“Appeals court tosses injunction vs. Arizona abortion law”: The Arizona Republic has a news update that begins, “The Arizona Court of Appeals on Thursday threw out an injunction against portions of state law governing abortion that were passed in 2009.”

And Howard Fischer of The Arizona Daily Star has a news update headlined “Appeals Court: New Arizona abortion restrictions legal.”

You can access today’s ruling of the Arizona Court of Appeals at this link.

“Federal appellate Judge Terence Evans dies”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Supreme Court May Consider Whether Companies Can Be Sued Over Human Rights”: Lawrence Hurley of Greenwire has this report (via The New York Times).

“Reactions to death of Judge Terence Evans”: Bruce Vielmetti of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has this post at that newspaper’s “Proof & Hearsay” blog.

Statement from Seventh Circuit Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook regarding the death of Circuit Judge Terence T. Evans: A reader has forwarded the following statement:

Our colleague Judge Terence T. Evans died last night, a victim of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and acute respiratory distress syndrome. He was only 71 years old and until recently had been playing golf regularly. His sudden decline was a shock to all who knew this athletic, outgoing, and witty man. People can reasonably debate whether he was better at golf or at law; his friends know that he did both very well indeed.

Terry Evans was educated at Marquette University (B.A. 1962 , J.D. 1967). After graduation, and a year as law clerk to Justice Horace Wilkie of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, he became an assistant district attorney for Milwaukee County. Private practice and the state bench followed. In 1980 he was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. His service there, including a stint as Chief Judge, ended in 1995 with his promotion to the court of appeals. He took senior status in 2010, after 30 years of active service to the federal judiciary, so that he could spend more time with his family and his golf game, but he continued to hear a substantial caseload. While on the district court he selected Diane S. Sykes as a law clerk; she became his colleague on the Seventh Circuit in 2004.

What his colleagues remember of him, in addition to his energy and his commitment to equal justice under law, was his joie de vivre. He was irrepressible, which lifted everyone’s spirits. His opinions were apt to include details about popular songs pertinent to the litigation, or the number of college football teams with the nickname “Bulldogs.” Crue v. Aiken, 370 F.3d 668 (7th Cir. 2004) (counting 53 “Eagles”, 43 “Tigers”, and only 40 “Bulldogs”). A trademark suit about toilet paper offered irresistible opportunity for irreverence, without being any the less analytic. Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products, LP v. Kimberly-Clark Corp., 2011 U.S. App. Lexis 15558 (7th Cir. July 28, 2011). And despite what the Supreme Court said in PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin, 532 U.S. 661 (2001), Terry Evans was firm in his belief that walking the course is a central element of the game of golf. See Olinger v. United States Golf Ass’n, 205 F.3d 1001 (7th Cir. 2000).

All of his colleagues mourn his passing and convey sympathy to his family.

The court will hold a formal memorial service in the coming months.

Frank H. Easterbrook

Chief Judge

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

“Federal Judge Terence Evans dies overnight”: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has an update containing this very, very sad news.

Update: The Journal Sentinel, in July 2009, published a profile headlined “Moving to senior status, Judge Evans seen as funny but no joke.”

On the day that this blog turned five years old in 2007, I traveled to Milwaukee to participate as a panelist at that year’s Seventh Circuit Judicial Conference. Judge Evans, whom I had long admired from afar and had occasionally spoken with by phone, had kindly volunteered to pick me up at the airport in Milwaukee because we had plans to attend that day’s Milwaukee Brewers game together (more details of the game can be accessed here). We had a little bit of extra time before the game, so Judge Evans and I stopped into his home, where he showed off some of the photographs of his family and beloved grandchildren. I also had the pleasure of spending a little bit more time with Judge Evans at dinner the next night.

I think that the first time I had ever heard from Judge Evans was in connection with a column of mine published in Philadelphia’s legal newspaper that a former law clerk of his had forwarded to the judge. In that column from June 2001, I described Judges Posner, Easterbrook, and Evans as “the best appellate opinion writers working today.” Judge Evans was calling on the phone to tell me that he enjoyed showing the column to his colleagues, Judges Posner and Easterbrook, as evidence that at least someone thought that he was as smart and talented as they were.

After my visit to Milwaukee in May 2007, Judge Evans and I would occasionally speak by phone or exchange emails, typically when one of our favorite sports teams was in the playoffs or nearing a milestone. He and I last corresponded not too long ago when I wrote to congratulate him on switching to senior status and to hope that he would perhaps get to spend more time with the grandkids as a result. U.S. Circuit Judge Terence T. Evans was a wonderful judge and an even better person. He will be missed.

“Pa. judge gets 28 years in ‘kids for cash’ case”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Ciavarella to be sentenced today”: This article appears today in The Scranton Times-Tribune.

The Citizens’ Voice of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania reports today that “Presiding judge’s responses to letters prompt questions.”

And The Times Leader of Wilkes-Barre contains an article headlined “Parents: Give him the max.”