“2013: A year for big issues in the courts.” Jeffrey Toobin has this essay at CNN.com.

“3 senators want in on detention arguments”: At Politico.com, Josh Gerstein has a blog post that begins, “Three Republican senators are asking that their lawyer be allowed to make a presentation when a federal appeals court hears oral arguments on the scope of a provision regarding law-of-war detention that Congress passed last year.”

“The N.R.A. at the Bench”: Linda Greenhouse has this post at the “Opinionator” blog of The New York Times.

“Contraceptives mandate left intact, for now”: Lyle Denniston has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”

You can access at this link the in-chambers opinion that Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued today in her capacity as Circuit Justice for the Tenth Circuit.

“Appeals court revives workplace cybertheft lawsuit”: Jonathan Stempel of Reuters has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued today.

“7th Circuit punts on President Barack Obama’s recess appointments”: Josh Gerstein of Politico.com has this blog post about a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued today.

“The question we consider here is the extent to which overdraft fees imposed by a national bank are subject to state regulation.” So states the ruling that a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued today.

Update: In early news coverage, Bloomberg News reports that “Wells Fargo Wins Order Reversing Overdraft Fee Ruling.”

And Dan Levine of Reuters reports that “Wells Fargo doesn’t have to pay clients $203 mln.”

“Obama could reshape 5th Circuit during 2nd term”: The Associated Press has this report.

“The Constitution in 2013: Gains or losses on rights?” Lyle Denniston has this post today at the “Constitution Daily” blog of the National Constitution Center.

“2nd Circuit punts on constitutionality of judge’s diversity effort”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this report.

My earlier coverage of the Second Circuit’s non-precedential ruling appears at this link.

“Case Pits Adoptive Parents Against Tribal Rights”: Adam Liptak will have this new installment of his “Sidebar” column in Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times.

“Could Another ‘Borking’ Ever Succeed? In 1987, there were no websites or bloggers to counter a smear campaign led by Ted Kennedy.” Columnist L. Gordon Crovitz has this op-ed today in The Wall Street Journal.

You can freely access the full text of the op-ed via Google News.

“Contraceptives dispute reaches Court”: Lyle Denniston has this post today at “SCOTUSblog.”

“U.S. appeals court nominee Robert E. Bacharach may have to be nominated again next year; Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn blames ‘inside politics’ for possibility that Bacharach, who has strong bipartisan support, might not be confirmed this year”: Chris Casteel has this article today in The Oklahoman.

“Obama’s impact on federal judiciary”: Robert Barnes will have this article Monday in The Washington Post.

Update: The article appears to suggest that President Obama had nominated Goodwin Liu to serve on the D.C. Circuit, when in fact then-professor Liu had been nominated to the Ninth Circuit. This blog’s previous coverage of that nomination can be accessed here and here, while this blog’s previous coverage of the nominee’s withdrawal can be accessed here and here.

“Cats at Hemingway Museum Draw Tourists, and a Legal Battle”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

Michael Kirkland of UPI is reporting: He has articles headlined “Under the U.S. Supreme Court: Are school massacres linked to violent video games?” and “The Year in Review 2012: Yes, Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court does exist.”

“Elmbrook Church graduation case could go to Supreme Court”: In Sunday’s edition of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bruce Vielmetti will have an article that begins, “The 1st Amendment dispute over Brookfield public high school graduations inside Elmbrook Church could be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. With the help of a religious liberty group, a Stanford University law professor and one of the country’s biggest law firms, the Elmbrook School District on Friday filed a petition seeking high court review of a decision that went against the district in what advocates on both sides say could become one of the most significant church-state cases in years.”

You can access the petition for writ of certiorari at this link.

“Iowa Supreme Court: Firing of attractive worker not harassment; A dentist said the woman was a threat to his marriage.” This article appears today in The Des Moines Register.

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Iowa Supreme Court ruling appears at this link.

“Announcing the Green Bag bobbleheads’ move to the Washington, DC office of O’Melveny & Myers LLP”: The Green Bag has posted this video at YouTube.

And an announcement at The Green Bag’s web site is titled “Bobblehead forum conveniens.”

In the December 2012 issue of The Yale Law Journal: John H. Langbein has an article titled “The Disappearance of Civil Trial in the United States.”

Dylan O. Keenan has a note titled “Confronting Crawford v. Washington in the Lower Courts.”

And Monika Isia Jasiewicz has a comment titled “Copyright Protection in an Opt-Out World: Implied License Doctrine and News Aggregators.”

In the January 2013 issue of the ABA Journal magazine: Mark Walsh has an article headlined “Blood Simple: DWI Test Is Latest in a Series of SCOTUS 4th Amendment Cases.”

Lorelei Laird has an article headlined “The Dream Bar: Some Children Illegally Living in the United States Grow Up to Want to Be Attorneys.”

And Bryan A. Garner has an article headlined “Argument Talk: Tips for Litigators on Raising, Answering and Dropping Points.”

“The New Yorker must turn over unedited transcripts of interview with former Penn State President Graham Spanier”: The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has this report.

“Judge denies Orie Melvin’s legal arguments; Justice cannot use her position in the judiciary to evade charges”: In today’s edition of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Paula Reed Ward has an article that begins, “An Allegheny County judge on Friday denied a motion by suspended state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin in which she claimed that she should not face criminal prosecution because of her position in the judiciary.”

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that “Judge denies Orie Melvin claim of immunity.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Judge says suspended Joan Orie Melvin isn’t above criminal charges.”

According to these news reports, trial on these criminal charges is scheduled to begin on January 23, 2013.

Third Circuit: “We must now decide whether and when [the] Supreme Court [of the Virgin Islands] may reject our pre-2007 interpretations of Virgin Islands law.” A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued this interesting ruling yesterday.

“Appeals court puts hold on California gay conversion ban; The decision blocks the law designed to prevent therapists from trying to change minors’ sexual orientation pending a ruling on its constitutionality”: Maura Dolan has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

And The San Francisco Chronicle reports today that “Court puts hold on gay conversion law.”

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Ninth Circuit order appears in the post immediately below.

“Court puts hold on gay conversion therapy ban”: Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times has this news update.

The Associated Press reports that “Court blocks California law banning gay therapy.”

And Bloomberg News reports that “California Gay Conversion Therapy Ban Blocked by Court.”

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

“Appeal against 3-day wait for SD abortion dropped”: The Associated Press has this report.

Where were you on May 15, 2012? That morning, I argued an appeal before a three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania on behalf of my client in that case, Continental Bank. Today, the court issued this non-precedential ruling in that matter.

“Can a male employer terminate a female employee because the employer’s wife, due to no fault of the employee, is concerned about the nature of the relationship between the employer and the employee?” So begins an opinion that the Supreme Court of Iowa issued today.

In early news coverage, The Associated Press has a report headlined “Iowa court: Bosses can fire ‘irresistible’ workers.”

“Robert Bork: Of Great Successes and Great Failures.” Law professor Richard Epstein has this blog post at “Ricochet.”

“Former top patent judge: system works ‘quite well,’ needs to be ‘stronger’; Prominent judges with radically different perspectives square off in debate”: Timothy B. Lee has this blog post at Ars Technica,

“For decades, Slesinger and Disney have disputed the Winnie-the-Pooh rights in both state and federal courts as well as at the Board.” So explains the majority opinion that a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued today.

Back on June 17, 2011, John L. Welch had a post at “The TTABlog” titled “Applying Collateral Estoppel to the Ownership Issue, TTAB Enters Summary Judgment in ‘WINNIE THE POOH’ Trademark Dispute” about the ruling of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board that gives rise to today’s Federal Circuit decision.

“U.S. appeals court revives VeriFone restatement lawsuit”: Dan Levine of Reuters has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued today.

“Getting Nearer and Nearer”: In the January 10, 2013 issue of The New York Review of Books, law professor David Cole will have this review of law professor Michael J. Klarman‘s book, “From the Closet to the Altar: Courts, Backlash, and the Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage.”