“DOMA Drama: What to watch for at the gay marriage arguments before the Supreme Court.” Emily Bazelon has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

And Ryan J. Reilly and Will Wrigley of The Huffington Post report that “Supreme Court Gay Marriage Line Forms Even Earlier Than Obamacare Queue.”

“Al Franken Sends Eric Holder Letter Over ‘Remarkably Aggressive’ Aaron Swartz Prosecution”: Zach Carter of The Huffington Post has this report.

“Issues Remain for Same-Sex Couples, Whatever the Justices Rule”: Tara Siegel Bernard will have this new installment of her “Your Money” column in Saturday’s edition of The New York Times.

“Senior status for Circuit Judge Michael Boudin”: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit today issued a news release that begins, “Chief Judge Lynch of the First Circuit Court of Appeals announced today that the Honorable Michael Boudin intends to assume senior status on June 1, 2013.”

On Wednesday of last week, I had a post titled “Enquiring about the status of First Circuit Judge Michael Boudin.”

“Death row inmates challenge use of death penalty drug”: Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers has this article previewing a case scheduled for oral argument Monday at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

“Obama Recess Picks Meet Skepticism From Appeals Judges”: Tom Schoenberg of Bloomberg News has a report that begins, “President Barack Obama’s appointment of labor board members last year while most senators were out of town met skepticism from appeals court judges weighing whether he overstepped his constitutional powers.”

Update: You can access the oral argument audio file for this case from the web site of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit via this link (53.0 MB mp3 audio file).

“Obama withdraws appeals court pick”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, ” President Barack Obama is withdrawing his nominee to a federal appeals court after Republicans twice blocked her confirmation.”

And Politico.com reports that “White House withdraws Halligan nomination.”

“The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times” has posted a PDF copy of the nominee’s withdrawal letter at this link. And The White House has issued a “Statement by the President on the Withdrawal of the Nomination of Caitlin Halligan.”

Update: In other coverage, The Washington Post has a blog entry titled “White House withdraws Caitlin Halligan nomination.”

The New York Times has a blog post titled “Obama Withdraws Judicial Nomination After Second G.O.P. Filibuster.”

The Washington Times has a blog post titled “Obama gives up on U.S. appeals court pick.”

Bloomberg News reports that “Obama Pulls Court Nomination Blocked by Republicans.”

The Hill has a blog post titled “White House withdraws court nominee who was blocked twice by GOP.”

At “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Todd Ruger has a post titled “After a Two-Year Fight, White House Withdraws Halligan for D.C. Circuit.”

Tom Curry, national affairs writer for NBC News, has a blog post titled “NRA scores victory as Obama appeals court nominee withdraws.”

And suggesting that the U.S. Senate’s filibuster may have been Xenia-phobic, The Columbus Dispatch has a blog post titled “White House withdraws judicial nominee born in Xenia.”

“Professors Scott Hemphill, Bhaven Sampat on Reverse Payment Settlement”: Columbia Law School has posted online this news release about an article headlined “Drug Patents at the Supreme Court” (also available in PDF format) that law professor C. Scott Hemphill and professor Bhaven N. Sampat have in the March 22, 2013 issue of Science magazine.

“Fighting Same-Sex Marriage With Zeal and Strategy”: This article will appear Saturday in The New York Times.

“ND lawmakers define life as starting at conception”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “North Dakota lawmakers moved Friday to outlaw abortion in the state by passing a bill defining life as starting at conception.”

“Supreme Court’s Sidekick Kid Justice Killed By Mad Genius Dr. Contempto”: The Onion has this report.

“Line formed for marriage arguments”: At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post that begins, “Spectators seeking to get into the Supreme Court chamber for next week’s oral arguments on the same-sex marriage cases began lining up on Thursday at about 9 p.m. — more than four days before the first argument, Tuesday at 10 a.m.”

And on a related note, Yale Law School has issued a news release titled “Yale Law School Professors, Alumni Submit Amicus Briefs in Hollingsworth v. Perry.”

“Senate Judiciary Committee approves nomination of Jane Kelly as next 8th Circuit appeals judge”: The Gazette of Cedar Rapids, Iowa has this news update.

“The Stealthy Solicitor General”: Lincoln Caplan has this post today at the “Taking Note” blog of The New York Times.

“Gay Marriage and the Libertarian’s Dilemma: The Supreme Court will consider two same-sex marriage cases that pit original intent against individual liberty.” Law professor Richard A. Epstein has this essay online today at the Defining Ideas site of the Hoover Institution.

“Milbank Tweed Forum, moderated by Samuel Estreicher, features Supreme Court correspondents for Wall Street Journal and New York Times sharing behind-the-scenes scoop”: New York University School of Law has posted the video online at YouTube at this link.

“Cytori Loses Bid to Overturn FDA Bar on Stem-Cell Devices”: Bloomberg News has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued today.

The Associated Press reports that “Judges side with FDA in rejecting stem cell device.”

And David Ingram of Reuters reports that “Medical device maker Cytori loses approval fight.”

“When Bork saved justice: ‘Saturday Night Massacre’ preserved the Constitution.” Former U.S. Senator Fred D. Thompson has this op-ed today in The Washington Times discussing Robert H. Bork‘s posthumously published book, “Saving Justice: Watergate, the Saturday Night Massacre, and Other Adventures of a Solicitor General.”

“The Supreme Court’s Theory of Private Law”: Law professors Nathan B. Oman and Jason M. Solomon have posted this article online at SSRN (via “Legal Theory Blog“).

“Supreme Court Recusal: From Marbury to the Modern Day.” Law professor James J. Sample has posted this article online at SSRN (via “Election Law Blog“).

“The Sexual Fetish of Gay Marriage Opponents: Defenders of DOMA and Proposition 8 say marriage isn’t about love or parenting; It’s about coitus.” Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Mentor, Protege Square Off on Gay Marriage; Theodore Olson Helped Paul Clement Ascend Conservative Ranks; Next Week, They Argue Opposite Sides of Landmark Issue”: Jess Bravin has this article today in The Wall Street Journal.

“Preview: Supreme Court to decide on deals to delay cheaper drugs.” Reuters has this report.

“Abortion and Gay Marriage: Separate Issues; America has become more pro-life, more pro-gun, and more pro-gay.” Jonah Goldberg has this essay today at National Review Online.

“EXCLUSIVE: EMails Show Prop. 8 Judge Sought Ted Olson’s Advice On Whether to Attend Supreme Court Argument on Gay Marriage.” Patterico has this post today at his blog, “Patterico’s Pontifications.”

“Preview: Gay-marriage cases to define U.S. Supreme Court legacy.” Joan Biskupic of Reuters has this report.

“Florida ruling could force tobacco sector’s hand in Engle cases”: Reuters has this report.

“New Orleans judge rules statute forbidding felons from having firearms unconstitutional after ‘fundamental right’ amendment”: The Times-Picayune has this report.

Via “The Volokh Conspiracy,” you can access the trial court’s ruling at this link.

“UPMC, Pittsburgh stake positions for court fight on nonprofit status”: This article appears today in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

“Argument preview: Is ‘pay for delay’ of drugs illegal?” Lyle Denniston has this post today at “SCOTUSblog.”

“Meet The 83-Year-Old Taking On The U.S. Over Same-Sex Marriage”: This audio segment featuring Nina Totenberg appeared on yesterday evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

“UK Supreme Court holds first secret session in Iran bank case”: Reuters has this report.

“Senate filibustering amounts to contempt of the courts: The Senate’s habit of filibustering judicial nominees must end; Both Republicans and Democrats are to blame.” This editorial appears today in The Los Angeles Times.