“NY court considers pistol permit restriction”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “Attorneys representing both the government and a man whose application for a pistol permit was denied asked New York’s highest court on Thursday to rule that state law does not prohibit issuing permits to people who only live in-state part time.”

“State v. Brewington Oral Argument”: Eugene Volokh has this post today at “The Volokh Conspiracy.” You can view the oral argument video by clicking here.

“Gay and unmarried adoption battle set for Supreme Court; The health minister is set to take his fight against the extension of adoption rights to Northern Ireland’s gay and unmarried couples to the UK’s highest court”: BBC News has this report.

Meet my oral argument toddler: Attorneys may sometimes wonder what type of appeal takes two years or longer from the date of oral argument to be decided. Although I am loathe to generalize, I can now provide an example of one such case, as today marks the two-year anniversary of an oral argument that I delivered to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in a case that as of this moment remains undecided.

On the day before my oral argument of the case, I had this preview post. The briefs filed in the case can be accessed via two earlier posts, here and here. The video of that day’s Pa. Supreme Court oral arguments had been available via this link, but the videos are not working for me at this time. The Pa. Supreme Court granted review in the case on March 15, 2011, and thus in two days from now the case will have been pending on the merits before Pennsylvania’s highest court for 30 months. The case arrived on that court’s doorstep on November 1, 2010, when discretionary review was sought by means of a petition for allowance of appeal.

For what it is worth, the same case that has taken Pennsylvania’s highest court at least two years to decide took the Superior Court of Pennsylvania — an intermediate appellate court — 41 days from oral argument to decide.

As noted in my preview post, September 13, 2011 was quite a busy day for me, as I was arguing not one but two cases before Pennsylvania’s highest court that day, and another case in which I wrote the Brief for Plaintiff/Appellee was being argued in the Pa. Superior Court by plaintiff’s trial counsel. In the Superior Court case, my client achieved affirmance of the $12.4 million judgment in his favor.

Sadly, in the other case that I argued on September 13, 2011 before the Pa. Supreme Court, my client lost by a vote of 4-to-3, although the decision has spawned considerable backlash (see here, here, here, here, and here) that may result in an amendment to Pennsylvania’s Constitution intended to overrule the high court’s decision.

“Justices closely question both sides during appeals of Virginia Tech shootings case; The court will likely take several weeks to render its written rulings on the two appeals linked to a wrongful death case brought after the April 16, 2007, shootings”: The Roanoke Times has this news update.

“Consent to search a phone doesn’t mean listening in”: Bob Egelko has this blog post online at The San Francisco Chronicle.

And at her “Trial Insider” blog, Pamela A. MacLean has a post titled “Border Agent Call Screening Suppressed.”

Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote today’s ruling on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

“An audio example for the Supreme Court”: Michael McGough has this essay online today at The Los Angeles Times.

“Chief Justice Roberts holds key in campaign-finance case; Supreme Court’s first major case in upcoming term represents conservatives’ latest effort to remove government restrictions on political speech”: Richard Wolf will have this article Friday in USA Today.

“Looking Ahead: October Term 2013.” I had the pleasure of being asked to write the “Looking Ahead” piece that will appear in the 2012-2013 issue of the Cato Supreme Court Review, whose formal publication date is Tuesday, September 17, 2013.

In recent years, the authors of that essay have included star journalist Jan Crawford and attorneys Erik S. Jaffe, Gregory G. Garre, and Kannon K. Shanmugam. My humble contribution to that canon (earlier examples can be accessed via this link) can be accessed here.

That’s why, on Tuesday of next week, I will be in Washington, DC to participate as a panelist at The Cato Institute’s Center for Constitutional Studies symposium titled “The Supreme Court: Past and Prologue: A Look at the October 2012 and 2013 Terms.” My co-panelists will be Tom Goldstein (who founded “SCOTUSblog” after “How Appealing” inspired him to do so) and Marcia Coyle, who covers the U.S. Supreme Court for The National Law Journal.

“Next round in Fisher case”: Lyle Denniston has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”

“Senate panel Oks measure defining a journalist”: The Associated Press has this report.

In posts of interest today at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.” Alex Zank has a post titled “House Committee Votes to Extend Supreme Court Police Authority.”

Matthew Huisman has a post titled “George Mason Law Adds D.C. Circuit Judge to Faculty.”

And Zoe Tillman has a post titled “Court Delays Arguments in Dispute Over Anonymous Wikipedia Editor.”

“Judiciary sends Obama budget plea”: Tal Kopan of Politico.com has this blog post. You can view the letter, dated September 10, 2013, at this link.

“Pennsylvania court orders county court clerk to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples”: The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has this update.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a news update headlined “PA Court orders Montco to halt licenses for gay marriages.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Pa. judge orders end to same-sex marriage licenses.”

You can access today’s ruling of the President Judge of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania at this link.

“William Lamb: A tough prosecutor up against gay marriage proponents.” The Patriot-News of Harrisburgh, Pennsylvania has this report.

“Illinois Supreme Court: Second Amendment Protects Carrying Outside the Home.” At “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Eugene Volokh has this post on a unanimous ruling that the Supreme Court of Illinois issued today.

Putting SCOTUS engagements up for bid: On Tuesday, law professor Josh Blackman had a guest post at “Above the Law” titled “The Supreme Court ‘Beauty Contest’: A Behind-the-Scenes Look.” Having a potential client who is looking for the best possible lawyer for an appellate engagement can be a very good thing, especially for those lawyers who have the qualities necessary to secure the engagement.

Recently, the State of Georgia issued an RFP (request for proposal) seeking lawyers to serve as outside appellate counsel in an original jurisdiction action that the State of Florida intended to file against Georgia in the U.S. Supreme Court. Today, in The Daily Report of Fulton County, Georgia, Kathleen Baydala Joyner has an article headlined “Lawyers Flood AG With Queries To Defend Georgia In Water Wars; Water case draws 29 applications by lawyers and firms wishing to defend Georgia against Florida’s bid for more access to the Chattahoochee River” (free registration may be required for access) that begins, “Lawyers who want to defend Georgia from Florida’s impending lawsuit over water rights range from a former U.S. solicitor general who regularly charges more than $1,100 per hour to a recent law school graduate who offered to work for free.”

“Delaware Supreme Court weigh power of sheriffs to make arrests; Sussex sheriff Jeff Christopher claims 2012 law violates Constitution”: This article appears in today’s edition of The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware.

“Hecht chosen as new chief of Texas Supreme Court”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Mich. chief justice won’t comment on judge’s donations but jokes, ‘I want to marry his wife'”: The Associated Press has this report.

“When bloggers irritate judges”: Senior U.S. District Judge Richard G. Kopf has this post today at his blog, “Hercules and the Umpire.”

“Solicitor General Previews Supreme Court Term”: C-SPAN is intending to provide live online coverage of this event, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. eastern time today. More information on the event can be accessed here.

And on Tuesday of next week, I will be in Washington, DC to participate as a panelist at The Cato Institute’s Center for Constitutional Studies symposium titled “The Supreme Court: Past and Prologue: A Look at the October 2012 and 2013 Terms.”

“Wilkins Breezes Through D.C. Circuit Confirmation Hearing”: Todd Ruger has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

And Jennifer Bendery of The Huffington Post reports that “Chuck Grassley Tries To Trick Obama Judicial Nominee Into Criticizing Another Nominee.”

You can view the video of today’s U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing by clicking here.

“Traditional marriage plea heads to Court”: Lyle Denniston has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”

“Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor visits Touro”: This article appeared yesterday in Newsday.

“Release Net identities of sex offenders, state urges”: In today’s edition of The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has this article reporting on an oral argument yesterday before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

“Texas Hold ‘Em: The state refuses to allow same-sex couples married elsewhere to get divorced; Is this the next constitutional showdown over marriage equality?” Dahlia Lithwick and law professor Sonja West have this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“The Cleverest New Anti-Abortion Law: Will the Supreme Court strike down Oklahoma’s devious attempt to stop doctors from prescribing the safest kind of medical abortion?” Emily Bazelon has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Minneapolis Park Board was too restrictive to man distributing Bibles at Twin Cities Pride Festival, says U.S. Court of Appeals”: The Minneapolis Star Tribune has this news update reporting on a ruling that a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued today.

Access online the most recent edition of “Appellate Issues,” a publication of the Council of Appellate Lawyers of the American Bar Association: Its focus is appellate oral arguments, and you can access it online by clicking here.

Speaking of appellate oral arguments, one of my cases is just days away from becoming an oral argument toddler, as this Friday will mark exactly two years from the date of my appellate oral argument in the case, without any ruling having issued thus far. Fortunately, as the links in this earlier post demonstrate, the court before which this appeal is pending claims to be very efficient, and its leader is not particularly amenable to criticism on that subject, so I shall not identify that court by name.

“Posner on class actions: Minuscule damages shouldn’t doom cases.” Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this report.

“Judges seem skeptical of truck makers’ arguments against EPA penalty rule”: Jeremy P. Jacobs of Greenwire has this report.

“New deal may double the number of Eleventh Circuit judges named ‘Pryor’ or ‘Carnes.'” William Baude had this tweet earlier today linking to a post titled “Judge happenings” that David Oscar Markus has today at his “Southern District of Florida Blog.”

R. Robin McDonald of The Daily Report of Fulton County, Georgia has more details in an article headlined “A Deal on the Table for Federal Judge Appointments? Georgia lawyers say Chambliss, Isakson and state Democrats wait for OK from Obama” (registration may be required for free access).

Divided three-judge Eleventh Circuit panel addresses whether a magistrate judge has subject-matter jurisdiction to enter a final judgment in a class action without first obtaining the consent of the absent members of the class: You can access yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at this link.

“Guantanamo judge makes secret ruling on secret motion in secret hearing”: Carol Rosenberg of The Miami Herald has this report.