“Oregon Chief Justice Paul DeMuniz will retire at end of term, leaving seat to wide-open race”: The Oregonian has this news update.

“Appeals court: Pleau does not have to be surrendered to feds.” The Providence (R.I.) Journal has a news update that begins, “A federal appeals court in Boston ruled Thursday that Rhode Island does not have to surrender accused murderer Jason Wayne Pleau to federal prosecutors who asked to have him tried in federal court where, if convicted, he potentially could have faced the death penalty.”

And The Associated Press reports that “RI man spared possible death penalty prosecution.”

You can access today’s ruling of a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit at this link.

“Supreme Court: Ministerial Exception.” This segment (transcript with link to video) appeared on last Friday’s broadcast of the PBS program “Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.”

“Senate Confirms Three More Judicial Nominees”: David Ingram has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

Congratulations, in particular, to “How Appealing” reader Ali Nathan, who attained confirmation to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by a vote of 48-to-44.

Update: In other coverage, The Associated Press reports that “Senate confirms gay woman as federal judge.”

“Jurors Convict Komisarjevsky On All 17 Counts; He Faces Death Penalty Hearing”: The Hartford Courant has this news update.

The New Haven Register has a news update headlined “Komisarjevsky guilty of all 17 counts in Petit murders; faces death penalty.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Conn. man convicted in deadly ’07 home invasion.”

“Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Mourns Passing of Judge Robert Boochever”: The Public Information Office of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has issued this news release.

Access online the “Supreme Court Opinion Writing Database”: At this link. The authors of the site are political science professors James Spriggs, Paul Wahlbeck, and Forrest Maltzman.

“Fla. lawmaker wants to bring back firing squads”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Bills eye $8M for victims’ families”: The Boston Herald today contains an article that begins, “The fight for justice for relatives of two of Whitey Bulger’s alleged victims shifted to Washington, D.C., as U.S. Rep. William Keating filed bills to pay the families $8.5 million after years of legal wrangling.”

And today’s edition of The Boston Globe contains an article headlined “Keating urges Congress to pay kin” and an editorial entitled “Supreme Court should step in, bring justice to Bulger’s victims.”

“When does free speech trump minority protections?” In today’s edition of The Toronto Globe and Mail, Kirk Makin has an article that begins, “In a highly charged case, the Supreme Court interjected repeatedly as it grappled with how to protect minorities from expressions of hate without damaging free speech — a decision that could have far-reaching implications for hate laws across the country.”

“Komisarjevsky Jurors Head Into Second Day Of Deliberations; Deliberated Four Hours Wednesday On 17 Counts”: The Hartford Courant contains this article today.

And The New Haven Register reports today that “Jury begins deliberations in Komisarjevsky triple-homicide trial.”

“Gallup Poll: 35% oppose death penalty.” This article appears today in USA Today.

And Gallup today issued a news release headlined “In U.S., Support for Death Penalty Falls to 39-Year Low; Fifty-two percent say the death penalty is applied fairly.”

“Utah firm’s gene patent case could go to Supreme Court; Utah company holds title to two DNA bits related to cancer”: The Salt Lake Tribune today contains an article that begins, “Groups fighting to overturn patents related to human genes held by Utah’s Myriad Genetics said Wednesday they will take their case to the U.S. Supreme Court, and a law professor said they have a good chance of getting the nationally significant issues heard.”