“As Wisconsin’s Battle Heads to Court, Unions Try to Oust a Judge; Next Tuesday’s judicial election could swing the state Supreme Court majority from right to left”: Columnist John Fund will have this op-ed Saturday in The Wall Street Journal.

“Cruel but Not Unusual: Clarence Thomas writes one of the meanest Supreme Court decisions ever.” Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

Congratulations to “How Appealing” reader Ali Nathan: Yesterday, the White House issued a news release headlined “President Obama Names Alison J. Nathan as Nominee for the United States District Court.”

On the agenda: It may be snowing outside, but here in Philadelphia it’s also opening day for the Phillies. And that’s where I’ll be this afternoon. Additional posts will appear here later today.

Update: Philadelphia Phillies 5, Houston Astros 4. You can access the MLB.com recaps and box score via this link. Additional coverage is available from The Philadelphia Inquirer; The Philadelphia Daily News; The Houston Chronicle; and The Associated Press.

“Senate to Vote on Reyna Judicial Nomination”: So reports the “SENATUS” blog in a post that you can access here.

“Supreme Court Denies $14 Million in Damages to Wrongly Convicted Louisiana Man; John Thompson Spent 14 Years on Death Row; Prosecution Withheld Evidence That Would Free Him”: Ariane de Vogue of ABCNews.com has this report.

“Ex-judge’s battle could go to U.S. Supreme Court after state’s rebuff; State court rejects Lokuta’s attempt to return to bench”: This article appears today in The Times-Tribune of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

“Ron Ramsey backs bill requiring judicial elections to force system’s hand; Top Republican says he wants justices’ attention”: Today’s edition of The Tennessean has an article that begins, “Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey says he will push through a bill that would require elections for the Supreme Court unless justices agree to help put the current appointment-based system into the state constitution.”

“Cady will continue as chief justice”: This article appears today in The Des Moines Register.

“An ex-federal judge is expected to join prison ranks in El Reno”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A former federal judge sentenced to 30 days in prison for drug-related crimes involving a stripper was ordered to report to a federal prison in Oklahoma on April 15.”

“Barry Bonds trial: Surgeon contradicts key witness.” Lance Williams has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.

In today’s edition of The San Jose Mercury News, Howard Mintz has an article headlined “Best of days, worst of days for Bonds prosecution.”

And The New York Times reports that “Former Assistant Testifies She Saw Trainer Inject Bonds.”