“Supreme Court declines to hear two-step bankruptcy case that drew Senate attention”: Dietrich Knauth of Reuters has this report.

“The Historic Trump Court Cases That We Cannot See: The former President is on trial in a courtroom that has banned cameras; Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is deciding whether his other trials should even happen.” Neal Katyal has this essay online at The New Yorker.

“In praise of robotic judging: The Supreme Court mindlessly and correctly decides Culley v. Marshall.” Adam Unikowsky has this post at his Substack site, “Adam’s Legal Newsletter.”

“Judicial Notice (05.12.24): How To Survive Cross Like A Porn Star; Paul Weiss’s big hire from Cleary Gottlieb, TikTok’s suit against the feds, more takes on the Columbia clerk boycott, and other legal news from the week that was.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“His Dreadlocks Shaved by Prison Guards, Rastafarian Man Turns to Supreme Court; A federal appeals court condemned the ‘stark and egregious’ violation of Damon Landor’s religious freedom; But it said he could not sue the prison officials”: Adam Liptak will have this new installment of his “Sidebar” column in Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times.

“The 9 worst court decisions since Trump remade the federal judiciary: This is what happens after four years under an insurrectionist president; It will get much worse if he gets eight.” Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.

“Supreme Court fires back: Justices speak out on security, free speech and ‘lies’; Justices Kavanaugh, Alito and Thomas comment on the law, ‘nastiness.’” Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has this report.

Access today’s Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court: At this link. The Court did not grant review in any new cases.

And in Sandoval v. Texas, No. 23-5618, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued a dissent, in which Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined, from the denial of certiorari.

“National Dem strategy worries state abortion-rights leaders; Democrats’ efforts to ride the coattails of abortion ballot measures put passage at risk”: Megan Messerly and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico have this report.

“Trump, gun owners and Jan. 6 rioters: Tough-on-crime Justice Alito displays empathy for some criminal defendants; In recent Supreme Court arguments, the former prosecutor has asked skeptical questions about criminal cases against former President Donald Trump, Jan. 6 defendants and gun owners.” Lawrence Hurley of NBC News has this report.

“The Foreshadow Docket”: Law professor Bert I. Huang has this book review essay in the current issue of the Columbia Law Review.

“How Originalism Ate The Law: The Trap; Part two of a series examining the theory of constitutional interpretation that has eaten the law and gobbled up a bunch of your rights with it.” You can access today’s episode of Slate’s “Amicus” podcast via this link.

“The Wisconsin Supreme Court is headed for its lowest output term ever. A look behind the numbers.” Jessie Opoien of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has this report.

“Justice Alito warns of declining support for freedom of speech on college campuses; The conservative justice also warned that freedom of religion is ‘imperiled’ as he delivered a commencement address at a Catholic college”: Lawrence Hurley of NBC News has this report.

Adam Liptak of The New York Times reports that “Justice Alito Warns of Threats to Freedom of Speech and Religion; In a commencement ceremony at a Catholic university, the justice said that fundamental principles were in peril at universities and American society.”

And Ken Tran and Maureen Groppe of USA Today report that “Justices Thomas, Alito complain about ‘nastiness’ and ‘imperiled’ freedom of religion.”

“Anti-abortion crusader’s deposition requests generate fear, but no findings; Jonathan Mitchell has filed at least nine petitions seeking information from abortion activists, doctors and women; None have resulted in a deposition”: Eleanor Klibanoff of The Texas Tribune has this report.

“Brett Kavanaugh speaks about presidential power, his Taylor Swift fandom and an expensive trip to see Caitlin Clark”: Joan Biskupic of CNN has this report.

“A Constitutional Right to Gender Surgery? An appeals court uses the Bostock ruling to usurp state law, in a new version of Roe v. Wade.” This editorial appears in today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“UC Berkeley law school graduation looked a lot like its school year: divided and chaotic.” Joe Garofoli of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.

“Justice Kavanaugh Speaks at the Fifth Circuit Judicial Conference”: Josh Blackman has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“Justice Clarence Thomas calls criticism of him ‘nastiness’ and ‘lies’; Justice Thomas offered some of his most extensive comments since news broke last year of travel and real estate deals paid for by businessman Harlan Crow”: Justin Jouvenal, Tobi Raji, and Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post has this report.

John Fritze of CNN reports that “Justice Clarence Thomas decries Washington as ‘hideous’ and pushes back on ‘nastiness’ of critics.”

And Chris Marr of Bloomberg Law report that “Justice Thomas Criticizes ‘Nastiness and the Lies’ He Faces; Gifts from billionaire Harlan Crow drew criticism in 2023; Thomas says people in Washington take pride in ‘being awful.’”

Update: In other coverage, Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times reports that “Justice Thomas Denounces ‘the Nastiness and the Lies’ Faced by His Family; The statement was among the few public remarks he has made since revelations that he had failed to report lavish gifts and travel from wealthy conservatives.”

“Philadelphia jury awards former mechanic $725.5M in Exxon Mobil case; The jurors linked Paul Gill’s cancer to benzene exposure during his work in the 1970s as an auto mechanic and service station attendant”: Frank Kummer and Ryan W. Briggs of The Philadelphia Inquirer have this report.

“How Originalism Ate the Law: America is captive to a legal theory that dictates our laws on guns, abortion, and so much more; We need to act.” Slate has posted online a series of Jurisprudence essays addressing this topic, all of which you can access via this link.

A.J. Jacobs has a Jurisprudence essay titled “I Spent a Year Living Under the Original Interpretation of the Constitution; Here’s what I learned in the process.”

Jill Filipovic has a Jurisprudence essay titled “Originalism Is One Reason Why America Has Such a Gun Problem; One of the worst ‘originalist’ decisions was about guns, back in 2008; This term, it might get even worse.”

Mark Joseph Stern has a Jurisprudence essay titled “Ketanji Brown Jackson Joined the Supreme Court With a Big Idea; But her attempt to reclaim originalism from conservatives isn’t working.”

Madiba K. Dennie has a Jurisprudence essay titled “Throw Originalism Out; It’s Time for Inclusive Constitutionalism; I’ve been thinking about how the law interprets the Constitution for years; I have an idea for how to move forward.”

And Jay Willis has a Jurisprudence essay titled “We the People: The Constitution is not determined by the founders, judges, or even Supreme Court justices; We still get to decide what it should mean.”

“Steve Bannon’s bid to undo Jan. 6 contempt conviction fails; Appeals court rules that the former Trump adviser was rightfully convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to testify in front of the committee that investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol attack”: Rachel Weiner of The Washington Post has this report.

And Tierney Sneed of CNN reports that “Federal appeals court upholds Steve Bannon’s contempt-of-Congress conviction.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit at this link.

“Nonviolent felons can’t be banned from owning guns, 9th Circuit rules”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.

And Edvard Pettersson of Courthouse News Service reports that “Ninth Circuit finds that convicted felons also have Second Amendment rights; In a significant shift, the appellate court ruled that a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court means that convicted felons can’t automatically be deprived of their right to bear arms.”

You can access today’s ruling of a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link. This case would seem to have a good likelihood of en banc rehearing if a related pending U.S. Supreme Court case does not fully resolve this issue.

“Sotomayor reflects on fairness, justice in virtual Albany talk; Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor addressed the New York Bar Association’s Civics Convocation Thursday”: Patrick Tine of The Times Union of Albany, New York has this report.

And Beth Wang of Bloomberg Law reports that “Sotomayor Says AI Will Significantly Impact ‘How We Lawyer’; Sotomayor urged students to embrace revolutionary technology; Justice says it’s unlikely she’ll see female chief justice.”

“Notre Dame Law School ranked #4 in federal clerkship placement for second year”: Denise Wager of Notre Dame Law School has this report.

“Pro-Lifers Try to Block Alito Nomination; And I thwart the foolish effort”: Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.

“US Senate panel advances Tennessee prosecutor’s nomination to 6th Circuit”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has this report.

And Benjamin S. Weiss of Courthouse News Service reports that “Dems open the door for expanding judicial blue slips after years of partisanship; The longstanding Senate tradition allowing home state senators to weigh in on the White House’s judicial picks has remained restricted to U.S. district court nominees — thanks to deepening political divisions in Washington.”

“Solicitors general, past and present, reflect on ups and downs of job and arguing before SCOTUS”: Mark Walsh has this article online at ABA Journal.

“Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch co-authors book on laws. ‘Over Ruled’ to be released Aug. 6”: Hillel Italie of The Associated Press has this report.

“13 Trump Judges, Who Are Also Giant Babies, Announce Embarrassing Columbia Boycott; Federal judges are now taking their time to engage in the time-honored social media tradition of making up a guy to get mad at”: Madiba K. Dennie has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Third Circuit Republican Appointee Kent Jordan Plans to Retire; George W. Bush appointee on appeals court since 2006; Vacancy gives Biden another Third Circuit seat to fill”: Seth Stern of Bloomberg Law has this report.

Update: In other coverage, Nate Raymond of Reuters reports that “3rd Circuit’s Jordan to retire, giving Biden a new seat to fill.”

“No judge shopping for TikTok”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Reuters has this post.

“Shopping for the Judge You Want Honed to Perfection in Texas”: Jacqueline Thomsen of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Do Judges ‘Have an Important Role to Play in Our Society’ Beyond Judging? A disagreement.” Orin S. Kerr has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”