From the Second Amendment to birth certificate sex classifications, the U.S. Supreme Court received a number of hot-button appeals during the month of January, even as the U.S. solicitor general’s office was rather quiet due to the presidential transition.

Each month, the National Law Journal highlights the notable petitions for certiorari, or review, that were filed in the Supreme Court. In this edition covering high court appeals filed in January, the NLJ dives into constitutional questions surrounding guns, birth certificates and trans identity, the stubborn independent state legislature theory and the latest challenge to New York Times v. Sullivan from a billionaire hotel mogul (no, not President Donald Trump.)