“Trump Officials Intensify Attacks on Judges as Court Losses Mount; White House reactions to unfavorable court rulings appeared designed to undermine confidence in the judiciary”: Luke Broadwater of The New York Times has this report.
“Will Trump Ignore Geographic Connections When Making Circuit Nominations? With the death of the blue slip, can the President just fill vacancies with the best available candidate?” Josh Blackman has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”
“Bondi Eliminates ABA’s Role in Vetting Trump Judicial Picks; Continues trend from Trump first term, Biden presidency; Comes amid escalating tensions between ABA, Trump administration”: Tiana Headley of Bloomberg Law has this report.
“Trump Tariff Appeal Heads to Specialist Court Known for Patents; Federal Circuit has ‘immense’ power over trade policy; Court decided a previous Trump tariff case in 2018”: Michael Shapiro of Bloomberg Law has this report.
“Chief Judge Questions Judicial Boycotts in Tossing Complaint; Dismissed complaint over judge not hiring Columbia clerks; Says boycotts may ‘embroil’ courts in public controversies”: Jacqueline Thomsen of Bloomberg Law has this report.
You can access the order of Eighth Circuit Chief Judge Steven M. Colloton at this link.
As the order explains:
A judge’s participation in a hiring boycott against graduates of a private university does not fit the ordinary meaning of “political activity,” because the boycott is not directed at governmental actions or policies that are the focus of the political process. A boycott may be seen, however, as raising similar problems where judges seek through the allocation of publicly-funded employment opportunities (or other allocations of public funds) to influence the behavior of private institutions on matters of public concern. The boycott at issue here involves only thirteen federal judges and one private institution, but the practice—if approved and widely accepted—could proliferate. Judges will have different views on what causes are righteous and which institutions or entities should be targeted. Widespread judicial boycotting based on issues of the day may well have the potential to embroil the judiciary in extrajudicial public controversies and to lower public confidence in the courts among reasonable people. There is thus a substantial question whether judges cross an important line when they go beyond expressing their personal views in an effort to persuade and begin using their power as government officials to pressure private institutions to conform to the judges’ preferences. See Orin Kerr, Boycotting Law Schools in Clerk Hiring as a Way to Influence Law School Culture, Reason Magazine Online (Sept. 29, 2022).
“Kannon Shanmugam to join Harvard Corporation; Alumnus of College and HLS elected to University’s senior governing board”: The Harvard Gazette has this report.
And in news coverage, Janet Lorin of Bloomberg News reports that “Harvard Picks Conservative Lawyer to Serve on Powerful Board.”
“Appeals Court Allows Trump Tariffs to Stay in Effect for Now”: Erik Larson of Bloomberg News has this report.
You can access today’s order of the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issuing a temporary administrative stay at this link.
“The Supreme Court May Not Step in and Save Trump’s Tariffs; The path forward for Trump will not get easier after a defeat at the U.S. Court of International Trade”: Columnist Ankush Khardori has this essay online at Politico.
“Second federal court blocks Trump tariffs, this time for Illinois toy importers; A federal judge blocked Trump’s tariffs for a pair of Illinois toy importers, the second ruling against the tariffs in as many days”: Bart Jansen of USA Today has this report on a decision that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued today.
“US May Take Trump Tariff Case to Supreme Court on Friday”: Erik Larson and Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News have this report.
“Bonus 153: Hurtling Into June; The unusually chaotic month that the justices have in front of them raises questions about whether the Court should continue to be committed to what is, effectively, an October-to-June calendar.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.
“The Supreme Court Undercuts Another Check on Executive Power; In leaping to defend the Trump Administration, the Court conveniently ignored a long-established precedent that prevented Presidents from firing independent-agency heads at will”: Ruth Marcus has this essay online at The New Yorker.
“Georgia Supreme Court says you must be 21 to carry handguns in public; 20-year-old’s lawsuit argued Georgia’s age requirement infringed on his rights”: Mark Niesse of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has this report on a unanimous ruling that the Supreme Court of Georgia issued yesterday.
“The Wisconsin Supreme Court will soon make final ruling on abortion. How did we get here?” Hope Karnopp of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has this report.
“Supreme Court walks a tightrope as it confronts Trump’s power moves; The justices appear to be trying to avoid a direct conflict with the Trump administration while also blocking certain presidential actions”: Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post has this report.
“Trump Says He Will Nominate His Former Defense Lawyer to Appeals Court; Emil Bove, a former federal prosecutor, has been working as the president’s enforcer at the Justice Department”: Corinne Ramey of The Wall Street Journal has this report.
“Efforts to Deport Columbia Student Likely Unconstitutional, Judge Says; Comments suggest Trump administration will face roadblocks in court as it tries to deport pro-Palestinian protesters”: Joseph De Avila and Victoria Albert of The Wall Street Journal have this report.
“Big Law Firms 3, Trump 0; Three judges across the political spectrum have now said the President’s punitive executive orders are unconstitutional”: This editorial will appear in Thursday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.
“Some judges reject DOJ claim that Jan. 6 pardons apply to other crimes; Prosecutors sided with seven defendants charged with other crimes discovered in Jan. 6 investigations, but several courts have refused to dismiss cases”: Tom Jackman of The Washington Post has this report.
“Trump Tariffs Ruled Illegal by Federal Judicial Panel; The U.S. Court of International Trade said the president had overstepped his authority under the federal emergency powers law he invoked”: Tony Romm and Ana Swanson of The New York Times have this report.
And James Fanelli and Gavin Bade of The Wall Street Journal report that “Trade Court Strikes Down Trump’s Global Tariffs; Businesses and states had sued the government, saying the president didn’t have the authority to impose the levies.”
You can access today’s unanimous, per curiam ruling of a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade at this link.
Appeals from the U.S. Court of International Trade are heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit — a federal appellate court to which President Trump appointed zero judges during his first term. The Federal Circuit has eight active judges appointed by Democratic presidents and three active judges appointed by Republican presidents (excluding Circuit Judge Pauline Newman, who remains suspended from service).
“Trump Says He’ll Nominate Bove to Federal Appeals Court; The president tapped his former defense lawyer to join the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which covers Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware”: Glenn Thrush and Charlie Savage of The New York Times have this report.
Nate Raymond and Luca Fratangelo of Reuters report that “Trump nominates Emil Bove to serve as federal appellate judge.”
Hannah Rabinowitz of CNN reports that “Trump nominates one of his former personal attorneys for prestigious federal appeals court seat.”
Breanne Deppisch, Ashley Oliver, and David Spunt of Fox News report that “Trump nominates former defense attorney Emil Bove for federal appeals court vacancy; Trump has nominated Emil Bove to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.”
Tiana Headley and Suzanne Monyak of Bloomberg Law report that “Trump to Tap His Former Lawyer Emil Bove for Third Circuit; Bove is top deputy to DOJ’s second-in-command Todd Blanch; Two vacancies, Delaware, NJ, on Third Circuit.”
And in commentary, online at The Federalist, yesterday Mike Davis had an essay titled “Emil Bove Is A Bold And Outstanding Choice For The Third Circuit.”
“President Trump Has to Obey the Constitution, But So Does Chief Justice Roberts”: Josh Blackman has this post at Civitas Outlook.
“Fumbling in the dark: The winding tale of A.A.R.P. v. Trump.” Adam Unikowsky has this post at his “Adam’s Legal Newsletter” Substack site.
“Vance is doing his best to help Trump tear down the Supreme Court; I highly doubt Vice President JD Vance would be making the same argument of an executive mandate in the case of former President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness scheme”: Columnist Dace Potas has this essay online at USA Today.
“In defense of nationwide injunctions: The Supreme Court has good reason to preserve this check on presidential power.” The Washington Post has published this editorial.
“Missouri abortion access in danger after state Supreme Court ruling”: Kacen Bayless of The Kansas City Star has this report.
And David A. Lieb, Hannah Fingerhut, and Geoff Mulvihill of The Associated Press report that “Abortions canceled again in Missouri after ruling from state Supreme Court.”
You can access yesterday’s order of the Supreme Court of Missouri at this link.
“Mexico’s Judicial Reform Is Now In the Hands of Confused Voters”: Maya Averbuch and Alex Vasquez of Bloomberg News have this report.
“New immigration case arrives to a Supreme Court that appears wary of Trump’s deportation policies”: Joan Biskupic of CNN has this news analysis.
“Former Pa. Supreme Court justice dies”: Charles Thompson of The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has a report that begins, “Former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice J. Michael Eakin died Tuesday at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. He was 76 years old.”
“Trump Asks Supreme Court to Let Him Send Migrants to South Sudan; Government lawyers said a federal judge in Boston had overstepped his authority by requiring hearings before deportations to countries other than the migrants’ own”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.
Perry Stein and Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post report that “Trump asks Supreme Court to intervene on South Sudan deportations; A district court judge had barred deporting citizens of other countries to South Sudan without giving them a chance to claim fears of being tortured or killed.”
Mariah Timms of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Allow Deportations to South Sudan; Justice Department has quickly escalated legal battle over strategy of deporting migrants to third-party countries.”
And Stephen Dinan of The Washington Times reports that “Trump asks Supreme Court for permission to speed deportations.”
You can access the federal government’s filing at this link.
“JD Vance, Deportation and the Rule of Law; He demands deference from the courts, but due process is part of the American way”: William A. Galston will have this op-ed in Wednesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.
“Marshals’ Data Shows Spike in Threats Against Federal Judges; Data gathered by the law enforcement agency responsible for judicial security showed 162 judges faced threats between March 1 and April 14”: Mattathias Schwartz of The New York Times has this report.
And Benjamin S. Weiss of Courthouse News Service reports that “Lawmakers push to hike funding for judicial anti-doxxing program; Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle asked appropriators to allocate roughly $10 million more to programs funded under a 2022 bill aimed at keeping federal judges’ personal information off the internet.”
“Marijuana Shops Lose Bid to Unwind Federal Cannabis Policy; Cannabis businesses fight burdens of Controlled Substances Act; David Boies-backed suit tests Supreme Court precedent”: Allie Reed of Bloomberg Law has this report on a ruling that a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued today.
And Nate Raymond of Reuters reports that “US appeals court rejects challenge to federal marijuana ban.”
“An unexpected shift to the right: the conservative justices’ recent embrace of law review articles.” Brent Newton has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”
“Judicial Notice (05.26.25): Sturm Und Drang; Judge Ho’s reverse benchslap of SCOTUS, major Paul Weiss partner departures, a big-ticket ruling on the shadow docket, and a trio of notable hires by Simpson.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.