“A Surge Forward on Marriage Equality”: This editorial will appear in Friday’s edition of The New York Times.

“States are now targets of ‘Citizens United'”: Byron Tau of Politico.com has this report today.

“5 Law Blogs To Add To Your Daily Routine”: Ama Sarfo of Law360.com tonight has this article (subscription required for full access), which includes “How Appealing” as first on its list of five law blogs to read on a daily basis.

“Harper alleges Supreme Court Chief Justice broke key rule with phone call”: Sean Fine of The Toronto Globe and Mail has this news update.

The Toronto Star has a news update headlined “PM refused to take ‘inadvisable, inappropriate’ call from chief justice, PMO says; An unprecedented rift between the Prime Minister’s Office and the Supreme Court of Canada — the executive and judicial branches of government — burst into the open Thursday evening.”

And The Ottawa Citizen has a news update headlined “PMO says Harper avoided ‘inappropriate’ call from chief justice on Nadon.”

“The New Aaron Swartz Documentary Looks Powerful; Here’s the Trailer”: Lily Hay Newman has this blog post online at Slate (linking to the movie trailer).

The movie’s web site can be accessed here. The film is scheduled for release on June 27, 2014.

“Blessings in Disguise: The religious-freedom battle.” Kelefa Sanneh has this Talk of the Town Comment in the May 5, 2014 issue of The New Yorker.

“New York court hears appeal of 9/11 detainees”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Convicted murderer Lockett was hit with Taser leading up to execution; State Corrections Department report details events leading up to Lockett’s execution”: The Oklahoman has this news update. You can view the report at this link.

The Tulsa World has reports headlined “Execution proceeded despite vein damage, report says” and “Officials refuse to say if they tried to revive Clayton Lockett.”

The New York Times has a news update headlined “Oklahoma Official Calls for Outside Review of Botched Execution.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Oklahoma took 51 minutes to find vein in execution.”

“Mary Yu becomes first Asian American, first gay on State Supreme Court”: SeattlePI.com has this report.

“Senate Confirms Nine Judges This Week”: Todd Ruger has this post today at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

“Judges seem open to second-guessing FERC in N.Y. pipeline case”: Jeremy P. Jacobs of Greenwire has this report.

You can access the audio of today’s D.C. Circuit oral argument via this link (18.9 MB mp3 audio file).

“Commentary: From the bench to the podium.” Lyle Denniston has this post today at “SCOTUSblog.”

“Appeals Court: Book Publisher Must Face Self-Dealing Lawsuit; Suing romance novelists believe that Harlequin used foreign subsidiaries to create artificially low net receipts on eBooks.” Eriq Gardner has this post today at the “Hollywood, Esq.” blog of The Hollywood Reporter about a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued today.

“Legal Watchers Anticipate Supreme Court Decision On Vanderbilt Casino”: Interlochen (Mich.) Public Radio has this report today (via “Turtle Talk“).

Access online the audio of today’s Sixth Circuit oral argument in Sarah Jones v. Dirty World Entertainment et al., No. 13-5946: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has posted online today’s oral argument of this case at this link (embedded audio).

This blog’s related posts from earlier today can be accessed here and here.

And The Associated Press reports that “Internet giants eye cheerleader’s defamation suit.”

“Lawsuit seeks access to more secret court opinions”: The Associated Press has this report.

“The Legal Foundation of NSA Surveillance on Americans: What the final clause of the Fourth Amendment means in interpreting the government’s rights.” Conor Friedersdorf has this essay online today at The Atlantic.

“Oklahoma execution nightmare shines light on California policies”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.

The Guardian (UK) has a report headlined “Botched Oklahoma execution turns spotlight on US pharmaceutical firms; Loopholes found in US companies’ policies for drugs used; White House says execution ‘fell short of humane standards.” In addition, law professor Randall T Coyne has an essay titled “It’s time for the US supreme court to declare a death penalty moratorium; Clayton Lockett’s agonizing final minutes were the results of a failed experiment, proving states can no longer be trusted to run their laboratories. Let’s stop tinkering with the machinery of death.”

Today’s edition of The New York Times contains an editorial titled “State-Sponsored Horror in Oklahoma.”

Online at The Atlantic, Matt Ford has an essay titled “Clayton Lockett and the World’s Deepening Death-Penalty Divide; ‘As a very sincere friend, I think this is unworthy of the United States of America,’ one European lawmaker says.”

And online at The Week, Scott Lemieux has an essay titled “John Paul Stevens is right: The death penalty is unconstitutional; Oklahoma’s botched execution of Clayton Lockett has only underscored the barbarism of capital punishment.”

“Never Scared Straight”: Chris Weller and Elijah Wolfson have this article online at Newsweek.

“How judges are selected in Utah”: Chief Justice Matthew B. Durrant of the Supreme Court of Utah has this op-ed today in The Salt Lake Tribune.

“Indiana Supreme Court upholds conviction of blogger who threatened judge”: Tim Evans of The Indianapolis Star has this news update reporting on a ruling that the Supreme Court of Indiana issued today.

Update: At “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Eugene Volokh has a post titled “First Amendment protects speech that threatens to expose judges to ‘hatred, contempt, disgrace, or ridicule.’”

“Gossip website operator confident ‘we just won'”: Amber Hunt of The Cincinnati Enquirer has this news update.

“Roy Englert on the Oklahoma executions”: Will Baude has this post today at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

Related video of Englert’s appearance on yesterday evening’s broadcast of The PBS NewsHour can be accessed here.

“Oklahoma Vows Review of Botched Execution”: Erik Eckholm and John Schwartz have this front page article today in The New York Times.

And The Associated Press reports that “Botched execution could renew ‘cruel’ challenges.”

“NC Supreme Court race sees outside money and negative ads”: The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina has this report.

“What the Supreme Court Doesn’t Know About Smartphones Could Put You in Jail”: Joe Kloc of Newsweek has this report.

“Sarah Jones’ lawsuit against website packs big impact; Tech firms and First Amendment lawyers nationwide await a decision on suit against the gossip website TheDirty.com”: In today’s edition of The Cincinnati Enquirer, Amber Hunt has this front page article previewing a case being argued today at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

I will link to the oral argument audio once the Sixth Circuit posts it online. The panel hearing oral argument in the case consists of Circuit Judges Julia Smith Gibbons and Richard Allen Griffin and Senior Circuit Judge Ralph B. Guy, Jr.

Welcoming one of this blog’s newest Twitter followers: Welcome to “Anti Bryan A. Garner,” which is among the newest followers of “How Appealing” on Twitter.

Only days old, the Twitter feed “Anti Bryan A. Garner” already offers many high-value Tweets, including “The no. 1 rule of legal writing is verbosity” (inaugural Tweet); “The winning brief shows dedication to emotional appeals rather than a needless obsession with grammar or reasoning“; “You may disagree with his politics, but you can’t rebuke the clarity and reasoning of Anthony Kennedy“; “Filing a brief on time leads a judge to believe you have too much free time, not enough clients, and therefore are a bad lawyer“; and “There are no strict rules when it comes to statutory interpretation.”

“Home Stretch at the Supreme Court”: Beginning now, the Constitutional Accountability Center is hosting this panel presentation at the National Press Club.

You can access the video live, online via this link. According to the event announcement emailed to me yesterday, “The panel will be moderated by Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick and feature Erin Murphy, who recently argued and won McCutcheon v. FEC, Marty Lederman of Georgetown Law, and CAC’s Elizabeth Wydra.”

Fifth Circuit to decide whether “committee” of Congress includes “subcommittee” for purposes of federal criminal law: The Associated Press reports that “US seeks reinstatement of charge in BP spill case.”

You can access the audio of yesterday’s oral argument before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit via this link (20.0 MB Windows Media audio file).

“The Supreme Court Will Never Kill the Death Penalty, Even With Botched Executions; Capital punishment is constitutional, but the way it’s performed may never be; Only the public can shut down the machinery of death — if it sees it killing”: Mike Sacks has this essay online today at The Daily Beast.

In today’s edition of The Oklahoman, Chris Casteel has an article headlined “U.S. Supreme Court has allowed ‘some risk of pain’ in executions; In a 2008 decision that upheld the three-drug protocol for lethal injections in Oklahoma and other states, the court acknowledged that errors could lead to pain for death row inmates.” In addition, Jaclyn Cosgrove has an article headlined “How Oklahoma’s execution drugs work: The three drugs used in a botched execution of convicted killer Clayton Derrell Lockett on Tuesday likely did not perform as intended, potentially leaving him ‘paralyzed and burning’ until his death, one pharmacology expert said Wednesday.”

And today’s edition of The Tulsa World contains an article headlined “Execution scrutiny rages after botched execution of Oklahoma inmate Clayton Lockett; Gov. Mary Fallin orders a review of the botched lethal injection of Clayton Lockett.”

“Fired science teacher Freshwater petitions U.S. Supreme Court”: The Associated Press has this report from Ohio.