“Resentment or Contentment w/Gov’s picks?” Ben Shatz has this post today at the “Southern California Appellate News” blog.

Also today, the Judicial Branch of California issued a news release titled “Commission on Judicial Appointments to Consider Appointment to the Supreme Court of California; Confirmation Hearing Set for Monday, December 22, 2014.”

“Google should pay authors for scanned books, U.S. appeals court told”: Reuters has this report.

“Heavy Lifting: The Supreme Court is flummoxed by pregnancy discrimination and semicolons.” Dahlia Lithwick has this Supreme Court dispatch online at Slate.

“The Right Side of Death: Why some conservatives are changing their minds on capital punishment.” Stephanie Slade has this essay online at Reason.

“Execution Stayed in Case Of Mental Illness Claim”: David Montgomery will have this article in Thursday’s edition of The New York Times.

The Los Angeles Times reports that “Federal appeals court stays execution of a schizophrenic Texas man.”

USA Today reports that “Court halts execution of mentally ill Texas inmate.”

In Thursday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, Nathan Koppel will have an article headlined “Federal Appeals Court Postpones Execution of Texas Man; Lawyers for Convicted Murderer Scott Panetti Argue He Is Too Mentally Ill to Be Put To Death.” You can freely access the full text of the article via Google.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that “Federal court stays execution of Wisconsin native Scott Panetti.”

The Houston Chronicle reports that “Appeals court issues stay in execution of mentally ill man.”

The San Antonio Express-News reports that “Tonight’s execution halted for schizophrenic death row inmate.”

The Texas Tribune reports that “Federal Appeals Court Issues Stay For Panetti.”

Reuters reports that “Mentally ill Texas inmate gets last-minute execution stay.”

And CNN.com reports that “Court orders Texas killer’s execution postponed.”

“Court Strikes Down Drug Tests for Florida Welfare Applicants”: Lizette Alvarez will have this article in Thursday’s edition of The New York Times.

The Miami Herald has a news update headlined “Court rejects Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s drug testing of welfare recipients.”

Greg Bluestein of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a blog post titled “Court ruling deals blow to welfare drug-testing law.”

News Service of Florida reports that “Court again rejects Rick Scott’s bid to drug-test Floridians seeking welfare benefits.”

Jonathan Stempel of Reuters reports that “U.S. appeals court voids Florida welfare drug testing law.”

And Bloomberg News reports that “Florida Welfare Applicant Drug Testing Barred by Court.”

You can access today’s ruling of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at this link. U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg (N.D. Ga.) sitting by designation sat on the three-judge Eleventh Circuit panel.

“Fed. Circ. Slams Sidley For Blown Deadline In $40M AT&T Case”: Erica Teichert of Law360.com has a report (subscription required for full access) that begins, “Three Federal Circuit judges on Wednesday hammered a Sidley Austin LLP attorney for missing a deadline to appeal a $40 million patent verdict against AT&T Inc. after his team overlooked a notice from the lower court, saying attorneys have an obligation to read every order they receive from judges.”

You can access the audio of today’s oral argument before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit via this link (9.58 MB mp3 audio file). Veteran appellate advocate Carter G. Phillips argued the appeal for AT&T.

“Missouri Supreme Court hears arguments over gay divorce”: The Columbia Daily Tribune has this news update.

“The 11th Circuit should give update on Fuller case”: This editorial appears online today at The Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser.

“At 7th Circuit, unseen judicial mechanics drive decisions: new paper.” Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this report today.

Law professor Margaret V. Sachs has posted online at SSRN a paper titled “Superstar Judges as Entrepreneurs: The Untold Story of Fraud-On-The-Market.”

Programming note: I will be meeting with co-counsel in two separate pending appeals this afternoon. Oral argument will occur in one next week, while in the other the opening brief for appellant is due next week. Consequently, additional posts will appear here tonight.

“Appeals court halts Texas execution”: The Associated Press has this report on the order that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued today.

“Roberts at 10: Roberts’s Quiet, But Critical, Votes To Limit Women’s Rights.” Brianne Gorod has this chapter online today at the Constitutional Accountability Center.

“Justices hear pregnancy discrimination case”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report.

“A Look at ‘Justice Scalia’ on the Small Screen”: Jess Bravin has this post today at WSJ.com’s “Law Blog.”

“Is Fisher v. University of Texas a Precedent on Jurisdiction?” Richard M. Re had this post yesterday at “Re’s Judicata.”

“The Judge & Company — Questions for Judge Posner from Judges, Law Professors & a Journalist”: Ronald K.L. Collins has this post today at “Concurring Opinions.”

“Did UPS Discriminate Against A Pregnant Worker By Letting Her Go?” Nina Totenberg had this audio segment on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

“The Latest Challenge to Obamacare Should Embarrass Conservative Judges”: Brian Beutler has this essay online at The New Republic.

“Texas Death Row Case Draws Attention To Mentally Ill Convicts”: This audio segment appeared on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

And The Guardian (UK) has an article headlined “Sane enough for Texas: the Lone Star State’s history of executing mentally ill inmates; On Wednesday, Scott Panetti will become the latest American prisoner to be put to death in apparent disregard of the constitutional ban on executing the insane.”

“Missouri Supreme Court hears traffic camera enforcement cases”: The St, Louis Post-Dispatch has this report.

And St. Louis Public Radio reports that “Traffic Camera Cases Argued Before Missouri Supreme Court.”

“Illinois appeals court hears case over Chicago frozen embryos”: Tony Briscoe has this article in today’s edition of The Chicago Tribune.

“Does the First Amendment apply to tour guides?” American Public Media’s “Marketplace” has this report today.

“How viral videos became the way veterans combat ‘stolen valor'”: Dan Lamothe has this entry today at the “Checkpoint” blog of The Washington Post.

“AstraZeneca Fights Billions in Possible Nexium Damages”: Erik Larson and Janelle Lawrence of Bloomberg News have a report that begins, “AstraZeneca Plc, in a first trial since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled drugmakers can be sued over so-called pay-to-delay deals, is fighting to avoid what might be billions of dollars in damages over claims it illegally paid to block generic versions of the heartburn tablet Nexium.”