“Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban-or-sale law slated to start Sunday; Donald Trump had asked the Supreme Court to delay TikTok’s ban-or-sale law to give him an opportunity to act once he returns to the White House”: Ann E. Marimow and Cristiano Lima-Strong of The Washington Post have this report.
And Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Supreme Court OKs TikTok Shutdown; Justices reject Chinese app’s First Amendment challenge to federal law against ‘foreign adversary’ control.”
You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.
“SCOTUSblog Founder Tom Goldstein Hit With 22-Count Federal Indictment; A lengthy indictment accuses the once high-flying Supreme Court lawyer of massive tax evasion — tied to multimillion-dollar poker losses and multiple affairs.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.
“Republican states can move ahead with abortion pill lawsuit in Texas”: Brendan Pierson and Nate Raymond of Reuters have this report.
You can access the ruling at this link.
“Biden administration will leave it to Trump to implement TikTok ban; The ban goes into effect on Sunday unless the Supreme Court intervenes”: Elizabeth Schulze, Devin Dwyer, and Steven Portnoy of ABC News have this report.
“Leading US Supreme Court attorney Tom Goldstein charged with tax crimes”: David Thomas of Reuters has this report.
At National Review’s “The Corner” blog, Dan McLaughlin has a post titled “The Wild Indictment of Tom Goldstein of SCOTUSBlog.”
And at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Josh Blackman has a post titled “Tom Goldstein Was Indicted on Tax Evasion Charges; A Real Farewell to SCOTUSBlog?“
“Amy Wax sues Penn, claiming a ‘racially discriminatory’ speech policy led to her suspension; Wax was suspended from Penn Law for a year following high-profile comments questioning the academic ability of Black students and hosting a white nationalist speaker in her class”: Abraham Gutman of The Philadelphia Inquirer has this report.
Victoria Albert of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Professor Amy Wax Sues Penn Over Suspension, Citing ‘Racially Discriminatory’ Policy; University has said she failed to provide a fair and equal environment for students.”
And Neema Baddam of The Daily Pennsylvanian reports that “Penn Carey Law professor Amy Wax sues University for racial discrimination, breach of contract.”
“Maryland Attorney and Poker Player Charged with Tax Crimes and Making False Statements to Mortgage Lenders; Defendant Allegedly Did Not Report Millions in Poker Winnings and Falsely Omitted Over $14M in Debts to Obtain Loan”: The Office of Public Affairs of the U.S. Department of Justice issued this news release today.
“SCOTUSblog Publisher Tom Goldstein Indicted In Tax Case”: Phillip Bantz of Law360 has this report.
You can view the indictment via this link.
“A.G. Garland withdraws federal execution drug protocol following review; ‘[T]here is significant uncertainty about whether the use of pentobarbital as a single-drug lethal injection for execution treats individuals humanely,’ Garland wrote”: Chris Geidner has this post at his Substack site.
“TikTok races toward a ban as Supreme Court — and Trump — weigh its fate; Justices did not issue a ruling in the closely watched case over a potential ban, dialing up intrigue over the app’s fate”: Cristiano Lima-Strong of The Washington Post has this report.
“Liberals owe Justice Barrett an apology. She’s clearly not in Trump’s pocket. Trump’s most ‘controversial’ Supreme Court nominees — Barrett and Kavanaugh — are among the most independent of the conservative majority. Democrats would be better served by understanding that.” Dace Potas has this essay online at USA Today.
“Riggs, Griffin spar over proper forum for NC Supreme Court election dispute”: The Carolina Journal has this report.
“Supreme Court Seems Ready to Back Texas Law Limiting Access to Pornography; The law, meant to shield minors from sexual materials on the internet by requiring adults to prove they are 18, was challenged on First Amendment grounds”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.
Justin Jouvenal of The Washington Post reports that “Supreme Court seems likely to allow Texas law requiring age verification to access porn; The justices appeared skeptical of a challenge to the law brought by an adult-content industry group, producers of pornographic material and a porn actress.”
David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Supreme Court leans in favor of state-enforced age limits on porn websites.”
Maureen Groppe of USA Today reports that “Supreme Court justices bring personal experience to debate over blocking internet porn from kids; Evaluating the constitutionality of a Texas law requiring age verification for pornographic web sites, Supreme Court justices said content filtering doesn’t work.”
Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times reports that “Supreme Court reviews Texas law requiring age verification to access adult websites.”
Pooja Salhotra of The Texas Tribune reports that “U.S. Supreme Court weighing constitutionality of Texas’ age-verification requirement for porn sites; The Supreme Court’s decision on Texas’ law, which adult entertainment website attorneys said were the most overreaching in the country, could determine the fate of similar laws in more than a dozen other states.”
In commentary, online at Vox, Ian Millhiser has an essay titled “The Supreme Court seems eager to curb First Amendment protections for porn; A major free speech argument about pornographic websites went disastrously for the porn industry.”
And online at Slate, Mark Joseph Stern has a Jurisprudence essay titled “The Supreme Court Changed Its Mind About Online Porn.”
“The Anti-Abortion Movement’s Backup Plan Won’t Work Without Trump”: Law professor Mary Ziegler has this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.
“Texas law requiring age verification for online porn goes before U.S. Supreme Court; The justices will hear arguments Wednesday on requirements that have been adopted in more than a dozen states”: Joseph Morton of The Dallas Morning News has this report.
And in commentary, online at Bloomberg Opinion, law professor Noah Feldman has an essay titled “Texas Porn Law Has a First Amendment Problem; The case before the Supreme Court requires a technical solution; Unfortunately the justices aren’t particularly good at those.”
“Arkansas Supreme Court administrator asks chief justice to stay away, pending disciplinary review; Request is latest stumble in rocky start for Chief Justice Karen Baker”: Sonny Albarado of Arkansas Advocate has this report.
And Lara Farrar of Arkansas Times has an article headlined “Supreme drama: Chief justice asked to not communicate with court staff during HR probe.”
“Protesters gather by NC Supreme Court as GOP candidate files new legal arguments; Protesters gathered in Raleigh Tuesday to draw attention to the 60,000 votes that Jefferson Griffin is trying to get thrown out in the still-unresolved election for a seat on the state Supreme Court; Also Tuesday, Griffin filed new arguments in court explaining his effort”: Laura Leslie and Will Doran of WRAL News have this report.
“Cookies, Cocktails and Mushrooms on the Menu as Justices Hear Bank Fraud Case; In trying to find the line between false statements and misleading ones in the case of a Chicago politician, members of the Supreme Court posed colorful questions”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.
“A new Supreme Court case seeks to make it harder to get screened for cancer; Becerra v. Braidwood Management threatens to make your health insurance worse”: Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.
“‘No one can unring that bell’: Donna Adelson lawyers seek change of venue for murder trial.” Jeff Burlew of The Tallahassee Democrat has this report.
You can view the defendant’s motion at this link. Attached to the motion is a recent article from Jeff Burlew of The Tallahassee Democrat headlined “Dan Markel murder: What unsealed court docs say about Donna Adelson’s estranged son.”
“How a second Trump administration could shape federal courts; Experts worry that the incoming Trump White House, looking to install nominees loyal to the president, will lurch even further to the right — and that this time around, they’ll have fewer guardrails against extremism”: Benjamin S. Weiss of Courthouse News Service has this report.
“Federal Court Blocks Transfer of Guantánamo Convict to Prison in Iraq; The Iraqi prisoner had sued the Biden administration, saying he would be at risk for abuse at a prison in his homeland”: Carol Rosenberg of The New York Times has this report.
“Donna Adelson wants to keep private investigator who collected ‘vital evidence'”: Jeff Burlew of The Tallahassee Democrat has this report, along with an earlier report headlined “Charlie Adelson lawyer seeks resentencing on two counts in Dan Markel murder case.”
“When is a business to blame for over-serving? Texas Supreme Court weighs the line in drunk driving case. The court’s ruling could boost a state law that allows drunk driving victims to sue businesses that over-serve alcohol to intoxicated individuals.” Pavan Acharya of The Texas Tribune has this report.
“Is TikTok’s Time Up?” You can access today’s new episode of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast via this link and on YouTube.
“Judicial Notice (01.12.25): California On My Mind; The Los Angeles wildfires, Trump DOJ picks, Biglaw and boutique drama, and TikTok at SCOTUS.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.
“TikTok Is Cooked, Trump Is Sentenced: The Supreme Court had a very busy end of week, what comes next is anyone’s guess.” You can access the new episode of Slate’s “Amicus” podcast via this link.
“Supreme Court Clears a Path for Climate Lawsuits to Proceed; The high court declined to hear a challenge to a major case in which Honolulu is suing energy companies over climate change”: Karen Zraick of The New York Times has this report.
“How Religious Schools Became a Billion-Dollar Drain on Public Education; A nationwide movement has funnelled taxpayer money to private institutions, eroding the separation between church and state”: Alec MacGillis has this A Reporter at Large article in the January 20, 2025 issue of The New Yorker.
“Democrats blast ‘rock bottom maneuver’ to throw out 60,000 ballots in NC Supreme Court race”: Kyle Ingram of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina has this report.
“Senate immigration bill aims to overturn Supreme Court precedent in a sea change for legal system, experts say”: Tierney Sneed of CNN has this report.
“Arkansas judges recognize service of 10 judiciary employees targeted by Supreme Court chief justice; Judicial Council sides with Supreme Court majority that declared the firing attempt null and void”: Tess Vrbin of Arkansas Advocate has this report.
“A firefighter with Parkinson’s lost her health benefits. Supreme Court weighs if she can sue. The Supreme Court case could affect millions of older Americans who retire because of a disability, the AARP says.” Maureen Groppe of USA Today has this report.
“US supreme court curbed public scrutiny as it boosted security before Roe ruling; Memo obtained by the Guardian mandates that court would maintain ‘exclusive’ control of all security-related records”: Jason Wilson of The Guardian has this report.
“Crawford, Schimel set to square off in another high-profile Wisconsin Supreme Court race; The race will again decide the ideological balance of the court”: Anya van Wagtendonk of Wisconsin Public Radio has this report.
And Rich Kremer of Wisconsin Public Radio reports that “Crawford, Schimel both report ‘historic’ donations in state Supreme Court race; Dane County Judge Susan Crawford reports outraising former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel by around $600K.”
