Seth Stern

SCOOP: Afghans in immigration detention across the country are being told there is a plan to deport them to Pakistan. Advocates fear those removed, which could include families of US allies, would be in life-threatening danger. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

NEW: Trump's war on fraud beset by downsized law enforcement workforce, as young prosecutors & agents struggle to meet intense DOJ/White House pressure to surge fraud cases. VP Vance boasts historic progress, but current & former officials describe challenges. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Justices have lamented living in a “bubble” of high security, pined for the days when they served with a different set of colleagues, or mused about what life might be like in retirement, @justinfwise.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

“There’s no BS about her,” said Xiao Wang, a University of Virginia law professor who worked with Judge Ana Reyes in private practice tells @suzannemonyak.bsky.social

US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan accused the court’s conservative supermajority of undercutting democracy, saying recent rulings had created a “race to the bottom” in redistricting and a “nightmare” of unlimited election spending.

Judge Ada Brown sent confidential and sealed court documents to about 140 lawyers, judges, and members of the media in an early morning email Saturday, the Fifth Circuit says. She's now facing questions about having shared that information. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The Fifth Circuit has now publicly posted the documents www.ca5.uscourts.gov/docs/6993a18...

NEW: US District Judge Ada Brown is facing a misconduct proceeding over several claims, including the mishandling of her docket. Her cases were transferred, investigators say "reasonable basis" to believe Brown "suffers from a mental condition" per court docs news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The increased involvement of attorneys in the Justice Department’s so-called “front office” in major litigation represents a departure from prior administrations, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

SCOOP: Trump DOJ leaders have halted prosecutors' long-running grand jury probe of Meta Platforms over permitting illicit drug sales. Officials intervened just after Meta execs were subpoenaed to testify. Case likely headed for non-criminal resolution. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

As DHS touted fewer naturalizations, @kreighbaum.bsky.social + I were looking at the data. Apps are down, approvals are down, denials are up, wait times doubled. We also uncovered some people experience months-long gaps between approvals and their final oaths. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Immigration judges installed on a permanent basis since Trump returned to office have denied 49% of asylum applications that went before them from Oct 2025 through Aug 2026, compared to 41% among previously appointed judges, @ccastronuovo.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

News: The rise of Trump admin's DOJ fraud division has decimated a once elite white collar unit known for convicting market manipulating traders at big banks. Criminal Division is now trying to stop the exodus with unheard of retention bonuses. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

How is New York’s top judge shaping the state’s highest court? Chief Judge Rowan Wilson discusses his approach to leading the Court of Appeals in a profile tracing his path from childhood, through a career at Cravath, to the helm of New York’s court system. Watch the video: bit.ly/4zryi3v

An LA judge facing allegations of inappropriate sexual and racial comments stammered his way through a sometimes awkward judicial disciplinary hearing, calling an attorney who previously practiced before him a “beautiful young woman," @poritz.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/l...

JUST IN: Justice Dept. employees have been directed by a top official to start using Trump's preferred term "Super Intelligence" instead of AI - including in court filings when appropriate. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Justice Samuel Alito said he plans to remain on the Supreme Court even if Democrats capture the Senate in next month’s midterms, dismissing speculation that he might quickly retire to ensure a successor gets confirmed, @gregstohr.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

US District Judge Christopher “Casey” Cooper’s handling of the case involving President Donald Trump and the Kennedy Center, while meticulously legal, reflects how richly he was steeped in the arts, including at center performances, as a child by his influential aunt.

Now official: DOJ obtains cyberstalking indictment of man for allegedly making dozens of harassing calls to Katie Miller and her parents, per Brian Dowling news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

JUST IN: Federal judge has blocked Trump's termination of court-appointed Seattle US attorney Roger Rogoff, for now, ordering AG Blanche to give him access to the office right away. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said his withdrawal from a high-stakes climate change case involving the oil and gas industry was a “difficult judgment call” he made even after the court’s legal office said he didn’t have to disqualify himself.

The Justice Department accused Minnesota federal judges of misconduct by speaking to the New York Times about government lawyers violating court orders during the Trump administration’s immigration surge in the state, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Exclusive: Fed prosecutors in Boston readying to charge a veteran for allegedly harassing calls to Stephen Miller wife, Katie. Trump DOJ wants imminent charges but career AUSAs have concerns about evidence. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

News -- Trump will be able to appoint another member of the Fifth Circuit, as Judge Leslie Southwick plans to go senior: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

JUST IN: FBI co-Deputy Director Andrew Bailey quits after one year serving under Kash Patel. Former Missouri AG Bailey tells colleagues he wants to spend more time with family. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

SCOOP: FBI removes two veteran counterterrorism leaders over frustrations from Stephen & Katie Miller that they hadn't made progress in probing allegedly threatening phone calls Katie received news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

A trio of Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices landed invitations to a state dinner honoring Chinese President Xi Jinping, including two of President Donald Trump’s picks he’s sharply criticized recently. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said the Supreme Court’s recent approach to its emergency docket has had a corrosive effect on litigation practices and strained the court’s relationship with the lower courts, @jordanonrecord.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

NEWS: DOJ is recruiting military lawyers for October prosecutor posts supporting immigration related law enforcement surges in Manhattan, LA, & Sacramento, per Pentagon email reviewed by @BLaw. I’m told this is unheard of for SDNY. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The Trump administration says it has found a replacement case for Genalo v. Black, the migrant detention case the Supreme Court dismissed earlier this month. SG Sauer pushed for the new case to be heard in October, but the court seems unlikely to agree. news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and...

President Donald Trump is invoking a familiar legal tactic to justify plans to build a triumphal arch in Washington: claiming the proposed monument is necessary to protect US national security, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

NEW: AG Todd Blanche’s attempt to show DOJ attorneys he has their backs got off to a bumpy start in closed-door Atlanta meeting. Prosecutors confronted him with tough questions on staff firings & low morale. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

President Trump once again raged on social media against his Supreme Court nominees after the mail-in ballot order this week. He should't be so surprised, experts say. He got what he appointed. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

DOJ’s gutted Civil Rights Division is rebuilding with lawyers steeped in conservative advocacy and Republican politics with a new mission to wage partisan fights and defend gun rights, a @bloomberglaw.com analysis found. With @suzannemonyak.bsky.social: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Judge Indira Talwani, who again paused President Donald Trump’s mail-ballot rule last week, is the only judge on a Boston bench flooded with challenges to the administration to have one of those rulings fully reversed on appeal, Brian Dowling reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

News: DOJ pushes US attorneys to ramp up rare noncitizen voting charges ahead of midterms, while some officials question how prosecutors can prove criminal intent of foreign nationals who are sometimes registered to vote accidentally by states news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

SCOOP: Justice Dept. plans activating long-dormant maritime war court to streamline capture of Iranian oil tankers as US prizes. Legally uncertain plan intended to bolster blockade of Iran. A feature of 1700s naval combat, prize courts set to return in Houston. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Justice Clarence Thomas made a rare media(ish) appearance on Sen. Ted Cruz's podcast this week—timed with the release of Cruz's new book about Thomas—to discuss his role as the court's chief precedent skeptic. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

NEW: DOJ appointed right-wing Judicial Watch FOIA lawyer Katie Blankenberg to lead Office of Information Policy - overseeing all federal records disclosures. My story on the stark departure from nonpartisan traditions & concerns of FOIA favoritism: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Trump administration and red states have repeatedly been on the same side of litigation, with some judges signing off on settlements. That’s left advocacy groups to defend challenged actions, instead of government lawyers, @jacqthomsen.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

President Donald Trump put forward a new batch of nominees for district court judgeships, largely clearing the backlog of red state vacancies as time dwindles for the Senate to process his picks, @oliviaalafriz.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Judges are fielding more requests to enforce preliminary orders against the federal government in President Donald Trump’s second term, as advocates accuse the administration of sidestepping court orders, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

JUST IN: DOJ has its first newly sworn in inspector general in over 14 years. Don Berthiaume instantly sends staff a memo that underscores delicate balancing act for any Trump watchdog that'll be particularly challenging at this DOJ. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

President Donald Trump will nominate Arkansas federal trial court judge Lee Rudofsky to the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, @oliviaalafriz.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...