President Joe Biden said yesterday that he has narrowed his search for a Supreme Court nominee to replace the retiring Justice Stephen Breyer to four women, The Hill reports. "The short list are nominees who are incredibly well qualified and documented. They were the honor students, they come from the best universities, they have experience, some on the bench, some in the practice," Biden told NBC News' Lester Holt. "What I've done is I've taken about four people and done a deep dive on them ... to see if there’s anything in the background that would make them not qualified," Biden said. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that candidate interviews could start next week.

Items belonging to late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg are set to be donated to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., next month, The Hill reports. In a release, the Smithsonian said a “significant selection of artifacts” representing Ginsburg’s career will be given to the National Museum of American History in a March 30 ceremony. The ceremony will serve as the “first public reveal” of exactly which items will join the institution’s collections. Ginsburg will also be posthumously awarded the museum’s Great Americans medal, which recognizes “lifetime contributions embodying American ideas and ideals” and those who “have not only made a lasting impact in their fields, but whose philanthropic and humanitarian endeavors set them apart.”

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is planning to retire soon, multiple sources report, ending a nearly three-decade career on the bench. The news, first reported by NBC News, comes after months of speculation of when the 83-year-old would step down. NBC said it had the news about Breyer on good authority from “people familiar with his thinking.” According to The New York Times, President Biden is expected to formally announce the retirement at the White House tomorrow. The president has pledged to nominate the first Black female  justice if given the chance. Many believe that one person on his short list is Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a former Breyer clerk who was recently confirmed to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Hill has a list of other potential nominees.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is releasing her third children’s book tomorrow, the Associated Press reports. “Just Help! How to Build a Better World,” challenges kids to ask how they will help others, something she asks herself every night before going to sleep. The book offers practical suggestions for ways to help such as sending care packages to American soldiers overseas, recycling plastic bags, cleaning up a park or donating toys to a children's hospital. Sotomayor's other books include “Turning Pages: My Life Story” and "Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You,” about children with challenges including autism, dyslexia and Down syndrome. All of her books are published in English and Spanish.

The U.S. Supreme Court today blocked a Biden administration policy that would require employees at larger businesses be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus or undergo weekly testing and wear a mask, the Tennessean reports. "Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly," the court wrote. The high court let stand a second vaccine mandate for those employed at health care facilities that receive federal funding through Medicare and Medicaid. That measure will go into effect this month.

The U.S. Supreme Court today heard oral arguments in two cases challenging COVID-19 vaccination mandates. For over two hours of debate, the justices appeared skeptical of the administration’s attempt to impose a vaccine-or-test mandate for workers at large employers, Amy Howe writes for SCOTUSBlog. In the second case, which lasted for roughly an hour and a half, the justices seemed more receptive to efforts to impose a vaccine mandate for health care workers at facilities that receive federal funding. Both cases came to the court last month on an emergency basis and, in an unusual move, the justices opted to fast-track oral arguments on the question of whether the mandates can remain in place while challenges to their legality continue in the lower courts. Beyond the subject matter in question, COVID-19 “loomed over the courtroom” as two lawyers arguing against the mandates appeared by phone because they had recently tested positive for the virus.

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. says that judicial ethics, financial disclosures and inappropriate workplace behavior will receive “focused attention” by the judiciary’s policymaking body in the coming months, Law.com reports. The court’s year-end report released last month also says Roberts will direct the U.S. Judicial Conference to address how venue is chosen for patent cases. Questions about that process have been raised by a number of U.S. senators who say the “extreme concentration” of patent cases in Waco, Texas, may be an indication of forum-shopping. Reuters looks at that issue.

President Joe Biden’s administration on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on whether it must keep the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy, Reuters reports. Under the policy, migrants must wait weeks and sometimes years in Mexico for a U.S. court date on their bid for asylum. Biden attempted to end the policy in January, but a federal judge ruled it must be reinstated. An appeals court earlier this month agreed with the ruling. Biden’s Justice Department now seeks a ruling from the high court on whether the appeals court erred in their decision.

Late Friday afternoon, a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to reinstate the Biden administration's vaccine-or-test mandate for businesses with at least 100 employees, The Hill reports. In its ruling, the court said the administration was justified in imposing the mandate to protect workers, especially those who are unvaccinated, from “grave danger in the workplace.” The decision also dissolved a stay issued by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in November. Within hours, opponents of the mandate appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, SCOTUSBlog reports. To give businesses more time to respond, the administration said it would delay for up to six days any citations for failure to comply with the mandate. The original deadline was Jan. 4. 2022.

The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously sided with Tennessee in a 15-year legal battle with Mississippi over the rights to water in an aquifer that runs under both states, the Daily Memphian reports. Mississippi originally sued Memphis and Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division (MLGW) in 2005, claiming it was the exclusive right of DeSoto County to use the water and asking for $615 million in damages. The Supreme Court today rejected the claim that Tennessee had been wrongly taking water from Mississippi and ruled that MLGW has the right to pump water from the aquifer. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said the ruling “ensures that Memphians will continue to enjoy drinking water from the aquifer for generations to come.” Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery in a statement applauded the high court for its ruling, calling it a “clear victory for Tennessee on all issues, and for all states who share underground water resources.”