Balls & Strikes

The Justice Department’s Only Job Is Settling Trump’s Weird Grievances at Taxpayer Expense

The government dropped its defenses of the executive orders attacking law firms. Then the president saw some headlines he didn’t like.

Mar 6

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February 2026

The Conventional Wisdom On Supreme Court Reform Is More Wrong Than Ever

For Democrats, running against a historically unpopular Supreme Court is basically a free space on the campaign trail bingo card.

Feb 27 • Jay Willis

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The Trump Tariffs Case Is a Preview of Bigger Supreme Court Fights to Come

The conservative justices spent four years using the major questions doctrine to thwart a Democratic president. They are carefully reserving the power…

Feb 20 • Jay Willis

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The Conservative Movement Was Ready For Antonin Scalia’s Death

The sequence of events kicked off by Scalia’s death a decade ago might feel improbable. But the right was waiting for its chance to capture the Court…

Feb 13 • Jay Willis

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Sam Alito’s Publisher Wants You to Buy the Children’s Books He Just Made It Easier to Ban

The author of Mahmoud v. Taylor is writing a book for a publisher that calls the push to ban books with LGBTQ characters an attack on “one of the most…

Feb 6 • Jay Willis

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January 2026

No Zillow Screenshots Were Involved In Ed Whelan’s Latest Twitter Misadventure

The internet’s preeminent amateur social media detective encounters an even more determined conservative legal movement poster.

Jan 30 • Jay Willis

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Trump to Supreme Court: Posting On Truth Social Is Due Process, If You Think About It

The justices confront some of the more unsettling implications of this era of government by right-wing influencer.

Jan 23 • Jay Willis

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Conservatives On X Are Pretty Sure Amy Coney Barrett Is Woke Now

The author of the perhaps the most aggressively anti-trans Supreme Court opinion in recent memory is getting branded as an ideological traitor who…

Jan 15 • Jay Willis

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Supreme Court Audition Watch: James Ho Is In a Dark, Desperate Place

The federal judiciary’s sweatiest blogger is back with even more thoughts about “cultural elites.”

Jan 9

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December 2025

The Alarmingly Racist History of the Supreme Court’s Canceled 1947 Christmas Party

The Court held its first-ever office Christmas party in 1946. The following year, the clerks suggested inviting Black employees. It did not go over…

Dec 19, 2025 • Jay Willis

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There Is Too Much Bad Legal Journalism Getting Published For Me to Cover All of It

When an editorial board unironically uses the word “woke” in a headline, you are going to encounter some very bad writing in the paragraphs that follow.

Dec 12, 2025 • Jay Willis

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A Thoughtful Child Could Spot the Problem With the Supreme Court’s Sloppy Pro-Gerrymandering Decision

The shadow docket order in the Texas redistricting case provides state lawmakers with step-by-step instructions for drawing discriminatory maps without…

Dec 6, 2025 • Jay Willis

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