How Appealing



Friday, May 2, 2025

“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.

Posted at 9:48 PM by Howard Bashman



“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.

Posted at 9:20 PM by Howard Bashman



“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.

Posted at 9:03 PM by Howard Bashman



“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.

Posted at 7:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“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.

Posted at 1:35 PM by Howard Bashman



“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.

Posted at 1:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“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.

Posted at 1:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“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.”

Posted at 1:20 PM by Howard Bashman



Thursday, May 1, 2025

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

Posted at 9:42 PM by Howard Bashman



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

Posted at 9:40 PM by Howard Bashman



“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.

Posted at 9:36 PM by Howard Bashman



“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.”

Posted at 9:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“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.

Posted at 9:02 PM by Howard Bashman



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

Posted at 8:33 PM by Howard Bashman



“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.

Posted at 8:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“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.

Posted at 12:24 PM by Howard Bashman



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

Posted at 12:12 PM by Howard Bashman



“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.”

Posted at 12:00 PM by Howard Bashman



Wednesday, April 30, 2025

“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.”

Posted at 9:52 PM by Howard Bashman



“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.”

Posted at 9:37 PM by Howard Bashman



“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.

Posted at 9:34 PM by Howard Bashman



“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.

Posted at 9:27 PM by Howard Bashman



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

Posted at 9:12 PM by Howard Bashman



Tuesday, April 29, 2025

“Judge Rejects Lawsuit With Dragon Logo, Calling it ‘Juvenile and Impertinent’; A lawyer said he had used the cartoon image of a dragon in a business suit as a logo for his firm, Dragon Lawyers, to symbolize ‘aggressive representation’”: Michael Levenson of The New York Times has this report.

Posted at 10:04 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Unabomber’s Brother Turned Him In. Then Spent 27 Years Trying to Win Him Back. Ted Kaczynski, whose anti-tech rants are finding a new generation of readers, shunned the brother who called the F.B.I. in an effort to halt his campaign of violence.” Serge F. Kovaleski of The New York Times has this report.

Posted at 9:58 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court Could Crush Charter Schools; If the justices rule that they are private, some states would respond by simply abolishing them”: Starlee Coleman will have this op-ed in Wednesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Posted at 9:12 PM by Howard Bashman



“Judge Hannah Dugan has all-star legal team, including ‘LeBron James of lawyers’”: Cary Spivak, Daniel Bice, and John Diedrich of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have this report.

Alex Ebert of Bloomberg Law reports that “Paul Clement Joins Arrested Milwaukee Judge’s Legal Team; Clement takes on Trump law firm order, and Democratic judge; Jury pool pulls from conservative counties outside Milwaukee.”

And David Thomas of Reuters reports that “Wisconsin judge arrested in immigration case retains top conservative lawyer.”

Posted at 8:54 PM by Howard Bashman



“Advocate Hits Supreme Court Argument Trifecta in Just Months; Michael McGinley appointed to argue first case in January; One of a handful of firm attorneys to argue multiple cases”: Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson of Bloomberg Law has this report.

Posted at 8:44 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trans former judge plans to challenge gender ruling at European court”: Dominic Casciani of BBC News has a report that begins, “The UK’s only ever judge to publicly say they are transgender is planning to take the government to the European Court of Human Rights over the Supreme Court’s ground-breaking ruling on biological sex.”

Posted at 12:54 PM by Howard Bashman



“How religious public schools went from a long shot to the Supreme Court; Catholic groups and some conservatives want the justices to launch an education revolution by approving a Catholic public charter school in Oklahoma”: Justin Jouvenal and Laura Meckler of The Washington Post have this report.

Posted at 12:50 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court seems likely to rule narrowly in case over FBI raid on wrong Georgia home”: Lindsay Whitehurst of The Associated Press has this report.

Posted at 12:42 PM by Howard Bashman