25-581 25-5343 CERTIORARI GRANTED ST. MARY CATHOLIC PARISH, ET AL. V. ROY, LISA, ET AL. The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted limited to Questions 1 and 2 presented by the petition. BEAIRD, KENDRICK J. V. UNITED STATES The motion of petitioner for leave to proceed in forma 2 pauperis is granted. The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted limited to the following question: Whether Stinson v. United States, 508 U. S. 36 (1993), still correctly states the rule for the deference that courts must give the commentary to the Sentencing Guidelines.

BREAKING: The Supreme Court takes up two new cases for next term, including a case over Colorado’s exclusion of Catholic preschools from public funding.

The case specifically raises a question the court has circled around for years: Whether 1990’s Employment Division v. Smith should be overruled.

Delighted that Steve could join to talk about the memos the NYT obtained - that show the behind-the-scenes goings on that went into SCOTUS staying the Clean Power Plan on the shadow docket 10 years ago.

Tune in!!

“a pretty powerful rejoinder to those who have insisted that the Court’s internal debates in these [shadow docket] cases are rigorous and deeply substantive.”

Vladeck, aflame: “Roberts didn’t change his mind sometime between 2016 and 2025; he’s just being a hypocrite. It’s irreparable harm for Republican presidents; just not Democrats”

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.

"In the first major case in which the Court granted emergency relief as a means of shaping nationwide policy, it turns out that the justice who led the charge was the one who was doing quite a bit more than calling balls and strikes."

Me on Saturday's @nytimes.com scoop in today's "One First":

A great reminder about why Michigan needs to elect Eli Savit as our next attorney general (he was endorsed by the Democratic Party last night at the convention) - we need the states legal officer to fight back when the federal government is coming for our rights (and votes)

Congratulations to Eli Savit on winning the Michigan Democratic Party's endorsement for Attorney General!

And 2016 is when the SCOTUS merits opinion issues!

Yes, no one actually claims there should never be grants of emergency relief!!!

Yeah these things are 100% the same. Except (1) SCOTUS stayed a lower court op, not an exec policy in the CA5 case; (2) CA5 had adjudicated the matter, but CADC had not; (3) the abortion restrictions were allowed to go into effect for a period of time - when clinics closed, demonstrating irrep harm

Me: Writes a book documenting in detail how #SCOTUS’s approach to emergency applications shifted in the mid-2010s, and why those shifts are problematic without regard to the results.

SI: But a 6-3 Court once vacated part of a Fifth Circuit stay in a specific Texas abortion case. So checkmate, libs!

The Inside Story of Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court

it is, among other things, incredibly striking to see that roberts was so solicitous of the burden the clean power plan might put on fossil fuel executives, when, a decade later, he is indifferent to the way trump’s moves have thrown hundreds of thousands of lives into turmoil.

convention!

Someone really ought to write a book about the significance of #SCOTUS doing so many major things through unsigned and unexplained rulings, and how so much of it really is a recent phenomenon.

Most striking to me about these memos is the radically different assessment of the harm imposed by the president not being able to pursue his initiatives. Over the last 15 mos., that harm has in numerous cases been treated as almost per se serious and irreparable. Here, it gets no analysis at all.

“In public, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has cultivated a reputation for care and caution. The papers reveal a different side of him. At a critical moment for the country and the court, … he acted as a bulldozer in pushing to stop Mr. Obama’s plan to address the global climate crisis.”

Over just five days, the justices had decided the issue. Even as they debated the Obama plan’s possible burden on the power industry, in the entire chain of correspondence obtained by The Times, not a single justice, conservative or liberal, mentioned the dangers of a warming planet as one of the possible harms the court should consider.

Another data point in “originalism is a fraud.” So much for the law is the law we can’t think about the impact. They rail against “results oriented judging” in public but when their corporate clients make requests they know exactly what to do. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...

Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...

The Inside Story of Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...

One quick thought is that in recent decisions in Trump’s favor there’s a lot of talk about the government automatically facing irreparable harm when its policies are blocked but here all the talk from Roberts is the irreparable harm facing those challenging the plan.

The Inside Story of Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court

There’s so much to say about the remarkable reporting from Jodi Kantor & Adam Liptak—and I’ll say a lot of it in Monday’s newsletter.

But the most striking thing about all of it is the role & behavior of Chief Justice Roberts. “Calling balls and strikes” this ain’t:

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...

Great, shocking reporting on the origins of the Supreme Court maneuver that has enabled Trump to impose his agenda without full-blown legal review. Roberts resented the Obama admin’s EPA and wanted quick protection for oil companies.

The Inside Story of Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court

WOW: Jodi Kantor & Adam Liptak have the memos that describe the origins of SCOTUS shadow docket - the 2016 order halting Obama’s Clean Power Plan @jodikantor.bsky.social @adamliptak.bsky.social @nytimes.com

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...

The Inside Story of Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court

WOW: Jodi Kantor & Adam Liptak have the memos that describe the origins of SCOTUS shadow docket - the 2016 order halting Obama’s Clean Power Plan @jodikantor.bsky.social @adamliptak.bsky.social @nytimes.com

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...

Why three professors changed their minds - Harvard Law School When Nikolas Bowie, Yochai Benkler and Samantha Power hit roadblocks to their beliefs, they pivoted to fresh approaches.

I’ve changed my mind about a lot of things, but talked about why I think law schools need to teach people how to make law and not just litigate under it.

I love this! (And would love to hear how specifically you incorporate legal drafting & organizing into con law if you don't mind + when you have the time :-))

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas blasts progressivism as threat to America He said that the values enshrined in the 1776 Declaration of Independence have “fallen out of favor” among Americans.

If KBJ or Sotomoyaor gave an overtly political speech blasting MAGA tax at UCLA, UVA or UM (like the way Thomas attacks the left at UT) - then the Trump regime would immediately to pull funding.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson slams Supreme Court’s emergency docket actions Jackson faulted her fellow justices for often forcing the public and lower-court judges to rely on “scratch-paper musings."

NEW: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson unloads on #SCOTUS handling of emergency/'shadow' docket, saying it often seems 'utterly irrational' & can lead to 'zombie' proceedings. KBJ rejects Kavanaugh's 'interim docket' label, calls for focus on real-world harms
www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

BREAKING: The U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine just issued a formal statement defending Pope Leo XIV's teaching authority on just war doctrine — less than twelve hours after JD Vance told a Turning Point USA crowd the pope should “be careful” talking theology.

This is a serious escalation.

Exclusive | Jeanine Pirro’s Prosecutors Make Surprise Visit to Fed Headquarters A pair of Pirro’s deputies were turned away after showing up at the construction site for a central-bank renovation project.

BREAKING: In latest effort to appease/impress Trump, Jeanine Pirro sends prosecutors to make surprise visit at Fed HQ construction site. They ask for a tour but get turned away. Bad news for Kevin Walsh confirmation!

GIFT LINK:

www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...