“New Utah AG says costs of defending same-sex marriage ban worth it; Founder of Marriage Law Foundation assisting state in appeal and stay filing, which is expected Tuesday”: Brooke Adams of The Salt Lake Tribune has this news update.

And The Deseret News has an update headlined “Attorney General Sean Reyes takes oath, poised to appeal gay marriage ruling.”

“The Strangely Sexless Sex Work Decision”: Marcus McCann has this post today at the “Impact Ethics” blog.

“ACLU sues for details of U.S. surveillance under executive order”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has this report.

And The Associated Press reports that “ACLU sues government over international calls.”

Alex Abdo of the ACLU has a blog post titled “The Most Important Surveillance Order We Know Almost Nothing About” that links to the complaint initiating suit.

“Jurist Prudence? Candid Judges Speak Out; Critics Question Wisdom of Justices Who Take Their Opinions Beyond the Courtroom; Dishing on a Blog and in a Book.” Joe Palazzolo will have this article in Tuesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“[T]he most surprising feature of the entire episode is the exceptional lenity with which a state university (in a state that does not allow medicinal, let alone recreational, use of marijuana) treated a brazen violator of its rules of conduct and of the criminal law.” So writes Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in an opinion issued today.

“Supreme Court To Take Up Campaign Finance, Abortion Protests In 2014”: This audio segment featuring Nina Totenberg appeared on this evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

“Justice Alito’s slam at Vaughn Walker for Prop. 8 ruling”: Bob Egelko has this blog post online today at The San Francisco Chronicle.

“Utah’s Gay-Marriage ‘Emergency'”: Richard Socarides has this blog post online today at The New Yorker.

“10th Circuit sets ‘expedited’ schedule for appeal of Amendment 3; Appellate attorney predicts resolution could be reached by spring”: The Deseret News has this update.

And Robert Gehrke of The Salt Lake Tribune has a news update headlined “Reyes tackles tall tasks as Utah’s new attorney general; He has to clean up after Swallow and lead Utah’s fight against same-sex marriage.”

“Obama Trails Bush in Shaping Federal Judiciary”: Todd Ruger has this post today at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

“Gov. Herbert has not signed off on $2 million price tag to defend Amendment 3”: This article appears today in The Deseret News.

And today’s edition of The Salt Lake Tribune contains a front page article headlined “Parents of newlywed same-sex couples share joy, pride; Many parents doubted they would ever see their LGBT children get married in their home state.” The Tribune also has a news update headlined “Another Utah amendment on marriage coming; Proposes to ensure churches need not participate in marriages that violate their views.”

“The NSA’s Metadata Program Is Perfectly Constitutional; Judge William Pauley, not Judge Richard Leon, got it right”: Law professor Eric Posner has this essay online today at Slate.

“What You Need to Know about the Third-Party Doctrine; And what it will likely mean as the NSA lawsuits work their way through the courts”: John Villasenor has this essay online today at The Atlantic.

In the January 2014 issue of ABA Journal magazine: Mark Walsh has an article headlined “SCOTUS ponders whether the president can make appointments while Congress is out.”

Steven Seidenberg has an article headlined “With the Supreme Court’s OK, states begin imposing new laws to limit the vote.”

David L. Hudson Jr. has an article headlined “1st Amendment at issue in ban on gay-conversion therapy for minors.”

Susan A. Berson’s cover story, headlined “Road to retirement: Ways to make retirement anything but resignation,” begins, “Deanell Reece Tacha has the characteristic enthusiasm of a 3L.”

Richard Acello has an article headlined “How two California solos helped take down ‘porn troll’ Prenda Law.”

And the new installment of Bryan A. Garner’s “On Words” column is headlined “4 vignettes lead to a single moral about writing better briefs.”

“Bobbleheads honor Supreme Court justices”: Jessica Gresko of The Associated Press has this report.

“Judicial Nominations and Confirmations: Fact and Fiction.” Russell Wheeler has this year-end report online today at The Brookings Institution.

“Laws Deserve More Than Cute Names”: Adam Liptak will have this new installment of his “Sidebar” column in Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times.

“Trial Lawyers Put Whirlpool Through the Wringer: The Supreme Court has a chance to bring more clarity to class actions.” John Engler has this op-ed today in The Wall Street Journal.