“Omar Khadr fills prison time with education”: The Edmonton Journal has this report.

“Appeals court rules Kansas man liable for escape”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A federal appeals court has ruled that a Kansas man was legally in custody while under house confinement and can be prosecuted for escape for leaving his home.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit at this link.

“Administration faces tough fight on contraception cases”: Josh Gerstein at Politico.com has this report.

“Christie pulls plug on Supreme Court nominee amid squabble with Democrats”: The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger has this news update.

And Bloomberg News reports that “Christie Pulls N.J. Top Court Pick in Feud With Democrats.”

“Gun-rights groups file appeal of SAFE Act decision”: The Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle has a news update that begins, “Gun-rights groups Friday filed a notice of appeal of Tuesday’s decision that upheld most of New York’s gun-control law.”

Little Sisters ministry files reply in support of continued stay of Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate requirement: You can access the reply filed this afternoon in the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.

It begins, “The temporary injunction issued Tuesday night saved Mother Provincial Loraine Marie Maguire from the choice of violating her faith by executing the government’s required form, or exposing the Little Sisters’ ministry to decimation by IRS penalties.”

“Court Backs Shielding of Legal Memo on Phone Records”: Charlie Savage of The New York Times has this news update.

And The Washington Post has a news update headlined “Appeals court rules that opinion on FBI phone surveillance can remain secret.”

My earlier coverage of today’s D.C. Circuit ruling appears at this link.

Update: At “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Mike Scarcella has a post titled “DOJ Surveillance Law Memo Can Remain Secret, Court Says.”

“Justice Dept. Appeals Ruling in NSA Case”: WSJ.com’s “Washington Wire” blog has a post that begins, “The Justice Department Friday appealed a judge’s ruling issued last month that called the National Security Agency’s collection of phone records ‘almost certainly’ unconstitutional.”

Update: In other coverage, The Associated Press reports that “Government moves to appeal surveillance ruling.”

“Women Losing Access to Abortion as Opponents Gain Ground in State Legislatures”: Erik Eckholm will have this article in Saturday’s edition of The New York Times.

“Losing Aaron: After his son was arrested for downloading files at MIT, Bob Swartz did everything in his power to save him. He couldn’t. Now he wants the institute to own up to its part in Aaron’s death.” This lengthy article appears in the January 2014 issue of Boston Magazine.

Same-sex marriage plaintiffs file response in U.S. Supreme Court to Utah’s stay request: You can access the response at this link.

In early news coverage, The Associated Press reports that “Lawyers ask Supreme Court to allow same-sex unions.”

Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has a news update headlined “Same-sex marriage advocates urge Justices to reject Utah’s request to stop the unions.”

Brooke Adams of The Salt Lake Tribune has a news update headlined “Attorneys: Utah arguments don’t warrant stay by U.S. Supreme Court; State’s claims already considered and rejected, they say.”

The Deseret News has an update headlined “Stopping same-sex marriage would harm couples, children, attorneys argue in Supreme Court brief.”

USA Today reports that “Supreme court asked to reject Utah bid to ban gay marriage; A lower court’s ruling has triggered a rush of same-sex marriage in the state.”

Lawrence Hurley of Reuters reports that “Gay marriage supporters ask top court not to block Utah weddings.”

Bill Mears of CNN.com reports that “Supreme Court asked to permit same-sex marriage in Utah.”

And Chris Geidner of BuzzFeed reports that “Same-Sex Couples Urge Supreme Court To Let Utah Weddings Continue During Appeal.”

“Adminstration says Colo. nuns do not need injunction against health law provision”: Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has this news update.

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has a news update headlined “No need to delay Obamacare birth control rule, administration says.” Earlier, in today’s newspaper, he had an article headlined “Compromise remains elusive on health law’s contraceptive coverage; Divisions between Catholic leaders and the Obama administration remain so deep that the Supreme Court will probably have to resolve the issue.”

Brent Kendall and Louise Radnofsky of The Wall Street Journal have a news update headlined “Obama Administration Urges High Court to Preserve Birth-Control Mandate; U.S. Says Religious Groups Have No Basis for Blocking Provisions.”

USA Today reports that “Justice Dept. opposes block on contraceptive mandate; The government responds to an order by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.”

The Washington Times has a news update headlined “White House urges Supreme Court to reject nuns’ appeal for birth control exemption.”

Lawrence Hurley of Reuters reports that “U.S. asks top court not to extend Catholics’ contraception exemption.”

Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press has a report headlined “Gov’t: Birth control mandate should not be blocked.”

Politico.com has reports headlined “Sonia Sotomayor faces health law contraception decision” and “5 key questions about the legal issues of the contraception mandate.”

Bill Mears of CNN.com reports that “U.S. asks court to preserve Obamacare contraception mandate.” Earlier, he had an article headlined “Supreme Court to rule on Obamacare, same-sex marriage injunctions.”

Ryan J. Reilly of The Huffington Post reports that “Obama’s Lawyers Shoot Down Catholic Groups’ Objections To Birth Control Mandate.”

Sahil Kapur of TPM DC reports that “Obama Administration Tells Supreme Court Not To Weaken Birth Control Mandate Under Obamacare.”

At “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Marcia Coyle has a post titled “Justice Dept. Opposes Injunction in Nuns’ Contraceptive Suit.”

The Hill has a blog post titled “DOJ rejects nuns’ argument on contraception mandate.”

The Tennessean reports today that “Nashville Catholic Diocese buoyed by temporary block of health law’s birth control mandate.”

And today’s edition of The New York Times contains an editorial titled “No Burden on Religion.”

“Electronic Frontier Foundation appeals the District Court’s denial of its request under the Freedom of Information Act for disclosure of a legal opinion prepared for the Federal Bureau of Investigation by the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice.” So begins an opinion that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued today.

The ruling concludes that “the entire OLC Opinion is exempt from disclosure under the deliberative process privilege.”

“Filed now: Justice Dept. opposition to temporary block on ACA contraceptive mandate in nuns’ suit.” A few minutes ago, Michael A. Scarcella had this tweet linking to the federal government’s response in opposition.

“The President vs. the Senate: Now the Supreme Court will weigh in on Obama’s power play to stock the National Labor Relations Board.” David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey have this op-ed today in The Wall Street Journal.

You can freely access the full text of the op-ed via Google.

“9th Circuit will revisit migrant bail”: Michael Kiefer has this article today in The Arizona Republic.

And in today’s edition of The Arizona Daily Star, Howard Fischer has an article headlined “Appeals court to review law denying bail to some illegal entrants.”

You can access yesterday’s order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granting rehearing en banc at this link.