Programming note: My first appellate oral argument of 2013 will occur tomorrow before a three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Consequently, additional posts will not appear here until Tuesday afternoon.

“Supreme Court nominee praised for efforts to reduce backlog”: Tuesday’s edition of The Bergen County (N.J.) Record will contain an article that begins, “David F. Bauman was a lawyer in the Marine Corps until he left to join one of New Jersey’s largest law firms, where he counted Whitney Houston among his clients and won a case that expanded free speech in the state.”

“If Judges Aren’t Politicians, What Are They?” Law professor Cass R. Sunstein has this essay online today at Bloomberg View.

“Espinosa Nominated To Be State’s First Hispanic Supreme Court Justice”: The Hartford Courant has this news update.

“Justices Weigh Intent of a Class-Action Law”: Adam Liptak will have this article Tuesday in The New York Times.

And in Tuesday’s edition of The Washington Post, Robert Barnes will have an article headlined “Court considers limits on class-action suits.”

“Hathaway to retire after judicial agency calls for her suspension”: The Detroit Free Press has this news update.

And The Detroit News has an update headlined “Michigan Supreme Court Justice Hathaway to retire amid scandal.”

“Judge Bryson Assumes Senior Status”: Law professor Jason Rantanen has this post today at “Patently-O” containing comments from himself and from other law clerks to now-Senior Federal Circuit Judge William Curtis Bryson.

Back on September 2, 2003, I published my “20 questions for the appellate judge” interview with Judge Bryson. You can access the interview at this link.

“Apple bid for Samsung sales ban faces skeptical court”: Dan Levine of Reuters has a news analysis that begins, “Apple Inc faces long odds in its attempt to overturn a U.S. appeals court ruling that threatens to undermine its smartphone patent war against Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.”

“Class-Action Limits Weighed as Court Hears Claim of Abuse”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.

And Mark Sherman of The Associated Press reports that “High court hears dispute over class actions.”

You can access at this link the transcript of today’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Knowles, No. 11-1450.

Update: In other coverage, Jonathan Stempel of Reuters reports that “High court weighs limits on class-action tactics.”

“Supreme Court rejects challenge to Obama stem cell policy”: David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this news update.

And Reuters has reports headlined “U.S. high court will not review federal embryonic stem cell funds“; “Supreme Court won’t take combat veterans’ mental health appeal“; and “Supreme Court won’t hear challenge over PAC disclosures.”

“Arbitration and Access to Justice: Economic Analysis.” Law professor Omri Ben-Shahar has posted this paper online at SSRN.

“When Death Row Lawyers Stumble, Clients Take the Fall”: Adam Liptak will have this new installment of his “Sidebar” column in Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times.

“Supreme Court Won’t Hear Challenge to Federal Milk Price-Fixing”: Damon W. Root has this post today at the “Hit & Run” blog at Reason.com.

“Marriage arguments March 26-27”: Lyle Denniston has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”

Update: At “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Marcia Coyle has a post titled “High Court Schedules Arguments in Same-Sex Marriage Cases for March.”

Update: In other coverage, Howard Mintz of The San Jose Mercury News reports that “U.S. Supreme Court to hear arguments in Proposition 8 case on March 26.”

The Associated Press reports that “High court to hear 2 days of arguments on gay marriage.”

And Jonathan Stempel of Reuters reports that “Top court to hear same-sex marriage cases in late March.”

“A Liberal Who Preached Restraint: In his letters, as on the bench, Judge Learned Hand argued against judicial activism.” In Saturday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, Adam J. White had this review of the new book “Reason and Imagination: The Selected Correspondence of Learned Hand,” edited by Constance Jordan, a granddaughter of Learned Hand.

“Supreme Court case involves medical malpractice awards, Medicaid”: Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers has this report.

“U.S. Courthouse Renovation Completed After 6 Years, $314M”: Mark Hamblett has this article today in the New York Law Journal.

In Bashman news from Australia: The Toowoomba Chronicle has a news update headlined “Police claim woman used pedestal fan to bash man.”

“GOP split as gay marriage goes mainstream”: Carolyn Lochhead has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.

“Clerk William K. Suter Retirement Announcement”: The Public Information Office of the Supreme Court of the United States issued this announcement today. It has been my pleasure to visit with General Suter at various times over the years, and I was very pleased to learn that he is among the readers of “How Appealing.” Please join me in wishing him the best as he looks forward to his retirement at the end of August 2013.

Update: In other coverage, at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Marcia Coyle has a post titled “Clerk of the Supreme Court to retire in August.”

“Oklahoma’s first black chief justice stresses importance of role models; Hundreds attended the historic swearing-in ceremony at the Oklahoma Capitol”: This article appeared in Saturday’s edition of The Oklahoman.

Earlier, The Tulsa World published an article headlined “Black jurists to head Oklahoma’s two highest courts.”

Access online today’s Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court: The Court has posted today’s Order List at this link. The Court did not grant review in any new cases, but the Court did call for the views of the Solicitor General in three cases.

In early news coverage, The Associated Press has reports headlined “Court won’t stop embryonic stem cell research“; “High court rejects medicare challenge“; “Court won’t hear Ga. gun lawsuit“; “Court won’t hear campaign finance arguments“; “Court won’t hear appeal in Texas murder case.”

Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Stem-Cell Research Can Proceed as Court Rejects Appeal“; “Exxon Unit Rejected by High Court in Puerto Rico Gas Case“; and “Retractable Rejected by Top Court on Becton Patent Appeal.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Stem cell dispute near end?”

“Connolly Advocates To Allow Cameras In Supreme Court”: Washington, DC’s American University Radio WAMU 88.5 has this audio report today.

“U.S. Supreme Court appeal filed in case of 1st Lt. Michael Behenna; A new team of lawyers for 1st Lt. Michael Behenna argue that the Oklahoma soldier’s case demonstrates need for high court justices to redefine self-defense in changing landscape of war”: Chris Casteel has this article today in The Oklahoman.

“Juvenile Sentencing Remains An Issue”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down laws requiring automatic life sentences without parole for juvenile killers is presenting some thorny legal issues for Florida judges.”

“High court weighs future of a class-action ‘hellhole’; Using procedural sleights-of-hand to keep big corporate defendants trapped in congenial Arkansas courts, local law firms have extracted almost $400 million in fees over seven years in one small, rural county; Can the defendants stage a breakout?” Roger Parloff has this essay today at CNNMoney.com.

“Christie Supreme Court nominee praised as ‘insightful’ leader”: The Bergen County (N.J.) Record contains this article today.

“Missouri GOP looks to impose caps on malpractice cases; After high court strikes down liability law, Missouri legislators consider other options”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Supreme Court Returns Today With Gay Marriage, Affirmative Action, Voting Rights in View”: Ariane de Vogue of ABC News has this blog post today.

In the January 14, 2013 issue of The New Yorker: Jeffrey Toobin has a comment headlined “Casting Votes: Will the Supreme Court overturn the Voting Rights Act?”

And Rachel Aviv has an Annals of Crime article headlined “The Science of Sex Abuse: Serving time for crimes not yet committed.”