“Making Trial Witnesses Mask Not a Confrontation Right Violation; Masks were ‘necessary to further an important public policy’”: Peter Hayes of Bloomberg Law has this report (subscription required for full access) on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued today.

“Federal court agrees to reconsider ruling finding Maryland law requiring handgun licenses unconstitutional”: Alex Mann of The Baltimore Sun has this report.

Nate Raymond of Reuters reports that “US appeals court to reconsider Maryland handgun licensure law.”

And William J. Ford of Maryland Matters reports that “Full federal appeals court will hear Maryland handgun case.”

You can access today’s order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit granting rehearing en banc at this link.

“Trump Judge Spanks Ron DeSantis for Retaliating Against a Democratic Rival”: Mark Joseph Stern has this Jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Conservative jurists and the health risks they expect women to endure”: Columnist Ruth Marcus has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“Oral Argument Recap: Reid v. Doe Run Resources Corp.“ Maggie Gardner has this post at the “Transnational Litigation Blog.”

“A Law Unto Oneself: Personal Positivism and Our Fragmented Judiciary.” Law professor Richard M. Re has posted this article online at SSRN.

“S.F. still banned from sweeping most homeless encampments, court rules”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has a report that begins, “San Francisco cannot remove homeless people from its streets and sidewalks unless it offers them immediate and available shelter, a divided federal appeals court ruled Thursday, upholding a magistrate’s ban on sweeps of homeless encampments in the city.”

You can access today’s ruling of a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

“It’s All Relative! Two Recent Cases Are Examples of This; Two recent cases, Hangey v. Husqvarna Professional Products and Dinardo v. Kohler, are examples of ‘relativity’ in the law, or perhaps just perspective.” Cliff Rieders has this essay online at The Legal Intelligencer.

“‘Chanukah on Ice’ Ad Was Improperly Nixed by Transit Authority”: Bernie Pazanowski of Bloomberg Law has this report (subscription required for full access) on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued today.

“Grand Jury Declines to Indict Ohio Woman Accused of Abuse of Corpse; In a case that had drawn international attention, a grand jury in Ohio decided not to indict a woman who miscarried at home and disposed of the nonviable fetus”: Remy Tumin of The New York Times has this report.

“On the job training: 43-year-old State Solicitor unanimously confirmed to SJC; Healey’s high court pick has never been a judge.” Matthew Medsger of The Boston Herald has this report.

“Abandoning a Claim v. Amending a Complaint to Create Finality; Ditching its initial holding that abandoning unresolved claims creates a final decision, the Eleventh Circuit treated a purported abandonment as a successful attempt to amend a complaint”: Bryan Lammon has this post at his “final decisions” blog about a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued yesterday.

“Eureka Not: The President is an Officer of the United States Redux, Redux . . .” Mark Graber has this post at the “Balkinization” blog.

“The Unraveling of Brett Kavanaugh’s Biggest, Dumbest Lie: The Dobbs majority promised their opinion would get the Supreme Court out of the abortion policy business; Guess how that’s going?” Jay Willis has this post at Balls and Strikes.

“Biden’s effort to reshape the federal judiciary: Four things to watch in 2024.” Russell Wheeler of the Brookings Institution has this post.

“Attempt to recall Speaker Robin Vos could face roadblock with Supreme Court redistricting ruling”: Molly Beck of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has this report.

“Bid to Undo Nickelback Copyright Win Scrutinized by 5th Circuit; Panel suggests ‘Rock Star’ sounds nothing like ‘Rockstar’; Claim that band accessed Texas singer’s work ‘speculative’”: Kyle Jahner of Bloomberg Law has this report.

You can access the audio of yesterday’s oral argument before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit via this link.

“Supreme Court will consider overruling landmark Chevron deference decision in a fishy case”: Mark Walsh has this report online at ABA Journal.

“SJC rules mandatory life without parole is unconstitutional for adults under 21; Ruling impacts 18 to 20 year-olds convicted of first-degree murder”: Ivy Scott of The Boston Globe has this report on a 153-page, 4-to-3 ruling that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued today.

“Donna Adelson hires new lawyers to defend against charges she murdered Dan Markel”: Jeff Burlew of The Tallahassee Democrat has this report.

“Into the Brick Wall”: You can access today’s new episode of the “Divided Argument” podcast via this link.

“A new Supreme Court case about flooding has weirdly high stakes for Donald Trump; A core issue raised in the Colorado case seeking to disqualify Trump from the presidency is also present in a much more obscure case being argued next week”: Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.

“Menendez adds lawyer with corruption success at Supreme Court to legal team, seeks dismissal of charges; Yaakov Roth has argued for a Bridgegate defendant and represented former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell”: Dustin Racioppi of Politico has this report.

“Rehnquist Stuns O’Connor Into Retiring; ‘I want to stay another year’”: Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.