“Supreme Court takes center stage in the Trump legal battles; The justices will soon decide whether to weigh in on Trump’s broad immunity claim in his election interference case and his forthcoming appeal seeking to block a Colorado ruling that says he is ineligible to run for office”: Lawrence Hurley of NBC News has this report.
John Fritze and David Jackson of USA Today have an article headlined “Supreme Court may want to avoid Trump; Colorado’s ballot ruling won’t let them.”
Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Trump’s 2024 Fate Rests With Supreme Court After Colorado Bars Him from Ballot; Trump vows to appeal Colorado ruling barring him from ballot; Court is considering fast-track review of Trump immunity claim.”
And Greg Bluestein of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that “Colorado ruling disqualifying Trump could have implications in Georgia.”
“Some state abortion bans stir confusion, and it’s uncertain if lawmakers will clarify them”: Kimberlee Kruesi and Geoff Mulvihill of The Associated Press have this report.
“The O’Connor Funeral — LER Bonus Content No. 8 (12.19.23)”: Renee Knake Jefferson has this post at her “Legal Ethics Roundup” Substack site.
“Jewish Groups Line Up In Support Of Biden’s Muslim Court Pick Assailed By GOP; ‘Adeel A. Mangi is a person of strength and good deeds,’ 15 Jewish groups wrote to senators, some of whom subjected Mangi to Islamophobic questioning”: Jennifer Bendery of HuffPost has this report.
And at Balls and Strikes, Madiba K. Dennie has a post titled “Shameless Republican Senators Badger Muslim Judicial Nominee About 9/11; Adeel Mangi may become the first Muslim American federal appellate judge; So, Republican Senators smeared him as a terrorist sympathizer.”
“Why Democracy Hasn’t Settled the Abortion Question; Post-Roe voting might bring America to a new consensus — but only if the voters keep getting their say”: Kate Zernike of The New York Times has this report.
And Katie Rogers of The New York Times reports that “Harris Will Tour the Country in Support of Abortion Rights; The vice president has been the administration’s most forceful voice for abortion rights in the year and a half since Roe v. Wade fell.”
“Boston’s racial balancing of elite public schools upheld by First Circuit; Favoring one race over another can be constitutional, the court said, as long as the method of doing so is neutral on its face”: Thomas F. Harrison of Courthouse News Service has this report.
And Daniel Wiessner of Reuters reports that “US court rejects race bias claims over Boston school admission policy.”
You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit at this link.
“O’Connor, a ‘Daughter of the American West,’ Is Honored in Washington; President Biden remembered the Supreme Court’s first female justice as ‘gracious and wise, civil and principled’ in a ceremony at Washington National Cathedral”: Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has this report.
Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff and Mariana Alfaro of The Washington Post report that “Sandra Day O’Connor ‘empowered generations of women,’ Biden says in eulogy.”
And at “SCOTUSblog,” Mark Walsh has a post titled “A Washington send-off for Sandra Day O’Connor.”
“Clarence Thomas blundered. But the justices are underpaid.” Columnist Ruth Marcus has this essay online at The Washington Post.
Also online at The Washington Post, columnist Alexandra Petri has an essay titled “Thanks for being a Supreme Court Patreon! Don’t forget to claim your perks.”
“Will the U.S.Supreme Court Keep Donald Trump Off the Ballot? Some Initial Thoughts.” Rick Hasen has this post at his “Election Law Blog.”
“How a Trump Supreme Court finalist ruled bigly against his side; With the high court potentially taking up two major Jan. 6 issues involving Trump, a reminder of how GOP-nominated judges haven’t toed his line”: Aaron Blake of The Washington Post has this news analysis.
“Amarillo City Council says it needs more time to debate abortion travel ban; After weeks of debate, the council took no action at a politically-charged meeting Tuesday; It is the largest city in Texas to debate such a rule”: Jayme Lozano Carver of The Texas Tribune has this report.
“How Leonard Leo’s Dark Money Network Orchestrated a New Attack on the Voting Rights Act”: Ari Berman has this essay online at Mother Jones.
“Appellate Court Says U.S. Can’t Cut Through Texas Border Wire Along Rio Grande; The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in a temporary order, limited the federal government while a challenge by the state of Texas was pending”: Edgar Sandoval of The New York Times has this report.
“Prosecutors Try to Nudge Trump Election Case Ahead Despite Freeze on the Case; The office of the special counsel sent documents to the former president’s legal team, even though the proceedings are on hold; The defense lawyers were not pleased”: Alan Feuer of The New York Times has this report.
“Trump Has Always Wanted to Be King. The Supreme Court Should Rid Him of That Delusion.” Law professor Kate Shaw has this guest essay online at The New York Times.
“Colorado Supreme Court bars Donald Trump from the state’s ballot in 2024, ruling he’s disqualified by Jan. 6 actions; Legal challenge, which alleges Trump engaged in insurrection, is likely headed to U.S. Supreme Court”: Nick Coltrain of The Denver Post has this report.
Patrick Marley and Azi Paybarah of The Washington Post report that “Trump disqualified from Colorado’s 2024 primary ballot by state Supreme Court; The decision is certain to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but it will be up to the justices to decide whether to take the case.”
Mariah Timms of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Trump Disqualified From 2024 Presidential Primary Ballot, Colorado Supreme Court Rules; State high court says GOP front-runner barred by 14th Amendment’s ban on insurrectionists holding office.”
John Fritze, Aysha Bagchi, and David Jackson of USA Today report that “Donald Trump disqualified from Colorado’s primary ballot, state high court rules.”
And Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times reports that “Colorado Supreme Court orders Trump removed from ballot for Jan. 6 ‘insurrection.’”
You can access today’s 4-to-3 per curiam ruling of the Supreme Court of Colorado at this link.
“D.C. Circuit Rejects Oil Company Attempt to Remove District’s Climate Suit to Federal Court; Yet another federal circuit court of appeals rejects energy company removal claims”: Jonathan H. Adler has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy” about a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued today.
“Another Dobbs Leak!” You can access today’s new episode of the “Advisory Opinions” podcast, featuring Sarah Isgur and David French, via this link.
“‘Cuties’: Netflix Wins Appeal Blocking Child Porn Charges.” Gene Maddaus of Variety has this report.
Ross A. Lincoln of The Wrap reports that “Appeals Court Rules Texas DA’s ‘Cuties’ Child Porn Charges Against Netflix to Be ‘Bad-Faith Prosecution’; 5th Circuit Court decision upholds 2022 lower court ruling.”
And Dominic Patten of Deadline has a report headlined “Don’t Mess With Netflix: Lone Star State D.A. Loses ‘Cuties’ Battle With Streamer Over Child Porn Claims, Again.”
Circuit Judge Don R. Willett wrote yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel.
“U.S. Brief in Halkbank Abandons Customary International Law in Immunity Cases”: William S. Dodge has this post at the “Transnational Litigation Blog” about a brief that the federal government filed last month in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
“Threats rising against federal judges; court watchers blame political rhetoric”: Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has this report.
In related coverage, Josh Gerstein of Politico reports that “Florida man pleads guilty to threatening to kill Supreme Court justice; The chief justice was his target, a court-ordered psychologist report says.”
Yesterday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida issued a news release titled “Fernandina Beach Man Pleads Guilty To Threatening To Kill A United States Supreme Court Justice.”
“Justice O’Connor: A Remembrance.” Justin A. Nelson has this guest post at the “Dorf on Law” blog.
“Trump Asks Full D.C. Appeals Court to Review Gag Order in Election Case; The former president is seeking the full court’s review after a three-judge panel upheld a gag order imposed by the trial court but narrowed its scope”: Alan Feuer of The New York Times has this report.
And Ryan Knappenberger of Courthouse News Service reports that “Trump seeks en banc review of gag order in DC election subversion case; The request comes as the Supreme Court has decided to review Trump’s claims of presidential immunity in the case, leaving the fate — and timing — of the case in the high court’s hands.”
You can view the petition for rehearing filed today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit at this link.
“Appeals Panel Rejects Meadows’s Request to Move Georgia Case to Federal Court; The judges unanimously ruled against Mark Meadows, a former White House chief of staff and a co-defendant of Donald J. Trump in the state election interference case”: Danny Hakim and Richard Fausset of The New York Times have this report.
Bart Jansen of USA Today reports that “Federal appeals court rejects former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows’ request to move Georgia trial to federal court; Meadows was one of five co-defendants of Donald Trump who are charged with election racketeering and trying to move their trials from state to federal court; All have been rejected.”
Zoë Richards and Charlie Gile of NBC News report that “Appeals court rejects Mark Meadows’ bid to move his Georgia case out of state court; Meadows, who served as White House chief of staff under President Donald Trump, was previously denied a request to move his Georgia election interference case to federal court.”
And Devan Cole of CNN reports that “Appeals court rejects Mark Meadows’ attempt to move Georgia election subversion case to federal court.”
You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at this link.
“A Supreme Court Icon at 100 Years Old; From World War II to beyond, a remarkable man has aided the Supreme Court”: Tony Mauro of The National Law Journal has this post at his “The Marble Palace Blog.”
“Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, lauded as ‘a human being, extraordinary,’ lies in repose at the court”: Mark Walsh has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”
“The Echo Chamber Grows”: Adam Feldman has this post at his “Empirical SCOTUS” blog.
“The Gun Industry Has a Suicide Problem: White men like Bob Owens are the firearms industry’s most essential customers; But they keep turning their weapons on themselves.” Mike Spies has this article online at The Trace.
“What We Learned from the NY Times Behind-the-Scenes Revelations About Dobbs”: Michael C. Dorf has this post at his blog, “Dorf on Law.”
“Public Pays Respects to Justice O’Connor at Supreme Court”: Lydia Wheeler and Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson of Bloomberg Law have this report.
“58. Congress Quietly Expands the Supreme Court’s Jurisdiction Over Courts-Martial; A little-noticed provision of the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act closes a loophole in the justices’ ability to review military convictions, but it may make little practical difference.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.
In the December 25, 2023 issue of The New Yorker: Law professor Jeannie Suk Gersen has a Talk of the Town Comment headlined “University Presidents Under Fire; No one should be duped into applauding a McCarthyesque spectacle of members of Congress demanding firings by universities.”
And Ed Caesar has an A Reporter At Large article headlined “The World’s Fastest Road Cars — and the People Who Drive Them; ‘Hypercars’ can approach or even exceed 300 m.p.h.; Often costing millions of dollars, they’re ostentatious trophies — and sublime engines of innovation.”
“Conservatives move to keep abortion off the 2024 ballot; ‘We don’t believe those rights should be subjected to majority vote’”: Alice Miranda Ollstein and Megan Messerly of Politico have this report.
“A ‘Delicate Matter’: Clarence Thomas’ Private Complaints About Money Sparked Fears He Would Resign.” Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan, Alex Mierjeski, and Brett Murphy of ProPublica have this report.
“Behind the Scenes of Overturning Roe v. Wade”: You can access today’s new episode of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast, featuring New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor as the guest, via this link.
