“How Trump and Senate Republicans Could Reshape the Federal Courts of Appeals, Part I; Federal appeals court judges are the final word on the law in tens of thousands of cases every year; Below, a circuit-by-circuit look at how Republicans might be able to shift the balance of power in the years to come”: JP Collins has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Eric Adams Judge Sets Hearing on DOJ Move to Drop Corruption Case; Judge Dale Ho has faced calls to investigate DOJ’s actions; Several prosecutors have resigned over handling of Adams case”: Ava Benny-Morrison of Bloomberg News has this report.

In commentary, online at Bloomberg Opinion, law professor Noah Feldman has an essay titled “Why Didn’t Trump Just Pardon Adams Like the Jan. 6 Rioters? The resignations of some of the best and brightest conservatives in US government could have a lasting impact, including on the Supreme Court.”

Online at The New York Times, Carol C. Lam has a guest essay titled “Farewell, Justice Department Independence.”

And online at Slate, law professor Bennett Capers has a Jurisprudence essay titled “What Happens Next in the Eric Adams Case? It’s Up to One Judge.”

“Biden Student Debt Plan to Stay Frozen, Appeals Court Says; 8th Cir. says Congress didn’t grant authority for ‘SAVE’ plan; Biden administration had faced setbacks in seeking to slash debt”: Mike Vilensky of Bloomberg Law has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued today.

“US Supreme Court Urged to Keep Pause on Trump Firing of Whistleblower Agency Head”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.

You can view the response at this link.

“Leader of ‘Zizians’ arrested; father of associate fears son ‘under the influence of the cult’”: Megan Cassidy, Michael Barba, and Matthias Gafni of The San Francisco Chronicle have this report.

Io Dodds of The Independent (UK) has an article headlined “Inside the ‘Zizians’: How a cultish crew of radical vegans became linked to killings across the United States; They seemed like just another band of anarchist misfits scraping by on the fringes of Silicon Valley — until the deaths began; Io Dodds unravels the complex web of ideology, friendship, and bloody violence that has baffled investigators nationwide.”

And at his “Read Max” Substack site, Max Read has a lengthy post titled “The Zizians and the Rationalist death cults: What is the deal with Rationalism and cults?“

“A Supreme History — Review: ‘The Most Powerful Court in the World: A History of the Supreme Court of the United States’ by Stuart Banner.” David J. Garrow has this book review online at The Washington Free Beacon.

“Ex-Watergate prosecutor urges judge to reject request to drop charges against NYC mayor”: Larry Neumeister of The Associated Press has this report.

And at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Paul Cassell has a post titled “The Motion to Dismiss the Charges Against Mayor Adams Is Easily Supportable; The Justice Department’s decision to seek dismissal of the pending charges seems like standard fare in plea bargaining and helps to support a top Administration policy.”

“Obama-appointed judge who became Trump rival during election interference case overseeing pivotal DOGE hearing; A longtime legal foe of President Donald Trump, Judge Tanya Chutkan, was once described by the president as ‘the most evil person’”: Breanne Deppisch of Fox News has this report.

“Tough Fight May Be Brewing for Candidates in ‘Super Bowl of Judicial Retention Elections’; With three of the five Democrats on the Supreme Court up for retention in one year, a successful ‘vote no’ campaign could dramatically shift the court’s makeup”: Aleeza Furman and Max Mitchell of The Legal Intelligencer have this report.

Only once has a sitting Justice on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania lost a retention election, which involves a simple up-or-down vote with no competing candidate for office.

“J&J begins crucial battle over $10 billion baby powder settlement”: Dietrich Knauth of Reuters has this report.

“Judicial Notice (02.17.25): Constitutional Crisis? Benchslaps for two former solicitors general, Danielle Sassoon v. Emil Bove (continued), Musk’s $97 billion bid for OpenAI, and lots of lateral moves.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“No rubber stamp for the Eric Adams case judge; Under pressure from the Justice Department, Judge Dale Ho still has options”: Columnist Ruth Marcus has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“Ed Martin, Trump Loyalist, Is Nominated as U.S. Attorney in Washington; The nomination of Mr. Martin, who stood in the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, is a full reversal for an office that formed the core of one of the Justice Department’s most complex investigations”: Glenn Thrush of The New York Times has this report.

Gregory S. Schneider of The Washington Post reports that “Trump seeks to install top D.C. prosecutor who was a Jan. 6 defense lawyer; Ed Martin took over the top D.C. federal prosecutor role Jan. 21 and immediately began reshaping the office to align with Trump’s preferences.”

And Jeff Mordock of The Washington Times reports that “Trump taps Jan. 6 defense lawyer for new U.S. attorney for D.C.“

“NC elections officials seek to fast-track state Supreme Court race battle; The North Carolina Board of Elections wants the state Supreme Court to take up Republican Jefferson Griffin’s election challenge; The case could decide the race for an open seat on the high court”: Paul Specht and Laura Leslie of WRAL News have this report.

“Birthright Citizenship: Barnett & Wurman’s NY Times Essay and their Bates/Blackstone Double Backfire.” Jed Shugerman has this post at his “Shugerblog.”

“The White House Counsel and the Adams Affair: The root of the problem is at 1600, not 950, Pennsylvania Avenue.” Bob Bauer and Jack Goldsmith have this post at their “Executive Functions” Substack site.

“Mass resignation marks a new kind of defiance in the second Trump era; The Trump team has rarely if ever faced such resistance from within the government, a move that may pave the way for further defiance”: Naftali Bendavid of The Washington Post has this report.

And in commentary, online at The New York Times, law professor Daniel Richman has a guest essay titled “All the President’s Sock Puppets.”

“Trump asks Supreme Court to take up issue over firing of whistleblower agency leader”: Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has this report.

And John Fritze of CNN has a report headlined “What to know about Trump’s appeal to the Supreme Court.”

“Hundreds gather in downtown Raleigh to protest GOP challenge of NC Supreme Court race”: Korie Dean of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina has this report.

You and your dam legal fight: Steve Carmody of Michigan Public Radio reports that “Michigan Supreme Court is the next stop for dam legal fight.”

“Yes, We’re in a Constitutional Crisis”: You can access today’s new episode of the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast via this link and on YouTube.

“125. The Court’s First Trump II Case Won’t Be a Bellwether: The challenge to Trump’s removal of the head of the Office of Special Counsel raises unique procedural and substantive issues likely to prevent it from serving as a referendum — in either direction.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“Student asks Supreme Court to say he can wear T-shirt saying ‘There are only two genders’; In past decisions, the Supreme Court has allowed students to wear arm bands in protest of the Vietnam War but not to hold up a ‘Bong Hits 4 Jesus’ banner”: Maureen Groppe of USA Today has this report.

You can view the petition for writ of certiorari at this link.

“White, heterosexual woman twice replaced by gay co-workers to get Supreme Court hearing”: Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has this report.

“In Moving to Stop Adams Case, Career Lawyer Sought to Stave Off Deeper Crisis; A high-stakes decision for public corruption prosecutors at the Justice Department revealed a generational difference”: Devlin Barrett, Adam Goldman, Glenn Thrush, and William K. Rashbaum of The New York Times have this report.

“First Test of Trump’s Power to Fire Officials Reaches Supreme Court; The court’s conservative majority may be receptive to the argument that presidents have unlimited power to remove leaders of independent agencies”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post reports that “Trump asks Supreme Court to allow him to fire independent agency leader; The administration is seeking legal support from the conservative high court to back its efforts to expand the power of the presidency.”

And Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Trump Asks Supreme Court to Let Him Fire Ethics Watchdog; Lower courts blocked dismissal, citing federal law requiring misconduct to remove official before his term ends.”

You can view the court filing at this link.

“Jan. 6 Rioters Argue Pardons Apply to Charges Including Murder Plot, Child Porn; Defendants argue that Trump pardons should absolve them of additional crimes, some discovered during investigations of the Capitol riot”: Scott Calvert, Tawnell D. Hobbs, and C. Ryan Barber of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

“What Happens If President Trump Defies a Judge’s Order?” David Voreacos of Bloomberg News has this report.

“Appeals court rejects Trump in showdown over firing of ethics watchdog; The D.C. Circuit panel voted, 2-1, against the president’s bid to immediately remove Hampton Dellinger”: Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney of Politico have this report on an order that a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued yesterday.

“This Is What the Courts Can Do if Trump Defies Them”: Law professors Trevor W. Morrison and Richard H. Pildes have this guest essay online at The New York Times.

“Justice Department fires multiple immigration judges amid case backlog; A union representing the judges said it ‘makes no sense’ to make cuts to immigration courts as Trump promises to carry out mass deportations, which must go through the courts”: Julia Ainsley, Aaron Gilchrist, Nnamdi Egwuonwu, and Megan Lebowitz of NBC News have this report.

“Can Trump Defy the Supreme Court? The theoretical power to do so runs far ahead of presidential practice.” Jack Goldsmith has this post at the “Executive Functions” Substack site.

“The TikTok Ban Withers Away; As Apple and Google put TikTok back in app stores, Trump’s non-enforcement policy threatens to permanently nullify Congress’s law”: Alan Z. Rozenshtein has this post at the “Lawfare” blog.

“The Gangster Presidency: The DoJ’s Eric Adams shakedown sets off a series of defiant and courageous resignations.” You can access the new episode of Slate’s “Amicus” podcast via this link.

“The Situation: No Way Out; On the necessity and impossibility of being a federal prosecutor under Donald Trump.” Benjamin Wittes has this post at the “Lawfare” blog.

And The Free Press has published an editorial titled “Danielle Sassoon’s Courage and the Rule of Law: The Justice Department ordered New York’s top federal prosecutor to drop charges against Mayor Eric Adams; She refused.”