“Inside the Trump Administration’s Assault on Higher Education: How conservatives learned to stop worrying and love federal power.” Emma Green has this Annals of Higher Education article in the October 20, 2025 issue of The New Yorker.

“Appeals court bars Trump from deploying National Guard in Illinois; The appeals court weighed in after a federal judge, concluding that it was ‘likely to lead to civil unrest,’ barred the president from deploying troops in and around Chicago”: Mark Berman of The Washington Post has this report.

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

“How Trump’s death penalty push is straining legal defense teams; Under Biden, officials decided not to seek capital punishment against two D.C. teens charged in a deadly carjacking; The Justice Department is now weighing whether to do so”: Michael Laris of The Washington Post has this report.

“Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court today: ‘A little bit too personal and confrontational.’” Erin Moriarty of CBS News has this report.

And CBS News has posted online this excerpt from Justice Kennedy’s new book.

“Who Are the Louisiana Voters Behind a Major Supreme Court Challenge? There is little information in court filings about the dozen plaintiffs who challenged the state’s voting map as an illegal racial gerrymander.” Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has this report.

Mark Ballard of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans has an article headlined “All eyes on Louisiana as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs case on voting rights, redistricting.”

And Lawrence Hurley of NBC News reports that “Stakes are high for voting rights as Supreme Court again tackles Louisiana redistricting dispute; The conservative majority could use the case to further weaken the landmark Voting Rights Act, which was enacted to protect minority voters.”

“The Real Problem Is How Trump Can Legally Use the Military: Congress wrote statutes with the apparent assumption that whoever held the office of the Presidency would use the powers they granted in good faith.” Law professor Jeannie Suk Gersen will have this Comment in the Talk of the Town section of the October 20, 2025 issue of The New Yorker.

“The Indictment of Letitia James and the Collapse of Impartial Justice; The question raised by the prosecution of James is: would any other federal prosecutor have brought this case against any other defendant? The answer seems to be no.” Ruth Marcus has this essay online at The New Yorker.

“How a Trump Judge Exposed the Trump Con”: Columnist David French has this essay online at The New York Times.

“Fight over Pa. Supreme Court emerges as latest costly battle over abortion, election law; Retention votes for three Democratic justices surge to prominence as millions of dollars flood the normally quiet races”: Benjamin Kail of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has this report.

Jane C. Timm of NBC News has an article headlined “These Pennsylvania court races are usually sleepy. This year, they’re drawing millions in spending. Three Democratic-backed justices are up for a ‘retention’ vote in November. If they all lose, it could deadlock the top court in a critical swing state for years.”

And Carmen Russell-Sluchansky of WHYY has an article headlined “Pa. election 2025: What to know about the state Supreme Court retention races; Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht, all Democrats, are up for ‘yes-or-no’ votes.”

“Judicial Notice (10.12.25): Survival; A nine-figure legal bill, a reverse benchslap of SCOTUS, Donald Trump v. Tish James, a notable Biglaw merger, and more Cadwalader defections.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“A Conversation with Justice Barrett”: Dan McLaughlin recently had this post online at National Review.

“Luigi Mangione’s Lawyers Challenge Death Penalty Charge in Federal Case; The lawyers asked a federal judge to drop some charges, including the only one eligible for the death penalty”: Jonathan Wolfe of The New York Times has this report.

“Federal Judges, Warning of ‘Judicial Crisis,’ Fault Supreme Court’s Emergency Orders; Dozens of sitting judges shared with The Times their concerns about risks to the courts’ legitimacy as the Supreme Court releases opaque orders about Trump administration policies”: Mattathias Schwartz and Zach Montague of The New York Times have this report.

“Chuck Schumer Declares No Bush Supreme Court Nominee Will Be Confirmed; July 2007 speech comes more than a year before 2008 presidential election”: Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.

“In slow-walking of Ábrego García case, judge sees ploy to punish via detention; Ábrego García’s attorneys say he’s willing to be deported to Costa Rica; The government has ignored that request, instead floating the possibility of deporting him to a variety of African nations”: Ryan Knappenberger of Courthouse News Service has this report.

“She wanted to open a hair salon. Then came Trumpish protectionism. To see how bureaucratic economic planning works on the local level, check out Clayton County, Georgia.” Columnist George F. Will has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“Biden Spared 37 Killers From Execution; Trump Ordered Up a Lifetime of Torment; Even America’s harshest federal prison, where inmates spend 23 hours a day in solitary confinement, was too good, one official said; ‘I’ve got no problem with gruel’”: Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

“Skeptical judges increasingly question administration’s veracity; An increasingly fraught relationship threatens the government’s credibility in court, legal experts say”: Perry Stein of The Washington Post has this report.

“The Constitution Doesn’t Belong to Trump or the Supreme Court”: Law professor Kate Andrias has this guest essay online at The New York Times.

“If ‘Conversion Therapy’ Is Free Speech, What Isn’t?” Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“Judge Faces Backlash in Sentence of Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin”: Jacqueline Thomsen has this essay online at Bloomberg Law.

“The Conservative Justices Are Not Even Bothering to Tell This Lie Anymore; Extolling the virtues of upholding precedent used to be mandatory for Supreme Court justices; Now that the conservatives have six votes, they suddenly view it as very optional”: Jay Willis has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Baylor Law School — Judge Kenneth W. Starr Federalist Papers Lecture — 2025”: Baylor Law has posted this video on YouTube.

“Political Violence as a Threat to Judicial Independence and the Rule of Law”: The Federalist Society has posted this video on YouTube.

“How Trump’s message to ‘Pam’ got exactly the results he wanted; Donald Trump has long called for imprisoning his opponents; For the first time, he has a Justice Department willing to do his bidding”: Kyle Cheney, Erica Orden, and Hassan Ali Kanu of Politico have this report.

“A Perilous Difference Between the Trump and Nixon Eras”: Jeffrey Toobin has this guest essay online at The New York Times.

“Hantz Marconi to return to the bench, capping whirlwind week for convicted justice”: Todd Bookman of New Hampshire Public Radio has this report.

“Why the Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected an attempt to create business-only courts system”: Dale Denwalt of The Oklahoman has this report.

“Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the opinion legalizing same-sex marriage. Here’s why he says it won’t be overturned.” Joan Biskupic of CNN has this report.

“How a Pennsylvania Supreme Court election could influence the 2028 presidential race; It’s been 20 years since a Pennsylvania justice has lost a retention vote”: Emily Chang of ABC News has this report.

“Trump-appointed judges signal willingness to let president deploy troops to states”: Sonja Sharp of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

And Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has an article headlined “Portland is no ‘war zone,’ as Trump has claimed. Legally, it might not matter.”

“California’s first openly gay Supreme Court justice to step down, giving Newsom another pick”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.

“The Supreme Court should listen to the founders on tariffs; James Madison and John Marshall would say Trump’s tariffs are legal”: Law professor Chad Squitieri has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“US Senate confirms Trump nominee Mascott to federal appeals court”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has this report.

And Tiana Headley of Bloomberg Law reports that “Trump White House Lawyer, Professor Confirmed to Third Circuit.”

You can access the roll call vote tally at this link.

“Should They Just Go Ahead and Put Up a Gold Trump Sign on the Supreme Court?” Emily Bazelon and David French have this written conversation online at The New York Times.