“Appeals court blocks FedEx class action”: The Associated Press has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued today.

“GOP Sen. Sessions to oppose Sotomayor”: The Associated Press has this report.

Update: Senator Sessions announced his intention to vote “no” in an op-ed entitled “A confirmation conversion: Nominee lacks deep convictions needed to resist judicial activism” published today in USA Today.

The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “Vapid Senate hearings aside, Sotomayor merits approval; Nominee’s long record shows her to be qualified, impartial.”

“Supreme Court ruling shakes up criminal trials; Cases have been thrown out and doubts linger after last month’s decision giving defendants the right to question forensic technicians in court”: David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Amid Scrutiny, Yoo Pushes Back; Quietly but Forcefully, Author of Detainee Memos Rebuts Critics”: Carrie Johnson will have this article Monday in The Washington Post.

“Judicial Roulette”: In the Sunday Book Review section of today’s edition of The New York Times, Adam Liptak has this review of the new book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author James MacGregor Burns, “Packing the Court: The Rise of Judicial Power and the Coming Crisis of the Supreme Court.”

“Ala. senator mum on his decision about Sotomayor”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “The senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee says he has made up his mind on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, but he’s not ready to make his decision public.”

“An Abortion Battle, Fought to the Death”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

And The Associated Press reports that “Suspect in Kan. abortion killing faces hearing.”

Bashman news from here and there: Monday’s edition of The Cairns Post of Australia reports that “Party bash man dies in hospital.”

“The Sotomayor Test: Will she limit Obama’s next pick?” Dahlia Lithwick will have this essay in the August 3, 2009 issue of Newsweek.

“Kagan vows to defend some laws Obama dislikes”: Bob Egelko had this article yesterday in The San Francisco Chronicle.

“High Court Ruling Shapes Local Control; California Officials To Seek Relief from Court Oversight”: Yesterday in The Daily Journal of California, Lawrence Hurley had an article that begins, “Lawyers for California’s troubled Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation plan to file a motion Friday to test whether a little-noticed U.S. Supreme Court decision issued last month will help the state extricate itself from long-running institutional litigation.”

“Military and Media Clash In Complaint; Navy Spokesman Alleges Abuse by Miami Reporter”: Today in The Washington Post, Howard Kurtz has an article that begins, “Tensions between journalists and military officials are nothing new. But a bitter series of clashes between a top Navy spokesman and a Miami Herald military reporter reached a new, eye-opening level this week.”

And FOXNews.com has a report headlined “Naval Officer’s Letter Accuses Newspaper Reporter of Sexual Harassment.”

FishbowlDC has posted a copy of the Navy officer’s letter at this link.

Carol Rosenberg’s most recent article from Guantanamo Bay appeared Tuesday in The Miami Herald and was headlined “9/11 families’ plea: Keep Guantanamo open; The families of Sept. 11 victims have emerged as powerful voices in the effort to stop the White House from closing the Guantanamo Bay war courts and prison camps.”

“Sens. Hatch, Cornyn say they’ll vote against Sotomayor”: David Lightman and Maria Recio of McClatchy Newspapers have this report.

And The Christian Science Monitor has articles headlined “Sotomayor’s views on property rights cause concern; She was part of an appeals-court panel in 2006 that favored a private developer with the authority to seize land by eminent domain” and “State of diversity on the courts: Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination draws focus to the gains of minority and female judges nationwide.”

“L.A. federal judge closes civil trial over JDL member’s murder in prison; The privacy granted to the case involving the 2005 killing of the Jewish Defense League’s Earl Krugel is condemned by constitutional lawyers as a violation of the 1st Amendment”: Carol J. Williams has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Abortion fight is ‘enduring divide’; Argument has intensified again recently”: Joan Biskupic has this article today in USA Today.

“Religious headscarves now OK in Georgia courts”: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has this news update.

And The Associated Press reports that “Georgia courts to allow religious head coverings.”

“Conservative unease with common law: Reject judicial activism, reject an American tradition.” Nicholas Stephanopoulos has this op-ed today in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Massey drops recusal lawsuit against W.Va. Supreme Court”: The Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette has this news update.

And The Associated Press reports that “Massey drops lawsuit against WVa Supreme Court.”

“Should Ted Olson Argue in Citizens United?” Tony Mauro has this interesting post today at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

D.C. Circuit holds that conservative group lacks standing to sue to require the Secretary of Defense to enforce the Solomon Amendment against the University of California-Santa Cruz: You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit at this link.

Received in today’s mail: A copy of the book “Federal Appellate Practice” by the law firm Mayer Brown LLP.

Law professor Eugene Volokh has been discussing the book in a series of posts that have appeared recently at “The Volokh Consipracy,” and I am looking forward to reviewing the book and sharing my thoughts about it sometime soon.

Update: Eugene’s most recent post about the book is titled “Answering Questions at Oral Argument.”

“Utah’s Hatch opposes Sotomayor nomination”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Appeals court demands accounting for Indian trusts”: The Associated Press has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued today.

“GOP Sen. Cornyn to vote against Sotomayor”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Moreno: History Is on My Side on Proposition 8.” Today’s issue of The Recorder of San Francisco contains an article that begins, “Carlos Moreno stood alone in May when he dissented from the decision upholding Proposition 8. But the California Supreme Court justice says history will prove him right — that denying gays and lesbians the right to marry is illegal discrimination.”

“Hacker Can Be Sued for Fraud Under Securities Exchange Act, Says 2nd Circuit”: law.com has this report.

My earlier coverage of Wednesday’s Second Circuit ruling appears at this link.

If a jury is erroneously instructed that it must find the plaintiff was at least 51 percent responsible for causing an accident, and the jury then finds the plaintiff was 53 percent responsible, did the erroneous instruction constitute harmless error? A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit confronts that question in a ruling issued today.

The majority holds that the instruction did not constitute harmless error, while the dissenting judge would hold that the instruction was harmless error since the jury found that the plaintiff was more than 51 percent at fault.

“3rd Circuit Rejects Certification in UPS Discrimination Case”: Tomorrow in The Legal Intelligencer, Zack Needles will have an article that begins, “The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a district court’s certification of a nationwide class of employees alleging unlawful discrimination by United Parcel Service.”

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

“Key GOP senator says he’ll vote to confirm Sotomayor; Sen. Lindsey Graham’s remarks signal that Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court will move out of committee to the full Senate with some bipartisan support”: James Oliphant and David G. Savage have this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

Today in USA Today, Kathy Kiely and Blair Brettschneider report that “Sotomayor gains one GOP vote; loses one; S.C.’s Graham to vote yes; Ariz.’s Kyl, no.”

And today in The Wall Street Journal, David McIntosh has an op-ed entitled “Vote No on Sotomayor.”

“Legislative special session to address court ruling only”: Today’s edition of The Richmond Times-Dispatch contains an article that begins, “Gov. Timothy M. Kaine will reconvene the General Assembly for an Aug. 19 special session only to address a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that some commonwealth’s attorneys fear could jeopardize prosecutions.”

And today in The Washington Post, metro columnist Robert McCartney has an essay entitled “A Valid Legal Theory That Crumbles With Each DUI Arrest.”

“Their Own Private Guantanamo”: Today in The New York Times, Chisun Lee has an op-ed that begins, “As the Obama administration and Congress try to forge a legal framework for detaining suspected terrorists, they might want to take a close look at what’s happening at the federal district courthouse just a short walk down Pennsylvania Avenue from both the White House and the Capitol.”

“Specter Proposes Return to Prior Pleading Standard”: At “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” David Ingram has a post that begins, “Congress is preparing to wade into the growing debate over the pleading standard for civil lawsuits, after two recent Supreme Court decisions effectively upended longstanding precedent.”

The proposed legislation is titled the “Notice Pleading Restoration Act of 2009.”

“Judges reinstate guard’s brutality convictions”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “A federal appeals court has reinstated the brutality convictions of a Southern California prison guard for yanking two shackled inmates from a van and throwing them to the ground headfirst.”

You can access last Friday’s non-precedential ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

The case represents the latest reversal of a decision by U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real in which the Ninth Circuit has instructed that the case be assigned to a different district judge on remand.

The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “Chamber backs Sotomayor as she meets with GOP” and “NRA warns senators Sotomayor vote will be rated.”

In the August 2009 issue of ABA Journal magazine: John Gibeaut will have an article headlined “Caperton Capers: Court’s recusal ruling sparks states to mull judicial contribution laws.”

Anna Stolley Persky will have an article headlined “Sounds of Silence: Mandatory moments stir latest legal rumbling.”

Wendy N. Davis will have an article headlined “Biting Back at Obesity: The Big Apple’s calorie-counting law is staying on the menu.”

And Rachel M. Zahorsky will have an article headlined “Irvine by Erwin: Can a top legal academic create a law school that is both innovative and elite?”