“Denver appeals court weighs military impostor law”: The Associated Press has this updated report.

“SG Nominee Verrilli Wins Committee Backing”: David Ingram has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

“Guantanamo Bay detainees’ family members may be allowed to visit”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

And Carol Rosenberg of The Miami Herald reports today that “Congressmen unhappy war captives may get family visits.”

“Former California prisons leader joins fight against death penalty; Jeanne Woodford, the former director of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation who as warden at San Quentin reluctantly oversaw four executions, will become the executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Focus”: Carol J. Williams has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Health-care lawsuits: Delaying the inevitable.” In today’s edition of The Washington Post, columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. has an op-ed that begins, “As if our political system were not having enough trouble already, we now confront the possibility that a highly partisan judiciary will undo a modest health-care reform that is a first step toward resolving a slew of other difficulties.”

“Denver appeals court weighs military impostor law”: The Associated Press has this report.

In earlier coverage of this case, The Denver Post has published articles headlined “Many faces of ‘fake vet’ Rick Strandlof exposed” and “Stolen Valor Act unconstitutional, federal judge rules.”

“Litigious Newspaper Chain Calls Online Aggregators ‘Parasitic'”: David Kravets has this post at Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog.

“King & Spalding Offers New Details on Marriage Mess”: David Ingram has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

“Fed judge keeps segregated country club membership”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A federal bankruptcy judge’s membership in a country club that has no women or blacks as full-fledged members does not violate the judicial code of conduct, an appeals panel has narrowly ruled.”

It does not appear that the 10-8 ruling of the Judicial Council of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is readily available online. If anyone can forward an electronic copy of the ruling to me, I will gladly post it online here.

“Court orders major overhaul of VA’s mental health system; 9th Circuit says treatment delays for PTSD and other disorders are so ‘egregious’ that they violate veterans’ rights; Judges say they waited ‘long enough’ for the VA to act and were compelled to intervene”: Carol J. Williams has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

And Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle reports today that “Veterans’ health care claims backed by U.S. court.”

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

“Senate OKs Edward Chen to be federal judge in S.F.” Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.

And Josh Richman of The Oakland Tribune reports today that “U.S. Senate confirms Oakland native to federal bench.”

Ban “choate” from the legal lexicon, Seventh Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner advises: You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit at this link.

“Justice Thomas’ Planned Speech in Georgia Draws Controversy”: Tony Mauro has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

Sixth Circuit announces the composition of the three-judge panel assigned to hear and decide appeal from a district court’s dismissal of claims challenging the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: The name of the case is Thomas More Law Center v. Obama, No. 10-2388 (6th Cir.), and the case is scheduled for oral argument on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 at 1:30 p.m.

The three-judge panel assigned to the case consists of Circuit Judges Boyce F. Martin, Jr. and Jeffrey S. Sutton and Senior U.S. District Judge James L. Graham of the Southern District of Ohio, sitting by designation.

Judge Martin was nominated to the Sixth Circuit by President Carter. Judge Sutton was nominated to the Sixth Circuit by President George W. Bush. And Judge Graham was nominated to the Southern District of Ohio by President Reagan.

According to the Sixth Circuit’s announcement, which appears on that court’s home page, “The oral argument will be available for listening or downloading on the court’s website approximately one hour after the conclusion of the argument.”

This blog’s earlier coverage of the district court’s ruling that’s now on appeal to the Sixth Circuit can be accessed here. And the “aca litigation blog” provided this quick summary of the ruling on the day it issued.

“Appellate Court Hears Defense of Health Law”: This article will appear Wednesday in The New York Times.

In Wednesday’s edition of The Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage will have an article headlined “Healthcare law gets friendly hearing in appeals court; Three judges in the U.S. 4th Circuit, all Democratic appointees, indicate they’re likely to uphold the Obama administration’s new healthcare law.”

Wednesday’s edition of The Washington Post will contain an article headlined “Judges in Va. appear skeptical about health overhaul arguments.”

Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor has an article headlined “Appeals court: Is health-care reform like broccoli? Attorneys challenging Obama’s health-care reform law said that Congress cannot ‘force us to buy a private product and say it is for our own good,’ whether health insurance or broccoli.”

At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Easy outing for health care law? The 14-month-old federal health care law’s most important provision appears to be on its way to surviving its first constitutional test in a federal appeals court; The key problem for the challengers: their activity-inactivity distinction did not seem to work.”

And online at Slate, Dahlia Lithwick has a jurisprudence essay entitled “It’s Good for You: A federal appeals court hears arguments about Obama’s health care law — and broccoli.”

“Senators Confirm Former ACLU Lawyer for Judgeship”: At “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” David Ingram has a post that begins, “The U.S. Senate voted today to confirm Edward Chen to the federal district bench in the Northern District of California, ending a debate that had revolved around Chen’s past work on polarizing civil liberties cases.”

You can access the U.S. Senate’s official roll call vote tally by clicking here.

“Air Force lesbian who won reinstatement retiring”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Appeals court in NYC puts Chevron on defensive”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A lawyer for energy company Chevron found himself on the defensive Tuesday as he argued that it was urgent that the courts protect the company from an $18 billion judgment against it in Ecuador over damage done to the Ecuadorean rain forest decades ago.”

“Appeals court blasts VA mental health care system”: The Associated Press has this report on a ruling that a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued in typescript today.

Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt delivered the opinion of the court, while Chief Judge Alex Kozinski issued a dissenting opinion.

“Justice Thomas: making waves in First Amendment jurisprudence.” David L. Hudson Jr. has this essay online at the First Amendment Center.

Access online the audio of today’s Affordable Care Act oral arguments before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit: You can access the audio of the oral argument in Liberty University, Inc. v. Timothy Geithner via this link (7.85MB mp3 audio file).

And you can access the audio of the oral argument in Commonwealth of Virginia v. Kathleen Sebelius via this link (4.61MB mp3 audio file).

“Appeals court in Va. hears health care cases”: The Associated Press has this report.

Jim Nolan of The Richmond Times-Dispatch has a news update headlined “Federal court hears two health-care appeals in Richmond.”

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has a news update headlined “Healthcare law gets friendly reception from appeals court panel; Two of the three judges were appointed by President Obama, the other by Bill Clinton; The judges’ comments indicate they’re leaning toward reversing a federal court decision in Virginia that called the healthcare law unconstitutional.”

Joan Biskupic of USA Today has a news update headlined “Judges hear arguments on Obama health care law.”

The Washington Post has a news update headlined “Federal appeals court in Virginia hears oral arguments in health care lawsuits.”

The Washington Times has a news update headlined “Opening arguments start in appeal of health care case.”

The Roanoke Times has a news update headlined “Federal appeals court hears health care cases.”

Bill Mears of CNN.com reports that “Federal appeals judges show support for health care reform law.”

Bloomberg News reports that “Congress Has Power Over Health-Care Markets, U.S. Tells Appeals Court.”

And Reuters reports that “Appeals court questions Obama healthcare lawsuit.”

“Remarkable opinion by Pennsylvania Justice assails federal defender involvement in state capital cases”: Doug Berman has this post at his “Sentencing Law and Policy” blog.

“Justice Sotomayor welcomes new US citizens”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Defining and Identifying Greatness in Appellate Advocacy”: Today’s issue of The Legal Intelligencer — Philadelphia’s daily newspaper for lawyers — contains this month’s installment of my “Upon Further Review” column.

On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has vacated certain counts of conviction obtained against former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman and former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy: You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at this link. The case has been remanded to the district court for resentencing.

Update: In early news coverage, The Associated Press reports that “US court throws out 2 Ala. bribery convictions.”

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit announces the identities of the federal appellate judges assigned to preside over today’s Affordable Care Act oral arguments: The judges assigned to hear and decide these appeals are Circuit Judges Diana Gribbon Motz, Andre M. Davis, and James A. Wynn, Jr. All three of these judges are the nominees of Democratic Presidents. Judges Davis and Wynn were nominated to the Fourth Circuit by President Obama, while Judge Motz was nominated to the Fourth Circuit by President Clinton.

Update: The Associated Press reports that “2 Obama appointees on VA court’s health care panel.”

“Supreme Court: Class (action) dismissed; The high court’s decision to prevent people from bringing class-action suits against corporations is further proof that its conservative majority favors businesses over consumers, employees and others suffering injuries.” Law professor Erwin Chemerinsky has this op-ed today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Justice Department nominee remains in limbo after Senate vote”: Today’s edition of The Washington Post contains an article that begins, “Republicans in the U.S. Senate voted Monday to block President Obama’s choice for the No. 2 position in the Justice Department, leaving the nominee in an official limbo that has already lasted months.”

“2012 battlefield: The Supreme Court.” Politico.com has this report.

“Virginia suits over federal health-care law go before appellate panel”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

The Washington Times reports today that “Federal appeals courts set to hear ‘Obamacare’ cases; Requirement to purchase is challenged.”

Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor reports that “Obama’s health-care reform law faces new test in appeals court; Two cases challenging the constitutionality of the health-care reform law arrive Tuesday for oral argument at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.”

Bloomberg News reports that “Fight Over Obama Healthcare Law Reaches First of Three U.S. Appeals Courts.”

And Reuters reports that “Obama administration fights to save healthcare law.”

“N.F.L. Continues Effort to Maintain Lockout”: Today’s edition of The New York Times contains an article that begins, “The N.F.L. asked a federal appeals court Monday to vacate a District Court’s preliminary injunction that briefly lifted the two-month lockout and send the case back to the District Court.”

Bloomberg News reports that “NFL Owners Ask U.S. Appeals Court to Reverse Order to Lift Player Lockout.”

And Reuters reports that “NFL says judge was wrong to block lockout.”

You can access online the Brief for Appellant that the National Football League filed yesterday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. In addition, the National Hockey League filed this proposed amicus brief.

“Court to reconsider case of Super Bowl threat”: The AP has this report on an order granting rehearing en banc that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued today.

The original three-judge panel’s ruling issued while I was on vacation last August.

“Resentencing for Conrad Black on track for June 24”: The Associated Press has this report.

“John Paul Stevens writing book on chief justices”: Politico.com has this report.