“Pope Francis Met With Kim Davis, Kentucky County Clerk, in Washington”: The New York Times has this report.

“The Slave-State Origins of Modern Gun Rights: The idea that citizens have an unfettered constitutional right to carry weapons in public originates in the antebellum South, and its culture of violence and honor.” Saul Cornell and Eric M. Ruben have this essay online today at The Atlantic.

“Supreme Court Preview: What Is in Store for October Term 2015?” You can access the audio and video from today’s Federalist Society event via this link.

“In Session With U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer”: The audio from yesterday’s broadcast of KQED Radio’s “Forum with Michael Krasny” can be accessed via this link.

“Pope Francis Sends Wrong Message to Kim Davis”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online today at Bloomberg View.

“Keeping Conspiracy Out of Guantanamo Trials”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg View.

“Court upholds California law to control paparazzi’s driving”: The Associated Press has this report.

And at the “THR, Esq.” blog of The Hollywood Reporter, Eriq Gardner has a post titled “California Law Punishing Paparazzi for High-Speed Celebrity Chases Is Upheld; Appeals court rules that it doesn’t impinge free speech or press rights under First Amendment.”

You can access today’s ruling of the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District at this link.

“Supreme Court justice says she owes female predecessors”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan said Wednesday she stands ‘on the shoulders’ of the women who came before her on the court.”

“‘Mr. Clean Water Act’ faces his biggest challenge”: Jeremy P. Jacobs and Annie Snider of Greenwire have this report.

“Gov. Mary Fallin postpones Richard Glossip’s execution until Nov. 6”: The Tulsa World has this news update.

And The Associated Press reports that “Governor halts execution for Oklahoma inmate.”

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin has issued a statement titled “Governor Fallin Issues Stay of Richard Glossip Execution While State Reviews Protocol Questions.”

“Billionaire Koch defeats appeal in fake wine case”: Jonathan Stempel of Reuters has this report on a non-precedential summary order that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued today.

“Inmate challenges execution over use of ‘secret’ drugs”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Retroactivity, the Due Process Clause, and the Federal Question in Montgomery v. Louisiana“: Jason M. Zarrow and William H. Milliken have this essay at Stanford Law Review Online. Earlier this year, they published a related article in the Indiana Law Review.

“Court Rules N.C.A.A. ‘Is Not Above Antitrust Laws'”: The New York Times has this news update reporting on a ruling that a partially divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued today.

In other coverage, Dan Levine and David Ingram of Reuters report that “U.S. appeals court upholds most of antitrust ruling against NCAA.”

Pamela A Maclean and Eben Novy-Williams of Bloomberg News report that “U.S. College Athletes Get School Costs Paid But No Cash.”

The Associated Press reports that “Appeals court rules NCAA in violation of antitrust laws.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Appeals court rules that ban on pay for college athletes is illegal.”

NextGen Appellate CM/ECF e-filing update: Earlier this month, I had a post titled “Is the current method of federal appellate electronic filing becoming technologically obsolete?” and a related follow-up post the next morning.

Yesterday evening, I received the following email from longtime “How Appealing” reader David A. Sellers, who serves as Public Affairs Officer at the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts:

I am pleased to notify you that earlier today we informed the courts that the first release of the appellate version of the Next Generation of CM/ECF (NextGen) software is now available to all appellate courts and bankruptcy appellate panels. The AO will provide training and support assistance to these courts as they begin the process of installing, configuring, testing, and training their staff and the bar on the new features provided in this release. Each court determines when it is prepared to go-live, so implementation dates will vary.

As you know, the Second and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals, serving as pilot courts, have been live on the first release of NextGen CM/ECF since October 2014, working closely with the AO to identify improvements to the application. This effort has resulted in a NextGen CM/ECF product that is stable and ready for deployment to the remaining appellate courts and bankruptcy appellate panels.

NextGen CM/ECF Release 1.0.1 for the appellate courts and bankruptcy appellate panels will provide enhanced Appellate Attorney Filing. This means the Java plug-in for attorney filers has been removed and a more modern and streamlined interface has been provided. (The removal of the Java plug-in allows attorneys to be able to continue to file using browsers such as Microsoft Edge and Chrome, which have recently dropped support of the Java plug-in.)

It also will provide Central Sign-on, so all public and judiciary users will be able to maintain one account to access all courts that are live on the first release of the NextGen CM/ECF software.

I thank David for sending along this welcome news and for allowing me to share it with this blog’s readership.

“US supreme court: conservatives set to retake reins after year of liberal wins; After a spate liberal decisions on gay marriage and Obamacare, experts predict the court’s conservative majority will reassert itself ahead of the 2016 election.” Dan Roberts of The Guardian (UK) has this report.

“Snyder expected to name new Michigan Supreme Court justice Wednesday”: MLive.com has this report.

“Colorado Supreme Court weighs avalanche risk in ski-area wrongful-death case; Lawyers spar over whether lawmakers intended list of risks in Colorado Ski Safety Act to be exclusive”: Jason Blevins has this front page article in today’s edition of The Denver Post.

And The Associated Press reports that “Colorado high court weighs ski resorts’ avalanche liability.”

“Doug Kendall, Liberal Who Challenged Supreme Court’s Conservatives, Dies at 51”: This obituary appears online at The New York Times.

“Commission votes 7-1 to remove Ten Commandments from Oklahoma Capitol grounds”: Barbara Hoberock of The Tulsa World has this news update.

Reuters reports that “Oklahoma to remove Ten Commandments monument from Capitol by Oct. 12.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Oklahoma panel orders removal of Ten Commandments monument.”

“NFL’s ‘Deflategate’ appeal to be heard in February — court order”: Reuters has this report.

Remember, last year orders from the U.S. Supreme Court‘s long conference were not issued until Thursday: See my post from last year at this link. The extra few days of delay was part of the Court’s ongoing effort to be even more careful to grant review only in cases that are truly deserving.

“U.S. appeals court backs SEC’s use of in-house trials”: Reuters has this report.

And The Associated Press reports that “Appeals Court upholds SEC power to resolve cases in-house.”

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

“El Paso abortion clinic reopens amid Texas court battles”: The Associated Press has this report.

“New York credit card surcharge ban revived by U.S. court”: Jonathan Stempel of Reuters has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued today.

“Appeals court refuses to rehear Kansas abortion threat case”: The Associated Press has this report on an order that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued today.

“What Next Year’s Attack on Obamacare Will Look Like: Houses of worship don’t have to offer employees contraceptive coverage; But other religious employers do; Supreme Court, here we come.” Ilya Shapiro and Josh Blackman have this essay online today at The Daily Beast.

In the October 2015 issue of ABA Journal magazine: Mark Walsh has articles headlined “John Roberts marks 10 years as chief justice by taking the long view” and “Will the Supreme Court ‘peck away at’ capital punishment?”

And the new installment of Bryan A. Garner’s “On Words” column is headlined “Tips on organizing your table of contents for statutory and contractual interpretations.”

“Protester who disrupted gay marriage case takes plea deal”: The Associated Press has this report. No word on whether the “refreshing” nature of the disruption helped mitigate the penalty.

“Legal fight over Obama’s immigration orders may outlast his presidency”: Ariane de Vogue of CNN.com has this report today.

“Hogan urges people to collect tax refunds”: Today’s edition of The Baltimore Sun contains a front page article that begins, “Gov. Larry Hogan on Monday encouraged taxpayers to apply for more than $200 million in refunds they are entitled to under a Supreme Court ruling.”

“Why one reporter is suing Missouri over death-penalty secrecy — again”: Deron Lee of Columbia Journalism Review has this report.

“The Disappearing Precedent: When courts ‘de-publish’ rulings to limit their impact.” Andrew Cohen has this essay online at The Marshall Project.

“How Prosecutors Get Away With Cutting Black Jurors: This term, the Supreme Court will consider an outrageous case of prosecutorial misconduct; But will it do anything about it?” Jay Michaelson has this essay online at The Daily Beast.

“AG Kathleen Kane can’t do certain things during law license suspension, says PA. Supreme Court Chief Justice”: The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has this report.

Brad Bumsted of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has an article headlined “Chief Justice: No partisan deal to forge unanimous opinion for Kane’s suspension.”

In today’s edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Angela Couloumbis has an article headlined “Chief justice: Kane’s suspended license no bar to staying in office.”

And Robert Swift of The Citizens’ Voice of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania has an article headlined “PA Chief Justice: Kane resignation a personal matter.”