“Filibuster Fray Lifts Profile of Minister; Scarborough Has Network and Allies”: This front page article will appear Sunday in The Washington Post.

“Senate’s Partisan Showdown Has Legs”: Sunday’s edition of The Los Angeles Times will contain a news analysis that begins, “Welcome to May Madness, Washington style. The Senate is careening toward a showdown over federal judges that poses enormous political risks for both Republicans and Democrats. But neither side seems willing or able to stop it.”

“Ending the Senate Impasse”: Sunday’s edition of The Washington Post will contain an editorial that begins, “We believe that presidents are generally entitled to deference in judicial nominations and that their nominees are generally entitled to up-or-down votes. So we ought to support the Republicans’ detonation of the ‘nuclear option’ when the Senate returns from recess this week, right? Well, not exactly.” The editorial concludes with an interesting proposal — if the parties are unable to reach a compromise now, the U.S. Senate should consider a “nuclear option” rule change that would take effect in January 2009, after a new President is in office and two additional Senate election cycles have occurred.

Interesting developments regarding federal judges’ service on the board of Foundation for Research on Economics & the Environment: On Friday, The Washington Post contained an article headlined “Judge Ends Ethics Case By Leaving Foundation; Appearance of Partiality Is at Issue” that begins, “A federal judge in Maryland has ended an ethics complaint against him by resigning from the board of a corporate-funded group that opposes environmental regulation and provides free seminars and trips to judges.”

The article predicted that the resignation by U.S. District Judge Andre M. Davis would put pressure on three federal appellate judges on the organization’s board to resign. Those three appellate judges are D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg, Sixth Circuit Chief Judge Danny J. Boggs, and Third Circuit Judge Jane R. Roth.

Today, The Washington Post contains an article headlined “Judges to Leave Environmental Group’s Board” that begins, “Two federal appeals court judges in Washington resigned yesterday from the board of an organization that opposes environmental regulations, ending an ethics controversy surrounding their roles. Chief Circuit Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington and Judge Jane R. Roth of the Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit announced their resignations yesterday, according to a news release posted on the organization’s Web site.”

And The Bozeman (Mont.) Daily Chronicle reports today that “Judges resign from FREE board.”

Community Rights Counsel has made available online copies of its ethics complaints against Chief Judge Ginsburg; Chief Judge Boggs; Judge Roth; and Judge Davis. The complaints against Chief Judges Ginsburg and Boggs had been transferred to Eighth Circuit Chief Judge James B. Loken, who will serve as acting Chief Judge of the transferror circuits in considering the ethics complaints.

Finally, the order that Fourth Circuit Chief Judge William W. Wilkins issued on Thursday dismissing the ethics complaint against Judge Davis, in light of Judge Davis’s resignation from FREE, can be viewed at this link.

“Appeals Court Backs Dismissal of Suit on F.B.I.” The New York Times today contains this article reporting on yesteray’s not-for-publication ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

In reaction to the ruling, the ACLU yesterday issued a press release entitled “Appeals Court, Without Opinion, Affirms Dismissal of Sibel Edmonds’ Case; Court Allows Government to Use Secrecy to Avoid Accountability.”

The ruling of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the reasoning of which the D.C. Circuit adopts in affirming, can be accessed here.

“Tobacco Industry Is Given Victory by a Panel of U.S. Judges”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

In the May 16, 2005 issue of U.S. News & World Report: The magazine will contain articles headlined “The Nuclear Option: The fallout could really be devastating if Republicans prevent Democrats from filibustering Bush’s judicial nominees“; “Who will be the test case?“; and “Talking an Issue to Death.”

In Sunday’s edition of The New York Times: Tomorrow’s newspaper will contain an article headlined “A Blog Revolution? Get a Grip.”

And the cover story of The New York Times Magazine, “The Fathers’ Crusade,” features Michael A. Newdow and others battling for fathers’ rights.

In news from Texas: The Houston Chronicle today contains an article headlined “Gonzales: Prisoner abuse doesn’t qualify as torture; U.S. attorney general says legal definition not met.” The newspaper also provides a news update headlined “Gonzales tells HCC grads to remember their roots.”

In news from Florida: The Miami Herald today contains an article headlined “Judge: Agents were not at fault in nabbing Elian.”

And The St. Petersburg Times today contains an article headlined “Divorced? A love life may imperil the alimony; The Legislature passes a controversial alimony bill, which one representative calls ‘antiwoman.’”

“Court Rejects Anti-Piracy Regulation; The FCC overstepped its authority in ordering a deterrent system in new video devices, judges say”: This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Bracing for the Filibuster Fight and Preparing for Its Fallout”: Sunday’s edition of The New York Times will contain this article.

And The Associated Press offers reports headlined “Schumer Urges Bush to Rein in Judge Fight” and “7 Judges’ Futures Hang in Filibuster Fight.”

“Reid blasts Hatch, tries to reassure Utah Dems”: This article appears today in The Salt Lake Tribune.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal today contains an article headlined “Reid calls Bush ‘a loser’; Comment draws sharp rebuke from GOP; senator admits afterward he crossed line, apologizes.”

The Mobile Register contains an article that begins, “U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions admits it now. In the late 1990s, he strove to keep federal appeals court nominee Richard Paez of California from getting a confirmation vote on the Senate floor. But rather than resort to a filibuster, the blocking tactic that more than 40 Democrats have publicly used to keep Mobile native Bill Pryor off the bench, Sessions turned to a secretive maneuver known as a ‘hold’ that allows just one senator to stall a nomination. Although Paez was eventually confirmed, the process took more than four years, one of the longest continuous waits in congressional history.”

The Cincinnati Post reports that “Chabot is joining the fight.”

The North Platte (Neb.) Telegraph contains an article headlined “Filibuster is an important tool.”

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner contains an article headlined “Murkowski dines with soldiers’ spouses” in which both judicial filibusters and the so-called “nuclear option” are mentioned.

The Naples Daily News contains an op-ed by Star Parker entitled “The Senate should go nuclear: Democratic use of filibuster is a distortion of good government.”

Finally for now, in tomorrow’s edition of The Washington Post, Lincoln Caplan will have an essay entitled “This Fight’s About More Than Judgeships” that mentions my “20 questions for the appellate judge” interview with Eleventh Circuit Judge Stanley F. Birch, Jr.

“The Father of Roe v. Wade”: In the Book World section of tomorrow’s edition of The Washington Post, Law Professor Akhil Reed Amar will have this review of Linda Greenhouse’s new book, “Becoming Justice Blackmun: Harry Blackmun’s Supreme Court Journey.”

“‘Becoming Justice Blackmun’: Deconstructing Harry.” Laura Kalman will have this review of Linda Greenhouse’s new book, “Becoming Justice Blackmun: Harry Blackmun’s Supreme Court Journey,” in tomorrow’s edition of the Sunday Book Review of The New York Times.

And via C-SPAN, you can view online by clicking here (RealPlayer required) last Sunday’s broadcast of “After Words: Linda Greenhouse interviewed by Tim O’Brien.”