How Appealing



Friday, May 30, 2025

“The Weaknesses in the Trump Tariff Rulings; The tariffs may be awful but two federal courts did not persuasively show that they are unlawful”: Jack Goldsmith has this post at the “Executive Functions” Substack site.

Posted at 5:56 PM by Howard Bashman



“Can You Do More Burpees Than Emil Bove, Trump’s Cartoonishly Unqualified Nominee to the Third Circuit? A brief investigation into Emil Bove’s illustrious CrossFit Open career.” Jay Willis has this post at his “Balls & Strikes” Substack site.

And Charles Toutant of New Jersey Law Journal has an article headlined “‘Emil Bove Has Fallen Short’: Critics Lambaste Trump’s 3rd Circuit Pick; Muting the reaction to the announcement is the fact that it’s unclear whether Bove would fill the New Jersey vacancy on the Third Circuit or the Delaware vacancy.”

Posted at 4:58 PM by Howard Bashman



“Federal Judges Increasingly Concerned That Trump Could Get Them Killed; Republicans’ threats against the judiciary have some judges trying to figure out just how unsafe they are”: Madiba K. Dennie has this post at Balls and Strikes.

Posted at 4:54 PM by Howard Bashman



Thursday, May 29, 2025

“Trump goes after Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society in fury over court ruling; Trump’s attack came after the U.S. Court of International Trade struck down his tariffs, a blow to the primary pillar of his economic agenda”: Gregory Svirnovskiy and Josh Gerstein of Politico have this report.

Posted at 10:48 PM by Howard Bashman



“A Christian baker was sued for not serving a lesbian couple. The Supreme Court may hear her case. The debate over faith-based service refusals will soon be back in the national spotlight.” Kelsey Dallas of The Deseret News has this report.

Posted at 9:24 PM by Howard Bashman



“What is the U.S. Court of International Trade, which halted Trump’s tariffs? Federal judges ruled that the president went beyond his authority in imposing levies on goods imported from around the world.” Tobi Raji of The Washington Post has this report.

Posted at 9:05 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump Officials Intensify Attacks on Judges as Court Losses Mount; White House reactions to unfavorable court rulings appeared designed to undermine confidence in the judiciary”: Luke Broadwater of The New York Times has this report.

Posted at 9:03 PM by Howard Bashman



“Will Trump Ignore Geographic Connections When Making Circuit Nominations? With the death of the blue slip, can the President just fill vacancies with the best available candidate?” Josh Blackman has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

Posted at 5:22 PM by Howard Bashman



“Bondi Eliminates ABA’s Role in Vetting Trump Judicial Picks; Continues trend from Trump first term, Biden presidency; Comes amid escalating tensions between ABA, Trump administration”: Tiana Headley of Bloomberg Law has this report.

Posted at 5:17 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump Tariff Appeal Heads to Specialist Court Known for Patents; Federal Circuit has ‘immense’ power over trade policy; Court decided a previous Trump tariff case in 2018”: Michael Shapiro of Bloomberg Law has this report.

Posted at 5:15 PM by Howard Bashman



“Chief Judge Questions Judicial Boycotts in Tossing Complaint; Dismissed complaint over judge not hiring Columbia clerks; Says boycotts may ‘embroil’ courts in public controversies”: Jacqueline Thomsen of Bloomberg Law has this report.

You can access the order of Eighth Circuit Chief Judge Steven M. Colloton at this link.

As the order explains:

A judge’s participation in a hiring boycott against graduates of a private university does not fit the ordinary meaning of “political activity,” because the boycott is not directed at governmental actions or policies that are the focus of the political process. A boycott may be seen, however, as raising similar problems where judges seek through the allocation of publicly-funded employment opportunities (or other allocations of public funds) to influence the behavior of private institutions on matters of public concern. The boycott at issue here involves only thirteen federal judges and one private institution, but the practice—if approved and widely accepted—could proliferate. Judges will have different views on what causes are righteous and which institutions or entities should be targeted. Widespread judicial boycotting based on issues of the day may well have the potential to embroil the judiciary in extrajudicial public controversies and to lower public confidence in the courts among reasonable people. There is thus a substantial question whether judges cross an important line when they go beyond expressing their personal views in an effort to persuade and begin using their power as government officials to pressure private institutions to conform to the judges’ preferences. See Orin Kerr, Boycotting Law Schools in Clerk Hiring as a Way to Influence Law School Culture, Reason Magazine Online (Sept. 29, 2022).

Posted at 5:13 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Supreme Court May Not Step in and Save Trump’s Tariffs; The path forward for Trump will not get easier after a defeat at the U.S. Court of International Trade”: Columnist Ankush Khardori has this essay online at Politico.

Posted at 2:24 PM by Howard Bashman



“Bonus 153: Hurtling Into June; The unusually chaotic month that the justices have in front of them raises questions about whether the Court should continue to be committed to what is, effectively, an October-to-June calendar.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

Posted at 8:44 AM by Howard Bashman



“The Supreme Court Undercuts Another Check on Executive Power; In leaping to defend the Trump Administration, the Court conveniently ignored a long-established precedent that prevented Presidents from firing independent-agency heads at will”: Ruth Marcus has this essay online at The New Yorker.

Posted at 8:42 AM by Howard Bashman



“The Wisconsin Supreme Court will soon make final ruling on abortion. How did we get here?” Hope Karnopp of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has this report.

Posted at 8:35 AM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court walks a tightrope as it confronts Trump’s power moves; The justices appear to be trying to avoid a direct conflict with the Trump administration while also blocking certain presidential actions”: Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post has this report.

Posted at 8:33 AM by Howard Bashman



Wednesday, May 28, 2025

“Trump Says He Will Nominate His Former Defense Lawyer to Appeals Court; Emil Bove, a former federal prosecutor, has been working as the president’s enforcer at the Justice Department”: Corinne Ramey of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

Posted at 10:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“Efforts to Deport Columbia Student Likely Unconstitutional, Judge Says; Comments suggest Trump administration will face roadblocks in court as it tries to deport pro-Palestinian protesters”: Joseph De Avila and Victoria Albert of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

Posted at 10:25 PM by Howard Bashman



“Big Law Firms 3, Trump 0; Three judges across the political spectrum have now said the President’s punitive executive orders are unconstitutional”: This editorial will appear in Thursday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Posted at 10:14 PM by Howard Bashman



“Some judges reject DOJ claim that Jan. 6 pardons apply to other crimes; Prosecutors sided with seven defendants charged with other crimes discovered in Jan. 6 investigations, but several courts have refused to dismiss cases”: Tom Jackman of The Washington Post has this report.

Posted at 9:03 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump Tariffs Ruled Illegal by Federal Judicial Panel; The U.S. Court of International Trade said the president had overstepped his authority under the federal emergency powers law he invoked”: Tony Romm and Ana Swanson of The New York Times have this report.

And James Fanelli and Gavin Bade of The Wall Street Journal report that “Trade Court Strikes Down Trump’s Global Tariffs; Businesses and states had sued the government, saying the president didn’t have the authority to impose the levies.”

You can access today’s unanimous, per curiam ruling of a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade at this link.

Appeals from the U.S. Court of International Trade are heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit — a federal appellate court to which President Trump appointed zero judges during his first term. The Federal Circuit has eight active judges appointed by Democratic presidents and three active judges appointed by Republican presidents (excluding Circuit Judge Pauline Newman, who remains suspended from service).

Posted at 8:35 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump Says He’ll Nominate Bove to Federal Appeals Court; The president tapped his former defense lawyer to join the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which covers Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware”: Glenn Thrush and Charlie Savage of The New York Times have this report.

Nate Raymond and Luca Fratangelo of Reuters report that “Trump nominates Emil Bove to serve as federal appellate judge.”

Hannah Rabinowitz of CNN reports that “Trump nominates one of his former personal attorneys for prestigious federal appeals court seat.”

Breanne Deppisch, Ashley Oliver, and David Spunt of Fox News report that “Trump nominates former defense attorney Emil Bove for federal appeals court vacancy; Trump has nominated Emil Bove to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.”

Tiana Headley and Suzanne Monyak of Bloomberg Law report that “Trump to Tap His Former Lawyer Emil Bove for Third Circuit; Bove is top deputy to DOJ’s second-in-command Todd Blanch; Two vacancies, Delaware, NJ, on Third Circuit.”

And in commentary, online at The Federalist, yesterday Mike Davis had an essay titled “Emil Bove Is A Bold And Outstanding Choice For The Third Circuit.”

Posted at 4:11 PM by Howard Bashman



“President Trump Has to Obey the Constitution, But So Does Chief Justice Roberts”: Josh Blackman has this post at Civitas Outlook.

Posted at 9:05 AM by Howard Bashman



“Fumbling in the dark: The winding tale of A.A.R.P. v. Trump.” Adam Unikowsky has this post at his “Adam’s Legal Newsletter” Substack site.

Posted at 9:03 AM by Howard Bashman



“Vance is doing his best to help Trump tear down the Supreme Court; I highly doubt Vice President JD Vance would be making the same argument of an executive mandate in the case of former President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness scheme”: Columnist Dace Potas has this essay online at USA Today.

Posted at 9:02 AM by Howard Bashman



“In defense of nationwide injunctions: The Supreme Court has good reason to preserve this check on presidential power.” The Washington Post has published this editorial.

Posted at 8:57 AM by Howard Bashman



“Mexico’s Judicial Reform Is Now In the Hands of Confused Voters”: Maya Averbuch and Alex Vasquez of Bloomberg News have this report.

Posted at 8:50 AM by Howard Bashman



“Former Pa. Supreme Court justice dies”: Charles Thompson of The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has a report that begins, “Former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice J. Michael Eakin died Tuesday at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. He was 76 years old.”

Posted at 8:45 AM by Howard Bashman