“Federal judge blocks employee abortion, IVF protections at thousands of Catholic employers nationwide; The group that brought the challenge to a new federal policy argues it cannot be forced to accommodate ‘immoral infertility “treatments.”’” Chris Geidner has this post at his Substack site.

“Automating criminal appeals: Do it!” Adam Unikowsky recently had this post at his Substack site, “Adam’s Legal Newsletter.”

“100. Same-Sex Marriage and the 2014 Long Conference: Same-sex marriage became legal in more states through cert. denials (18) than through the Court’s June 2015 ruling in Obergefell (13); Strategic voting by Chief Justice Roberts is a big part of why.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“No Choice but to Stan: A Deep Dive on Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar.” You can access this week’s episode of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast via this link.

“The Chief Justice Tips His Hand: Why did John Roberts help Trump delay criminal accountability?” This week’s installment of Slate’s “Amicus” podcast features guest Linda Greenhouse.

“Is It Time to Torch the Constitution? Some scholars say that it’s to blame for our political dysfunction — and that we need to start over.” Louis Menand has this Books essay in the September 30, 2024 issue of The New Yorker.

“State Attorney Jack Campbell ‘willing to negotiate’ in Donna Adelson murder prosecution”: Jeff Burlew of The Tallahassee Democrat has this report.

“One judge, one courthouse: Why judge-shopping is an issue in the U.S. Lawmakers and federal judiciary leaders have tried to keep plaintiffs from steering their cases to specific judges. But the proposals face pushback.” Tobi Raji of The Washington Post has this report.

“Penn to impose major sanctions on law professor Amy Wax after years of controversy”: Ethan Young of The Daily Pennsylvanian has this report.

Susan Snyder of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that “Penn will sanction Amy Wax, the law prof who invited a white nationalist to speak to her class; The tenured law professor will be suspended for a year at half pay with benefits intact; A public reprimand and loss of her named chair are among other sanctions.”

And Vimal Patel and Stephanie Saul of The New York Times report that “Penn Suspends Amy Wax, Law Professor Accused of Making Racist Statements; The case tested the limits of academic freedom and tenure.”

“Judge Reed O’Connor’s Remarks On Forum Selection and ‘Judge Shopping’”: Josh Blackman has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“Judicial Notice (09.22.24): Bad Boys; The federal criminal case against Sean Combs, the killing of a Kentucky judge, a stinging benchslap in a high-profile case, and Cahill’s attempted comeback.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“Alaska Man Charged With Threatening 6 Supreme Court Justices; It remained unclear whether the man, Panos Anastasiou, came close to carrying out his threats, and public records indicate that he is not affiliated with any political party”: Eileen Sullivan of The New York Times has this report.

Perry Stein of The Washington Post reports that “Alaska man charged with threatening to kill six Supreme Court justices; Panos Anastasiou, 76, allegedly sent more than 465 messages through the Supreme Court’s public website — many of them violent, racist and homophobic, according to an indictment.”

Josh Gerstein of Politico reports that “Alaska man is charged with slew of threats to Supreme Court justices; Panos Anastasiou is accused of sending threatening messages to six members of the court and two of their family members.”

And Casey Grove of Alaska Public Media reports that “Anchorage man threatened U.S. Supreme Court justices, indictment says.”

“Samuel Alito and German rightwing aristocrat linked to US anti-abortion activist; US supreme court justice and Gloria von Thurn und Taxis found to have rubbed elbows with hardliner Leonard Leo”: Martin Pengelly of The Guardian has this report.

“‘Could I really cut it?’ Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson discusses new memoir, ‘unlikely path’ from South Florida to Harvard to nation’s highest court.” Christy DeSmith of The Harvard Gazette has this report.

“The Supreme Court expanded gun rights. That could complicate the Trump assassination attempt case. Ryan Routh is charged with violating the federal ban on former felons possessing guns. But does that ban violate the Second Amendment?” Samantha Latson of Politico has this report.

“Supreme Court Lawyers Will Say Anything to Keep the Justices Happy; If you are a BigLaw lawyer who needs to stay in the justices’ good graces, there is no better place to praise them than the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal“: Jay Willis has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Can a College Class Still Be Diverse? Schools are testing how much they can shape the racial outcomes of admissions without being accused of practicing affirmative action.” Law professor Jeannie Suk Gersen has this article online at The New Yorker.

“Medical malpractice filings are spiking as lawyers target Philly juries as a ‘slot machine’; Malpractice cases from as far away as Scranton and York are being filed in Philadelphia since a rule change at the beginning of 2023”: Harold Brubaker of The Philadelphia Inquirer has this report.

“Biden admin asks SCOTUS to take up case threatening ACA preventative care coverage; The case filed by religious employers opposed to coverage of contraceptives and an HIV prevention drug, PrEP, has expanded to threaten care for ‘millions’”: Chris Geidner has this post at his Substack site.

You can access the cert. petition at this link.

“A Last-Minute Effort to Mess With the 2024 Vote Is Underway. It’s Scarier Than Expected.” Law professor Richard L. Hasen — founder of the “Election Law Blog” — has this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“J&J Unit Seeks Chapter 11 Bankruptcy for Third Time Over Baby Powder Suits; Some 83% of plaintiffs agreed to J&J’s around $8 Billion offer; Company hopes to put years of litigation to rest with deal”: Steven Church and Jef Feeley of Bloomberg News have this report.

“Trump’s Chief Legal Defender Vows a ‘Reign of Terror’ — Or Is It All an Act? Mike Davis could be Trump’s attorney general, and he says he wants to put journalists in gulags and kids in cages. He also says he’s trolling. The line isn’t always so clear.” Adam Wren of Politico has this report online at Politico Magazine.

“‘Epic disaster’: Donna Adelson’s trial went off the rails. Here’s what’s coming next.” Jeff Burlew of The Tallahassee Democrat has this report.

“How Elizabeth Prelogar Stands Up to a Runaway Supreme Court: From Idaho beauty pageants to Harvard Law School to the chambers of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the solicitor general of the United States has stood in front of judges all her life; Yet her role as the government’s last line of defense may be her toughest yet.” Cristian Farias has this article in the October 2024 issue of Vanity Fair.

“A Conversation with Justice Neil Gorsuch on ‘The Human Toll of Too Much Law’”: The National Constitution Center has this posted this video on YouTube.

“Meet the judge with outsize influence over Biden’s environment and energy agenda; Republicans are suing EPA, DOE and other agencies in a federal court in Louisiana where a Trump-appointed judge hears nearly all civil cases”: Sean Reilly of Greenwire has this report.

“John Roberts Lost the Thread; The conservative justices are writing opinions for conservative activists and basically no one else”: Madiba K. Dennie has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Foreign hackers could target election litigation, federal judge warns; The judge, who heads a committee on information technology for the federal courts, urged his colleagues to be vigilant”: Josh Gerstein of Politico has this report.

“A Supremely Bad Idea: The proposed ‘ethics code’ for the justices is a misguided solution to a nonexistent problem.” James Burnham has this essay online at City Journal.

“Filibusters and Cloture: And why the Senate majority can’t force a talking filibuster.” Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.

“The Supreme Court Wants to Keep You In the Dark; Occasional leaks from the Supreme Court are the only insights the public gets into how the least accountable branch of government makes its choices”: Madiba K. Dennie has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Attorney conflicts, delays — seeking justice for Dan Markel continues; Donna Adelson’s lawyer Dan Rashbaum withdraws due to ‘severe’ conflict, causing painful (but promising) trial delay”: Peter Schorsch of Florida Politics has this report.

“The Supreme Court Gets a Defense: A leading member of the appellate bar speaks up for the institution against political attacks.” This editorial appeared in Wednesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, which has also posted online the prepared text of Kannon Shanmugam‘s remarks at Duke Law School.

In other news, if you want to put some proper distance between you and Kannon, don’t repair to London.

Who would have guessed that Donna Adelson’s decision to be represented by the same lead counsel who represented her now-convicted son for the same murder might be problematic? Jeff Burlew of The Tallahassee Democrat has an article headlined “‘Foolish to plunge forward’: How the Donna Adelson murder trial was derailed.”

And Kendall Brandt, Channing Frampton, and Alexa Denagall of Tallahassee’s WXTL-TV report that “Trial of Donna Adelson delayed as her attorney resigns; Donna Adelson is Dan Markel’s former mother-in-law.”

“Are the Justices’ Opinions Emotionally Charged and Does it Matter?” Adam Feldman has this post at his “Empirical SCOTUS” blog.