“Did Precedent Make Sotomayor Rule Against Ricci?” Stuart Taylor Jr. has this lengthy post today at National Journal’s “The Ninth Justice” blog.

“State ordered to shrink prison population by 44,000 inmates”: Denny Walsh and Sam Stanton of The Sacramento Bee have this news update.

Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has a news update headlined “State must craft plan to reduce prison population in 45 days.”

The New York Times has a news update headlined “California Prisons Must Cut Inmate Population.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Fed judges order Calif. to cut inmate population.”

You can access today’s ruling of a three-judge court for the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Northern Districts of California at this link.

“Re-reading Iqbal (a new take on the 12(b)(6) wars)”: At the “Concurring Opinions” blog, law professor Jaya Ramji-Nogales has published this post written by law professor Adam N. Steinman.

Yesterday, Judge Richard A. Posner — writing for a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit — issued a decision in which he suggested in dicta that it remains possible (and, indeed, appropriate) to take a limited view of the effect of the U.S. Supreme Court‘s recent rulings in Twombly and Iqbal.

“Judge recommends $3.5 M defamation verdict be vacated”: The Citizens’ Voice of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania has a news update that begins, “A Lehigh County judge has recommended that a $3.5 million defamation verdict against The Citizens’ Voice be vacated and a new trial held. Lehigh County President Judge William Platt, appointed by the state Supreme Court to hold a hearing on allegations of case-fixing, made the recommendation to the high court Monday.”

You can access the judge’s recommendation at this link.

“Battle lines set; Senate readies Sotomayor debate”: The Associated Press has this report, along with an article headlined “Nevada Sen. Ensign will vote against Sotomayor.”

En banc D.C. Circuit to reconsider dismissal of the claims of a Sudanese pharmaceutical plant that the United States destroyed via a missle strike because the plant was allegedly connected to the terrorist activities of Osama bin Laden: In March 2009, a three-judge panel affirmed the dismissal of the pharmaceutical plant’s claims against the United States, holding that the claims presented a nonjusticiable political question. My earlier coverage of that ruling appears at this link.

Yesterday, the D.C. Circuit entered this order granting rehearing en banc.

At his “Suits & Sentences” blog, Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers has this post about yesterday’s development.

And at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Mike Scarcella has a post titled “Court Orders En Banc Hearing in Defamation Suit Against the U.S.”

“Review clears Miami Herald’s military affairs writer; A Miami Herald review has exonerated reporter Carol Rosenberg of sexual-harassment and verbal-abuse allegations”: This article appears today in The Miami Herald.

“White House Counsel’s Job at Stake”: Today in The Wall Street Journal, Evan Perez has an article that begins, “Obama administration officials are holding discussions that could result in White House counsel Gregory Craig leaving his post, following a rocky tenure, people familiar with the matter said.”

“Senate opens debate on Sotomayor for Supreme Court”: The Associated Press has this report.

C-SPAN2 provides live coverage of the U.S. Senate, and you can view the proceedings online by clicking here.