“Think gay marriage is a product of activist judges? Think again.” Karin Klein has this essay online at The Los Angeles Times.

Editorials appearing in today’s edition of The Los Angeles Times: The newspaper contains editorials titled “Mt. Soledad cross: Take it down; It is a clearly Christian symbol on government-owned land, and and the Supreme Court should order its removal” and “Utah’s anti-polygamy law: When a man loves 4 women; District Judge Clark Waddoups rejected the part of the law that prohibited cohabitation by unmarried people with multiple sexual partners; And that’s fine.”

“Judge rules heat levels on Angola death row subject inmates to ‘cruel and unusual punishment'”: The Times-Picayune of New Orleans has this report on a ruling that the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana issued today.

“Obama picks Judge Gregg Costa for 5th Circuit appeals court”: Todd J. Gillman of The Dallas Morning News has this blog post.

And The Associated Press reports that “US District Court Judge Julie E. Carnes tapped to serve in 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.”

“U.S. court revives 9/11 victims’ case against Saudi Arabia”: Jonathan Stempel of Reuters has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued today.

“Supreme Court OKs new lethal injection procedure”: The Associated Press has this report on a ruling that the Supreme Court of Florida issued today.

“New Mexico AG filing suit to stop horse slaughter”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Third Circuit Accepts One Brief, Rejects the Second”: At “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Orin Kerr has this post about an order that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued today in United States v. Auernheimer.

“State Supreme Court rules municipalities can limit what gas drillers can do”: The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a news update that begins, “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court tossed out controversial portions of the state’s oil and gas law reforms, letting municipalities retain control over where and when to allow drilling in their jurisdictions.”

Today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania consists of an opinion announcing the judgment of the court, a concurring opinion, and two dissenting opinions (here and here).

“Jerry Sandusky lawyer’s appeal of media leak order rejected by Pa. Supreme Court”: The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has this report.

You can access yesterday’s order of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania at this link.

“Court rules that law test data can be released”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “The California Supreme Court has ruled that ethnic and other data submitted by applicants to administrators of bar exam can be released to the public. The court ruled unanimously Thursday in a legal scholar’s years-long fight to obtain the data to aid in his research of racial disparities in law school performance.”

You can access today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of California at this link.

“Same-sex marriage ruled legal by NM’s high court”: The Associated Press has this report.

You can access today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of New Mexico at this link.

Update: In other coverage, The Santa Fe New Mexican has a news update headlined “New Mexico Supreme Court rules same-sex marriage legal.”

Bloomberg News reports that “New Mexico Supreme Court Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage.”

And Reuters reports that “New Mexico Supreme Court rules to allow same-sex marriage.”

“Judge Softens Utah’s Anti-Polygamy Law To Mixed Reactions”: This audio segment appeared on yesterday evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

“The Last 24 Hours Before Oral Argument”: This audio segment posted online Monday, featuring attorney Kannon K. Shanmugam, is part of the “Sound Advice” audio library of the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation.

By listening to the first few moments of the podcast, you can also learn both how to and how not to pronounce Kannon’s last name.

“Saith Scalia: In Memphis, the Supreme Court’s leading conservative makes the case for judicial literalism.” The Memphis Flyer has this report.

“Democrats Eye Deal To Confirm 4 Obama Nominees And Avoid Spending Christmas Eve Together”: Jennifer Bendery of The Huffington Post has this report.

“In Death Penalty’s Steady Decline, Some Experts See a Societal Shift”: Erik Eckholm has this article today in The New York Times.

And Pete Yost of The Associated Press reports that “Executions in US drop close to 20-year low in 2013.”

“Constitution Check: Is modern technology giving new life to the Fourth Amendment?” Lyle Denniston has this post today at the “Constitution Daily” blog of the National Constitution Center.

“Appeals court ‘troubled’ by top St. Louis prosecutor’s mid-trial tweeting”: This article appears today in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“Judge Donald R. Ross is gone”: Senior U.S. District Judge Richard G. Kopf has this post today at his “Hercules and the Umpire” blog.