“Key Defense Lawyers for Trump to Leave Sullivan & Cromwell for Rival Firm; Jeffrey Wall and Morgan Ratner, both leaders in the firm’s appellate and Supreme Court practice group, will join Gibson Dunn”: C. Ryan Barber and Erin Mulvaney of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

Wall and Ratner’s deep knowledge of admiralty choice-of-law principles is proving to be quite marketable.

“Tax Code’s Home Distilling Ban Is Lawful, Appeals Court Says”: James Matheson of Bloomberg Law has this report (subscription required for full access) on a decision that a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued today.

“5th Circuit allows Texas to require Ten Commandments in classrooms; The ruling sets up a likely Supreme Court battle over whether the Texas law violates the constitutional separation of church and state”: Laura Meckler of The Washington Post has this report.

Louis Casiano of Fox News reports that “Federal court upholds Texas law requiring Ten Commandments in public classrooms; A federal appeals court has upheld a Texas law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments, ruling the mandate a constitutional.”

And Jacqueline Thomsen of Bloomberg News reports that “Split Fifth Circuit OKs Texas Ten Commandments in Classroom Law.”

You can access today’s 9-to-8 en banc ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit at this link.

“Some Thoughts on John Eastman’s Disbarment”: Brad Wendel has this post at his Substack site, “Legal Ethics Stuff.”

“How to Deliberate on the Shadow Docket; Or, Are Critics Seeing Shadows?” Richard M Re has this post at the “Divided Argument” Substack site.

“The Shadow Docket Is John Roberts’ Disappointing Legacy”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“Justices to Hear Case on Catholic Preschools That Reject Children of Gay Parents; Catholic preschools in Colorado that decline to enroll families with L.G.B.T.Q. children or parents sued to participate in a state-funded program”: Ann E. Marimow of The New York Times has this report.

Julian Mark of The Washington Post reports that “Supreme Court to review Catholic preschools’ bid for LGBTQ exemption; The Colorado schools say they’re being excluded from funding because of their denial of enrollment to children of LGBTQ parents, which the state deems discriminatory.”

And Steve Garrison of Courthouse News Service reports that “Supreme Court takes up religious freedom case from Colorado preschools; Catholic school administrators in Colorado argue they shouldn’t be required to admit LGBTQ+ families in order to receive state funding.”

“Building Bridges: Disagreement by Design; A Conversation with Justice Amy Coney Barrett.” The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has posted this event notice online.

“Supreme Court Voices Little Interest in More Curbs on SEC”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.

“The Trump Administration Is Coming After Birth Control Access in a Terrifying New Way”: Jill Filipovic has this guest essay online at The New York Times.

“Distilling Down the Commerce Clause; An 1868 moonshine ban could be an opening for the Supreme Court”: This editorial will appear in Tuesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“Supreme Court justices turn children’s books into big paydays; The trend is fueled by their status as political celebrities in a deeply divided country”: Julian Mark of The Washington Post has this report.

“Legal heavyweights duke it out at high court over federalism; Each with dozens of arguments under their belts, the two esteemed attorneys left the justices seemingly divided in an otherwise lower profile appeal”: Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service has this report.

“Court Leaks and Attorney-Journalists; The professional-ethics implications of making court confidences public”: Stephen E. Sachs has this post at the “Divided Argument” Substack site.

“The NYT and the ‘Shadow Papers’; Thoughts on the reporting”: Jack Goldsmith has this post at the “Executive Functions” Substack site.

“Trump Administration to Begin Refunding $166 Billion in Tariffs; The government will debut a system to repay importers two months after the Supreme Court struck down tariffs at the heart of the president’s trade policy”: Tony Romm and Ana Swanson of The New York Times have this report.

“The Cancer Victims Who Could Sink Bayer’s Roundup Settlement; With thousands of cases piling up in U.S. courts, the company’s relief plans still face hurdles”: Patrick Thomas and Erin Mulvaney of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

“F.B.I. Director Sues The Atlantic Over Article Claiming Excessive Drinking; Mr. Patel sued the publication for defamation, asking for $250 million in damages; A spokeswoman for The Atlantic called the suit ‘meritless’”: Katie Robertson of The New York Times has this report.

Scott Nover of The Washington Post reports that “FBI Director Kash Patel sues the Atlantic for $250M, alleging defamation; The magazine published a report alleging Patel engaged in ‘excessive drinking’ in work settings and had ‘unexplained absences.’”

And Isabella Simonetti of The Wall Street Journal reports that “FBI Director Kash Patel Sues the Atlantic for Defamation; Patel is seeking $250 million in damages after alleging an article from last week was malicious and inaccurate.”

You can access the complaint initiating suit at this link.

“Uncertainty reigns at DOJ in the aftermath of Bondi’s departure; Acting attorney general Todd Blanche has moved quickly to put his stamp on the department, but other Trump loyalists also appear to be vying for leading roles”: Jeremy Roebuck, Perry Stein, Salvador Rizzo, and Theodoric Meyer of The Washington Post have this report.

“Pa. court recognizes ‘reproductive autonomy’ as a right, strikes down ban on public funding for abortion; In a 4-3 ruling, the Commonwealth Court found that abortion access is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Pennsylvania Constitution”: Abraham Gutman of The Philadelphia Inquirer has this report.

You can access today’s 112-page, 4-to-3 decision of the en banc Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania at this link.

“221. Chief Justice Roberts and the Clean Power Plan: Remarkable reporting from the New York Times provides a peek behind the curtain of the February 2016 rulings that ushered in the modern emergency docket; And what it reveals is pretty discouraging.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

At the “Divided Argument” Substack site, William Baude has a post titled “The Non-Scandalous Clean Power Plan Memos.”

And at his Substack site, Chris Geidner has a post titled “The 2016 Supreme Court memos and the mess that John Roberts has made of his court; The New York Times scoop about the Clean Power Plan case SCOTUS memos highlights the conservative justices’ brazen disregard for their own rules — both then and now.”

“Will Trump Pardon Ghislaine Maxwell? Her Lawyer Thinks So. Florida attorney David Oscar Markus has made a career of representing controversial clients. His next challenge is trying to get Ghislaine Maxwell out of prison.” Hailey Fuchs has this report online at Politico Magazine.

“Last Branch Standing: Sarah Isgur; The conventional wisdom about the Supreme Court is just wrong, according to Isgur — Advisory Opinions host, SCOTUSblog editor, and well-known legal commentator.” You can access the new episode of David Lat’s “Original Jurisdiction” Substack via this link.

“SCOTUS Squabbles Go Public”: You can access today’s new episode of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast via this link and on YouTube.

“Judicial Notice (04.19.26): Please Stop! A judge’s excited utterances against Trump, a sweeping verdict against Live Nation’s predations, a halt to a high-profile contempt inquiry, and an impressive new boutique.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“Father wants R.I. Supreme Court to see if state law allowing grandparent visitation is unconstitutional”: Amanda Milkovits of The Boston Globe has this report.

“In Washington’s culture of insults, Sotomayor’s apology stands out; In today’s political climate, personal attacks are routine; The Supreme Court operates by a different code, one where personal grievances are expected to stay separate from legal disagreement”: Columnist Dace Potas has this essay online at USA Today.

“What Clarence Thomas doesn’t understand about democracy; The Supreme Court justice’s insistence that rights come from God, not government, couldn’t be more wrong”: Paul Waldman has this essay online at MS Now.

“Supreme Court weighs phone searches to find criminals amid complaints of ‘digital dragnets’”: David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

“SEC’s Power to Recoup Illicit Profits Challenged at Supreme Court”: Greg Stohr and Nicola M White of Bloomberg News have this report.

“Chief Justice Roberts could learn from baseball great Ted Williams when it comes to leaks; The New York Times published internal memos from justices on the use of the shadow docket to issue rulings”: Law professor Jonathan Turley has this essay online at Fox News.

And at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Josh Blackman has posts titled “The Chief Justice Behind The Curtains,” “The Substance of the Clean Power Plan Memos; The Chief Justice reminds us why he was the best lawyer of his time,” “Some Questions About The SCOTUS Leak On the Clean Power Plan Case; This story is only getting started,” and “February 9, 2016: A flashback to the grant of the emergency stay in the Clean Power Plan.”

“The Worst Justice Ever; His attack on progressivism last week was the last straw”: Robert Reich has this post at his Substack site.

“Supreme Court Justices Alito, Thomas not expected to retire this year: Sources; Alito intends to continue serving into at least 2027, sources said.” Devin Dwyer and Katherine Faulders of ABC News have this report.

“Did Trump Already Pardon the Alleged Jan. 5, 2021, Pipe Bomber? Cole’s lawyers claim he’s covered by the Jan. 6 pardons. The Trump administration has made it a more interesting question than it should be.” Eric Columbus has this post at the “Lawfare” blog.

“Kagan screamed so loudly at liberal ally after Dobbs leak the ‘wall was shaking,’ book claims; Mollie Hemingway’s book ‘Alito’ details the confrontation as conservative justices faced assassination threats in 2022”: Ashley Oliver of Fox News has this report.