“On First Day of New Term, Supreme Court Hears Debate Over First Step Act; The justices heard arguments about how to interpret part of the law aimed at reducing prison sentences for people convicted of certain nonviolent drug crimes”: Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has this report.

“The Case for Optimism on the Supreme Court’s Next Term: Liberal pressure contributed to an unexpected tempering of the conservative justices’ extremes last time out; We’ll know soon if that will endure.” Simon Lazarus has this essay online at The New Republic.

“Supreme Court rejects Eastman’s bid to scrap rulings that sent his emails to Jan. 6 investigators; Justice Clarence Thomas bowed out as his colleagues rejected a petition from John Eastman”: Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney of Politico have this report.

And Lawrence Hurley of NBC News reports that “Clarence Thomas recuses himself as Supreme Court rejects ex-Trump lawyer John Eastman’s appeal; Thomas, who is under fire over claims of ethical lapses, was criticized for not recusing himself from a separate Jan. 6-related case because his wife, Virginia ‘Ginni’ Thomas, supported then-President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.”

“New term, new look”: Tom Goldstein has this post at “SCOTUSblog” explaining that, “with a smaller team running the blog’s day-to-day operations, we will no longer have full coverage of every merits case.”

“An unexpected check on Supreme Court’s sharp move right: Justice Kavanaugh.” David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

“The Next Target for the Group That Overturned Roe: Alliance Defending Freedom has won fifteen Supreme Court cases; Now it wants religious exemptions to anti-discrimination laws — and is targeting trans rights.” David D. Kirkpatrick has this article in the October 9, 2023 issue of The New Yorker.

“What Fresh Hell Will This Supreme Court Term Bring?” You can access today’s new episode of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast via this link.

“Oh, Look! Billionaires Have Their Perfect Case to Start the Supreme Court Term.” Alex Aronson and Bob Lord have this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“47. The First Monday in October: Although the reason why the Supreme Court’s annual session begins today, specifically, has become more than a little anachronistic, Congress’s role in *setting* that date still matters quite a bit.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

And at his Substack site, Chris Geidner has a post titled “Back to court — Tuesday’s SCOTUS arguments will be a first sign of the court we’re dealing with this term; Also: Louisiana redistricting; And: Florida has an execution set for Tuesday.”

“Supreme Court to consider abortion pills, guns, social media in its new term”: Nina Totenberg had this audio segment on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

Access today’s Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court: At this link. The Court did not grant review in any new cases but called for the views of the Solicitor General in three cases.

“Justice Sotomayor’s lack of ‘respect’: Justices stew as high court opens new term.” Stephen Dinan of The Washington Times has an article that begins, “Justice Sonia Sotomayor seems to have lost respect for her colleagues on the Supreme Court — literally. In several of her major dissenting opinions last term, Justice Sotomayor dropped the usual decorum, in which justices write that they ‘respectfully dissent,’ and instead flatly declared, ‘I dissent.’”

“Maritime Coverage Case About To Make Waves at Supreme Court. How should a federal court decide whether to enforce a choice-of-law provision? That’s the question at the heart of ‘Great Lakes Ins. v. Raiders Retreat Realty,’ a maritime coverage dispute that will be argued before the Supreme Court. However the court rules, the decision could have wide-ranging implications for insurance disputes — even those on land.” Jillian Raines and Alex Harris have this essay online at the New York Law Journal.

“This Supreme Court Term’s Grimmest Cases Share One Thing in Common”: Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern have this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“High Noon for the CFPB at the Supreme Court; The Justices have a chance to tell Congress it can’t shirk its duty by creating regulators insulated from political accountability”: This editorial will appear in Monday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“Justice Alito’s First Amendment; He’s unusually willing to accept limits on outré speech — but on core political speech, he’s stronger than the ACLU”: James Taranto and David B. Rivkin Jr. will have this op-ed in Monday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“Judicial Notice (09.30.23): Gender Trouble; Calling a woman judge ‘sweetheart,’ requiring judges to use preferred pronouns, ruling on trans youth healthcare, and other legal news from the week that was.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“We Don’t Talk About Leonard — The conservative legal movement in the United States is more powerful than ever; One largely unknown man has played a significant role in pushing the American judiciary to the right: Leonard Leo.” Andrea Bernstein, Andy Kroll, and Ilya Marritz of Pro Publica, together with WNYC’s “On the Media,” have created this new podcast miniseries. You can access episode one here and here.

“Supreme Court Preview: This Term, It Can Always Get Worse; With the liberals thoroughly outmatched, the upcoming term will not be a battle between right and left — it will be a battle between shades of extremism.” Ellie Mystal has this essay online at The Nation.

“Ruth Bader Ginsburg joins bench of Supreme Court justices honored with postage stamp”: George Petras and Veronica Bravo of USA Today have this report.

Earlier, Charles Snee of Linn’s Stamp News reported that “National Portrait Gallery to host Oct. 2 debut of stamp for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”

“Supreme Court prepares for new term by looking back, with likely impact on 2024 elections; Supreme Court to examine gun rights, election redistricting, free speech and other hot-button topics”: Shannon Bream and Bill Mears of Fox News have this report.

“Gun rights. Herring fishermen. An ethics hangover. The Supreme Court gets back to work. Guns, social media, and thorny government regulations are all on the docket. Abortion — which some thought was a settled issue — also could make a return this term.” John Fritze of USA Today has this report.

“Trump’s war on federal agencies — fueled by his judges — reaches the Supreme Court; The conservative-majority Supreme Court already has three cases on its docket that seek to curb the power of federal agencies as its new term begins Monday”: Lawrence Hurley of NBC News has this report.

“A Battered Supreme Court Returns to Confront a Challenging Docket; The justices will explore the scope of the Second Amendment, the fate of the administrative state and limits on free speech on the internet”: Adam Liptak and Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times have this report.

“Mandatory minimums, payday lending, and voting rights in first session of Supreme Court term”: Amy Howe has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”

“The Supreme Court’s First Case Is a Brutal Grammatical Test”: Law professor Aaron Tang has this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Major tests await conservative US Supreme Court in new term”: John Kruzel of Reuters has this report.

“For Supreme Court, ethics have become the elephant in the courtroom”: Robert Barnes and Ann E. Marimow have this front page article in today’s edition of The Washington Post.

“He, She, They: The Pronoun Debate Will Likely Land at the Supreme Court; And the trend doesn’t look good for transgender kids.” Law professor Kimberly Wehle has this essay online at Politico Magazine.

“Supreme Court to hear arguments on funding for financial protection agency; Case on Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could shape congressional power to fund agencies outside of normal appropriations”: Michael Macagnone of Roll Call has this report.

“Gender-Affirming Care Ruling Could Force Supreme Court Reckoning”: Mary Anne Pazanowski of Bloomberg Law has this report.

And at his Substack site, Chris Geidner has a post titled “Judge Jeff Sutton ignores anti-trans reality to uphold Tennessee, Kentucky trans care bans; Sutton’s ruling is an act of judicial cowardice that masks itself as one of judicial humility.”

“The Supreme Court will take up abortion and gun cases in its new term while ethics concerns swirl”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report.

“Views of Supreme Court Remain Near Record Lows”: Megan Brenan of Gallup has this report.

And Steven Shepard of Politico reports that “Faith in the Supreme Court is down. Voters now say they want changes; A new survey shows three-in-four voters want the justices bound to an ethics code.”

“A Monumental SCOTUS Term Begins: Our Reluctant Curtain-Raiser; On the brink of a new term, with plunging public trust and swirling ethics scandals, the Supreme Court eyes dismantling the regulatory state and arming domestic abusers.” You can access today’s new episode of Slate’s “Amicus” podcast via this link.

“Supreme Court in New Term Looks at Curbing Power of Federal Agencies; Docket also promises rulings from justices on electoral districts and gun rights”: Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal has this report.