“State Supreme Court: New rules needed to guard against racism; High court agrees racism prevalent in jury selection; splits on how to stop it.” SeattlePI.com has this report.

And The Associated Press reports that “State justices seek protections against racial bias in jury selection.”

You can access Thursday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Washington State — a ruling in which five of the nine justices wrote separately, combining to produce a 110-page decision — at this link.

“NLRB rulings stalled pending Supreme Court review; Apparent victories by workers on hold until decision on contested 2012 appointments by President Barack Obama”: This article will appear in Sunday’s edition of The Chicago Tribune.

“Harry Reid should be ready to go ‘nuclear’ over judicial nominees”: Michael McGough has this essay online at The Los Angeles Times.

“San Diego clerk ends bid to revive Prop. 8”: Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times has this news update.

“Smithkline Beecham Corporation v. Abbott Laboratories (‘Sexual Orientation of Jurors’)”: As I noted in this earlier post, Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times contained this week’s installment of Adam Liptak’s “Sidebar” column headlined “Court to Decide if Lawyers Can Block Gays From Juries.”

Given the interest in the case, on Thursday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit posted online this web page providing free access to the most significant filings in the appeal.

Moreover, on Wednesday a three-judge panel issued an order announcing that oral argument in the case will occur in San Francisco on September 18, 2013. The order also directed the parties to submit supplemental briefing addressed to the Batson-sexual orientation issue.

If Wednesday’s order is any indication, it appears that the three-judge Ninth Circuit panel assigned to hear and decide the case consists of Circuit Judges Stephen Reinhardt and Marsha S. Berzon and Senior Circuit Judge Mary M. Schroeder. This appears to be a very favorable draw for those those who favor recognizing Batson rights based on sexual orientation.

“Contraception and Corporations”: This editorial appears today in The New York Times.

“Court upholds dismissal of suit in 6-year-old boy’s sex assault case”: At the “Proof & Hearsay” blog of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bruce Vielmetti has this post reporting on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued yesterday.