Programming note: On Thursday morning, I’ll be traveling to New Orleans, where on Friday afternoon I’ll be a speaker at this event.

My hotel will supposedly have internet access, so new posts could appear here as early as Thursday evening.

Available online from law.com: An article is headlined “No Warrant? No Problem, Rules 9th Circuit on Arrest Following Armed Standoff.” My earlier coverage of today’s en banc Ninth Circuit ruling appears here and here.

And in other news, “9th Circuit Considers Christian Student Group’s Challenge to Law School’s No-Bias Policy.”

“Texas on pace to execute far more in 2009”: This article appears today in The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

And Thursday in The Seattle Times, former Washington State Supreme Court Justice Robert F. Utter will have an op-ed entitled “Washington state must abandon the death penalty.”

Happy birthday to Justice Antonin Scalia: According to The AP’s popular “Today in History” feature, today Justice Scalia celebrates his 73rd birthday.

And on April 14, 2009, Justice Scalia will visit the University of New Mexico School of Law for an event co-sponsored by the Federalist Society.

“Model Liskula Cohen, suing over ‘skank’ slur, breaks down in court during lawsuit against Google”: The New York Daily News provides this update.

And at Slate’s “The Big Money,” Chris Thompson has an item headlined “Obscenities ‘Fly During ‘Skank” Hearing.”

“Florida lawmaker files bills that would legalize gay adoptions”: The Miami Herald has a news update that begins, “As gay rights advocates and religious groups queue up in an effort to influence the outcome of a Miami appeals court case that will help decide whether gay people can adopt children in Florida, a state lawmaker has quietly introduced two bills that could render the dispute moot.”

“How long can executions be delayed? The Supreme Court denied the appeal of a Florida inmate on death row for 32 years.” Warren Richey will have this article Thursday in The Christian Science Monitor.

“Federal appeals court rejects civil rights case against San Jose police”: Howard Mintz of The San Jose Mercury News has this update.

And The San Francisco Chronicle has a news update headlined “Court sides with cops; no warrants in standoffs.”

My earlier coverage of today’s en banc Ninth Circuit ruling appears at this link.

“Leahy Vows to Name Names if Nominees Are Delayed”: This post appears today at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

“Model to NY judge: Make Google ID blogger.” The Associated Press has this report.

Eleven-judge en banc Ninth Circuit panel divides 6-5 over the lawfulness of a warrantless in-home arrest following a 12-hour armed stand-off: You can access today’s en banc ruling at this link.

Circuit Judge Richard C. Tallman wrote the majority opinion, in which Circuit Judges Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, Pamela Ann Rymer, Ronald M. Gould, Jay S. Bybee, and N. Randy Smith joined. Dissenting from the decision were Chief Judge Alex Kozinski and Circuit Judges Harry Pregerson, Stephen Reinhardt, Sidney R. Thomas, and Richard A. Paez.

Seventh Circuit Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook quotes Yoda: At page 3 of this interesting decision that a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued today.

The quote from Yoda found in the opinion is “Size matters not,” and the opinion involves an appeal from federal criminal convictions that arose from running a brothel.

Seventh Circuit upholds $8,000 fine imposed against U.S. citizen who traveled to Iraq in early 2003 to serve as a “human shield” against U.S. military action: You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit at this link.

Earlier news coverage of the fine can be accessed via this link.

The Internal Revenue Service decided this successful CEO’s salary was unreasonably high, but a three-judge Seventh Circuit panel disagrees: Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner issued this interesting ruling today on behalf of a unanimous panel.

In coverage of the ruling, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a news update headlined “Menard wins big bucks tax case.”

“Owners of extreme pornography company plead guilty”: Paula Reed Ward of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has this news update.

Jason Cato of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a news update headlined “California porn producers plead guilty in Pittsburgh.”

And Mark Kernes of Adult Video News reports that “Extreme Defendants Plead Guilty; Rob Black, Lizzy Borden Could Each Get Up To Five Years In Prison, $250,000 In Fines” (advertisements accompanying this article may not be work safe).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit takes notice that Seventh Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner isn’t a U.S. District Judge: The Federal Circuit yesterday issued this errata correcting a non-precedential ruling issued March 6, 2009.

My earlier post on this matter can be accessed here.

“Jinsoo Kim begins his opening brief by stating, ‘Blood may be thicker than water, but here it’s far weightier than a peppercorn.'” So begins an unpublished ruling that the California Court of Appeals for the Fourth Appellate District, Division Three, issued yesterday.

In news coverage of the ruling, The Associated Press reports that “Calif. court upholds rejection of blood contract.”

My earlier coverage of this case appeared in a post from May 30, 2006 titled “You and your bloody contract.”

“Sex Column causes controversy; First Amendment issues raised”: Today’s issue of The Montana Kaimin — the student newspaper of the University of Montana at Missoula — contains an article that begins, “A University of Montana law professor who opposes the content of the Kaimin’s weekly sex column could eventually take the issue to the state legislature unless the newspaper establishes written policies for hiring columnists and reviewing content.”

A recent installment of the column can be accessed here. And the law professor’s online bio can be accessed here. (Via “Romenesko“).

“Gov. Crist to fill Supreme Court post”: The Miami Herald today contains an article that begins, “Gov. Charlie Crist will fill the last of four open seats on the Florida Supreme Court at a morning news conference Wednesday, while the debate in the Legislature turns to open records, property taxes and dismantling growth management laws.”

According to the article, Florida’s Governor is expected to select Judge James E.C. Perry of that State’s Eighteenth Judicial Circuit. Earlier this month, The St. Petersburg Times profiled Judge Perry in an article headlined “Driven to succeed by father’s failings, Circuit Judge James Perry later begins to see a different man.”

“Accused 9/11 Suspects Declare Themselves ‘Terrorists to the Bone'”: Jess Bravin has this article today in The Wall Street Journal.

You can access the pro se filing titled “The Islamic Response to the Government’s Nine Accusations” by clicking here.

“Narrowing the Voting Rights Act”: Today’s edition of The New York Times contains an editorial that begins, “The Supreme Court narrowed the scope of the Voting Rights Act this week when it ruled that it does not require states to create so-called crossover districts.”

“How the California Supreme Court’s Proposition 8 Ruling Can Vindicate Both Equality and Religious Freedom”: Douglas W. Kmiec has this essay — the second in a two-part series — online at FindLaw.

“Contentious curfew: The Supreme Judicial Court will rule whether Lowell’s late-night restriction violates the rights of those under 17, and other communities with bans will be watching closely.” This article appears today in The Boston Globe.

“Ex-appeals judge gets prison term”: Jason Cato has this article today in The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

The Erie Times-News reports today that “Fraud sends Joyce to prison; Former state judge maintains innocence.”

And Paula Reed Ward of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that “Ex-judge gets jail for insurance fraud.”