“Angry at the Supreme Court, liberals push a slew of plans for overhauling it; As the midterms near, Democrats are proposing adding more justices, limiting their terms and more”: Julian Mark of The Washington Post has this report.

“Pennsylvania ended automatic life sentences for felony murder. Here’s what happens next. The state Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life sentences for second-degree murder were unconstitutional. Then state lawmakers missed the deadline to write a new law. Now what?” Jillian Kramer and Gillian McGoldrick of The Philadelphia Inquirer have this report.

“Trump’s legal team shrinks; The departures have thinned the president’s legal team as Sullivan & Cromwell appeals his criminal and civil cases”: Erica Orden of Politico has this report.

“Blanche Refuses to Say He’ll Always Be Independent of Trump as Attorney General; The new head of the Justice Department said on ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday that the president had never asked him to prosecute specific people — and never would”: Glenn Thrush of The New York Times has this report.

And Matthew Choi of The Washington Post has an article headlined “Blanche on whether DOJ will be independent: ‘I’m not going to pledge that’; The newly sworn-in attorney general rejected the idea of an independent Justice Department, lent support to Jeanine Pirro and declared the ‘anti-weaponization’ fund dead.”

“Trump says White House needs ‘military complex’ as courts block his ballroom; When Trump first unveiled his plans for the new East Wing addition, he said it was needed to host VIP guests. More recently, he is calling it a ‘desperately needed National Security structure’”: Dan Diamond of The Washington Post has this report.

And Will Hobson and Louise Radnofsky of The Wall Street Journal report that “Trump’s Ballroom Was His Dream of Beauty and Space; Now It’s a ‘Military Complex’; As courts have questioned the president’s authority for the project, he has leaned in to arguments of national security.”

“Judge Lee Rudofsky to the Eighth Circuit; Trump’s latest nominee is an originalist success from his first term”: This editorial will appear in Monday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“An Unlikely Emergency Appeal to the Supreme Court From a Dog Named Bruce; A last-ditch filing this week came on behalf of a dog that a judge found to be ‘vicious’ and shows how the court’s emergency docket has been growing”: Ann E. Marimow of The New York Times has this report.

“Judicial Notice (08.16.26): Curtain Time; A dramatic development in the Luigi Mangione case, possible ‘auditioning’ by a SCOTUS shortlister, a major in-house hire, and a billion-dollar sports deal.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“What to Know About Luigi Mangione’s Double Jeopardy Claims; After admitting in federal court to killing an insurance executive, Mangione argues he shouldn’t face state murder trial”: Corinne Ramey of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

And Miles G. Cohen and Alisha Haridasani Gupta of The New York Times have an article headlined “Luigi Mangione’s Case Hit a Cultural Nerve; As the murder of Brian Thompson shocked most Americans, some people, many on social media, began showing Mr. Mangione sympathy and channeled their own frustration with the health care industry.”

“Trump’s State Voter Rolls Push Wins Over More Appeals Judges”: Eric Heisig of Bloomberg Law has this report.

You can access today’s order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denying rehearing en banc, and the accompanying opinions, at this link.

“Olympian Asks Court to Bar Prosecutors From Reviving Reflecting Pool Charges; Citing comments by President Trump, David Hearn raised the prospect of ‘prosecutorial harassment’”: Clarence Williams of The New York Times has this report.

“Blanche-22: The only man loyal enough for the job is too obviously loyal to pull it off.” Ben Raderstorf has this post at the “If you can keep it” Substack site.

“Ranking The Circuit Courts By Importance; Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the most important circuit of them all? The conventional wisdom might no longer hold true.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“Idaho judge ruling allows abortion if it protects mother’s health, prevents self-harm; Federal judge decides state’s criminal ban’s limited exceptions violate narrow constitutional protections; Doctors may still face the threat of civil lawsuits”: Laura Guido of Idaho Capital Sun has this report.

And Mary Anne Pazanowski of Bloomberg Law reports that “Idaho Abortion Ban Held Invalid for Lack of Health Exception.”

You can access yesterday’s decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho at this link.

“Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Greenlight White House Ballroom; The planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom is estimated to cost $400 million and is part of the president’s broader effort to remake Washington in his own style”: Ann E. Marimow of The New York Times has this report.

Jonathan Edwards, Justin Jouvenal, and Dan Diamond of The Washington Post report that “Trump officials ask Supreme Court to let ballroom construction continue; The appeal escalates the legal fight over the controversial project to the nation’s highest court.”

And Louise Radnofsky of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Allow Ballroom Construction; White House wants to keep building after two lower courts said project needs approval from Congress.”

You can access the stay request at this link.

“Trump’s Expansion of Executive Privilege Would Invite More Corruption”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“Noncitizen Mandatory Detention Policy Rejected by First Cir.” Mallory Culhane and Alex Clearfield of Bloomberg Law have this report.

You can access yesterday’s decision of a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeal for the First Circuit at this link.

“Mangione Pleads Guilty in US Case Over Healthcare CEO Killing”: Patricia Hurtado, David Voreacos, and Chris Dolmetsch of Bloomberg News have this report.

“How ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ Was Rescued From Oblivion — and Blew Up in David Zaslav’s Face; Shelved as a tax writeoff by Warner Bros. Discovery, the ambitious Looney Tunes courtroom comedy was brought back to life — and director Dave Green is having the last laugh”: David Canfield has this article in the August 12, 2026 issue of The Hollywood Reporter.

Online at The New Yorker, Justin Chang has a movie review titled “Toons Have Seldom Been Loonier Than in ‘Coyote vs. Acme’; Dave Green’s film about Wile E. Coyote’s quest for compensation sounds a note of zany triumph, having escaped, Road Runner-like, Warner’s attempt to cancel it.”

Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter has a movie review titled “‘Coyote vs. Acme’ Review: Nearly Shelved Looney Tunes Film Starring Will Forte and John Cena Is One of the Best Live-Action/Animated Hybrids Ever; Written by Samy Burch and directed by Dave Green, the movie also features Lana Condor, Luis Guzmán and a plethora of beloved cartoon characters.”

Pete Hammond of Deadline has a movie review titled “‘Coyote vs. Acme’ Review: The Movie Warner Bros Shelved In 2023 Becomes Its Most Entertaining Film Of 2026 & Best Live Action/Toon Hybrid Since ‘Roger Rabbit.’”

And online at DiscussingFilm, Nicolás Delgadillo has a movie review titled “‘Coyote vs. Acme’ Review — A Superbly Looney Comedy Worth Saving.”

In the February 26, 1990 issue of The New Yorker, Ian Frazier had a Shouts & Murmurs item headlined “Coyote V. Acme: In The United States District Court, Southwestern District, Tempe, Arizona Case No. B19294, Judge Joan Kujava, Presiding.”

Update: Johnny Oleksinski of The New York Post has a movie review titled “‘Coyote vs. Acme’ review: This finished ‘Looney Tunes’ movie was shelved by Warner Bros. — Is it any good?”

And Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com has a movie review titled “Coyote vs. Acme.”

“Thomas Sowell Legacy: A Conversation With Justice Clarence Thomas and Peter Robinson.” The Hoover Institution has posted this video on YouTube.

And in news coverage, Elaine Mallon of Fox News has an article headlined “‘Look at me!’ Justice fires back at critics who dare question his Blackness; The justice recalled being told at Yale Law School he ‘shouldn’t believe that’ because of his race.”

“Adam Schiff’s court-packing brainstorm; The senator wants 13 justices; Don’t tell Donald Trump, who just might agree”: The Washington Post has published this editorial.

“Seventh Circuit rules Indiana’s ‘intellectual diversity’ law doesn’t harm professors; A 2024 Indiana bill required professors to ‘expose students to scholarly works from a variety of political or ideological frameworks,’ which a group of professors said violated the First Amendment”: Caitlyn Rosen of Courthouse News Service has this report.

You can access today’s decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit at this link.

“Court Tosses Case on Trump’s Use of Wartime Deportation Law”: Jacqueline Thomsen of Bloomberg Law has this report (subscription required for full access).

And Alan Feuer of The New York Times reports that “Appeals Court Sidesteps Key Question Over Trump’s Use of Wartime Law; The court dismissed a case over the Alien Enemies Act in a messy conclusion to a long-running legal battle that had seemed destined to end up before the Supreme Court.”

You can access today’s en banc decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit at this link. The Fifth Circuit also issued two related orders, which you can access here and here.

“Top Democrat Targets Supreme Court for Changes; ‘Variety of different options’ are on the table if Democrats regain power, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says”: Damian Paletta and Maya Davis of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

“Blanche Tries to Calm DOJ Ranks in First Speech as Leader”: Chris Strohm of Bloomberg News has this report.

And Perry Stein and Jeremy Roebuck of The Washington Post have an article headlined “In turnabout, Blanche lauds DOJ career staff in first speech as attorney general; His remarks come after months of firings and disparagement of the Justice Department workforce by President Trump.”

“Luigi Mangione Is Expected to Plead Guilty in Federal Court; He is charged with stalking resulting in the death of an executive, but the specifics of his plea were unclear; A murder trial in state court is set for next month”: Benjamin Weiser, Devlin Barrett, and Hurubie Meko of The New York Times have this report.

“The Justice Department Is a Glorified Pro-Trump Law Firm Now; The president is staffing the government with trusted lawyers who share a willingness to do anything for their favorite client”: Jay Willis has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“A Theory of Natural Rights Citizenship Must Comport with the Constitution’s Text; If the Constitution sets a rule that runs counter to good policy, we must follow the former, not the latter”: John Yoo has this post at Civitas Outlook.

In response, also at Civitas Outlook, Linda Denno has a post titled “The Constitution and Birthright Citizenship: A Rejoinder to Professor Yoo; A nation is not merely the land it occupies or the people born on its soil; it is a distinct political community defined by shared history, culture, a common commitment to its own sovereignty and survival.”

“Originalism’s Better Meaning; The Constitution’s meaning does not run out merely because the evidence is contested”: John O. McGinnis and Mike Rappaport have this post at the “Law & Liberty” blog.

“After Supreme Court Losses, Trump Keeps Pushing; Is the administration defying the court or pursuing lawful alternatives?” Adam Liptak has this new installment of his “The Docket” newsletter online at The New York Times.

“The inside scoop on Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson: Ketanji Brown Jackson was the first person I met on my first day of college; Here’s what it taught me about her approach to being a Supreme Court Justice.” Yesterday, Noah Feldman had this post at his Substack site.

And today, Feldman has a post titled “Justice Gorsuch’s secret vendetta: The key to understanding Gorsuch isn’t his stacked resume; It’s the fact that he’s a Momma’s Boy.”

“Lee Rudofsky: A Great Pick for the Eighth Circuit.” Michael A. Fragoso has this post at the “Bench Memos” blog of National Review.

“How a Covid-Era Scramble Transformed Supreme Court Arguments; Live audio, a new format and new voices have transformed and unsettled the court’s signature public ceremony”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

“Sonia Sotomayor’s Confirmation Vote . . . and a few more nuggets”: Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.

“Trump Seeks Immediate Halt to Judge’s Penalties in IRS Case”: Zoe Tillman of Bloomberg News has this report.

You can view the relevant court filings here and here.