Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance

What to expect from the Supreme Court: The Court could issue a decision in the White House ballroom case any time now, after Chief Justice Roberts issued an administrative stay last Friday that let Trump keep working.

Here’s the highlight reel of last week’s posts and events. It was a particularly eventful week, and there’s one piece in particular that you’ll want to read now if you haven’t already. Grab a cup of coffee and get ready to catch up on anything you missed—links to all of last week’s columns below.

This has been one of those weeks when it's been difficult to cover all the important developments at the intersection of law and politics. I invited California Attorney General Rob Bonta to join us today so we could catch up on: The landmark settlement state attorneys general reached with Meta to take steps to protect minors across its platforms. AG Bonta explains what prompted Meta to settle the case mid-trial.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has been keeping us up to speed on legal developments as state attorneys general try to provide a check and balance on the president that wouldn’t exist without them. I’m grateful that he’s able to join us today, Saturday, to catch us up on three major developments this week.

Wherever you live, you probably have a trusted meteorologist you rely on when extreme weather hits. That’s especially true in parts of the country prone to hurricanes, tornadoes, snowstorms, heat waves, floods, and other severe weather. And For some folks in Florida, that meteorologist is award-winning John Morales. Morales went viral last year for his plain-spoken warnings and has tried to continue spreading science, despite all the misinformation about climate and weather.

As a friend wrote to me this morning, “I need a break.” On top of everything else, I’ve been working you overtime, writing about the legal challenges to Trump’s executive order on voting, along with everything else. We’ve talked not just about standing, but about ripeness. We’ve discussed the legal standard for getting an injunction and the distinction between a court that rules on purely procedural grounds and one that decides the substance of the matter before it.

On September 2, 2025, as Trump continued to deploy National Guard troops in American cities and openly blustered about militarizing American streets, I wrote an explainer about the law prohibiting federal troops from being stationed at the polls. When Trump first sent Marines and National Guardsmen into California, we caught the subtext. He was testing the waters. He wanted to see how much he could get away with.

I’m giving us all a much-deserved night off. We'll have plenty to discuss in the days ahead. For tonight, I’ll just share this picture from one of my happy places. See you tomorrow! We’re in this together, Joyce Share

Recap from last night: The Supreme Court said Judge Indira Talwani, in Boston, got it wrong when she enjoined the government from implementing Trump’s executive order on voting. But there was a big caveat. That decision came in the case brought by a group of state attorneys general and did not impact the injunction the Judge had put in place in the case brought by the League of Women Voters (LWV).

Here, as promised, is the video from Steve Vladeck’s and my live conversation about the Supreme Court decision today. If you missed us live, catch up on all the nuances of the Court’s decision and what comes next. Tomorrow morning, the government’s response in the League of Women Voters case is due at 8 a.m., and we can expect Judge Talwani’s decision sometime after that tomorrow. It’s all happening at lightning speed, but if you read Civil Discourse, you’re prepared.