“Julian Assange unlikely to face U.S. charges over publishing classified documents”: The Washington Post has an article that begins, “The Justice Department has all but concluded it will not bring charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for publishing classified documents because government lawyers said they could not do so without also prosecuting U.S. news organizations and journalists, according to U.S. officials.”

“US courts’ domestic partners get spousal benefits”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has a news update that begins, “The rights of gay and lesbian spouses to the same federal benefits as other married couples also extend to federal court employees’ same-sex domestic partners, a federal appeals court’s administrative tribunal said Monday in the first known ruling of its kind.”

You can access at this link today’s order of the Executive Committee of the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council.

“Much of Alabama’s far-reaching immigration law permanently blocked in final settlement of lawsuits”: The Huntsville Times has this news update.

In connection with the settlement, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a news release titled “Alabama’s Immigration Law Permanently Blocked In Justice Department Lawsuit.”

“Should the Supreme Court Have Unpaid Interns?” Bloomberg News columnist Jonathan Weil has this essay today.

“A caution light for Missouri’s red-light cameras”: This article appeared in yesterday’s edition of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“Maine AG files brief with Supreme Court defending health clinic buffers; The court is expected to take up a Mass. case on abortion-protest buffer zones in January, which could affect Portland’s new rules”: The Portland Press Herald has this news update. You can access the amicus brief at this link.

“The Case of the Errant Hot-Dog Toss: Baseball fans should be protected from getting injured by the antics of team mascots.” Law professor John Culhane has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Mt. Holly Gardens residents welcome long case’s end”: The Philadelphia Inquirer has this report.

In the December 2013 issue of ABA Journal magazine: This month’s issue contains the “7th Annual Blawg 100.” This blog did not qualify for inclusion on this year’s list, because it was one of last year’s ten inductees in the “Blawg 100 Hall of Fame.”

Mark Walsh has an article headlined “Did town show disparate-impact bias in taking over buildings?” Yes, the case has settled, but the article lives on!

Lorelei Laird has an article headlined “California begins to release prisoners after reforming its three-strikes law.”

Kevin Davis has an article headlined “Judy Clarke has a knack for keeping her notorious clients off death row.”

L. Jay Jackson has articles headlined “‘Link rot’ is degrading legal research and case cites” and “Opera based on Justices Ginsburg and Scalia is written by attorney.”

And this month’s installment of Bryan A. Garner’s “On Words” column is titled “David Foster Wallace’s advice on arguing persuasively.”

“Gun advocates appeal ‘Firearms Freedom Act’ ruling”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “Gun advocates are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling against state laws designed to buck federal gun rules.”

“Supreme Court weighs new health law dispute”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report.

“1993 religious freedom act is at heart of contraception case; A 1993 religious freedom act at the heart of a possible Supreme Court contraception case may come back to haunt Democrats”: David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

And online at msnbc.com, Irin Carmon has an essay titled “Birth Control, the Supreme Court and me.”

“U.S. justices to weigh corporate religious rights”: Lawrence Hurley of Reuters has this report.

“SCOTUSblog on camera: J. Harvie Wilkinson, III — Part three.” “SCOTUSblog” has posted this video online today, part three of an eight-part interview.

“Bipartisan approval lends a sense of balance to the judiciary”: Fourth Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III has this op-ed today in The Washington Post.

“NYC driver whose bikini top was untied cleared in fatal Thruway crash”: This article appears today in The New York Daily News.

You can access last Wednesday’s ruling of a divided panel of the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division, Second Department, at this link.

“What’s with all the devil talk? Thanks to Scalia and C.S. Lewis, Satan is casting a larger shadow on our culture.” Tom Krattenmaker has this op-ed today in USA Today.

“Presidential nominations are still no slam dunks”: Politico.com has this report.

“Oil Spill Judge ‘Deeply Disappointed’ in BP”: Paul M. Barrett of Bloomberg Businessweek has this report.