“U.S. Judge in Mangione Case Rules Prosecutors Cannot Seek Death Penalty; The judge, Margaret Garnett of Federal District Court, said the case against Luigi Mangione would still proceed to trial on other counts”: Benjamin Weiser and Hurubie Meko of The New York Times have this report.
Shayna Jacobs of The Washington Post reports that “Luigi Mangione won’t face death penalty in case of UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing; Luigi Mangione will not face the death penalty on charges of stalking and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in late 2024, a federal judge ruled Friday.”
And Erik Uebelacker of Courthouse News Service reports that “Judge rules feds can’t seek death penalty against Luigi Mangione; Mangione’s attorneys have criticized the government’s pursuit of the death penalty, claiming it was a political move to make an example out of their client.”
You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York at this link. The court today also denied Mangione’s motion to suppress the search of his backpack.
“Handling of Pretti investigation has some prosecutors on verge of quitting; Federal prosecutors in Minneapolis, frustrated by the response to the shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, have suggested they could resign en masse”: Perry Stein of The Washington Post has this report.
“Ninth Circuit revives challenge to Idaho library book censorship law; The court found the law likely violates the First Amendment by allowing subjective, age-based censorship”: Monique Merrill of Courthouse News Service has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued today.
“Goldstein Trial Features Whales, Stakes, and Crypto in Ninth Day”: Holly Barker of Bloomberg Law has a report that begins, “Rick Salomon, a professional poker player who famously filmed a sex tape with Paris Hilton and leaked it in 2003, took the stand in Tom Goldstein’s trial Thursday morning.”
“Tom Goldstein Saga Could Go From Courtroom To Big Screen”: Rachel Rippetoe of Law360 has this report (subscription required for full access).
And Connor Richards of PokerNews reports that “Billionaire Andy Beal Allegedly Initially Dodged $15M Poker Debt to Tobey Maguire.”
“Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Protections for Venezuelans; The Trump administration has sought to end Temporary Protected Status for more than a million people from troubled nations; About 600,000 are from Venezuela”: Jazmine Ulloa of The New York Times has this report.
And Andrew Kreighbaum of Bloomberg Law reports that “DHS Illegally Ended Venezuelan Migrant Status, 9th Cir. Says.”
You can access yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.
“An Ethicist ‘in the Scalia Mold’: The Minnesota Judge Blasting ICE; Judge Patrick Schiltz, an appointee of George W. Bush, became an unlikely foil for his criticism of the Trump administration’s tactics in Minnesota.” Zach Montague of The New York Times has this report.
“Man With Pizza Cutter Is Said to Have Tried to Break Mangione Out of Jail; Federal prosecutors said the man was arrested after he impersonated an F.B.I. agent on Wednesday in a visit to the federal jail complex in Brooklyn that houses Luigi Mangione”: Hurubie Meko, Santul Nerkar, and Jonah E. Bromwich of The New York Times have this report.
Update: In other coverage, Erik Uebelacker of Courthouse News Service reports that “Man charged with bringing pizza cutter, barbecue fork to Brooklyn jail to free Luigi Mangione; Prosecutors say Mark Anderson impersonated an FBI agent to try to break out a ‘very well-known’ inmate.”
“The Supreme Court Should Take Up the USAA Case to Bring Clarity to the Esoteric ‘Abstract Ideas’ Doctrine of Alice”: Gene Quinn has this post at IPWatchdog.
And at the “Patently-O” blog, Dennis Crouch has a post titled “USAA Petitions SCOTUS: Is Mobile Check Deposit Just an ‘Abstract Idea’?”
You can access the cert. petition at this link.
“Judge rips into ICE but backs off demand for agency head to appear in court; ‘ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence,’ Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz wrote”: Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein of Politico have this report.
And Erik Larson of Bloomberg News reports that “ICE Blasted by Minneapolis Judge for Violating Scores of Orders.”
You can access today’s order of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota at this link.
“Actor Tobey Maguire testifies at US lawyer’s tax evasion trial”: Mike Scarcella of Reuters has this report.
And Holly Barker of Bloomberg Law reports that “Tobey Maguire Takes Stand at Tom Goldstein’s Criminal Tax Trial.”
“Government’s Opposition to The New York Times’ Motion to Quash Subpoenas ad Testificandum“: The prosecution filed this response today in the United States v. Thomas C. Goldstein case.
And counsel for the defendant today submitted this related filing.
“Manhattan DA Pushes for Mangione Trial in July, Before DOJ Case”: Patricia Hurtado and David Voreacos of Bloomberg News have this report.
“If a Tree Falls: The trial of the Sycamore Gap killers.” Rosa Lyster has this article in the January 2026 issue of Harper’s Magazine.
“Tom Goldstein’s Poker Coach Takes The Stand In High-Stakes Tax Trial; Alec Torelli Talks Poker Coaches And The Whales Who Hire Them”: Michael Kaplan of Card Player has this report.
“Ayotte taps Superior Court judge, Daniel Will, to join NH’s highest court”: Josh Rogers of New Hampshire Public Radio has this report.
And Ethan DeWitt of New Hampshire Bulletin reports that “Ayotte’s Supreme Court nominee faces conservative opposition.”
“Will 2 new justices speed up Supreme Court rulings? Utah Legislature moves to find out. The Utah Senate passed a bill to expand Utah’s high court from five to seven justices. It now goes to the House for approval.” Robert Gehrke of The Salt Lake Tribune has this report.
“Where is the Supreme Court’s decision on Trump’s tariffs?” Joan Biskupic of CNN has this news analysis.
“Texas sues Delaware nurse practitioner accused of mailing abortion pills; Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) filed suit against Debra Lynch, who runs Delaware-based Her Safe Harbor, which remotely prescribes and mails abortion pills”: Praveena Somasundaram of The Washington Post has this report.
Aidan Johnstone of Texas Tribune reports that “AG Ken Paxton sues another out-of-state provider accused of illegally sending abortion-inducing pills to Texans; In 2024, Texas also sued a New York provider accused of prescribing abortion pills, but her state’s law has shielded her from prosecution.”
And Christina van Waasbergen of Courthouse News Service reports that “Paxton sues Delaware nurse for sending abortion pills to Texas; Attorney General Ken Paxton previously went after a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a woman in Texas, but New York has refused Paxton’s bid to enforce the judgment.”
“I worked for Justice Alito. What I saw up close shatters the media smear. As a clerk on the Supreme Court, I experienced myriad examples of Justice Alito’s decent character.” Louisiana Solicitor General Ben Aguiñaga has this essay online at Fox News.
“Paul Clement’s Cook Argument Is a Master Class in Oral Advocacy”: David Lat has this new installment of his “Exclusive Jurisdiction” column online at Bloomberg Law.
“Memorandum of Law in Support of Non-Parties Jeffrey Toobin and Rudy Lee’s Motion to Quash”: This document was filed today in the United States v. Thomas C. Goldstein case (via Josh Gerstein).
“Minnesota’s chief judge, a veteran in conservative legal circles, takes on ICE; The low-key George W. Bush appointee confronting Trump’s immigration tactics ordered the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to his courtroom”: Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein of Politico have this report.
And Jacqueline Thomsen and Suzanne Monyak of Bloomberg Law report that “Minnesota Chief Judge in ICE Fight Seen as Steady Conservative.”
“Impeaching Judges Over Politics Will Damage Courts, Both Parties”: Former U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm has this essay online at Bloomberg Law.
“Crystal Clanton Lands On Her Feet; The controversial conservative clerk has a new job — with a controversial conservative employer”: David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.
“The court dismisses this proceeding for failure to prosecute pursuant to Local Rule 45.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued this order last Friday in the appeal captioned United States v. Thomas C. Goldstein, appellant.
“Trump Reigns Supreme in High Court Emergency Docket Decisions”: Suzanne Monyak and Jacqueline Thomsen of Bloomberg Law have this report.
“If ICE Can Kill With Impunity, the Rule of Law Is Already Gone”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.
“Trump-Targeted Law Firms Clash With DOJ Over Future of Cases”: Justin Henry of Bloomberg Law has this report.
“Do Federal Officials Really Have ‘Absolute Immunity’? After killings by ICE and Border Patrol in Minneapolis, a legal expert discusses how agents might be held to account by local authorities.” Online at The New Yorker, Isaac Chotiner has this “Q&A” with law professor Steve Vladeck.
“Lindsey Halligan is no longer employed by the Justice Department after her departure from Virginia U.S. attorney’s office; Halligan, who had no prosecutorial experience, stepped down from her post in the Eastern District of Virginia after a judge ruled she was ‘masquerading’ as U.S. attorney”: Ryan J. Reilly and Dareh Gregorian of NBC News have this report.
“This May Be the Only Path to Accountability for the Minneapolis Shootings”: Law professors Barry Friedman and Stephen I. Vladeck have this guest essay online at The New York Times.
“Limits on ICE Agents in Minnesota Blocked by Appeals Court”: Peter Blumberg and Zoe Tillman of Bloomberg News have this report.
You can access today’s per curiam decision of a partially divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit at this link.
“Court Affirms Ruling That Alina Habba Served Unlawfully as U.S. Attorney; The Justice Department lost a bid to challenge a decision that had found Ms. Habba was serving unlawfully as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor”: Jonah E. Bromwich and Tracey Tully of The New York Times have this report.
And Celine Castronuovo of Bloomberg Law reports that “DOJ Rebuffed by Judges in Bid to Return Habba as Prosecutor.”
You can view today’s 8-to-3 order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit denying rehearing en banc at this link.
“Tom Goldstein Says Prosecutors Withheld Exculpatory Material”: Holly Barker of Bloomberg Law has this report.
