“Supreme Court Deciding Whether Congress May Copyright Public Domain Works”: David Kravets has this post at Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog.

“Backers of CA gay marriage ban dismiss Obama stand”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Justices Allow Inmates To Sue for DNA Testing”: Adam Liptak will have this article Tuesday in The New York Times.

Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has a news update headlined “Supreme Court opens way for prisoners to try to gain access to DNA evidence.”

In Tuesday’s edition of The Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage will have an article headlined “Justices rule for death row inmate who wants DNA testing; The Supreme Court says Texas inmate Hank Skinner can pursue his legal fight for DNA tests he says could prove him innocent.”

Joan Biskupic of USA Today has a news update headlined “Supreme Court rules in favor of prisoners in DNA case.”

The Houston Chronicle has a news update headlined “High court OKs DNA challenge for Texan.”

Bill Mears of CNN.com reports that “Supreme Court says Texas inmate has right to DNA testing.”

Ariane de Vogue of ABCNews.com reports that “Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Death-Row Inmate Seeking DNA Evidence; Henry ‘Hank’ Skinner Can Challenge His Conviction as a Civil Rights Claim.”

Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “DNA Evidence Bid Supported in U.S. Supreme Court Ruling.”

At Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog, David Kravets has a post titled “Condemned Inmate Wins Right to Seek DNA.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “A limited DNA access plea allowed.”

“High court rejects suit over ‘In God We Trust'”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this news update.

“No Crime, but an Arrest and Two Strip-Searches”: Adam Liptak will have this new installment of his “Sidebar” column in Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times.

“A major test of copyright power: The Court agrees to examine whether Congress may restore copyright protection for a creative work once that legal shield has expired and the work has entered the public domain.” Lyle Denniston has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”

And the blog “Patently-O” has a post titled “Copyright: Supreme Court to Hear Constitutional Challenge to Copyright Restoration.”

“Former 5th Circuit chief judge dies”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “Charles Edward Clark, who served 23 years on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals including 11 years as chief judge, has died. He was 85.”

“Obama restarts Guantanamo trials”: The Associated Press has this report.

And one week ago today, Carol Rosenberg of The Miami Herald had an article headlined “Inside the convicts cellblock where war criminals stay at Guantanamo.”

“Judge Hall died on February 26, 2011, before this opinion could be filed. She had previously circulated her dissent, with instructions to file it with the majority opinion.” So states footnote one to a decision that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued today.

Perhaps some readers of this blog will recall that the February 21, 2006 installment of my “On Appeal” column published at law.com was headlined “Dead Judges Voting: When Does Life Tenure End?” Of course, because a dissenting opinion doesn’t really count for anything, issuing a dissent written by a judge who died before the decision was actually handed down is perhaps less objectionable and could even be viewed as a magnanimous act by the majority.

Articles of note available online from SSRN: Law professor Lucas S. Osborn has an article titled “Instrumentalism at the Federal Circuit” (via “Legal Theory Blog“).

And professor Chris Edelson has an article titled “Judging in a Vacuum, or, Once More, Without Feeling: How Justice Scalia’s Jurisprudential Approach Repeats Errors Made in Plessy v. Ferguson” (via “Legal Theory Blog“).

“1960 anonymous-speech ruling still resonates”: David L. Hudson Jr. has this news analysis online today at the First Amendment Center.

A not particularly law-related book containing many amazing photographs that recently arrived in the mail: Here at the nerve center of the “How Appealing” blog, books occasionally arrive in the mail, and often I’ll put up a post noting their arrival if they might be of interest to this blog’s readership.

Sometimes those books are written by appellate judges or news reporters who cover the courts or legal issues. At least once, I’ve linked to a book written by the wife of a judge. Last August, I linked here to my wife’s book, which, I’m pleased to say, recently received a nomination for a 2010 Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association in the category “Superior Achievement in Nonfiction.”

Today, I have the pleasure of linking to a book written by a former appellate client. The book is “Streamlined Irons,” by Jay Raymond. You can read a very positive review of the book at this link. Wired.com’s “Gadget Lab” blog had this post about the book. And you can view some sample pages from this very visually appealing book via this link.

“Top Georgia court upholds state’s voter ID law”: The Associated Press has this report on a ruling that the Supreme Court of Georgia issued today.

Access online today’s Order List and rulings in argued cases of the U.S. Supreme Court: You can access today’s Order List at this link. In big news, the Court has announced that Christine Luchok Fallon has been appointed Reporter of Decisions. The Court also granted review in one case.

The Court today issued three decisions in argued cases.

1. Justice Elena Kagan delivered the opinion of the Court in Milner v. Department of Navy, No. 09-1163. Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. issued a concurring opinion. And Justice Stephen G. Breyer issued a dissenting opinion. You can access the oral argument via this link.

2. Justice Alito delivered the opinion of the Court in Wall v. Kholi, No. 09-868. Justice Antonin Scalia issued a concurring opinion and did not join in footnote three of the opinion of the Court. You can access the oral argument via this link.

3. And Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court in Skinner v. Switzer, No. 09-9000. Justice Clarence Thomas filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justices Anthony M. Kennedy and Alito joined. You can access the oral argument via this link.

In early news coverage, The Associated Press has reports headlined “Court rules for inmate who wants DNA testing“; “High court rules vs. gov’t in open records case“; “Court: Leniency request starts appeal clock“; “Court won’t hear challenge to ‘In God We Trust’“; and “Court won’t hear appeal on ‘Spygate’ lawsuit.”

“How the state Supreme Court building got its name”: Bob Egelko has this blog post online at The San Francisco Chronicle.

“The values of Professor Liu”: This editorial appears today in The Washington Post.