“Trump Gets a Slow Start on Judges After Setting a Record Pace in First Term; The president named his first appeals court candidate this week, but fewer vacancies and other priorities have led to a lack of judicial nominations from the White House so far”: Carl Hulse of The New York Times has this report.

“Harvard is taking the Trump administration to court. The judge overseeing the case is no stranger to either side.” Lauren Mascarenhas of CNN has this report.

“Trump’s 48-hour scramble to fly migrants to a Salvadoran prison; The administration rounded up some of the Venezuelans two days before the flights took off, pressing forward even as Venezuela agreed to accept deportees”: Sarah Blaskey, Samantha Schmidt, Silvia Foster-Frau, Ana Vanessa Herrero, Arelis R. Hernández, María Luisa Paúl, and Karen DeYoung of The Washington Post have this report.

“The Rule of Law, The Rule of Courts, and the Rule of the State; Fuller on the Limits of Legality and of Judicial Review”: Adrian Vermeule has this post at “The New Digest” Substack site.

“Judicial Notice (05.04.25): ‘Juvenile And Impertinent’; Lisa Blatt v. Roman Martinez, a Trump appointee v. the Trump administration, Judge Katsas v. Judge Rao, and … a purple dragon?” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“The Fourth Circuit’s Geofencing Case Ends Not With a Bang But A Whimper; Fifteen judges produce eight separate opinions — but no view gets a majority”: Orin S. Kerr has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“Justice Department lawyers face skeptical judges upset by ‘shoddy work’; As they defend against more than 200 lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump’s initiatives, some government lawyers are getting scolded from the bench”: Mark Berman and Jeremy Roebuck of The Washington Post have this report.

“Another Reason People Fear the Government”: Columnist David French has this essay online at The New York Times.

“Minnesota Supreme Court reverses woman’s indecent exposure conviction; The Minnesota Supreme Court determined the state failed to prove Eloisa Plancarte ‘lewdly’ exposed her breasts in a Rochester gas station parking lot in 2021”: Olivia Estright of The Post Bulletin of Rochester, Minnesota has this report.

And Matt Sepic of Minnesota Public Radio News reports that “Woman’s indecent exposure conviction overturned by Minnesota Supreme Court.”

You can access this past Wednesday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Minnesota at this link.

“Trump’s Order Targeting Law Firm Perkins Coie Is Unconstitutional, Judge Rules; The decision marked the first time a federal judge permanently blocked the Trump administration from enforcing an order to punish law firms he opposes politically”: Zach Montague of The New York Times has this report.

Mark Berman of The Washington Post reports that “Judge strikes down Trump executive order punishing law firm Perkins Coie; The judge said Trump’s actions were unconstitutional.”

And Erin Mulvaney and Jan Wolfe of The Wall Street Journal report that “Judge Strikes Down Trump Order Targeting Law Firm Perkins Coie; The ruling declares the president’s action unconstitutional, in a decisive win for one of several firms targeted by the president.”

You can access today’s 102-page ruling of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia at this link.

“Trump’s Solid First Judicial Nominee; Whitney Hermandorfer for the Sixth Circuit is a good sign”: This editorial will appear in Saturday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“Harvard’s Trick for Fighting Trump? A Deep Bench of Conservative Lawyers. Harvard has hired lawyers connected to conservative Supreme Court justices and President Trump himself to fight its case against the government.” Stephanie Saul and Alan Blinder of The New York Times have this report.

“A judge’s portrait unveiled, and a defense of judicial independence; With the Trump administration attacking judges and skirting some court orders, Judge John D. Bates emphasized the fragile nature of judicial independence”: Ann E. Marimow and Spencer S. Hsu of The Washington Post have this report.

“These judges ruled against Trump. Then their families came under attack.” Ned Parker, Mike Spector, Peter Eisler, Linda So, and Nate Raymond of Reuters have this report.

“How Mahmoud Khalil First Glimpsed His Son: One heartbreaking afternoon inside an ICE facility in a remote corner of Louisiana.” Alexander Sammon has this report online at Slate.

“Ketanji Brown Jackson sharply condemns Trump’s attacks on judges; The Supreme Court justice said it was time to address ‘the elephant in the room’: the ‘threats and harassment’ that judges have received from Trump and his allies. Josh Gerstein of Politico has this report.

Laura N. Pérez Sánchez of The New York Times reports that “Attacks on Judges Undermine Democracy, Warns Justice Jackson; Speaking to a judicial conference, the Supreme Court justice said attacks were designed to intimidate and influence.”

And Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Supreme Court’s Jackson Rips ‘Relentless Attacks’ on Judges.”

Update: The U.S. Supreme Court has posted the prepared text of the remarks at this link.

“Trump announces Tennessee attorney as first judicial nomination of second term”: Kirsten Fiscus of The Tennessean has this report.

Tiana Headley of Bloomberg Law reports that “Trump Plans to Nominate Tennessee Litigator to Sixth Circuit; Whitney Hermandorfer is Trump’s first judicial pick of new term; Hermandorfer defended Tennessee’s near abortion ban.”

Benjamin S. Weiss of Courthouse News Service reports that “Trump taps Tennessee state attorney for Sixth Circuit in first judicial appointment; The president announced late Thursday night that he had selected Whitney Hermandorfer, currently working in the office of the Tennessee attorney general, for a vacancy on the Sixth Circuit.”

Nate Raymond of Reuters reports that “Trump makes first judicial nomination since returning to White House.”

And Kaelan Deese of Washington Examiner reports that “Trump nominates first federal judge of his second term.”

“Kavanaugh Navigates Obstacle Course to D.C. Circuit; A three-year odyssey”: Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.

“Harvard Law Review Hunts For Leaker in Wake of Free Beacon Report”: Aaron Sibarium of The Washington Free Beacon has this report.

“Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump’s Use of Alien Enemies Act to Deport Venezuelans; The ruling, which is limited to the Southern District of Texas, prohibited the administration from using the wartime law because the president’s claims about a Venezuelan gang do not add up to an ‘invasion’”: Alan Feuer, Mattathias Schwartz, and Charlie Savage of The New York Times have this report.

Maria Sacchetti and Marianne LeVine of The Washington Post report that “Judge rules Trump’s use of wartime act for deportations is illegal; The ruling is a blow to Trump’s deportation efforts and permanently bars removals under the Alien Enemies Act in South Texas.”

And Mariah Timms of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Judge Rules Trump’s Use of Wartime Powers to Deport Venezuelans Was Unlawful; It is the first direct ruling against the president’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to expedite the removal of alleged gang members.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas at this link.

“GOP takes over N.C. elections board, boosting chances of reversing high court race; A law giving a Republican official power to appoint the North Carolina elections board could impact a Democratic judge’s victory; Legal battles continue on both fronts”: Patrick Marley of The Washington Post has this report.

And Lynn Bonner of NC Newsline reports that “GOP takes control of the NC elections board, with implications for Riggs-Griffin Supreme Court race.”

“Microsoft Drops Law Firm That Made a Deal With Trump From a Case; The tech giant instead engaged a firm that is fighting the president’s executive orders, Jenner & Block, in a sign that those firms can still attract clients”: Noam Scheiber of The New York Times has this report.

“Dan Markel murder: Judge grants defense motion to delay Donna Adelson trial.” Jeff Burlew of The Tallahassee Democrat has this report.

“He’s Held in El Salvador’s Mega-Prison, Without Any Criminal Charges; Carlos Uzcategui’s legal journey to the U.S. put the Venezuelan on a collision course with an ‘unprecedented’ deportation plan”: Belle Cushing and Emma Scott of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

“Leak of Wisconsin Supreme Court order remains a mystery after $165K investigation”: Molly Beck of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has this report.

Scott Bauer of The Associated Press reports that “Investigators don’t know who leaked a Wisconsin Supreme Court draft abortion order.”

And WisPolitics reports that “Investigation fails to identify who leaked draft Supreme Court order in abortion suit.”

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin issued news releases titled “Chief Justice Ziegler Statement — Investigation Report” and “Director of State Courts issues statement on internal investigation report.”

The court has posted online a redacted copy of the investigation report at this link.

“Gun advocates bring wave of challenges to state laws, capitalizing on Supreme Court ruling”: Dan Glaun of The Boston Globe has this report.

No lie: Max Marbut of The Jacksonville Daily Record reports that “Law Day speaker Roman Martinez no stranger to Supreme Court; He has prevailed in 20 of the last 23 cases he argued to a decision in federal appellate courts.”

“Supreme Court majority seems open to religious public charter schools; Liberal justices were opposed to government sponsorship of religious schools, but there was support among conservatives”: Justin Jouvenal, Ann E. Marimow, and Laura Meckler of The Washington Post have this report.

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Supreme Court may allow church-run, publicly funded charter schools across the nation.”

Jess Bravin and Matt Barnum of The Wall Street Journal report that “Supreme Court Signals Willingness to Allow Religious Charter Schools; Case comes as court has lowered some barriers between church and state.”

Maureen Groppe, Bart Jansen, and Aysha Bagchi of USA Today have an article headlined “Supreme Court takeaways: Key moments in oral arguments in religious charter school case.”

Alex Swoyer and Stephen Dinan of The Washington Times report that “Supreme Court weighs whether Oklahoma can open nation’s first religious charter school.”

And Mark Walsh of Education Week reports that “Supreme Court Appears Open to Religious Charter School; Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. may cast the deciding vote in religious charter school fight.”

“El Salvador Is Said to Have Spurned U.S. Request for Return of Deported Migrant; It remained unclear whether the diplomatic effort was a genuine bid by the White House to address the plight of the immigrant, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia”: Michael S. Schmidt, Alan Feuer, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Maggie Haberman, and Maria Abi-Habib of The New York Times have this report.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Hamed Aleaziz, Alan Feuer, Devlin Barrett, Julie Turkewitz, Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman, and Annie Correal of The New York Times have an article headlined “Behind Trump’s Deal to Deport Venezuelans to El Salvador’s Most Feared Prison; New details deepen questions about the deportations, showing that El Salvador’s president pressed for assurances that the migrants were really members of the Tren de Aragua gang.”

Shawn McCreesh and Zolan Kanno-Youngs of The New York Times report that “Trump Would Not Concede ‘MS-13’ Letters Were Digitally Added; The White House declined to explain why President Trump did not appear to realize that the photograph he held up on social media had been altered.”

Tarini Parti, Mariah Timms, and Juan Forero of The Wall Street Journal report that “Trump Insists Wrongly Deported Man Has ‘MS-13’ Tattooed on His Knuckles; Notorious gang’s initials were digitally added to an image of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s hand.”

And Sarah Cahlan, María Luisa Paúl, Teo Armus, and Samantha Schmidt of The Washington Post report that “Kilmar Abrego García’s tattoos do not prove MS-13 membership, experts say; The Trump administration has highlighted the wrongly deported man’s tattoos as proof that he is a dangerous gang member; Law enforcement officials and researchers question that assertion.”

“Texas Senate votes 31-0 to clarify exceptions to abortion ban; The state House is considering an identical bill; The legislation would allow abortion if the mother’s life is in danger, even if the risk is not imminent”: Praveena Somasundaram of The Washington Post has this report.

And Eleanor Klibanoff of The Texas Tribune reports that “Wide-ranging crackdown on abortion pills passes Texas Senate; The bill gives the state new tools to try to stop the flow of abortion pills, but critics say it’s legally dubious on several fronts.”

“John Bash, first candidate to enter Texas attorney general’s race, exits; The former federal prosecutor cited shifting priorities after a family health scare for his withdrawal, which comes less than a month after his entry into the race”: Ayden Runnels of The Texas Tribune has this report.

“Trump’s Maximalist Assertion of Presidential Power Tests the Rule of Law; The United States has never seen an effort to expand presidential authority at the scale of Donald J. Trump’s second term”: Charlie Savage of The New York Times has this news analysis.

“Mysterious new investigation in Donna Adelson case may delay her murder trial again”: Jeff Burlew of The Tallahassee Democrat has this report.

“Supreme Court Appears Open to Approving Religious Charter Schools; The justices have allowed vouchers for religious schools and required equal treatment in tuition programs; But direct government payments to religious public schools pose a new test”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

And Mark Sherman of The Associated Press reports that “Roberts might hold key Supreme Court vote over first publicly funded religious charter school.”

“Immigrants From Around the Country Keep Getting Detained in Louisiana. It’s No Coincidence.” Law professors Laila Hlass and Mary Yanik have this guest essay online at The New York Times.