“Magbanua’s defense team looking to call Adelson family as witnesses in Markel murder trial; ‘If the government is not going to bring everybody together … we’re going to,’ defense lawyer says”: Karl Etters of The Tallahassee Democrat has this report.

“The Supreme Court’s order against Donald Trump is even worse for him than it appears”: George T. Conway III has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“‘Record speed and focus’: Biden’s judicial picks diversify bench.” Henry Gass of The Christian Science Monitor has this report.

“CNN Poll: As Supreme Court ruling on Roe looms, most Americans oppose overturning it.” Ariel Edwards-Levy of CNN has this report.

You can access the detailed poll results via this link.

“The Supreme Court’s secretive nature takes center stage”: Joan Biskupic of CNN has this news analysis.

“6th Circuit Judge Merritt, Once Considered for SCOTUS Seat, Has Died at Age 86; Appeals Judge Gilbert Merritt Jr., who died on Jan. 17, is heralded as a ‘devoted champion of justice’ and ‘a great mentor, boss, friend, and jurist'”: Tony Mauro has this post at his “The Marble Palace Blog.”

“Supreme Court: Upstaged by an ‘inferior court’?” Lyle Denniston has this blog post.

“It Is Time to Bring Circuit Riding Back to the Supreme Court; Making the justices ride horses across the country: the most important Court reform proposal no one is talking about.” Nicholas Wallace has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“NPR ‘Founding Mother’ Unloads on Public Editor Over SCOTUS Story: ‘She’s Not Clarifying Anything!’; ‘She can say any goddamn thing she wants,’ Nina Totenberg said of NPR’s Public Editor before letting out a deep laugh”: Zachary Petrizzo and Blake Montgomery of The Daily Beast have this report.

“Is Ginni Thomas a Threat to the Supreme Court? Behind closed doors, Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife is working with many groups directly involved in controversial cases before the Court.” Jane Mayer will have this article in the January 31, 2022 issue of The New Yorker.

“NPR reporting on Supreme Court mask controversy merits clarification; An inaccurate verb choice made the reporting unclear”: NPR’s Public Editor Kelly McBride has this essay online at NPR.

“An After-Action Report on the Newsletter About Justice Gorsuch’s Mistake in the Vaccine/Testing Mandate Case: Yes, Justice Gorsuch made a mistake; And yes, it turned out to be tough to explain to the journalists.” Patterico has this post at his “The Constitutional Vanguard” Substack site.

Therein, he writes:

Bashman’s ‘How Appealing’ site is widely read in the federal court system, and I think it’s my best chance at getting Justice Gorsuch’s attention and (ideally) some sort of correction. I don’t know if he reads ‘How Appealing’ himself (maybe!) but a lot of law clerks do, including clerks at the Supreme Court. I have a feeling Bashman’s entry could find its way to Justice Gorsuch’s chambers.

In case you missed it, Patterico’s earlier post was titled “An Error in Justice Gorsuch’s Concurrence in the OSHA Vaccine Mandate Case; The Justice claimed OSHA took a past position that the agency did not actually take.”

“Sonia Sotomayor Knows Something About Roe We Don’t; The justice’s latest dissent reads like a eulogy”: Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“I Am Embarrassed for the Supreme Court; We are two weeks into this ridiculous scandal, but don’t let the absurdity distract from the deep awfulness of what has happened”: Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Gun store closures in early days of COVID-19 pandemic violated citizens’ rights, court rules”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.

Don Thompson of The Associated Press reports that “California’s COVID gun store shutdowns ruled illegal.”

And Avalon Zoppo of The National Law Journal has an article headlined “‘You’re Welcome’: 9th Circuit Judge Writes Alternative Opinion for Ruling on COVID Gun Shop Closures; Judge Lawrence VanDyke predicted the case alleging Second Amendment violations will be heard by the full court and wrote an ‘alternative draft opinion.’”

My earlier coverage of today’s Ninth Circuit ruling can be accessed here.

“Working Through the End Days of Roe; The staff at the Jackson Women’s Health Organization is too busy to dread what’s very likely to come”: Bridget Read has this report online at The Cut, a publication of New York magazine.

“Since our court’s Second Amendment intermediate scrutiny standard can reach any result one desires, I figure there is no reason why I shouldn’t write an alternative draft opinion that will apply our test in a way more to the liking of the majority of our court.” Ninth Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke today issued an opinion striking down a California county’s gun regulation under the Second Amendment.

To celebrate the occasion, Judge VanDyke also issued a concurring opinion in the voice of that court’s more liberal majority predicting precisely how the en banc Ninth Circuit will reverse him, replete with mocking footnores.

“Jabbing the Administrative State: The vaccine mandate case could have major implications for the administrative state.” John O. McGinnis has this post at the “Law & Liberty” blog.

Access today’s ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in an argued case: Justice Sonia Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the Court in Hemphill v. New York, No. 20-637. Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. issued a concurring opinion, in which Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh joined. And Justice Clarence Thomas issued a dissenting opinion. You can access the oral argument via this link.

“Biden Misread the Supreme Court’s Ruling Against the OSHA Vaccine Rule; The court did not foreclose robust new workplace vaccination standards, nor bless the radical right’s blueprint for annihilating the ‘administrative state'”: Simon Lazarus has this essay online at The New Republic.

“License Plates, Flagpoles, and Editorial Discretion: On government curation and government speech.” Stephen E. Sachs has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“No Pseudonymity in Yale Law School DinnerPartyGate Lawsuit”: Eugene Volokh has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“In Rebuke to Trump, Supreme Court Won’t Block Release of Jan. 6 Files; The case was a constitutional clash on the scope of executive privilege and whether a former president may invoke it when the current one has waived it”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Robert Barnes of The Washington Post reports that “Supreme Court rejects Trump’s request to withhold Jan. 6 materials from House committee investigating Capitol riot.”

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Supreme Court rejects Trump’s plea to shield White House records from House inquiry.”

And Jess Bravin, Brent Kendall, and Byron Tau of The Wall Street Journal report that “Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Bid to Withhold Documents Related to Jan. 6 Probe; Former president claimed executive privilege over evidence sought by congressional investigation into Capitol attack.”

You can access this evening’s order of the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.

“Supreme Court hears arguments on campaign finance law, issues statement on NPR report”: Nina Totenberg had this audio segment on this evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

“Roberts, Sotomayor and Gorsuch Address Reports of Conflicts Over Masks; Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who has diabetes, has been participating in Supreme Court arguments remotely; Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, her seatmate, is the only member of the court who does not wear a mask”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

“Which Is the Worst Federal Appeals Court, and Why Is It the Fifth Circuit? A court stacked with far-right Trump goons has gone completely off the rails.” Lisa Needham has this post at Balls and Strikes.

“Sotomayor says she did not ask Gorsuch to wear a mask on the Supreme Court bench”: Roberg Barnes of The Washington Post has this report.

Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Gorsuch, Sotomayor Counter Reports of Covid-19 Mask Tiff; Supreme Court justices say ‘we are warm colleagues and friends.’”

John Fritze of USA Today reports that “Supreme Court Justices Sotomayor, Gorsuch push back on reports of dispute over mask wearing.”

Kimberly Robinson and Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News report that “The Debate Over Masks Reaches the Halls of the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Brian Flood of Fox News reports that “Sotomayor, Gorsuch dispute NPR report about masking feud in joint statement: ‘It is false; ‘While we may sometimes disagree about the law, we are warm colleagues and friends,’ Sotomayor and Gorsuch said.”

And at National Review’s “Bench Memos” blog, Christopher Mills has a post titled “Clearing Up Misreporting about Justice Gorsuch and Masks.”

“Biden nominates federal public defender to be the first woman of color on the appellate court based in Philadelphia; Arianna J. Freeman, if confirmed, would join an appellate bench that oversees cases in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and the Virgin Islands”: Jonathan Tamari and Jeremy Roebuck of The Philadelphia Inquirer have this report.

Today, the White House issued a news release titled “President Biden Names Thirteenth Round of Judicial Nominees.”

“The curious case of the clerk and the racist texts”: Columnist Ruth Marcus has this new essay online at The Washington Post.

“Supreme Court to hear Ted Cruz challenge to campaign finance law; McConnell argued it is an ‘ideal opportunity’ for justices to wipe out the 2002 law”: Todd Ruger of Roll Call has this report.

“Texas Abortion Law Could Stay in Effect for Months After U.S. Appeals Court Ruling; Appeals court holds Texas Supreme Court should weigh in on unanswered questions before challenge to law can move forward”: Jacob Gershman of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

“Supreme Court upholds constitutionality of Indiana’s ‘revenge porn’ law”: Dan Carden of The Times of Munster, Indiana has this report.

Niki Kelly of The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, Indiana reports that “Indiana’s revenge-porn law upheld; State high court unanimous in Steuben County case.”

And Katie Stancombe of The Indiana Lawyer has a report headlined “Justices: Indiana’s ‘revenge porn’ statute constitutional.”

You can access today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Indiana at this link.

“U.S. Supreme Court carries over decision on whether to take McGirt appeals”: Curtis Killman of The Tulsa World has this report.

“Gorsuch declines to wear mask, as bench-mate Sotomayor works from her office”: Ariane de Vogue of CNN has this report.

“Divisions at the U.S. Supreme Court are playing out in differences among the justices”: Nina Totenberg had this follow-up audio segment on this evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”