“Senators Renew Jousting Over Court Pick”: Neil A. Lewis will have this article Wednesday in The New York Times.

“New ‘Anti-Abortion Pill’ Kills Mother, Leaves Fetus Alive”: This article will appear in tomorrow’s issue of The Onion.

“Ax murderer’s execution postponed; Case is part of a national movement to stop lethal injections by raising civil rights claims about the way states carry them out”: The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware provides this news update.

“Court Pick Deflects Questions On White House Controversies”: This article will appear Wednesday in The Washington Post.

Three recent law clerks to Fourth Circuit nominee Terrence W. Boyle condemn recent attacks on his nomination as “baseless”: A letter that those former law clerks sent today to various U.S. Senators can be accessed at this link.

“California Town Uses Eminent Domain To Block Wal-Mart”: Josh Gerstein has this article (pass-through link) today in The New York Sun.

“Filibuster more likely for Boyle”: Wednesday’s edition of The Hill will contain an article that begins, “Republican senators are welcoming the impending return of judicial nominations to the Senate floor as D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Brett Kavanaugh moves toward consideration and the White House readies a new list of judges to send to Capitol Hill.”

And Reuters reports that “Court nominee says didn’t know of torture, spying.”

“I do not Think it Means what you Think it Means: How Kripke and Wittgenstein’s Analysis on Rule Following Undermines Justice Scalia’s Textualism and Originalism.” Daniel Goldberg has this article (abstract with links for download) online at SSRN (via “Legal Theory Blog“).

Don’t mess with “Texas” [on your car’s license plate]: According to an opinion that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued today, “During the suppression hearing, the officers testified that they stopped the defendant because the word ‘TEXAS’ was partially covered by the license plate frame.” According to today’s ruling, that gave Texas police officers probable cause to stop the criminal defendant’s vehicle.

“‘Gang of 14’ to meet again as Senate weighs 2 judicial nominees”: James Kuhnhenn of Knight Ridder Newspapers provides this report.

“Senators spar over judicial nominee; Kavanaugh denies involvement in wiretapping, detainee policies”: CNN.com provides this report.

The Washington Post provides a news update headlined “Judicial Nominee Appears at Contentious Second Hearing.”

And T.R. Goldman of Legal Times reports that “Kavanaugh Comes Before Senate Judiciary Again; Democrats get their wish for another hearing on nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit” (free access).

Via C-SPAN, you can view this afternoon’s judicial confirmation hearing online, on-demand by clicking here (RealPlayer required).

“Slate’s Jurisprudence: ‘War on Terror’ Surprises.” This audio segment (RealPlayer required) featuring Dahlia Lithwick appeared on today’s broadcast of NPR‘s “Day to Day.”

This afternoon’s Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for D.C. Circuit nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh has recently concluded: Toward the end of the hearing, C-SPAN3 ended its coverage because the main C-SPAN network had begun televising the hearing after the House of Representatives recessed for the day. Once C-SPAN posts online archived video of today’s hearing, I will link to it.

The committee remains scheduled to vote on the nomination at the committee’s executive business meeting this Thursday.

“This appeal concerns the scope of copyright protection afforded artistic concert posters reproduced in reduced size in a biography of the musical group the Grateful Dead.” Today, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit holds, in an opinion that you can access here, that the reproductions constituted fair use.

William Patry, whose blog on copyright law you can access at this link, was counsel for the party asserting copyright infringement on appeal.

“Kavanaugh Denies Role in Detainee Policies”: The Associated Press provides this report.

Access online yesterday’s written statement of the Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary of the American Bar Association concerning the Nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to the D.C. Circuit: The statement (a 10-page PDF document) can be accessed here (via “Think Progress“).

“How can an insane man defend himself?” On February 15, 2004, Jessica McBride had this op-ed in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about Texas death row inmate Scott Louis Panetti.

Today, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a decision affirming a federal district court’s denial of Panetti’s habeas petition in which the condemned prisoner asserts that he is mentally incompetent to be executed.

On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirms the district court’s order denying a preliminary injunction in FAIR v. Rumsfeld: Today’s non-precedential affirmance can be accessed at this link. The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the case is here. Senior Circuit Judge Ruggero J. Aldisert, the lone dissenter from the three-judge Third Circuit panel’s ruling that the U.S. Supreme Court reversed, entered today’s order for a unanimous panel.

“Cannibal Convicted of Murder in Retrial”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A man who admitted killing and eating an acquaintance he met on the Internet was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison Tuesday following his retrial in a case that engrossed and appalled Germany.”

And BBC News reports that “German cannibal guilty of murder.”

View live, online this afternoon’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for D.C. Circuit nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh: The first panel to testify consists of Senior Third Circuit Judge Walter K. Stapleton and Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski. Kavanaugh clerked for both before going on to clerk for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. Kavanaugh will then testify before the committee. The agenda is here.

C-SPAN3 is carrying the hearing live, and you can view the hearing live, online in both RealPlayer and Windows Media Player formats.

Update: Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), in his opening statement, is comparing Kavanaugh’s experience to the experience of others who have been confirmed to the D.C. Circuit. The Alliance for Justice has issued a document titled “The Kavanaugh Nomination: Nominee’s Experience Far Below Court Average” that begins, “Of the fifty-four judges who have served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. Circuit since its creation almost 111 years ago in 1893, only three have had less experience than Brett Kavanaugh: Kenneth Starr, Theodore Roosevelt appointee Charles Henry Robb and Reagan appointee Douglas Ginsburg.”

“We hold that appellants have failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination, given that the enactment of the Negro League Plans did not constitute an adverse employment action and given that the two groups of players are not similarly situated.” Major League Baseball today achieved a victory in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in a class action brought by mostly Caucasian former MLB players who were asserting not only a claim under Title VII, but also claims for battery “by subjecting them to a dangerous regimen of cortisone shots and other drugs without their informed consent.”

Know your Supreme Court: The error in a recent Ninth Circuit decision that Eugene Volokh pointed out yesterday in this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy” (and later linked here by me) has today been eradicated from the annals of the law thanks to an order amending opinion that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has issued.

District court erred in holding that federal prosecutors engaged in unlawful vindictive prosecution when obtaining convictions for money laundering and illegally structuring financial transactions against an aggressive and successful criminal defense attorney from northern Indiana: You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, written by Circuit Judge Terence T. Evans on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel, at this link.

Two quick updates: (1) Thanks to all the readers who have emailed contest ideas for determining which reader of “How Appealing” will obtain an advance reading copy of the book “Anonymous Lawyer: A Novel.” I’m setting a deadline for contest ideas of 5 p.m. eastern time today, and ideas can be emailed to me at this blog’s email address, which is appellateblog@hotmail.com. Complete details appear in this post from yesterday. The “How Appealing” reader who proposes the contest that I end up using will himself or herself also receive an advance reading copy of the book. All determinations of the contests’ judge (namely, me) are final.

(2) In connection with this blog’s popular “20 questions for the appellate judge” feature, scheduled to resume in June 2006, I am continuing to seek an interviewee. As during the feature’s initial 20-month run, interviewees are being sought on a purely volunteer basis, and the first federal or state court appellate judge to volunteer as the June 2006 interviewee will become the participant in next month’s interview. To volunteer, an appellate judge (or his or her authorized designee) merely needs to send me an email at this blog’s email address, appellateblog@hotmail.com. Once someone has volunteered as next month’s interviewee, I will announce that the June 2006 “20 questions for the appellate judge” interview slot has been filled.

Law professor achieves at least the 35th best paper in UCLA Law Review write-on competition: Law Professor Eugene Volokh explains all in a post at “The Volokh Conspiracy” titled “What I Did This Spring Vacation.” Next year, perhaps he will retake the LSAT exam.

“Research Center to Be Named for Rehnquist”: The Associated Press provides this report.

“Area judge ranked 4th in free trips; Group lists Jones among the circuit jurists going on the most junkets paid by conservatives”: Today in The Houston Chronicle, Harvey Rice has an article that begins, “Chief Judge Edith Jones of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ranks fourth on a list of judges who accept free trips sponsored by conservative interest groups and corporations, according to a report by an environmental law group.”

In news from Connecticut: Today in The Hartford Courant, Lynne Tuohy reports that “Rell To Form Panel On Court Access.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Rell defends federal judge recommendation, predicts confirmation.”

Available online from National Public Radio: Today’s broadcast of “Morning Edition” contained a segment entitled “Moussaoui Asks for New Trial.”

And yesterday evening’s broadcast of “All Things Considered” contained a segment entitled “Indian Tribe May Open Abortion Clinic on Its Land.”

RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments.

“The Kavanaugh hearing”: This editorial appears today in The Washington Times.

“Enron verdict hinges on Lay, Skilling testimony, experts say”: Mary Flood has this article today in The Houston Chronicle. And the newspaper also contains an article headlined “Lay, Skilling say they ‘feel good’; Final testimonies give 2 contrasting views of company’s former chairman.”

The Wall Street Journal reports today that “Enron Trial to Start Its Final Chapter; Defense and Prosecution Rest Without Calling New Experts; Closing to Start Next Week” (free access).

The New York Times contains an article headlined “What Remains Unanswered at Enron Trial.”

And The Washington Post reports that “After Six Weeks, Defense Rests In Enron Trial; Verdict Could Turn on Defendants’ Words.”

“Court hears killer’s appeal; Lawyers seek access to Balto. County files to explore racial bias”: The Baltimore Sun contains this article today.

And The Washington Post reports today that “Injection Illegal, Attorneys Argue; Lawyers Also Say Bias Taints Decision to Seek Death Penalty.”

“Sniper prosecution continues; Muhammad cross-examines witnesses to fatal shooting at Mobil station”: This article appears today in The Baltimore Sun.

And in The Washington Post, columnist Marc Fisher has an op-ed entitled “Too Much Pain, Not Much Point in Sniper Trial.”

“Moussaoui’s Move to Recant Guilty Plea Is Denied”: Neil A. Lewis has this article today in The New York Times.

The Washington Post reports today that “Moussaoui Fails in Bid to Withdraw 9/11 Guilty Plea.”

The Los Angeles Times reports that “Judge Denies Bid by Moussaoui to Withdraw Guilty Plea; The convicted Al Qaeda operative says he was surprised to have gotten a fair trial and now contends he was not involved in the 9/11 plot.”

And The Washington Times reports that “Moussaoui asks judge to withdraw guilty plea.”

“Senate Rejects Award Limits in Malpractice”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

And The Los Angeles Times reports today that “Senate Defeats Effort to Limit Medical Malpractice Awards; The measures, which had been a priority for Bush, would have limited damages for pain and suffering to $250,000 in most cases.”