“Conservative Judges Are Exploiting the Pandemic to Rewrite the First Amendment; Courts considering vaccine mandate challenges are quickly transforming religious liberty into Christian supremacy”: Lisa Needham has this post at Balls and Strikes.

“Court restores signature rules that hinder Ga. third-party candidates; 11th Circuit reverses ruling lowering Georgia signature requirements”: Mark Niesse of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has this report.

Megan Butler of Courthouse News Service reports that “11th Circuit reinstates Georgia ballot-access rules for third parties; The Atlanta-based appeals court reversed a federal judge’s decision to temporarily lower signature requirements for third-party candidates from 5% to 1% of registered voters in the district.”

And at “Ballot Access News,” Richard Winger has a post titled “Eleventh Circuit Upholds Georgia’s 5% Petition for U.S. House Independent and Minor Party Candidates.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at this link.

“5th Circ. Smokes Texas BBQ Joint’s COVID Coverage Claims”: Lauren Berg of Law360 has this report (subscription required for access) on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued yesterday in a case in which Terry Black’s Barbecue was the plaintiff-appellant.

“Supreme Court Names Director of Public Information Office”: Court News Ohio has this report.

“Can a Christian flag fly at city hall? The Supreme Court will have to decide.” Mark Satta has this essay online at The Conversation.

“Supreme Court to Weigh Vaccine Requirements for the Workplace; Justices to consider whether Biden administration can enforce rules for private employers and healthcare workers”: Brent Kendall and Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

And Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Biden’s Shots-for-Millions Rule Hinges on Supreme Court Showdown.”

“Federal appeals court to hear narrow challenge to Texas abortion law on Friday; In December, the U.S. Supreme Court left the law largely intact, allowing only a challenge against medical licensing officials to proceed; An appeals court will now consider whether to send the case to the Texas Supreme Court”: Eleanor Klibanoff of The Texas Tribune has this report.

“Penn Law professor Amy Wax’s anti-Asian comments spark national scrutiny”: Jared Mitovich of The Daily Pennsylvanian has this report.

Christine Charnosky of The Legal Intelligencer reports that “Penn Law Dean, Philadelphia Bar Association Condemn Professor Amy Wax’s ‘Thoroughly Anti-Intellectual and Racist Comments’; Amy Wax, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, has once again drawn the ire of the school’s dean and others, this time for making derogatory remarks about what she called ‘Asian elite’ in the United States.”

Brahmjot Kaur of NBC News reports that “Penn Law rebukes professor who said U.S. would be ‘better off with fewer Asians’; ‘Like all racist generalizations, Wax’s comments inflict harm by perpetuating stereotypes and placing differential burdens on Asian students, faculty, and staff,’ the dean wrote.”

Alisha Ebrahimji of CNN reports that “Penn Law’s dean calls professor’s comments ‘anti-intellectual’ and ‘racist’ after she said the US is ‘better off with fewer Asians.’”

And at “Above the Law,” Joe Patrice has a post titled “Law Professor Amy Wax Expands Racism Portfolio To Declare That America Needs ‘Fewer Asians.’”

The comments at issue can be accessed here and here.

“Can John Roberts Save the Supreme Court From Itself? The chief justice’s veiled end-of-year remarks seem to indicate that if the high court cannot reform itself, reform will be forced upon it.” Matt Ford has this essay online at The New Republic.

“Pork producers should stop fighting animal welfare law giving pregnant pigs more space”: This editorial appears in today’s edition of The Los Angeles Times.

Divided Sixth Circuit panel denies federal government’s request for stay of federal district court order invalidating Covid vaccine mandate for federal contractors in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennesse: You can access today’s ruling of a partially divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit at this link.

“On the upcoming Indiana Supreme Court opening: Not another white man.” Kent Hull has this essay online at The Herald-Times of Bloomington, Indiana.

“Montoursville grad sworn into state Supreme Court as Justice”: Jonathan Bergmueller of The Williamsport (Pa.) Sun-Gazette has this report.

“Why Bad Clients Need Good Lawyers: We need lawyers to represent clients whose causes are in disfavor with the public.” Mark Mutz and Richard Gunderman have this post at the “Law & Liberty” blog.

“Judicial Federalism Without Romance: If government has to screw up, as invariably it will, it’s best not to do it all over the place, all at once.” At the “Law & Liberty” blog, Michael S. Greve has this review of Sixth Circuit Chief Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton‘s new book, “51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law.”

“The Supreme Court Is Poised to Give Kajillionaire Corporations Another Free Pass; Mandatory arbitration is already a scourge for workers and consumers alike; The justices could soon make things much worse”: Adam Cohen has this post at Balls and Strikes.

“The stakes in the Supreme Court’s vaccine cases are even bigger than they seem; The Court doesn’t just threaten the public health, it threatens democracy itself”: Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.

“Homer Plessy, namesake of key Supreme Court decision, is pardoned by Gov. John Bel Edwards”: Matt Sledge of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans has this report.

“The Supreme Court has allowed state COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Biden’s policies face a steeper climb.” John Fritze of USA Today has this report.

Lawrence Hurley of Reuters reports that “Pandemic-wary U.S. Supreme Court to weigh Biden vaccine mandates.”

And today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition” contained an audio segment titled “The Supreme Court to hold a hearing on Biden’s vaccine and testing mandate.”

“Two differing views of the Covid pandemic on display at Supreme Court”: Joan Biskupic of CNN has this report.

“‘Markel’ grandparent visitation efforts see renewed hope through House, Senate bills; Speaker-backed legislation could help some grandparents reunite with their grandchildren”: Peter Schorsch of Florida Politics has this report.

“U.S. court revives lawsuit against Pfizer, others on Iraq terrorism funding claims”: Mike Scarcella of Reuters has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued today.

“Attorneys spar over United Airlines vaccine mandate at Fifth Circuit; In a hearing before the New Orleans-based appeals court, an attorney for workers who have refused to get vaccinated against Covid-19 for religious reasons said they are opposed to stem cell research that helped develop the shots”: Sabrina Canfield of Courthouse News Service has this report.

You can access via this link the audio of yesterday’s oral argument before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

“#Metoo movement cast as threat to judicial independence in Roberts report; While the chief justice wants to focus on self-policing, advocates say internal reforms are not enough when it comes to workplace misconduct”: Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service has this report.

“Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts gives an incomplete history lesson on judicial ethics; In his end of the year report, Roberts’ argument for the court’s independence from oversight omitted a key part of its history”: Law professor Steven Lubet has this essay online at NBC News.

“Why Free Exercise on Steroids Won’t Benefit Progressive Religious People”: Sherry F. Colb has this blog post at “Dorf on Law.”

“High court confirms justices have received COVID-19 booster”: Jessica Gresko and Mark Sherman of The Associated Press have this report.

“Laboratories of Autocracy”: Adam Serwer is the guest on this week’s installment of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast, hosted by law professors Leah Litman, Melissa Murray, and Kate Shaw.

“NCLA Asks Supreme Court to Reconsider Chevron Deference in Veterans Benefits Suit”: The New Civil Liberties Alliance issued this news release yesterday about a petition for writ of certiorari the organization has filed on behalf of a client at the U.S. Supreme Court.

“There Is Nothing ‘Moderate’ About the Supreme Court’s Conservatives: Commentators speculating about whether the Court will strike a middle ground on issues important to the GOP misunderstand five decades of conservative activism that led to this point.” Peter Shamshiri has this post at Balls and Strikes.

“Crunch time for workplace vaccine mandates: U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in; The vaccine mandate, which could affect 1.8 million Philly-area workers, is headed for a big court test at the U.S. Supreme Court this week; OSHA fines could start landing on Jan. 10.” Bob Fernandez has this article in today’s edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Brett Samuels of The Hill reports that “Pence group files SCOTUS brief opposing Biden vaccine mandate.”

And in commentary, online at Washington Monthly, law professor by Peter M. Shane has an essay titled “The Supreme Court Takes COVID Legal Disputes Out of the ‘Shadows’; The justices will hear arguments on mandatory public health measures on January 7; Their rulings could have profound implications for federal regulatory authority beyond the pandemic.”

“Last Stand Of The Court Packers: The nation’s political centralizers find themselves distressed in an age in which there is increasing demand for decentralization.” George Liebmann has this essay online at The American Conservative.

“Affirmative Action: Past, Present, and Future”: At the “Law & Liberty” blog, Amy L. Wax (see here and here for details on her most recent controversy) has this review of the book “A Dubious Expediency: How Race Preferences Damage Higher Education,” edited by Gail Heriot and Maimon Schwarzchild.

“Goldman Sachs and pals bait 2nd Circuit with yet another theory in securities fraud case”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Reuters has this post.

“Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Private Library Is Coming to Auction; Over 1,000 books will be sold online at Bonhams, including tomes signed to her by Gloria Steinem, Toni Morrison, and Antonin Scalia”: James Tarmy of Bloomberg News has this report.