“Appeals court rules against Hobby Lobby in contraception coverage case; A Denver-based federal appeals court denied the retail chain’s bid to overturn a lower court’s ruling on a part of the federal health care law regarding insurance coverage for contraception”: The Oklahoman has this news update.

The contents of the December 2012 issue of the Harvard Law Review are now available online: You can access the contents via this link.

Under the heading “Recent Cases,” you can access items titled “First Circuit Invalidates Statute that Defines Marriage as Legal Union Between One Man and One Woman“; “Second Circuit Holds that Willful Blindness Is Knowledge in Digital Millennium Copyright Act Safe Harbor Provision“; and “D.C. Circuit Rejects Industry Challenges to New Greenhouse Gas Rules.”

Book giveaway update: I am pleased to report that, with three minutes to spare, this afternoon I received an email from a reader of this blog who was interested in receiving my review copy of the book “In the Name of Justice: Striving for the Rule of Law in China,” written by law professor He Weifang. Tomorrow, the book will be on its way, free-of-charge, by U.S. mail to this reader. If the reader chooses to provide me with a review of the book, I will consider posting it here at “How Appealing.”

“Borking Around”: Michael Dolan has this blog post online today at The New Republic. Back in 1987, Dolan wrote an article headlined “The Bork Tapes” for the Washington City Paper.

“Meat company sues feds over horse slaughterhouse”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Bank Robber’s Lawyer Pitches Supreme Court on Machine Gun Law”: Mike Scarcella has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

“Appeals court declines to rehear GHG-rule challenge, tees up case for Supreme Court”: Lawrence Hurley of Greenwire has this report.

And the blog “D.C. Circuit Review” has a post titled “Greenhouse Gas Case Sparks Double Dissent from Denial of Rehearing En Banc.”

My earlier coverage of today’s D.C. Circuit order appears at this link.

Ninth Circuit holds that leases of land by San Diego to a nonprofit chartered by the Boy Scouts of America does not violate provisions of the California or U.S. Constitutions relating to the establishment of religion: You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

“Asians: Too Smart for Their Own Good?” Northwestern University professor Carolyn Chen has this college admissions-related op-ed in today’s edition of The New York Times.

“Remembering Bork: He was my teacher 30 years ago; I’ve spent my career proving him wrong.” Law professor Akhil Reed Amar has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“The Gun Lobby’s Favorite Part Of The Health Law”: NPR has this blog post.

And at the “Opinionator” blog of The New York Times, University of Notre Dame philosophy professor Gary Gutting has a post titled “The N.R.A.’s Blockade on Science.”

“A conservative case for an assault weapons ban: If we can’t draw a sensible line on guns, we may as well call the American experiment in democracy a failure.” In today’s edition of The Los Angeles Times, U.S. District Judge Larry Alan Burns (S.D. Cal.) has an op-ed that begins, “Last month, I sentenced Jared Lee Loughner to seven consecutive life terms plus 140 years in federal prison for his shooting rampage in Tucson.”

“Georgia Doctors Ask Judge to Halt Midterm Abortion Limits”: Bloomberg News has this report.

“Sirius XM Class-Action Settlement Upheld by Appeals Court”: Bloomberg News has this report on a non-precedential ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued today.

“EPA Carbon-Limits Challenge Won’t Get Court Rehearing”: Bloomberg News has this report on an order, accompanied by concurring and dissenting statements, that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued today.

“Unlikely Lame-Duck Vote in 1980 Still Reverberates”: Michelle Olsen has this post today at her “Appellate Daily” blog.

“Supreme Court’s niqab ruling must balance religious freedom, defendant rights”: Kirk Makin of The Toronto Globe and Mail has this preview of a ruling that the Supreme Court of Canada is expected to issue this morning.

And CBC News reports that “Top court to rule if witness can wear niqab in court; Woman wants to testify with her face covered in childhood sexual assault case.”

Update: You can access today’s ruling of Canada’s highest court at this link.

In early news coverage, Kirk Makin of The Toronto Globe and Mail has a news update headlined “Witness may be required to remove niqab while testifying: top court” that begins, “An Islamic witness may be required to remove her niqab veil to testify in court depending on the seriousness of the case and the intensity of her religious beliefs, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Thursday.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Canada rules on wearing religious veil in court.”

“Judge halts fed move to seize Hathaway’s Florida home; Delay may indicate justice ready to make deal on fraud charges”: Today’s edition of The Detroit News contains an article that begins, “A federal judge Wednesday temporarily halted attempts by the government to seize Michigan Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway’s home in Florida, a possible sign Hathaway is considering a deal in the controversial land transaction case.”

And The Detroit Free Press reports today that “Hathaway gets 90-day stay in battle over Florida home.”