“Ruling on insurance, birth control pleases religious groups”: This front page article appears today in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

And online today at The New Yorker, Amy Davidson has a blog post titled “Nuns Against the Obamacare Mandate.”

“Without Jury, Judge Warned That Stop-and-Frisk Ruling Would Be Disputed”: Benjamin Weiser and Joseph Goldstein will have this article in Friday’s edition of The New York Times.

“Court ruling on gay marriage opens door to same-sex divorce in Utah”: The Deseret News has this report.

“ACLU Appeals Dismissal of Lawsuit Challenging NSA Call-Tracking Program”: The ACLU issued this news release today.

In news coverage, Spencer Ackerman of The Guardian (UK) reports that “ACLU will appeal ruling that NSA bulk phone record collection is legal; Appeal is against verdict by New York federal judge; Federal appeals courts drawn into controversy.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Lawyers begin appeal of NSA phone ruling in NYC.”

“Foundation that launched Interior chiefs Watt, Norton doubles down on litigation”: Jeremy P. Jacobs of Greenwire has this report today.

“Abortion-rights group finds anti-abortion regulations accelerating”: The Hill has this blog post reporting on a Guttmacher Institute news release issued today titled “More State Abortion Restrictions Were Enacted in 2011-2013 Than in the Entire Previous Decade.”

“Miami appeals court throws out murder charges for man claiming self-defense in double killing”: David Ovalle has this report on a ruling that a divided three-judge panel of Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal issued today.

According to the article, the ruling “marks the first time that Miami’s appeals court has granted immunity to someone under Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground law.”

“The Devil Made Me Do It”: A constitutional law professor opting to use the name “Screwtape” has this blog entry today at The Huffington Post capturing a Christmas Eve 2013 conversation between Justice Antonin Scalia and the Devil.

“Nuns’ Top Court Contraception Objection Delays Health Law”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.

And yesterday at “Balkinization,” Marty Lederman had a blog post titled “Not Quite Hobby Lobby: The Nonprofit Cases, and Opting Out as Complicity [with UPDATE on Little Sisters ‘church plan’ situation].”

“Prediction: Fourth Amendment Evolves in 2014.” Jennifer Granick had this post Tuesday at “Just Security.”

“Pa. priest released from prison after appeal”: The Associated Press has this report.

“In light of the recently enacted state legislation, we conclude that the Committee’s motion to admit Garcia to the State Bar should be granted.” The Supreme Court of California today issued this unanimous decision in a case concerning an undocumented immigrant’s application for admission to the State Bar of California.

In early news coverage, Dan Levine of Reuters reports that “California court lets undocumented immigrant practice law.”

The Associated Press reports that “California grants law license to immigrant.”

The New York Times has a news update headlined “Immigrant in U.S. Illegally May Practice Law, California Court Rules.”

Howard Mintz of The San Jose Mercury News has an update headlined “California illegal immigrants can get law license, state Supreme Court rules.”

And Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times has news update headlined “Immigrant without green card can be a lawyer, California court rules.”

In connection with the ruling, California’s highest court issued a news release titled “California Supreme Court Admits Undocumented Immigrant to State Bar.”

“White House stands by birth-control rule”: Politico.com has a report that begins, “The Obama administration Wednesday said the Affordable Care Act contraceptive coverage regulations are fair — and they don’t really hurt the Denver-based religious organization that got a temporary New Year’s Eve reprieve from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.”

“Court of Appeals to Provide Live Audio Streaming for All Proceedings”: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today issued a news release that begins, “The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit plans to offer live audio streaming of all of its proceedings, beginning with oral arguments scheduled for January 6-9, 2014, at the Richard H. Chambers U.S. Courthouse in Pasadena, California.

“This case presents the question of when the confrontation clause requires testimony from lab analysts who conduct forensic tests on evidence. While the United States Supreme Court has grappled with this issue on multiple occasions, a majority of the Court has not adopted a single theory or test.” So begins the majority opinion in a case that the Supreme Court of Washington State decided today by a 5-to-4 margin.

“California to rule on law license for immigrant”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “The California Supreme Court on Thursday will decide whether to grant a law license to a man living in the United States illegally who graduated from law school and passed the state bar exam.”

Today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of California is scheduled to issue, and be made available online via this link, at 1 p.m. eastern time, 10 a.m. pacific time, today.

“Murderers could get hundreds of years in jail to get round European Court ban”: The Telegraph (UK) has a report that begins, “Murderers and other serious criminals could be given US-style jail sentences lasting hundreds of years to get round a European human rights ban on whole-life terms, The Telegraph can disclose.”

“A First Look at Navarette v. California: Are Stops Governed by the Rules of Terry or By Case-by-Case Reasonableness?” Orin Kerr has this post today at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“Food As Punishment: Giving U.S. Inmates ‘The Loaf’ Persists.” This audio segment appeared on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

“The Constitution in 2014: the state of same-sex marriage.” Lyle Denniston has this post today at the “Constitution Daily” blog of the National Constitution Center.

And on December 31, 2013, Lyle had a post at that blog titled “The Constitution in 2014: health care’s latest challenges.”