“Tom Girardi’s sentencing delayed as judge weighs prison or medical facility”: Matt Hamilton of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

“Court Order: It Is Unethical for Judges to Talk About Justice Sam Alito’s Unethical Behavior. An investigation concluded a federal judge broke ethics rules by criticizing Alito’s coup-adjacency. Alito has faced no such accountability.” Madiba K. Dennie has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Booker concedes defeat on Mangi nomination: ‘Shameful for America’; Mangi’s efforts to become first Muslim on circuit court ran into insurmountable headwinds.” Joey Fox of New Jersey Globe has this report.

“Judges Who Refuse to Retire Under Trump Are Not ‘Playing Politics’; Mitch McConnell says that Democratic-appointed judges rescinding their retirements are violating the judicial code of conduct; Curiously, he was not nearly as upset when Republican-appointed judges did the same thing”: JP Collins recently had this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Amy Wax Threatens To Sue Penn for Race Discrimination, Breach of Contract; The embattled law professor says she will take legal action if Penn doesn’t lift the sanctions against her”: Aaron Sibarium recently had this article online at The Washington Free Beacon.

“Bonus 113: Tick Tock for TikTok; The justices’ decision to hear expedited argument on the constitutionality of the TikTok statute makes a lot of sense; It’s also a good foil for a broader debate about when / how the Court intervenes.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

In the December 2024 issue of The Harvard Law Review, Vladeck has an article titled “A Court of First View.”

“Republican Griffin asks NC Supreme Court to intervene in his challenge of 60,000 ballots”: Kyle Ingram of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina has this report.

Adam Edelman of NBC News reports that “Republican in close N.C. Supreme Court race asks court to throw out 60,000 ballots; The lawsuit is the latest chapter in the long-running saga in the battleground state contest, as Democratic Justice Allison Riggs maintains a 734-vote advantage.”

Rusty Jacobs of WUNC has reports headlined “Disputed race for the North Carolina Supreme Court will now go before a federal judge” and “State Supreme Court candidate Griffin wants the justices on that bench to help him win.”

The Carolina Journal has reports headlined “NC elections officials remove Griffin’s complaint from state Supreme Court to federal court” and “Griffin asks NC Supreme Court to stop elections board ‘from counting unlawful ballots.’”

Will Doran of WRAL has a report headlined “Why the NC Supreme Court may not rule on GOP effort to throw out 60,000 ballots; The latest legal challenge in the North Carolina Supreme Court race between incumbent Allison Riggs and challenger Jefferson Griffin is likely to be held in federal court.”

Sydney Haulenbeek of Courthouse News Service reports that “North Carolina Supreme Court race remains in limbo as Republican judge challenges votes; Despite Republican Judge Jefferson Griffin’s attempt to have the state Supreme Court decide on his request to remove 60,000 votes — and potentially change the results of the election — his race remains unfinalized.”

And in commentary, online at Cardinal & Pine, Billy Ball has an essay titled “Jefferson Griffin proves he isn’t fit to be on NC’s Supreme Court.”

“I’m a Seasoned Litigator. Sam Alito’s Recent Questions Have Made Me Cringe.” Sherrilyn Ifill has this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Justices to Hear Case on South Carolina’s Bid to Defund Planned Parenthood; The issue in the case is whether Medicaid beneficiaries may sue under a law that lets them choose care from any provider qualified to perform the required services”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Justin Jouvenal and Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post report that “Supreme Court to hear South Carolina’s bid to block funding for Planned Parenthood; The Supreme Court will review South Carolina’s decision to cut off state funding for Planned Parenthood clinics because the care they offer includes abortion.”

Maureen Groppe of USA Today reports that “Can Planned Parenthood be stripped of Medicaid funding? Supreme Court to weigh in; The Supreme Court agreed to review a lower court’s decision that Medicaid patients have the right to choose their health care provider.”

And Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times reports that “Supreme Court to weigh Medicaid dollars going to abortion providers.”

“Supreme Court Fast-Tracks TikTok Case in Face of Jan. 19 Deadline; The company and its Chinese parent invoked the First Amendment in urging the justices to step in before a deadline to sell or be shut down”: Adam Liptak and Sapna Maheshwari of The New York Times have this report.

Ann E. Marimow and Eva Dou of The Washington Post report that “Supreme Court to hear challenge to banning TikTok in U.S.; The justices will quickly take up the constitutionality of a federal law that would shutter TikTok next month unless the company divests from Chinese ownership.”

Andrea Chang and David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times report that “Supreme Court to hear TikTok case before ban deadline.”

Jacob Gershman of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Supreme Court to Consider TikTok Ban; Justices to hear oral arguments next month, days before ban is supposed to take effect.”

Maureen Groppe of USA Today reports that “Supreme Court to decide if law that could force a U.S. ban on TikTok violates First Amendment; President-elect Donald Trump has promised to save TikTok; It is unclear how that would happen.”

And Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times reports that “Supreme Court takes up TikTok challenge over law banning Chinese-owned platform.”

“The Postal Service Says It Will Keep Mailing Abortion Pills — For Now; In a statement to NOTUS, the USPS left the door open for guidance around the Comstock Act to change, but it plans to ‘continue to act consistent’ with a DOJ memo until then”: Oriana González of NOTUS has this report.

“Federal judge broke ethics rules by criticizing Justice Alito over flag flying, report finds”: Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has this report.

And Jacqueline Thomsen of Bloomberg Law reports that “Judge Apologizes for Criticizing Alito’s Ethics Over Flags; Senior judge was found to have committed misconduct; Wrote essay calling justice’s flag-flying ‘improper.’”

You can view the op-ed at this link. And you can access the decision on the judicial complaint at this link.

“Aide-de-camp”: You can access the new episode of the “Divided Argument” podcast via this link.

“The Changing Face of Supreme Court Oral Arguments [Deep Dive #2]; How ‘hot’ is the bench? Here are some data driven answers.” Adam Feldman has this post at his “Legalytics” Substack site.

“Watch Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Make Broadway Debut in & Juliet; The hit jukebox musical continues at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre”: Andrew Gans of Playbill has this report.

And Vladimir Duthiers and Analisa Novak of CBS News have a report headlined “Backstage with Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as she made her Broadway debut.”

“Judge’s criticism of US Supreme Court’s Alito over flags is deemed improper”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has this report.

“Plaintiffs move to dismiss lawsuit that led to Alabama Supreme Court IVF decision; The couple in the final remaining lawsuit over the destruction of embryos at a Mobile facility moved to end the suit last week”: Alander Rocha of Alabama Reflector has this report.

And Howard Koplowitz of AL.com reports that “Judge dismisses couple’s IVF lawsuit that led to controversial Alabama Supreme Court ruling.”

“Big loss for ISPs as Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to $15 broadband law; ISPs fear more states will regulate prices as New York law survives challenge”: Jon Brodkin of Ars Technica has this report.

You can access yesterday’s Orders List of the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.

“Americans Pass Judgment on Their Courts: Sharp decline in confidence in judiciary is among the largest Gallup has ever measured.” Benedict Vigers and Lydia Saad of Gallup have this report.

And Adam Liptak of The New York Times reports that “Confidence in U.S. Courts Plummets to Rate Far Below Peer Nations; Very few countries have experienced similar declines, typically in the wake of wrenching turmoil; Experts called the data, from a new Gallup poll, stunning and worrisome.”

“Share of Black Harvard Law Students Drops in First Class After Affirmative Action Ruling”: Akshaya Ravi of The Harvard Crimson has this report.

And Deena Zaru of ABC News has an article headlined “Steep decline in Black, Hispanic enrollment at Harvard Law after Supreme Court ruling; The Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that affirmative action is unconstitutional.”

“A new Supreme Court case about religion has a hidden trap for workers; Catholic Charities v. Wisconsin has a sympathetic plaintiff, and alarmingly high stakes for workers”: Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.

“Texas Abortion Lawsuit Against New York Doctor Kicks Off a New Legal Civil War”: Law professor Mary Ziegler has this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Judges ‘Unretire’ After Trump Wins; Democrats don’t hold up their end of a bipartisan Senate bargain”: This editorial will appear in Wednesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“How a long-ago fight over a dormant constitutional weapon echoes today; Controversies over presidential power and recessing Congress aren’t new; See: Andrew Jackson.” Columnist Jason Willick and Philip Huff have this essay online at The Washington Post.

“The Federalist Society Announces Its Next Leader; The process by which Sheldon Gilbert was selected was full of twists and turns, but turned out well in the end”: David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“TikTok Asks US Supreme Court to Block Government Ban; New US law set to ban popular social-media app next month; TikTok, Chinese parent seek high court action by Jan. 6”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.

You can view at this link the Emergency Application for Injunction filed today at the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Will U.S. Supreme Court forgo investor class actions after Meta, Nvidia dismissals?” Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Reuters has this post.

“113. Direct Appeals from State Criminal Convictions: The Supreme Court’s docket for the October 2024 Term includes *zero* appeals from state criminal convictions; That’s part of a broader trend — and one with significant downstream implications.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“Sheldon Gilbert to Become Next Federalist Society President and CEO”: This post appeared Saturday at the “FedSoc Blog.”

“Judicial Notice (12.15.24): The Next Generation; FedSoc’s new president, $1 million associate bonuses, Luigi Mangione’s lawyers, and Jones Day’s latest SCOTUS clerk haul.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“Alito and Thomas Have Already Taken the Most-Contradictory Positions of the Supreme Court Term”: Law professor Hila Keren has this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Recess Appointments of Judges: From George Washington forward, quite a history.” Ed Whelan recently had this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.

“Photo ID undermines Republican challenge in NC Supreme Court race”: Steve Harrison of WFAE has this report.

And in commentary, online at Slate, Billy Corriher has a Jurisprudence essay titled “The North Carolina GOP’s Latest Ploy to Steal a State Supreme Court Seat.”

“Jingle Bells, the Fifth Circuit Is Hell”: You can access today’s new episode of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast via this link and on YouTube.

“Historic Muslim Appellate Pick Laments Attacks on Nomination; Adeel Mangi condemns judicial nominations process as ‘fundamentally broken’; No path forward for Mangi’s confirmation”: Tiana Headley of Bloomberg Law has this report.

And Charles Toutant of New Jersey Law Journal reports that “3rd Circuit Nominee Mangi Sees ‘No Pathway to Confirmation,’ Derides ‘Organized Smear Campaign’; Adeel Mangi said in a letter to the White House that the system for approving federal court judges is ‘fundamentally broken’ and has turned into ‘a channel for the raising of money based on performative McCarthyism before video cameras.’”

You can access Adeel A. Mangi’s letter to the White House at this link.