“Trump Floods Supreme Court With Appeals to Push Through Agenda; Administration is quick with emergency requests to the justices, counting on conservative majority to reverse lower-court losses”: Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

“We Are Living in 1803 Now; The Supreme Court should be better than this”: Reynolds Holding has this post at his “Better Judgment” Substack site.

“The Supreme Court and the Second Trump Administration”: William Baude has this post at the “Divided Argument” Substack site.

“North Carolina justices cast state Supreme Court election result into doubt; Democratic Justice Allison Riggs won her November election by 734 votes, but the court put into play enough votes to possibly hand the seat to her Republican challenger”: Patrick Marley of The Washington Post has this report.

Eduardo Medina and Nick Corasaniti of The New York Times report that “Thousands of Voters Must Verify Information in Contested Election, N.C. Supreme Court Rules; The number of ballots in question exceeds the slim margin by which the Democratic incumbent won, potentially leading to the November election being overturned.”

Kyle Ingram of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina reports that “NC Supreme Court rejects main Griffin ballot challenge — but some votes remain in jeopardy.”

Rob Schofield of NC Newsline reports that “North Carolina Supreme Court issues order in Riggs-Griffin case; 4-2 ruling reinstates 60,000-plus ballots challenged for clerical reasons, but sides with Griffin on military and overseas voters.”

And Will Doran of WRAL reports that “NC Supreme Court votes to throw out some, but not all, ballots contested in 2024 race for seat on court; Republican Jefferson Griffin’s challenges against several thousand voters will be allowed to go through — an outcome that could help him secure a seat on the state’s highest court; One GOP justice broke ranks, calling the order ‘judicial tampering in election results.’”

You can access today’s decision of the Supreme Court of North Carolina at this link.

“White House Continues Defiant Stance on Seeking Return of Deported Man; The Trump administration clashed with a federal judge, refusing to comply with her demand for a road map to release a Maryland man it inadvertently deported to a Salvadoran prison last month”: Alan Feuer and Aishvarya Kavi of The New York Times have this report.

Steve Thompson, Katie Mettler, and Victoria Bisset of The Washington Post report that “Justice Dept. skirts judge’s deadline on plans to return wrongly deported man; A government lawyer argued that a Friday deadline was not enough time to detail steps for the return of Kilmar Abrego García, who was sent to a Salvadoran mega-prison despite another judge’s protection order.”

And Joseph De Avila and C. Ryan Barber of The Wall Street Journal report that “Judge Orders Daily Updates From Trump Administration on Mistakenly Deported Man; Justice Department lawyers say they can’t yet provide details on what officials are doing to seek Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return from a prison in El Salvador.”

“Mangione Says U.S. Bid to Execute Him Is an Instagram Stunt; Lawyers for the man accused of killing a health insurance executive in Manhattan said the attorney general was putting ‘partisan politics over justice’”: Benjamin Weiser and Hurubie Meko of The New York Times have this report.

“Trump’s Triple-Dog Supreme Court Dare; Will the justices be comfortable with the president’s wholesale regulatory changes?” Columnist Kimberley A. Strassel has this op-ed in today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“Luigi Mangione: Lawyers ask judge to block DOJ from seeking death penalty.” Kara Scannell of CNN has this report.

And Patricia Hurtado and David Voreacos of Bloomberg News report that “Mangione Lawyer Asks Court to Bar DOJ From Seeking Death Penalty.”

“The Supreme Court Just Wants Trump to Break the Law the Right Way; The opinion in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia shows little interest in actually bringing him home, or holding the White House accountable for failing to do so”: Jay Willis has this post at his “Balls & Strikes” Substack site.

“Anti-Choice Lawyer Reduced to Writing Humiliating Op-Ed Begging For John Roberts’s Vote; Oral argument in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic didn’t go great for the Alliance Defending Freedom, so John Bursch is giving it another shot”: Susan Rinkunas has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“‘Showerhead’ Executive Order Hides a Serious Surprise; Tucked in with the frivolity of low-flow showerheads and the ‘war on showers’ is another of President Trump’s attempted power grabs”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., announced today that the Board of the Federal Judicial Center has selected United States District Judge Robin L. Rosenberg to be the twelfth director of the Federal Judicial Center.” So begins a news release that the U.S. Supreme Court issued yesterday.

“Judge Chides Trump Officials for Delay Bid in Deportation Case”: David Voreacos and Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News have this report.

And Alan Feuer of The New York Times reports that “U.S. Continues to ‘Delay’ and ‘Flout’ Courts in Return of Deported Man, Lawyers Say; The judge, clearly frustrated, reminded the Justice Department that the administration’s act of mistakenly sending a Maryland man to El Salvador ‘was wholly illegal from the moment it happened.’”

“141. Abrego Garcia and the Presumption of Regularity: How one reads Thursday’s ruling ordering the federal government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s return depends upon how much (or how little) one expects *this* administration to turn square corners.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“Supreme Court Sides With Wrongly Deported Migrant; A trial judge had ordered the Trump administration to take steps to return the migrant, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, from a notorious prison in El Salvador”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Justin Jouvenal and Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post report that “Supreme Court says Trump officials must ‘facilitate’ return of wrongly deported man; Kilmar Abrego García, a Salvadoran immigrant who is married to a U.S. citizen, was deported to a mega-prison despite a court ruling forbidding his removal.”

And Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Supreme Court Tells Government to Seek Return of Man Mistakenly Deported to El Salvador Prison; Trump administration argued federal judge couldn’t force officials to remedy their error.”

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

“Trump Escalates Use of Official Power to Intimidate and Punish His Perceived Foes; A presidential decree instructing the Justice Department to scrutinize whether a former official broke the law crosses a new line”: Charlie Savage, Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, and Michael S. Schmidt of The New York Times have this report.

And in commentary, online at The Washington Post, columnist Philip Bump has an essay titled “Trump moves to legally enforce 2020 election denialism; An official from the first Trump administration is being targeted for speaking the truth.”

“Latham & Watkins, Simpson Thacher Near Deals With White House; Four big law firms discuss $500 million in pro bono legal services to avoid sanctions”: Emily Glazer, Josh Dawsey, and C. Ryan Barber of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

And Ben Protess, Maggie Haberman, and Michael S. Schmidt of The New York Times report that “Trump Close to Winning Concessions From More Law Firms; Four or five firms could soon agree to deals that would be unveiled as a package, in an escalation of the president’s crackdown on an industry that has drawn his ire.”

“Former 3rd Circuit Judge Talks Apolitical Retirement, Plans, Threats Against Judiciary”: Avalon Zoppo of The National Law Journal has this Q&A.

“Luigi Mangione Death Penalty Bid May Pit Prosecutors Against Each Other; State and federal prosecutors have both accused Mr. Mangione of killing a health insurance executive; Attorney General Pam Bondi is pushing aggressively for capital punishment”: Hurubie Meko of The New York Times has this report.

“At the Supreme Court, the Trump Agenda Is Always an ‘Emergency’; As legal challenges to the Trump administration mount, the justices are facing a key test — a flood of ’emergency applications’ asking for immediate intervention”: Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has this report.

“Legal cavalry rides to aid of US law firms after Trump’s attack”: Jonathan Ames of The Times of London has this report.

“Trump’s US attorney in DC lacks experience but loves revenge. Perfect, right? Trump’s pick for U.S. attorney for D.C. has never been a prosecutor. He’s never tried a case to a final verdict. But he has published a series of coloring books about the president’s first term.” Columnist Chris Brennan has this essay online at USA Today.

“Here’s What the Supreme Court’s Recent Rubber-Stamp Rulings Are All About: The spate of recent Supreme Court decisions overturning Trump administration losses in the lower courts are all about saving face — and securing power.” Elie Mystal has this essay online at The Nation.

“Was the Gang of 14 Agreement Better in the Long Run? If the filibuster had been abolished in 2005, would we have Justice Alito?” Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.

“With many career lawyers gone, Justice Dept. hires Trump loyalists for court; The Justice Department is building a roster of lawyers willing to defend in court the most controversial parts of President Donald Trump’s agenda”: Perry Stein and Jeremy Roebuck of The Washington Post have this report.

“Bonus 140: The New (and Sort-of-Improved?) Shadow Docket; We’re starting to see patterns in how the Court is resolving emergency applications from the Trump administration. One of them reflects a remarkably positive shift; The others are . . . more troubling.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“Are Philly Plaintiffs Firms Missing Out on Appellate Work?” Amanda O’Brien of The Legal Intelligencer has this report, in which I am quoted.

“Texas Supreme Court Justice Jeff Boyd to retire; Gov. Greg Abbott will have the opportunity to appoint Boyd’s replacement, furthering his influence on the high court”: Eleanor Klibanoff of The Texas Tribune has this report.

“2 justices control Trump’s fate at Supreme Court”: Ella Lee and Zach Schonfeld of The Hill have this report.

“The Biggest Threat to Public Education Is Coming From an Unexpected Place; A pair of Supreme Court cases could destroy public education as we know it”: Law professor Aaron Tang has this essay online at Politico Magazine.

“Rulings in New York and Texas Curb Deportations of Venezuelans to El Salvador; The decisions suggest that the battle over using a wartime law, the Alien Enemies Act, to deport migrants is certain to persist”: Alan Feuer and Jonah E. Bromwich of The New York Times have this report.

Maria Sacchetti and Shayna Jacobs of The Washington Post report that “Judges in Texas and New York pause removals under the Alien Enemies Act; The hearings marked the first legal challenges to the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged gang members since the Supreme Court lifted a nationwide block.”

And Mariah Timms and James Fanelli of The Wall Street Journal report that “Trump Administration’s El Salvador Deportations Hit by New Legal Challenges; Judges in Texas and New York impose temporary restraints as lawyers for Venezuelan detainees shift their strategy following U.S. Supreme Court decision.”

“The AP-White House Case Is About Separation of Powers; The Oval Office, like a judge’s chambers, is off-limits to the other government branches”: Columnist James Taranto will have this op-ed in Thursday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“Elon Musk is making Democrats great again; Polling shows the billionaire hurt a GOP-backed judicial candidate in Wisconsin”: Evan Roth Smith has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“The case for suing: Why law firms should remain independent from the government.” Adam Unikowsky has this post at his Substack site, “Adam’s Legal Newsletter.”

“Exit Interview: Mich. Supreme Court Chief Justice Elizabeth Clement looks back at her tenure.” Doug Tribou of Michigan Public Radio has this report.