“Utah A.G. joins other states in defending Nevada’s ban on gay marriage; They see a slippery slope in extending rights to same-sex couples”: Brooke Adams of The Salt Lake Tribune has this news update.

“Lawyer will fight for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s life”: The Boston Herald has an article that begins, “Federal prosecutors are facing a legal obstacle course — including a highly experienced anti-death-penalty defense attorney, a largely liberal Massachusetts jury pool and multiple appeals — before they can win an execution order against accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.”

Access online the January 2014 edition of “Appellate Issues,” published by the ABA’s Council of Appellate Lawyers: Via this link.

It contains articles titled “A Conversation With Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli, Jr.”; “Honing the Knife: Editing Effectively to Improve Legal Writing”; “Handling the Difficult Oral Argument”; “Making Appellate Briefs More Effective: Selecting Issues and Structuring the Argument “; and “The Art of Dissent.”

“Mass. to appeal decision that murder convict Michelle Kosilek is entitled to sex change surgery”: The Boston Globe has this news update.

The Boston Herald has a news update headlined “State to appeal order to pay for inmate’s sex-change operation.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Mass. appeals inmate’s sex-reassignment surgery.”

“Pressure mounts on law societies to reject faith-based school’s graduates”: Today’s edition of The Toronto Globe and Mail contains a front page article that begins, “Concerned law professors are pressing their provincial societies to rethink recognizing graduates of a proposed new law program at Trinity Western University, a faith-based school that prohibits same-sex intimacy.”

And Vancouver Sun columnist Daphne Bramham has an essay titled “Anti-gay pledge could result in Trinity Western’s law degrees being worthless; B.C. Law Society has final say in approval of faculty; other provinces considering options.”

You can access the web site of Trinity Western University’s School of Law at this link, and the law school has posted online this FAQ addressing these issues.

“Rubio discusses decision to block Miami judge from reaching federal bench; Sen. Marco Rubio speaks to Local 10’s Michael Putney”: WPLG Local 10 of Miami has this video report.

“Muncie native joins U.S. Court of Appeals; Robert Wilkins confirmed by the Senate on Jan. 13”: This front page article appears in today’s edition of The Star Press of Muncie, Indiana.

“Shell scraps 2014 exploration, cites 9th Circuit’s lease decision”: Phil Taylor of Greenwire has this report.

“Injured bicyclist is testing whether the City of Mercer Island is immune from a lawsuit”: kirotv.com of Seattle has this report on a ruling that the Supreme Court of Washington State issued yesterday.

Not so dear Abby: A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit yesterday issued an opinion in Abby v. Howe denying Michigan state prisoner Leo Abby’s appeal from the denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging a second-degree murder conviction.

According to the opinion’s recitation of facts:

On November 4, 2003, a resident of Buena Vista, Michigan, found a human leg on his lawn. The man alerted the police, who found several plastic bags containing dismembered human limbs nearby. All of the recovered remains belonged to Calvin Tubbs, a friend of Abby’s, who had last been seen on October 27, 2003.

Laboratory technicians found Abby’s fingerprints on some of the plastic bags. They also recovered bits of Tubbs’ flesh from a reciprocating saw that Abby had borrowed from his cousin on October 27, 2003. The police did not find any other physical evidence connecting Abby to the crime.

The opening brief for appellant can be accessed here.

“Lawyers: Mo. moving too quickly on executions.” The Associated Press has a report that begins, “By the time the U.S. Supreme Court refused a last-minute request to stay the execution of Herbert Smulls, the Missouri inmate was already dead.”

“Court to allow Utah lengthier ‘brief’ in same-sex marriage appeal”: The Deseret News has this update.

“Federal Judge Upholds State’s Tough Assault Weapons Ban”: Edmund H. Mahony of The Hartford Courant has this news update.

And The Associated Press reports that “US judge upholds Connecticut gun control law.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut at this link.

“Maine supreme court: Transgender student’s rights were violated; The court sides with Nicole Maines, who was a fifth-grader when she was required to use a school staff bathroom instead of the girls’ restroom.” The Portland Press Herald has this news update.

And The Associated Press has a report headlined “Court: Transgender student’s rights were violated.”

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

“Can this brief save securities fraud class actions?” Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight today has a report that begins, “There is an awful lot of weight on David Boies’s shoulders in the U.S. Supreme Court case known as Halliburton v. Erica P.John Fund.”

“Federal prosecutors to seek death penalty against Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev”: The Boston Globe has this news update.

The Boston Herald has a news update headlined “AG to seek death penalty against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.”

And The Associated Press reports that “US prosecutors seek execution of marathon suspect.”

You can access the “Notice of Intent to Seek the Death Penalty” that federal prosecutors filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts at this link.

“4th Circuit has posted audio of arguments Tuesday in Snowden-related Lavabit case”: Josh Gerstein has this tweet linking to the audio (mp3 file).

My earlier post about the oral argument can be accessed here.

“Originalism class 4: Brown.” Eric Posner has this post today at his blog.

And at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Will Baude has a post titled “Does originalism justify Brown, and why do we care so much?”

“De Blasio Moves Closer to Settling Battle Over Stop-and-Frisk”: Benjamin Weiser of The New York Times has this news update.

And The New York Post reports that “City set to drop stop-frisk appeal.”

Update: The New York Times has updated the headline of its article to read “New York Reaches Agreement to End Battle Over Stop-and-Frisk.”

“Holder To Decide Soon On Death Penalty For Tsarnaev”: This audio segment appeared on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

In news from Louisiana: The Times-Picayune of New Orleans reports that “Louisiana Supreme Court throws out $330 million ruling against drug companies.”

And The Advocate of Baton Rouge reports that “La. high court reverses $258 million verdict; Attorney general sued over drug risk.”

You can access Tuesday’s 4-to-3 ruling of the Supreme Court of Louisiana at this link.

In other news, The Advocate reports that “La. Supreme Court upholds two statutes in gun law challenge.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Louisiana Supreme Court upholds juvenile concealed handgun ban.”

You can access Tuesday’s unanimous ruling of the Supreme Court of Louisiana at this link.

“Iowa Supreme Court will review service dog case; Justices will decide if lawsuit can move ahead in civil court”: Grant Rodgers has this article in today’s edition of The Des Moines Register.

“Michigan Supreme Court takes right-to-work case”: Paul Egan of The Detroit Free Press has a news update that begins, “The Michigan Supreme Court will rule on whether state employees are covered by the right-to-work law passed late in 2012, the court said today.”

“A Conversation with Justice Scalia”: Jessica Smith had this post yesterday at the blog “North Carolina Criminal Law.”

“Book profile: A Conspiracy Against Obamacare — The book based on the blog.” Ronald Collins has this post today at “SCOTUSblog.”

“Constitution Check: Is the Religious Freedom Restoration Act unconstitutional?” Lyle Denniston has this post today at the “Constitution Daily” blog of the National Constitution Center.

City of San Jose, California asks Ninth Circuit to expedite briefing and oral argument in appeal challenging the legal validity of the so-called “baseball exemption” to antitrust laws: You can access the motion to expedite, filed yesterday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, at this link.

“Secrecy Behind Executions”: This editorial appears today in The New York Times.

“Ban on antigay therapy for kids upheld”: Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.

The Associated Press reports that “Court won’t revisit California ‘gay therapy’ ban.”

And at her “Trial Insider” blog, Pamela A. MacLean has a post titled “Anti-gay Therapy Ban Upheld.”

You can access yesterday’s Ninth Circuit order denying rehearing en banc, accompanied by a dissent therefrom and an amended opinion from the three-judge panel, at this link.

“Black House members pressure Obama to name African-American to federal bench”: Mary Orndorff Troyan has this article today in The Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser.

According to the article, “The state’s only black federal judge, Abdul Kallon of Birmingham, is considered a likely candidate for Obama to nominate to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which would create a third district court vacancy.”

“Supreme Court lifts lower court stay of execution”: The Associated Press has this report.

Law professor Rory Little interviews Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. You can view the video at this link, beginning at approximately the 30-minute mark (via Scott Graham).

“Defense in Loop bomb plot case to get secret terror court filings”: The Chicago Tribune has this news update.

In Thursday’s edition of The New York Times, Charlie Savage will have an article headlined “Warrantless Surveillance Challenged by Defendant.”

Spencer Ackerman of The Guardian (UK) has an article headlined “Defence lawyers granted access to Fisa surveillance documents in terror case; Representatives for Adel Daoud allowed for the first time to view origins of evidence collected against him under surveillance law.”

And The Associated Press has a report headlined “Judge: Defense in terror case can see secret docs.”

You can access at this link today’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

“Court fight stalling Mo. execution in final hours”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Wash. to increase execution access”: The Associated Press has this report.