“Retired Supreme Court Justice O’Connor leads special 9th Circuit session at UM”: The Missoulian has a news update that begins, “Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor told University of Montana law students Thursday she holds little hope that the nomination process for federal judges will become less contentious.”

“Anne Patterson sworn in to N.J. Supreme Court”: The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger has this news update.

“Prosser to step aside in case involving campaign attorney”: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a news update that begins, “State Supreme Court Justice David Prosser is stepping aside in a free-speech case in which his campaign attorney is appearing before the court.”

“Years-long immigrant detentions unconstitutional, appeals court rules”: Bill Mears of CNN.com has this report.

And The Associated Press reports that “Some US immigration detainees win quicker hearings.”

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

“UC Berkeley prof. sworn in to Calif. Supreme Court”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Appeals court hears arguments on gay troop ban”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A federal appeals court wrestled Thursday with whether it can declare the military’s ban on openly gay service members unconstitutional when the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy is lifted in 19 days.”

“Goodwin Liu had a hand in Bush v. Gore”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this blog post.

Opening line of the day: In the first line of an opinion that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued today on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel, Circuit Judge Ilana Diamond Rovner writes, “This case proves the maxim that, in appellate briefing, bluster is inversely proportional to merit.”

I’d be tempted to devote an installment of my monthly appellate column to this subject if I hadn’t already done so earlier this year.

Washington State Supreme Court rejects Seattle’s effort to force that State’s Attorney General to withdraw from multi-state lawsuit challenging constitutionality of federal healthcare mandate: Today’s ruling of the Washington State Supreme Court consists of a majority opinion and two concurring opinions (here and here).

“Admitting Clarence Thomas’ genius”: Michael Barone has this op-ed today in The New York Post.

“Norfolk Four case argued before Va. Supreme Court”: Frank Green has this article today in The Richmond Times-Dispatch.

And The Associated Press reports that “3 members of ‘Norfolk 4’ pursue new appeal.”

“Candidates for Missouri Supreme Court face public questioning”: This article appears today in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

And The Associated Press reports that “Candidates for Mo. Supreme Court publicly screened.”

“Eyewitness case goes to U.S. Supreme Court”: Today’s edition of The New Hampshire Union Leader contains an article that begins, “A case involving a Nashua man convicted of receiving stolen property goes before the U.S. Supreme Court this fall to help determine what weight courts should give to possibly unreliable eyewitness evidence.”

“Goodwin Liu confirmed to California Supreme Court; UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu is confirmed to the California Supreme Court; Liu’s nomination to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was previously derailed in the U.S. Senate”: Maura Dolan has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

The Daily Californian reports today that “UC Berkeley law professor confirmed to California Supreme Court.”

And Dan Levine of Reuters reports that “Law professor Liu confirmed for California high court.”

“N.Y. billing dispute reveals details of secret CIA rendition flights”: Today’s edition of The Washington Post contains this article.

“The Military and the Death Penalty”: This editorial appears today in The New York Times.

“Perry has plenty of ideas on Supreme Court, including term limits”: Todd J. Gillman of The Dallas Morning News has this report.

“Group seeks appellate action on gays in military”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Feds, EFF Clash in Appeals Court Hearing on NSA Spying”: David Kravets has this post at Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog.