of the death penalty was the problem, not the solution”: Josh Blackman has this post at Civitas Outlook.
