“Appeals panel upholds dismissal of school’s suit”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A federal appeals court upheld a lower court decision Friday that prevented a Christian school in Texas from joining the state’s athletic league for public schools.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit at this link.

“NRA appeals ruling blocking guns in national parks”: The Associated Press has this report.

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s ruling appears here and here.

“Kagan Sworn in as Solicitor General, May Argue Next Month”: Tony Mauro has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

Update: And Mark Sherman of The Associated Press reports that “Obama could make top high court lawyer a justice.”

All five parts of Peter Robinson’s videotaped interview with Justice Antonin Scalia are now available for viewing online: The interview is divided into the following segments:

Part one: “Justice Antonin Scalia discusses the premise of his book, Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges“;

Part two: “Justice Antonin Scalia explains why he believes the Constitution ‘is not living, but dead’“;

Part three: “Justice Antonin Scalia discusses why the originalists have lost so much ground to the devotees of a living Constitution“;

Part four: “Justice Antonin Scalia talks about Roe v. Wade — and other mistakes of the past 50 years“; and

Part five: “Justice Antonin Scalia fields questions about his career, his family, his opinions, his faith, his colleagues, his legacy, and the fate of the Constitution.”

The interview is a part of the “Uncommon Knowledge” series available online at NRO.TV.

“U.S. District Judge Crabb to retire from full-time status”: This article appears today in The Wisconsin State Journal.

And The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a news update headlined “Madison federal judge to take senior status, says district needs third judge.”

“SCOTUSblog” requests “Please take our reader survey”: Finally, a law blog that cares about what its readers want, unlike here at “How Appealing,” where I try to remain blissfully ignorant. You can access the “SCOTUSblog” survey by clicking here.

“D.C. Appeals Court Protects Lawyers Who Make Honest Mistakes”: At “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Jeff Jeffrey has this post about yesterday’s ruling of the D.C. Court of Appeals in Biomet Inc. v. Finnegan Henderson LLP.

“Appeals court rejects McDougal appeal over records”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “The transcript of Whitewater figure Susan McDougal’s grand jury testimony will remain sealed, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit at this link.

“Judge Michel Offers Views on Federal Circuit Judicial Nominees”: Mike Scarcella has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

“Apppeals court rules Madoff must stay in prison”: The Associated Press has this report.

Bloomberg News reports that “Bernard Madoff’s Bid for Freedom Denied by U.S. Court.”

And Reuters reports that “Madoff bail appeal denied.”

You can access today’s summary order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit at this link.

“Solving crimes using fingerprints is an inexact science; Although it is accepted that prints are unique, courts continue to have questions about using them to make IDs”: Jason Felch has this op-ed today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Pushing back the death penalty in New Mexico: In an act of courage, Gov. Bill Richardson repealed capital punishment in the state. Hopefully his decision will make it easier for other officials to follow their conscience.” This editorial appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Law for 90% tax rate could be hard to overturn; AIG employees who received bonuses may think they’re being targeted; But courts have long been reluctant to strike down tax legislation, legal experts say”: David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Ex-senator improperly influenced other jurors; Appeals court rejects $900,000 civil award”: Today’s edition of The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger contains an article that begins, “A former state senator and lawyer serving as a jury foreman improperly swayed fellow jurors who awarded nearly $900,000 in damages to a woman who fell in a supermarket, a state appeals court ruled yesterday.”

And The Daily Record of Parsippany, New Jersey today contains an article headlined “Court: Ex-state senator Martin unduly influenced fellow jurors in lawsuit trial; $876K verdict against Wharton ShopRite tossed out.”

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s ruling appears at this link.

“Judge Blocks Rule Permitting Concealed Guns In U.S. Parks”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s ruling appears at this link.

“Ailing Ginsburg looks back on HLS, early career”: The new issue of The Harvard Law Record contains this article.

“Dispensers of Marijuana Find Relief in Policy Shift”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

“Kagan Passes Senate Vote”: The Harvard Crimson contains this article today.

The Harvard Law Record reports that “Kagan Confirmed as Solicitor General; Dean of HLS Becomes First Woman to Serve as Solicitor General.”

And the Harvard Law School yesterday issued a news release headlined “Senate confirms Elena Kagan as solicitor general of the United States.”

“Lawyer Asks Appeal Panel to Grant Bail for Madoff”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

And law.com reports that “Madoff’s Attorney Faces Tough Questions in Bail Appeal.”

“Senate panel OKs Ind. nominee for AG role”: The Indianapolis Star today contains an article that begins, “The nomination of Hoosier lawyer Dawn Johnsen to be assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s office of legal counsel was approved today by the Senate Judiciary Committee over the objection of Republicans.”

And at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” David Ingram has a post titled “Nominee for Office of Legal Counsel Moves Forward.”

“Justice accused of breaking court order; Complaint against Roberto Rivera-Soto issued by county official”: Today’s edition of The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger contains an article that begins, “A Hunterdon County assistant prosecutor has filed a complaint against Supreme Court Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto, charging him with violating a court order sealing the identity of an investigator who used a racial slur while discussing former NBA star Jayson Williams.”

“Obama Administration Sides With Wal-Mart Workers”: Bloomberg News has a report that begins, “The Obama administration sided with women suing Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for discrimination, urging a federal appeals court to let the current and former workers sue as a group and proceed with the biggest sex-bias case in U.S. history.”

And law.com reports that “EEOC Reverses Stance on Wal-Mart Class in Gender Bias Case.”

An eleven-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will hear reargument en banc of this case on Tuesday of next week.

You can view the amicus brief that the EEOC filed yesterday in the Ninth Circuit by clicking here. And the briefs filed in support of and in opposition to en banc review can be accessed at this link.

“Supreme Court Briefs Claim Cuban Spies Received Unfair Trial in Miami”: law.com has this report.

“Ex-Bush admin official: Many at Gitmo are innocent.” The Associated Press has this report.

“Irony Board: How many ways can Senate Republicans show intellectual hypocrisy?” Online at Slate, Dahlia Lithwick has a jurisprudence essay that begins, “Let’s stipulate: You hate our nominees, and we hate yours. Our nominees are all godless baby killers and terrorist lovers. Yours are all God-crazed rights suppressors and misogynists. Fine. But isn’t it also the case that when you reverse, rewrite, or undermine every rule and standard you’ve ever laid out for measuring the fitness of a presidential nominee, you become ridiculous–period?”

“Senate confirms Kagan as solicitor general”: The Associated Press has this report.

And Reuters reports that “Senate approves Kagan as top U.S. courtroom lawyer.”

“Perdue joins Texas in voting rights case”: Today’s edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has an article that begins, “Gov. Sonny Perdue has joined a Texas case headed for the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that Barack Obama’s electoral performance in Georgia is proof that the state no longer needs the federal scrutiny required by the Voting Rights Act.”

“Court blocks rule allowing guns in national parks”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A federal judge has blocked a federal rule allowing people to carry concealed, loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges. A decision issued Thursday by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly overturns a rule issued in the waning days of the Bush administration.”

You can access at this link today’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

“Lawyer on the Pre-emption Frontlines: Frederick Won Two Supreme Court Cases That May Shape Perception of Court’s 2008 Term.” Lawrence Hurley has this front page article today in The Daily Journal of California.

“Kagan Confirmed as First Female Solicitor General”: This post appears at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

The U.S. Senate voted to confirm by a margin of 61-31.

Sixth Circuit asks Supreme Court of Ohio to decide contours of an Ohio statute prohibiting the use of the internet to exhibit to juveniles (or law enforcement officers pretending to be juveniles) any “material or performance that is obscene or harmful to juveniles”: You can access the order of certification that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued today at this link.

“Ex-senator’s role cited as court orders new trial in ShopRite fall case; Appeals court says bad rulings, Sen. Martin’s influence as jury foreman, require retrial”: The Daily Record of Parsippany, New Jersey has a news update that begins, “Citing multiple bad trial rulings and the improper influence that former state Sen. Robert Martin may have had as jury foreman, a state appeals court panel today ordered a new trial for a woman who was awarded $876,000 for a fall at the Wharton ShopRite in 2002.”

And the “Legal Profession Blog” has a post titled “Lawyer-Juror’s Article Leads To Reversal Of Judgment.”

You can access today’s ruling of the Superior Court of New Jersey’s Appellate Division at this link.

“Nacchio’s surrender date postponed”: The Denver Post has this news update.

And The Associated Press reports that “Nacchio prison term delayed; tests show no cancer.”

Programming note: Later this morning, I’ll be attending an appellate mediation being performed by a senior judge serving on the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania in an appeal where I represent a summer camp located in northeastern Pennsylvania operated by the Bobov Hasidic sect.

Additional posts will appear here this afternoon.

“Health care issue returns to Court”: Lyle Denniston has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”