Programming note: This morning, I’ll be presenting an appellate oral argument to a three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Additional posts will appear here this afternoon.

“Court rejects call for fair wages for prisoners”: Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.

My earlier coverage of last Friday’s Ninth Circuit ruling appears at this link.

“Names added to Supreme Court short list”: Bill Mears of CNN.com has this report.

The Wall Street Journal has a news update headlined “White House Floats Diverse List for Court.” You can freely access the full text of the article via Google News.

The Associated Press reports that “Judge Sidney Thomas on Supreme Court list.”

Bill Rankin of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a news update headlined “Sears on Obama’s short list for Supreme Court.”

FOXNews.com reports that “Stevens’ Replacement Could Set Stage for Proxy Fight Over Roberts’ Influence on High Court.”

At her “Crossroads” blog, CBS News correspondent Jan Crawford has a post titled “Kagan, Wood and Garland Still Top Supreme Court List.”

And online at Slate, Emily Bazelon, Dahlia Lithwick, Jeremy Singer-Vine, and Chris Wilson have an essay entitled “Choose Your Own Supreme Court Justice: Out of our Top 21, whom do you like best?”

“Orie sister suspended from Supreme Court job”: The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a news update that begins, “State court administrators said today they suspended Janine Orie from her job as an aide to her sister, state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin.”

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a news update headlined “Janine Orie suspended from job in Justice Melvin’s office.”

And today in The Philadelphia Daily News, columnist John Baer has an essay entitled “In Pittsburgh, politics isn’t just politics: it’s ‘Family Feud.’”

“New pre-abortion requirements passed in Neb.” The Associated Press has this report.

“Full 3rd Circuit to Rehear Web Parody Cases”: At the “School Law” blog of Education Week, Mark Walsh has a post that begins, “A federal appeals court has announced that it will re-examine two panel decisions on whether parodies of school principals created by students on MySpace were protected by the First Amendment.”

“Kennedy cousin loses appeal in murder conviction”: The Associated Press has this report.

Today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Connecticut in Skakel v. State consists of a majority opinion, a concurring opinion, and a dissenting opinion.

“DMV tries to put the brakes on racy license plates”: This article appears today in The Virginian-Pilot (via “Obscure Store“).

“Originalism’s Old Bulldog: Notes from Scalia’s visit to FSU.” Dan Markel has this post at “PrawfsBlawg.”

“Democrat Predicts Speedy Court Confirmation; Republicans Sound Note of Caution”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

Today’s edition of The Chicago Tribune contains an article headlined “Republicans downplay filibuster talk in Supreme Court debate; Obama could avoid a heated battle with a mainstream nominee, GOP leaders say.”

USA Today contains a front page article headlined “Lines are drawn in high court succession; GOP’s Sessions warns of possible ‘big fight.’” The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “Balancing justices” and an op-ed by law professor Jonathan Turley entitled “Stevens became great by his deeds, not by design; Soon-to-be-retired jurist was ultimate ‘uncalled shot’ on Supreme Court.”

Today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition” contained an audio segment entitled “Senate Looks Ahead To Supreme Court Nominee.”

And The Associated Press has an article headlined “Psst: Sec’y Hillary Rodham Clinton for court?”

“Conn. high court expected to release Skakel ruling”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “The Connecticut Supreme Court is planning to release its ruling on Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel’s appeal of his murder conviction in the 1975 slaying of his 15-year-old neighbor.”

The ruling is scheduled to issue at 11:30 a.m. eastern time today.

“Q&A with Justice Samuel Alito, a Supreme Phillies fan”: This article, the first in a two-part series, appears today in The Philadelphia Daily News.

And speaking of the Philadelphia Phillies, I’ll be at Citizens Bank Park this afternoon for the Phillies home opener, as the team hosts the Washington Nationals. You can access a preview of the game at this link.

“Jane Orie’s supporters contend Zappala is pursuing vendetta”: The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review contains this article today.

“Republicans say Obama’s Supreme Court pick must be mainstream”: This article will appear Monday in The Washington Post.

In Monday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, Jess Bravin will have an article headlined “Kagan Foes Stress Gay-Rights Stand; Republicans Focus on Court Contender’s Move to Block Military Recruiters.” You can freely access the full text of the article via Google News.

And in Monday’s edition of USA Today, Joan Biskupic will have an article headlined “Obama’s Supreme Court choice: Go for consensus or risk a clash?”

“Supreme Court expected to tackle ‘sleeping sex slave’ question; The likely appeal of an overturned sexual conviction may set up a bizarre hearing at the Supreme Court of Canada: Deciding whether an unconscious person can consent.” Kirk Makin had this article yesterday in The Toronto Globe and Mail.

“U.S. Supreme Court: A potent legal weapon against school bullies.” Michael Kirkland of UPI has this report.

“Clean Elections arguments to be heard in court; Appeals judges to hear arguments over matching funds for candidates”: Today’s edition of The Arizona Republic contains an article that begins, “The future of Arizona’s publicly funded elections program will be placed in the hands of three judges with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco on Monday.”

“Stevens, the Only Protestant on the Supreme Court”: Adam Liptak has this article today in the Week in Review section of The New York Times. Linda Greenhouse has an op-ed entitled “One Man, Two Courts.” And former law clerks have an op-ed entitled “My Boss, Justice Stevens.”

Today in The Washington Post, Robert Barnes has an article headlined “Replacing Justice Stevens on high court is not just a matter of ideology.” And an op-ed supplies various answers from “legal and political experts” to the question “Who should replace Justice Stevens?”

In The Los Angeles Times, James Oliphant and Richard A. Serrano have an article headlined “Three Supreme Court contenders share ties; Merrick Garland, Diane Wood and Elena Kagan all have connections to Chicago, and all rose through the ranks during the Clinton years; They would face varying degrees of criticism if nominated.”

Rob Hotakainen of McClatchy Newspapers has an article headlined “GOP: Pick a ‘fringe’ nominee for Supreme Court get filibuster.”

The Wall Street Journal has a news update headlined “Republicans Don’t Rule Out Court Filibuster.” You can freely access the full text of the article via Google News.

The Birmingham News has an update headlined “Alabama Senator does not rule out filibuster for Supreme Court nominee.”

Monday’s edition of The Australian reports that “Republicans warn Obama on picking ‘activist’ to top US court.”

The Associated Press has reports headlined “Leahy: Nominee likely on high court for fall term“; “GOP senators push for ‘mainstream’ court nominee“; “Senators say high court filibuster can be avoided“; and “Potential Obama nominees for the Supreme Court.”

Bloomberg News has reports headlined “Stevens’s Retirement Will Let Obama Shape U.S. Supreme Court” and “Republicans Signal Obama May Have Supreme Court Fight.”

Reuters reports that “Republicans warn Obama on Supreme Court nominee.”

Politico.com reports that “Republicans cautious on court fight.”

CQ Politics reports that “Leahy Predicts New Justice Confirmed by August.”

CBSNews.com has a report headlined “Crawford: Obama Wants No Fight Over SCOTUS; White House Wants to Avoid Partisan Battle, Yet Also Seeks Nominee to Make Dems Look More in Tune With Everyday Americans.” And Bob Schieffer has an essay entitled “The Legacies of Stevens, and Gerald Ford: Former President Wanted to Be Remembered for His SCOTUS Pick, When Criteria for High Court Seemed Very Different.”

The Chicago Sun-Times contains an editorial entitled “Supreme Court battle is likely to get ugly.”

And at the web site of The Christian Science Monitor, guest blogger Tim Kane has a post titled “Why isn’t there an economist on the Supreme Court? With John Paul Stevens retiring, the Supreme Court needs an economist, because the court sets the important long-term economic rules.”

“Stevens’s Retirement Is Political Test for Obama”: This article appears today in The New York Times, along with an editorial entitled “Justice Stevens.”

Today in The Washington Post, Robert Barnes has an article headlined “Justice John Paul Stevens announces his retirement from Supreme Court.” The newspaper also contains an article headlined “Pending midterm elections add political for friction to court nomination“; an editorial entitled “The legacy of Justice John Paul Stevens“; an op-ed by Cliff Sloan entitled “Goodbye to the ‘rule of law’ justice“; and an op-ed by columnist Ruth Marcus entitled “A Supreme Court shift to the right?”

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has an article headlined “John Paul Stevens’ unexpectedly liberal legacy; The retiring Supreme Court justice started out as a conservative in 1975, but as he saw it, the court shifted right as he held to the center.” The newspaper also contains an article headlined “Battle looms as Justice Stevens says he’s retiring; The liberal justice will step down this summer; A bitter partisan fight is expected over the replacement” and an editorial entitled “Supreme Court needs another mind like John Paul Stevens’; President Obama should nominate a replacement who shares the justice’s enduring intellectual traits.”

Abdon M. Pallasch of The Chicago Sun-Times has articles headlined “‘Most liberal’ justice retiring; John Paul Stevens’ long run: I didn’t move left, court moved right” and “3 with Chicago ties leading contenders to replace Stevens.” In addition, columnist Lynn Sweet has an op-ed entitled “Loyal Cubs fan Stevens was at Ruth’s called-shot game.”

The Chicago Tribune contains articles headlined “John Paul Stevens’ Chicago ties; Before Supreme Court, Hyde Park native’s life was centered in the city” and “Judge with Chicago ties is on Supreme Court short list; Appellate Judge Diane Wood has been called a liberal activist by a conservative group, but lawyers who have argued before her disagree,” along with an editorial entitled “A restrained justice: Not a visionary, but an old-fashioned conservative.”

Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal has an article headlined “A Shaper, Defender of Legal Milestones.” The newspaper also contains an article headlined “Stevens Sets Up Court Fight; Obama Expected to Seek Liberal Successor; Historic Change as Last Protestant Leaves” and an editorial entitled “After Justice Stevens: The Supreme Court loses its liberal standard-bearer.”

Joan Biskupic of USA Today reports that “Stevens’ successor would likely come from last year’s list.”

Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers reports that “Last year’s Supreme Court finalists rise to top of Obama’s list.” And Michael Doyle and David Lightman have an article headlined “Stevens’ retirement sets up battle over Supreme Court choice.”

Tony Mauro of The National Law Journal reports that “Stevens’ Departure Leaves Big Shoes to Fill at High Court.”

And The Christian Science Monitor has articles headlined “Filling John Paul Stevens Supreme Court vacancy big test for Obama; Replacing retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens depends largely on who President Obama nominates; But given Obama’s political standing these days, confirmation by the Senate is unlikely to be quick and easy” and “Justice Stevens retirement portends long, hot political summer; Confirmation of Supreme Court nominees has not always been so contentious; But with the defeat of Robert Bork in 1987, nominees’ political positions as well as their judicial qualifications have been probed; This will likely be the case in replacing retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.”

“O’Connor on the Court”: Columnist Charles M. Blow has this op-ed today in The New York Times.

“Justice Brennan Can’t Be Reincarnated: Liberals can dream, but a consensus-builder has little to work with on today’s Supreme Court.” Seth Stern has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

Available online at Slate: Dahlia Lithwick and Sonja West have a jurisprudence essay entitled “The Unsung Empathy of Justice Stevens: Justice John Paul Stevens is the model for why empathy matters.”

And Christopher Beam has an essay entitled “Pick Your Battle: What kind of Supreme Court confirmation hearing does Barack Obama want?”

“G.O.P. Weighs Political Price of Court Fight”: This article will appear Sunday in The New York Times.

The Associated Press reports that “Obama emboldened for another Supreme Court pick.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “The ‘Kennedy Court,’ only more so; The changing internal dynamic.”

“Prof pulls name for legal adviser; GOP stalled Hoosier’s nomination”: The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, Indiana contains this article today.

Today in The Wall Street Journal, Even Perez has an article headlined “Nominee for Justice Post Withdraws.”

And at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” David Ingram has a post titled “Dawn Johnsen Withdraws, Cites ‘Lengthy Delays.’”

“Western Pa. scandal touches on state high court”: This front page article appears today in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Ban restored on booze ads in Va. college papers”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A divided federal appeals court has restored Virginia’s ban on alcohol advertising in college newspapers, concluding the restriction does not unduly limit free-speech rights.”

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

“Obama faces dilemma in court choice”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Obama Nominee for Justice Post Withdraws”: In Saturday’s edition of The New York Times, Charlie Savage will have an article that begins, “President Obama’s choice to lead the powerful Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department withdrew from consideration for the post on Friday, ending a troubled but high-profile nomination that had dragged on for more than a year.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Obama pick for Justice post withdraws.”

“Stevens carved liberal legacy on high court”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Current and former federal prisoners allege that the low wages they were paid for work performed in prison violated their rights under the Fifth Amendment and various sources of international law.” So begins an opinion that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued today.

The Ninth Circuit’s ruling affirms the dismissal of the lawsuit, holding that “prisoners have no enforceable right to be paid for their work under the Constitution or international law.”

“Stevens retirement gives Obama second Supreme Court pick; John Paul Stevens, the longest serving Supreme Court justice, plans to leave the bench in June; The Stevens retirement allows President Obama to name a second high court justice, opening the way for a likely confirmation battle”: Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor has this report.

And at her “Crossroads” blog, CBS News correspondent Jan Crawford has a post titled “Does Obama Want a Supreme Court Fight?”

“Obama promises quick court replacement for Stevens”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report. You can access the transcript of President Obama’s remarks at this link.

“Speaking of Stevens”: That’s the title of a new blog that The National Law Journal has launched focusing on the legacy of Justice John Paul Stevens and the search for his replacement.

And the National Journal’s “The Ninth Justice” blog is now active once again.

“The End of an Era, for Court and Nation”: Adam Liptak has a news update that begins, “Justice John Paul Stevens, who announced his resignation from the Supreme Court on Friday after 34 years, may be the last justice from a time when ability and independence, rather than perceived ideology, were viewed as the crucial qualifications for a seat on the court.”

The Washington Post has a news update headlined “Obama administration will start nomination process with familiar faces.”

And at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” David Ingram has a post titled “Obama Expects Supreme Court Nominee in Weeks.”

“Leahy: Supreme Court hearings should be in summer.” The Associated Press has this report.