“Court questions feds’ surveillance appeal”: Josh Gerstein of Politico.com has this blog post.

Dog bites dog, and — four and one-half years later — the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania divides 3-to-3 over whether a provision of Pennsylvania’s Dog Law creates an absolute liability offense: According to the opinion in support of reversal, the attacking dog was a black giant schnauzer, while the dog that was the victim of the attack was a Bernese mountain dog. Fortunately, the victim did not suffer any long-term injuries.

Today’s affirmance by an equally divided court consists of a per curiam order; two opinions in support of affirmance (here and here); and an opinion in support of reversal.

Programming note: This morning, I have a meeting out of the office with trial counsel in a pending appeal that I’m working on. As a result, additional posts won’t appear here until this afternoon. You can check this blog’s Twitter feed for appellate-related retweets in the interim.

“Judge to hear challenge of Texas’ gay marriage ban”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Fremont immigrant housing ordinance will stay as is, but the victors say the fight isn’t over”: This front page article appears today in The Omaha World-Herald.

The Fremont (Neb.) Tribune reports today that “Fremont voters say no.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Nebraska city to keep illegal immigration rules.”

“New York State’s Top Judge Permits Early Bar Exam in Exchange for Pro Bono Work”: Wednesday’s edition of The New York Times will contain an article that begins, “In an effort to bolster the number of lawyers for the poor, New York State’s top judge has cleared the way for law students to take the bar exam early in return for devoting their last semester to pro bono work.”

Slate is publishing a series of essays by Tanner Colby titled “The Massive Liberal Failure on Race”: This week’s installment is titled “Affirmative action doesn’t work. It never did. It’s time for a new solution.”

Last week’s installment, which was part one of the series, was titled “How the left’s embrace of busing hurt the cause of integration.”

“How a Single Gay Juror Brought Down Nevada’s Same-Sex Marriage Ban”: Mark Joseph Stern has this essay online at Slate.

“Clarence Thomas: Society is overly sensitive about race.” Chris Moody of Yahoo News has this report.

“California Supreme Court Justice Joyce Kennard retiring”: Howard Mintz of The San Jose Mercury News has this update.

“Terrorism Lawyer’s Access to Secret Papers Fought by U.S.” Bloomberg News has this report.

“Appeals court rules ‘Choose Life’ plates unconstitutional for NC”: The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina has a news update that begins, “A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that North Carolina’s attempt to offer a ‘Choose Life’ license plate and not offer an abortion-rights plate was unconstitutional.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Appeals court declares North Carolina anti-abortion license plate unconstitutional.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit at this link.

“Inslee halts executions in state while he is governor; Gov. Jay Inslee this morning announced a moratorium on executions while he is in office: ‘During my term we will not be executing people.'” The Seattle Times has this news update.

And The Associated Press reports that “Washington Gov. Jay Inslee suspends death penalty.”

The prepared remarks of the Governor of Washington State on this issue can be accessed here.

“Appeals court quashes IRS tax-return preparer crackdown”: Reuters has this report.

The Associated Press reports that “IRS loses appeal on new rules for tax preparers.”

And Bloomberg News reports that “IRS Lacks Authority to Regulate Tax Preparers, Court Says.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit at this link.

“Court turns down Gitmo force-feeding challenge”: The Associated Press has this report.

Josh Gerstein of Politico.com has a blog post titled “Court: Guantanamo force-feeding likely legal.”

And at his “Suits & Sentences” blog, Michael Doyle of McClatchy Washington Bureau has a post titled “Appeals court declines to stop Guantanamo force-feeding.”

You can access today’s ruling of a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit at this link.

“Cincinnati again center of gay-marriage fight; Same-sex parents file suit to get both their names on birth certificates”: This front page article appears today in The Cincinnati Enquirer.

“Nebraska city to reconsider 2010 immigration law”: The Associated Press has this report from Fremont, Nebraska.

“Reading the Numbers: The drop in abortion rates.” In the February 17, 2014 issue of The New Yorker, Margaret Talbot has a Talk of the Town comment that begins, “Last week’s report about the declining abortion rate in the United States was potentially good news for everyone, especially, one would think, for right-to-life groups.”

“Defining the role of appellate courts”: This post appears today at the “a public defender” blog.

“Holder v. Roberts: The Attorney General makes voting rights the test case of his tenure.” Jeffrey Toobin has this “Annals of Law” article (subscription required for full access) in the February 17, 2014 issue of The New Yorker.

In news coverage, The Washington Times has an article headlined “Eric Holder to step down this year: report.”

“How Obama Officials Cried ‘Terrorism’ to Cover Up a Paperwork Error”: Today at Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog, David Kravets has a post that begins, “After seven years of litigation, two trips to a federal appeals court and $3.8 million worth of lawyer time, the public has finally learned why a wheelchair-bound Stanford University scholar was cuffed, detained and denied a flight from San Francisco to Hawaii: FBI human error.”

“Federal judge speaks on intelligence, surveillance; Part of a security series hosted by the Watson Institute, seminar focuses on surveillance politics”: Today’s edition of The Brown Daily Herald contains an article that begins, “As controversy surrounding the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs continues to brew, Bruce Selya, senior federal judge on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, spoke Monday on the inner workings of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, including concerns about secrecy and privacy.”

You can learn more about yesterday’s event via this link.

“LDS Church, other faiths say same-sex marriage opposition not due to bigotry”: This article appears today in The Deseret News.

“Argentina to file bond petition on Feb. 17 to U.S. Supreme Court – report”: Reuters has this article.

“Group opposes Supreme Court review of Chancery Court’s arbitration forum; Open govt. coalition fighting secret forum”: This article appears today in The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware.

“Rethinking the Contraceptive Mandate: The classical liberal case against the law is stronger than the religious one.” Law professor Richard A. Epstein has this essay online today at the “Defining Ideas” site of the Hoover Institution.

“9th Circuit’s Tallman Named to FISA Court”: Pamela A. MacLean has this post today at her “Trial Insider” blog.

And at the “Techdirt” blog, Tim Cushing has a post titled “New FISA Court Appointees Are A Pro-Government Prosecutor And An Unknown Quantity.”

“North Dakota Abortion Law Trial Off as Case Settled”: Bloomberg News has this report.

“Nevada officials won’t defend gay marriage ban”: Ed Vogel of The Las Vegas Review-Journal has this news update.

The Associated Press reports that “Nevada officials won’t defend gay marriage ban.”

Reuters reports that “Nevada ends fight to ban gay marriage, cites changed landscape.”

And Chris Geidner of BuzzFeed reports that “Nevada Attorney General Stops Defending Same-Sex Marriage Ban In Appeal.”

“LDS Church, other faiths say traditional marriage is crucial to children, society”: Brooke Adams of The Salt Lake Tribune has this news update.

And The Associated Press reports that “Religious groups join, fight gay marriage in court.”

“Idaho Supreme Court sides with Boise lesbian couple in adoption case”: The Idaho Statesman has this news update reporting on a unanimous ruling that the Supreme Court of Idaho issued today. The court also provided this summary of its ruling.

“Supreme Court Rule 28.8 may be invalid”: Will Baude has this post today at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“Appellate Judges: Umpires Or Gods?, Ctd.” Dan Klau has this post today at his “Appealingly Brief!” blog.

“Michelle Olsen: The Supreme Court’s Social Media Maven.” Julie Silverbrook has this profile of the author of the “Appellate Daily” blog and Twitter feed online at Ms. JD.

“Apple loses latest bid to block e-books antitrust monitor”: Reuters has this report on an order that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued today.