“Judicial Nominations in the Bush and Obama Administrations’ First Nine Months”: Russell Wheeler of The Brookings Institution has this report.

“Judge Cooke affirmed for dismissing count against Ben Kuehne”: David Oscar Markus has this post at his “Southern District of Florida Blog” about a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued today.

“Halloween Costume Comes Back to Haunt Woman in Sexual Harassment Case”: The blog “Siouxsie Law” — self-described as “an offbeat-gothic-legal blog” — has this timely post about a recent ruling of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.

“In Battle Over Gay Marriage, Timing May Be Key”: Adam Liptak will have this new installment of his “Sidebar” column in Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times.

“The Bench in Purgatory: The new Republican obstructionism on Obama’s judicial nominees.” Doug Kendall has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“9/11 Conspirator Seeks Appeal”: Yesterday evening’s broadcast of C-SPAN’s “America & the Courts” featured the audio of last month’s Fourth Circuit reargument of Zacarias Moussaoui’s appeal. You can view the broadcast online, on-demand by clicking here.

“An Affectionate Portrait of Bill Rehnquist, Regular Guy”: Law professor Rod Smolla has this book review today in The Richmond Times-Dispatch.

“Justices Ginsburg, Scalia onstage in Washington National Opera’s ‘Aridane'”: Today at the “Clef Notes” blog of The Baltimore Sun, you can access this post, featuring photos.

And The Associated Press reports that “Scalia, Ginsburg play nonspeaking opera roles.”

“Botched surgery case to test pain, suffering limits”: This article appears today in The Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World.

“Merit selection process for R.I. judges to get a close analysis”: Today in The Providence Journal, columnist Ed Fitzpatrick has an op-ed that begins, “In the last few weeks, news about the Rhode Island judiciary has been dominated by accounts of how retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank J. Williams is embroiled in a messy divorce case involving his former driver.”

“New Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman ready to face challenges”: This interview appears online at the web site of The Dallas Morning News.

“State court deal nears $2 billion”: Today’s edition of The Sacramento Bee contains an article that begins, “An effort to create a centralized computer system for California’s state courts, originally conceived as a modest upgrade in a few counties, now faces total costs approaching $2 billion and is years away from large-scale implementation, an investigation by The Bee has found.”

“Most state judges in the US must retire in 70s”: The Associated Press has this report.

“To Build Practice, Ex-Bush SG Embraces Liberal Clients”: law.com’s Tony Mauro has this report.

“2 Supreme Court justices taking stage in DC opera”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Pfizer Unit Must Pay Prempro Damages, Jury Concludes”: Bloomberg News has a report that begins, “A Pfizer Inc. unit concealed the breast-cancer risks of its hormone-replacement therapy drug Prempro and is liable for $3.7 million in damages to an Illinois woman, a Philadelphia jury ruled in the second phase of a trial.”

“Candidates for Pa. Supreme Court debate”: This article appears today in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

And today in The Philadelphia Daily News, columnist John Baer has an essay entitled “West meets East in Supreme Court debate dustup.”

“State lets parks crack down on nude beachgoers”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “The California Supreme Court poured cold water on skinny-dippers Thursday, allowing state parks officers to enforce a ban on nudity at state beaches, including those that have been informally designated as ‘clothing optional.'”

Metropolitan News-Enterprise reports today that “Supreme Court Denies Review of Nude Sunbathing Ruling.”

The Orange County Register reports that “Nudists lose fight to keep beach clothing-optional; The state’s highest court refused to hear a naturist group’s appeal for Trail 6 in San Onofre.”

And The Marin Independent Journal reports that “State can crack down on nude bathers, but probably won’t in Marin.”

“Minnesota Supreme Court rules water in woman’s bong counts as drug”: The St. Paul Pioneer Press contains this article today.

You can access yesterday’s 4-3 ruling of the Supreme Court of Minnesota at this link.

“Police for Profit: A big property seizure case hits the Supreme Court.” This editorial will appear Saturday in The Wall Street Journal.

“Skilling’s Enron Appeal: Is ‘Honest Services Fraud’ a Bogus Charge?” Time magazine has this report.

“Chief Justice Roberts dedicates Stanford Law School’s Rehnquist courtyard; In a salute to William Rehnquist, his successor on the U.S. Supreme Court, Chief Justice Roberts said Rehnquist will be remembered for changing how law is considered”: Stanford News Service has this report.

“Coakley had tough time in court; Fails to mention loss in Washington”: Today’s edition of The Boston Globe contains an article that begins, “It was a bold decision to argue the case herself, as Attorney General Martha Coakley chose to represent Massachusetts personally before the US Supreme Court last year in a nationally watched case involving the right of criminal defendants to challenge crime lab reports in court.”

“Thomas to other Supreme Court justices: Hush!” The Associated Press has this report.

The Tuscaloosa News has an update headlined “US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas visits UA.”

And earlier, today’s edition of The Crimson White contains an article headlined “Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to speak to students.”

“Scalia, Breyer to Discuss Constitution at UA-Hosted Event; The UA’s William H. Rehnquist Center is hosting this rare opportunity to watch two sitting Supreme Court justices discuss the U.S. Constitution; Arizona Public Media will broadcast the discussion live”: The Office of University Communications at the University of Arizona issued this news release yesterday.

Once the discussion gets underway on Monday, it will be streamed live, online via this link by Arizona Public Media.

“Strict Oklahoma abortion laws spark court battles”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Paul Clement, 43, Celebrates His 50th (Argument)”: Tony Mauro has this post today at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

Supreme Court of Kansas holds that a criminal defendant must have used actual force to justify a self-defense jury instruction: Today, the Supreme Court of Kansas issued a ruling in which the majority opinion begins: “The issue presented is whether a defendant must use actual force to justify a jury instruction on self-defense. We answer this question ‘yes.'”

The court’s Chief Justice issued a dissenting opinion, in which another justice joined, giving an example of the absurdity of the majority’s holding:

Consider the following example. One evening, a large man approaches a woman in a menacing manner and threatens, “I’m going to hurt you!” Worried for her life, the woman takes a gun from her purse, points it at her assailant, and says, “Stay where you are!” The assailant turns and runs.

Assume for the sake of the example that the woman is subsequently charged with aggravated assault. While she successfully repelled her attacker with constructive force, she is not entitled to a self-defense instruction according to the majority opinion. Had she actually shot her assailant, she may very well have been entitled to that instruction under that same rationale. This bizarre result cannot have been intended by the legislature [in the statute in question].

Thanks to a Kansas-based reader for bringing the decision to my attention.

“Now a Black Firefighter Is Suing New Haven: Did the Supreme Court leave the city holding the bag in last summer’s Ricci ruling?” Law professor Richard Thompson Ford has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Blogger charged with threatening judges free on bail”: Today’s edition of The Bergen County (N.J.) Record contains an article that begins, “Internet blogger and talk show host Harold ‘Hal’ Turner, jailed as a danger to the community after his June arrest by the FBI, was freed on bail Wednesday pending trial on charges of threatening the lives of federal judges in Chicago.”

“Orly Taitz appeals judge’s $20,000 sanction; Calls Land’s remarks ‘political lynching'”: The Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer has this news update. You can access the unusually lengthy and argumentative notice of appeal at this link.

“Bankruptcy: New Haven For Student Borrowers? High court decision could have big effect on college loan industry.” Asher Hawkins has this report online at Forbes.com.

“Supreme Court weighs fate of whistleblowers; Person who doesn’t want to testify should be forced to explain why not, Polygone lawyers argue”: Today in The Toronto Globe and Mail, Kirk Makin has an article that begins, “A confidential media source who was instrumental in exposing the Quebec sponsorship scandal may be the last such hero if the courts fail to protect her anonymity, the Supreme Court of Canada was told Wednesday.”

Ninth Circuit panel issues opinion explaining why it would allow the release of the names of those who signed petitions seeking a voter referendum on whether to give same-sex couples the same rights as married couples in Washington State: You can access today’s opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

“Is it Important to Be Important? Evaluating the Supreme Court’s Case Selection Process.” Law professor Frederick Schauer has posted this article online at SSRN (via “Legal Theory Blog“).