The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit is scheduled to hear oral argument in St. Croix, USVI next week: The oral arguments are scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday of next week. The panel will consist of the court’s three most-recent chief judges.

Longtime readers of this blog may recall that I once had the pleasure of arguing a Third Circuit appeal in St. Croix.

On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, Second Circuit panel sides with Justices Sotomayor and Alito and certifies meaning of New York statute at issue in Expressions Hair Design for definitive resolution by the New York State Court of Appeals: You can access today’s decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit at this link.

In agreeing to certify the issue to New York State’s highest court, the Second Circuit today followed the suggestion contained in the Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s opinion concurring in the judgment, in which Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. joined.

“Russian oligarch Deripaska drops libel suit against Associated Press”: Josh Gerstein of Politico.com has this blog post about a case that was pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

“U.S. 9th Circuit judges skeptical of Trump’s travel ban”: Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle reports that “Lawyers face off in federal court over Trump’s latest travel ban.”

Tom James and Dan Levine of Reuters report that “U.S. appeals court hears arguments on Trump travel ban.”

Gene Johnson of The Associated Press reports that “Travel ban faces scrutiny from judges who blocked it before.”

And Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News reports that “An Appeals Court Just Heard Arguments On Trump’s Third Travel Ban.”

You can view the oral argument on YouTube via this link.

In Bashman news from Australia: Josh Blackman may no longer be in Australia, but in his wake some Bashman news has arisen.

Taylah Strano of 97.3 Coast FM in Mandurah, Western Australia reports that “Fake Police bash man near Pinjarra.”

“Trump administration asks Supreme Court to overrule precedent helping unions”: Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has this report.

And Lawrence Hurley of Reuters reports that “Trump administration sides against unions in high court fees case.”

“Kim Davis denied him a marriage license. Now he wants to take her job.” Linda Blackford of The Herald-Leader of Lexington, Kentucky has this report.

And Suzannah Gonzales of Reuters reports that “Gay man to run against Kentucky clerk who denied him marriage license.”

“Judging Roy Moore: A GOP victory in Alabama may be more costly than a defeat.” This editorial appears in today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

In the first oral argument after Masterpiece Cakeshop, the U.S. Supreme Court Justices are still discussing food: Today’s oral argument in Murphy v. Smith, No. 16-1067, turned out to be quite interesting. You can access the oral argument transcript at this link. You can access the food-related questioning directly via this link.

“Same-day silence from the Supreme Court on the wedding-cake case”: Columnist Michael McGough has this essay online at The Los Angeles Times.

“Securities class action defendants, law profs claim 2nd Circuit has run amok”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this post.

“Pace of confirmations gives McConnell chance to bask in wins”: Kevin Freking of The Associated Press has a report that begins, “The pace of confirmations for President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees has quickly become a source of pride for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and fellow Republicans while Democrats are ruing the day they changed the rules to make it easier to fast-track court picks.”

“Kennedy and his new constitutional dilemma”: Lyle Denniston has a blog post that begins, “Over the years, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy has become the Supreme Court’s most energetic defender of gay rights, one of its true devotees to free speech, and a sympathetic defender of religious believers. Now, a lengthy hearing before the Justices on Tuesday showed, he has to find a way to reconcile all three.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Mark Walsh has a post titled “A ‘view’ from the courtroom: Setting the table for a major ruling.”

“What Masterpiece Cakeshop is Really About”: Douglas NeJaime and Reva Siegel have this post at the “Take Care” blog.

And online at Vox, law professor Andrew Koppelman has an essay titled “Masterpiece Cakeshop and how ‘religious liberty’ became so toxic: The right went too far with Masterpiece Cakeshop; But liberals need not fear reasonable religious exemptions.”

“Surveying the Landscape as Technology Revolutionizes Media Coverage of Appellate Courts”: You can access at this link a PDF of my essay published in the brand new print edition of The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process.

The publication’s editor — Nancy Bellhouse May — is always such a pleasure to work with, and I thank her for the invaluable assistance she provided in helping me bring this essay to fruition.