“Arkansas Supreme Court chief justice rejects colleagues’ orders, citing constitutional authority; Chief Justice Karen Baker also denounces an employment agreement between five justices and a judicial employee she attempted to fire last week”: Tess Vrbin of Arkansas Advocate has this report, along with an article headlined “Arkansas Supreme Court chief justice digs up predecessor’s 2017 memo in dispute with colleagues; Majority of justices have voided some of Baker’s actions since she took office last week; former chief justice Kemp opposed this, but his statement was never filed.”
Posted at 9:42 PM
by Howard Bashman
“TikTok Case Before Supreme Court Pits National Security Against Free Speech; The court, which hears arguments on Friday in a challenge to a law banning the app, has issued varying rulings when those two interests clashed”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.
Ann E. Marimow and Cristiano Lima-Strong of The Washington Post have an article headlined “The Supreme Court takes up the TikTok ban. Here’s what to know. The justices will review a law that would effectively shut down TikTok in the United States this month unless the company divests from Chinese ownership.”
Jacob Gershman and Sarah E. Needleman of The Wall Street Journal report that “The TikTok Ban Heads to the Supreme Court Tomorrow. Here’s What to Know. The Chinese-owned app is battling for survival as a deadline looms over its fate.”
And Maureen Groppe of USA Today has an article headlined “Why the Supreme Court is likely to side against 170 million TikTok users; The Supreme Court has been reluctant to second guess the legislative and executive branches on national security issues.”
Posted at 9:37 PM
by Howard Bashman
“Federal Court Halts Hearing on Eve of Guilty Plea by Accused 9/11 Mastermind; A three-judge appeals panel will decide whether the plea deal Khalid Shaikh Mohammed reached to avoid a death-penalty trial remains valid”: Carol Rosenberg of The New York Times has this report.
You can access today’s order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit at this link.
Posted at 9:24 PM
by Howard Bashman
“Appeals court allows release of Trump Jan. 6 special counsel report; The ruling can be appealed. President-elect Donald Trump says releasing the special counsel report would interfere with his White House transition”: Jeremy Roebuck and Perry Stein of The Washington Post have this report.
And Zoe Tillman of Bloomberg News reports that “Special Counsel Release of Trump Report Left in Limbo by Court; Attorney General plans to release 2020 election probe report; Trump opposing any disclosure of special counsel’s findings.”
You can access today’s order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at this link.
Posted at 9:02 PM
by Howard Bashman
“How a Phone Call Drew Alito Into a Trump Loyalty Squabble; The phone call centered on a former law clerk of Justice Alito’s who in the eyes of the Trump team must prove his loyalty to the president-elect”: Jonathan Swan, Charlie Savage, and Maggie Haberman of The New York Times have this report.
Posted at 8:02 PM
by Howard Bashman
“Supreme Court Denies Trump’s Last-Ditch Effort to Avoid Sentencing; After the court declined in a 5-to-4 decision to block Donald J. Trump’s criminal sentencing, he is scheduled to face a New York judge on Friday morning”: Ben Protess, Kate Christobek, and Adam Liptak of The New York Times have this report.
Ann E. Marimow and Justin Jouvenal of The Washington Post report that “Supreme Court refuses to delay Trump’s hush money sentencing; President-elect Donald Trump turned to the Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort to stop the sentencing, citing the conservative majority’s explosive immunity opinion.”
David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Supreme Court turns down Trump plea to block New York sentencing for hush money conviction.”
Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Supreme Court Won’t Block Trump’s Sentencing in Hush-Money Case; Justices deny president-elect’s bid to avoid finalizing his felony conviction for covering up six-figure payment to an adult-film star.”
Maureen Groppe of USA Today reports that “Divided Supreme Court denies Trump bid to block his criminal sentencing in NY; Trump argued the sentencing for his conviction of falsifying business records interferes with preparations for his Jan. 20 return to office; Prosecutors had called it an ‘extraordinary’ request.”
And Alex Swoyer and Tom Howell Jr. of The Washington Times report that “Supreme Court declines to stop Trump sentencing in N.Y.”
You can access this evening’s order of the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.
Posted at 8:00 PM
by Howard Bashman
“Yet Another Totally Perfect Phone Call; Dissecting Trump and Alito’s chummy phone call, which happened a mere day before Trump asked SCOTUS to dismiss his criminal sentence”: Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern have this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.
And online at Balls and Strikes, Jay Willis has an essay titled “I, For One, Find Sam Alito’s Explanation of His Phone Call With Donald Trump Very Reasonable and Not at All Weird; On what basis, I ask, would you not extend the benefit of the doubt to principled public servants like Donald Trump and Sam Alito?“
Posted at 5:22 PM
by Howard Bashman
“Trump Is Poised to Turn the DOJ Into His Personal Law Firm; The question the Senate confirmation process must address is whether the department’s tradition of independence will be supplanted by a new value: loyalty.” Bob Bauer has this essay online at The Atlantic.
Posted at 5:04 PM
by Howard Bashman
“Judges Speak On Classical Legal Theory: A Model Opinion By Judge Matey and an Illuminating Lecture By Lord Sales.” Adrian Vermeule has this post at “The New Digest” Substack site.
Posted at 5:02 PM
by Howard Bashman
“State Supreme Court Blitz [Deep Dive #5]: The most important decisions from state supreme courts in December 2024.” Adam Feldman has this post at his “Legalytics” Substack site.
Posted at 4:58 PM
by Howard Bashman
“Should Trump’s Sentencing Go Forward? Yes. Will It? We’ll See.” Michael C. Dorf has this post at his blog, “Dorf on Law.”
Posted at 4:42 PM
by Howard Bashman
“Bonus 116: Trump v. New York; 11 days before his inauguration, President-Elect Trump’s emergency request that the Supreme Court block his sentencing in the New York hush money case presents an early litmus test for the justices.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.
Posted at 2:10 PM
by Howard Bashman
“Media’s Latest Alito Conspiracy Theory Is Particularly Ridiculous”: Mollie Hemingway has this essay online at The Federalist.
Posted at 2:08 PM
by Howard Bashman
