“Federal Judge’s Transfer of Cases Prompts Questions”: law.com provides a report that begins, “A recent decision by Miami Senior U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King to excuse himself without explanation from all criminal cases prompted a flurry of inquiries and legal challenges by defense attorneys.”

On this evening’s broadcast of NPR‘s “All Things Considered“: The broadcast contained segments entitled “Battle Over Supreme Court Nomination Lurks in Future” and “Tobacco Industry Trial Wraps up with Final Arguments.”

“Brown Approved For D.C. Circuit; Senate Confirms California Justice, Sets Vote on Pryor”: This front page article will appear Thursday in The Washington Post.

The Los Angeles Times provides a news update headlined “Senate Confirms Brown Judgeship After Bitter Battle.”

The Sacramento Bee provides a news update headlined “Rogers Brown confirmed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for D.C.” Today’s print edition of the newspaper contains an article headlined “Senate OK seen for state justice.”

And at law.com, T.R. Goldman reports that “Brown Confirmed for D.C. Circuit Seat.”

Law Professor Eugene Volokh discusses the launch of Goldstein & Howe’s “The Supreme Court Nomination Blog“: You can access Eugene’s post here.

I am even more fascinated by the thoughts expressed in the first comment to a post titled “The Most Often Mentioned Candidates And The Prospects For A Senate Fight” found at the new blog.

The Goldstein & Howe law firm has positioned itself as the one law firm in the United States that focuses its practice almost entirely on handling cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Even accepting that the new blog will accomplish its goals of being neutral and informational, the tone of the confirmation battle to come will certainly influence how even a neutral and informational blog will be perceived by those at the Court.

For example, a neutral and informational blog devoted to covering the confirmations of Justices Stephen G. Breyer or Ruth Bader Ginsburg would have been unlikely to ruffle many feathers, but imagine even a neutral and information blog devoted to covering what transpired in the confirmation battle over Justice Clarence Thomas. If your livelihood were earned practicing before the Court, would you want to be running such a blog?

To be sure, the confirmation battles to come may not generate as much furor as the Thomas confirmation battle did, but that won’t be for lack of effort on the part of many politically savvy groups. Thus, while I have great affection for Tom Goldstein and his colleagues and co-bloggers, and I really look forward to the existence of the new blog, I’m not sure I would have decided to go ahead with the effort had I been in his position.

“Senate OKs Brown, Ends Pryor Filibuster”: Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press provides this report.

James Kuhnhenn of Knight Ridder Newspapers reports that “Alabama judicial nominee expected to receive confirmation vote.”

And Reuters reports that “Senate confirms disputed Bush judicial nominee.”

The vote to confirm Janice Rogers Brown to the D.C. Circuit was 56-43, while the vote in favor of cloture on the nomination of William H. Pryor, Jr. to the Eleventh Circuit was 67-32.

Orioles 5, Astros 4: My son’s baseball team entered the bottom of the final inning down a run but scored twice to secure the win. That puts the team into the final four, with the semifinal game scheduled for tomorrow evening.

This evening’s Senate votes on judicial nominees: My son’s little league baseball team has a playoff game this evening, and right now the team is just two victories away from the finals. Last year his team made it to the finals, but lost. So that’s where I’ll be, instead of providing timely coverage here of this evening’s up-or-down vote on D.C. Circuit nominee Janice Rogers Brown and this evening’s cloture vote on Eleventh Circuit nominee William H. Pryor, Jr.

But, all hope is not lost. You can view the U.S. Senate proceedings live via C-SPAN2 by clicking here. Soon after the votes are completed, the Senate will post the official roll call tallies here. And the official Senate nomination data for Justice Brown and Judge Pryor can be accessed by clicking on their names.

How blogging has changed his life: Law Professor Daniel Solove has this interesting post (accompanied by a very funny cartoon) at “PrawfsBlawg.”

“Judge queries cause of tobacco remedy cut”: Reuters provides this report.

“Who Wants to Draft Judge Prado?” Orin Kerr provides this answer at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

This convicted defendant is entitled to no more bites at the Booker apple, Eleventh Circuit holds: A decision that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued today involves a criminal defendant who sought to file with the Eleventh Circuit a supplemental brief invoking Booker, then filed a cert. petition with the U.S. Supreme Court complaining that he was denied the benefit of Booker, but when he was resentenced for another reason in the interim and the federal district court gave the defendant the option of being resentenced under Booker‘s regimen, the defendant said “no thanks.”

Law Professor Douglas A. Berman offers his take on the ruling here at the “Sentencing Law and Policy” blog.

“False Federalism: In Gonzales v. Raich, it’s the state that’s violating federalist principles.” Wesley J. Smith has this essay today at National Review Online.

“Another round in RICO abortion case”: At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has this post about a case that I have been following closely (my most recent post about the case can be accessed here).

In other news from Tennessee: The Associated Press is reporting that “Condemned Killer Challenges Tenn. Method” and “Tenn. Judge OKs Mexican Mom Visitation.”

“Chief justice to retire after 35 years as judge”: The Tennessean yesterday contained this article.

Bob Egelko is reporting: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, he has an article headlined “Judge defends writing on affirmative action; State high court’s Brown denies linking it with Jim Crow” that makes reference to this earlier post (and, in particular, this link in that post) here at “How Appealing.”

And in other news, an article headlined “Random search at airports ruled OK” reports on this ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued yesterday.

“A guide to Gonzales vs. Raich: What the medical marijuana ruling means for patients, the commerce clause, marital sex, Antonin Scalia’s career and more.” Ryan Grim has this interesting essay online at Salon.com.

“Supreme Confusion in the Plame Case”: Former Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson has this op-ed (pass-through link) today in The Wall Street Journal.

“Vote on Pryor may come Thursday”: The Mobile Register today contains an article that begins, “A final Senate vote on Mobile native Bill Pryor’s confirmation for a lifetime federal judgeship has been tentatively moved up to Thursday, one day earlier than previously expected, a spokeswoman for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Tuesday.”

Yesterday, that newspaper contained an article headlined “Two-year wait could be over this week for Mobile native.”

And The Associated Press is reporting that “Senate set to confirm two Alabama natives to bench.”

Here is the U.S. Senate‘s schedule as I understand it. Today at 5 p.m., the Senate will hold an up-or-down vote on the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

When that vote concludes, at approximately 5:30 p.m., the Senate will move immediately to a vote on cloture of debate on the nomination of William H. Pryor, Jr. for a lifetime post on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. That would allow an up-or-down vote on Judge Pryor’s nomination to occur tomorrow.

Thereafter, by early next week, the Senate will hold up-or-down votes on the nomination of Thomas B. Griffith to serve on the D.C. Circuit and on the nominations of Richard Allen Griffin and David W. McKeague to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

As far as what’s in store for other federal appellate court nominees, The Hill today contains an article headlined “Frist won’t speed votes on judges.”

“Rehnquist on Losing End of Rights Cases”: Gina Holland of The Associated Press provides this report.

“DraftPrado for the Supreme Court”: A reader emails the link to this new web site. The Court would surely benefit from having a master of sound effects in its midst.

The U.S. Senate is scheduled to begin this final day of debate on the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit at 9:30 a.m.: Thanks to C-SPAN2, you can view the debate live online by clicking here. An up-or-down vote on the nomination is scheduled for 5 p.m. today.

“Florida Supreme Court Takes Up Vouchers”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

In The New York Sun, Luiza Ch. Savage reports today that “Florida Governor Moves To Defend Voucher Program.”

The Miami Herald reports that “Court hears voucher arguments; Skeptical Florida Supreme Court justices questioned lawyers for the state about whether Florida’s school voucher program is constitutional.”

The Tallahassee Democrat reports that “Thousands vouch for system; Florida Supreme Court justices hear arguments on school program.”

The St. Petersburg Times reports that “State high court has tough questions about vouchers; Justices hear debate on Opportunity Scholarships, with the fate of other voucher programs riding on the court’s decision.”

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel contains an article headlined “Historic time for school voucher program as Supreme Court considers case.”

The Tampa Tribune reports that “Justices Hear Voucher Case.”

The Palm Beach Post reports that “Justices question legislators’ authority in school voucher case.”

And The Ledger of Lakeland, Florida reports that “Florida Justices Consider Vouchers; High court focuses mainly on the state’s obligation to pay for free public schools.”

“Retired justice criticizes Williams ruling; Robert G. Flanders Jr. says the state’s chief justice should have declined to serve on a military review panel”: The Providence (R.I.) Journal contains this article today.

“Defense Lawyers Present Statements at Terror Trial”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

The Washington Post reports today that “Co-Defendants in Fla. Deny Ties to Conspiracy.”

In The New York Sun, Josh Gerstein today has an article headlined “Terror Trial More Snooze and Bore Than ‘Shock and Awe.’”

The St. Petersburg Times reports today that “A rift appears in defense; Attorneys for the three other men accused deny their clients had much involvement with Sami Al-Arian’s organizations.”

The Tampa Tribune contains articles headlined “Testimony In Al-Arian Trial Begins With A Few Yawns“; “Attorney Describes Fariz As Empathetic“; “Defense Of Ballut Focuses On Speech“; and “Case For Hammoudeh Centers On His Charitable Work, Peace Studies.”

And The Orlando Sentinel contains an article headlined “Defense: Al-Arian associates have no terror-group links; Lawyers say the 3 are being targeted by the government for associating with other Muslims.”

“FAMU replaces law-school dean; Percy Luney is removed after an audit finds the school has a possible ghost employee”: The Orlando Sentinel contains this article today.

The St. Petersburg Times reports today that “FAMU law dean put on paid leave; Interim president Castell Bryant offered little explanation except to say her decision involved an audit of the payroll.”

And The Tallahassee Democrat reports that “FAMU law school’s dean placed on indefinite leave.”

“Judge may be suspended for tantrum; Action stems from tiff with city deputy mayor”: This article appears today in The Detroit Free Press.

“Judging This Court”: Columnist George F. Will has this essay today in The Washington Post. That newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “Not About Pot.”

And The Wall Street Journal today contains an editorial entitled “High on the Commerce Clause: The unfortunate implications of the medical marijuana ruling.”

“U.S. won’t seek death penalties; Three accused in connection with truck-stop deaths will go to trial in October”: Harvey Rice has this article today in The Houston Chronicle.

“Court Says OxyContin Patent Is Invalid”: The New York Times contains this article today.

And The Philadelphia Inquirer today contains an article headlined “Court: Endo can sell painkiller; The Chadds Ford drugmaker won a patent appeal over Purdue to market the generic of the popular OxyContin.”

“Senate Ends 2nd Filibuster of a Nominee; A confirmation vote — a result of last month’s bipartisan deal — on California Supreme Court Justice Brown could come today”: This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

The Washington Times reports that “Brown filibuster finally broken.”

David Kravets of The Associated Press provides a news analysis headlined “Brown may leave ‘black seat’ on state Supreme Court.”

And The Baltimore Sun contains an editorial entitled “Advise and reject.”

“Tobacco Escapes Huge Penalty; U.S. Seeks $10 Billion Instead of $130 Billion”: The Washington Post contains this front page article today.

The Los Angeles Times reports today that “U.S. Eases Demands on Tobacco Companies.”

And The New York Times reports that “U.S. Finishes Tobacco Racketeering Case.”

“Court to Rule on Chinese Boy’s Request for Stay of Deportation”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

And The Houston Chronicle reports today that “Teen from China sees asylum as only hope; Immigrant fears a smuggling gang will kill him if he is deported.”