“Supreme Court battle on assault weapons looms; But do bans do anything? A federal court upheld assault weapons bans in New York and Connecticut; But there’s debate over what the laws actually accomplish.” Harry Bruinius of The Christian Science Monitor has this report.

“Prosecuting Online Threats After Elonis”: Michael Pierce has this essay at Northwestern University Law Review Online.

“The false promise of ‘judicial restraint’ in America”: In today’s edition of The Washington Post, columnist George F. Will has an op-ed that begins, “A supremely important presidential issue is being generally neglected because Democrats have nothing interesting to say about it and Republicans differ among themselves about it.”

In response today at National Review’s “Bench Memos” blog, Ed Whelan has a post titled “George Will’s Mistaken Critique of Judicial Restraint.”

“Oral Argument in Hurst v. Florida: Old Divisions, Fraying Alliances?” Jonathan Keim had this post yesterday at National Review’s “Bench Memos” blog.

“The Supreme Court vs. Contract Law”: Greg Klass has this post at the “New Private Law” blog.

“Constitution Check: Are driver’s licenses the answer to voter ID laws?” Lyle Denniston has this post today at the “Constitution Daily” blog of the National Constitution Center.

“Gun Laws Upheld, But It’s Complicated”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg View.

“The secret US prisons you’ve never heard of before: Investigative journalist Will Potter is the only reporter who has been inside a Communications Management Unit, or CMU, within a US prison.” Via TED Talks at this link. Additional information can be accessed here.

“The Decline of the Virginia (and American) Death Penalty”: Law professor Brandon L. Garrett has posted this article online at SSRN.

“The Soft Evidence Behind the Hard Rhetoric of ‘Deterrence'”: Emily Bazelon will have this essay discussing Foster v. Chatman in this upcoming Sunday’s issue of The New York Times Magazine.

“Penn. student loan agency not immune from whistleblower suit — 4th Circuit”: Reuters has this report.

Inside Higher Ed has a post titled “Suing Student Loan Servicers: In a decision hailed by consumer advocates, a federal appeals court rules that a major student loan agency is not immune from lawsuits.”

And at the “Grade Point” blog of The Washington Post, Danielle Douglas-Gabriel has an entry titled “The student loan scandal that just won’t die.”

You can access yesterday’s 72-page ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit at this link.

Paul D. Clement argued the appeal on behalf of PHEAA, while Bert W. Rein argued the appeal on behalf of the relator-plaintiff. You can access the Fourth Circuit oral argument via this link (27.7 MB mp3 audio file).

“Amazon.com escapes trademark suit after appeals court reverses itself”: Reuters has this report.

And at Techdirt, Timothy Geigner has a post titled “Appeals Court Reverses Its Own Ruling: It’s NOT Trademark Infringement For Amazon To Provide Useful Search Results.”

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

My earlier coverage of the divided three-judge panel’s original ruling, in which the majority reached the opposite result, can be accessed here and here.

In my first post about the earlier ruling, I observed that “[b]ecause a Senior U.S. District Judge sitting by designation provided the decisive vote on the panel, this case may have a better than average chance of attaining rehearing en banc.”

My observation seems at least equally if not more apt now, given that the visiting senior district judge’s change of mind about the proper outcome of the case is the reason for today’s revised ruling on panel rehearing that reaches the exact opposite result of the three-judge panel’s initial 2-to-1 ruling.

“Supreme Court takes 1st patent case of term, and plaintiffs could benefit; Halo Electronics won its patent case, but it’s frustrated with a $1.5M award”: Joe Mullin of Ars Technica has this report.

“Scalia Is Wrong About Kansas: His speculation that voters would oust judges who ‘don’t like the death penalty’ was dead wrong.” Robert J. Smith has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“On Gun Laws, We Must Get the History Right: Understanding who carried weapons in the 17th century could determine where you may carry a gun today.” Priya Satia has this jurisprudence essay online today at Slate.

“Dissenting statement from denial of review — first ever?” Yesterday at the “At the Lectern” blog, David Ettinger had a post that begins, “When the Supreme Court [of California] last week denied review in In re Joseph H., it made news because it’s a high-profile case (a 10-year-old shot and killed his neo-Nazi father) and it involves an important legal issue (whether a 10-year-old can knowingly waive his Miranda rights).”

“Supreme Court’s challenge: Fit new grid into old law.” Robin Bravender of Greenwire has this report today.

“‘Dissent and the Supreme Court,’ by Melvin I. Urofsky”: In the Sunday Book Review section of this upcoming Sunday’s edition of The New York Times, Dahlia Lithwick will have this review of Melvin I. Urofsky‘s new book, “Dissent and the Supreme Court: Its Role in the Court’s History and the Nation’s Constitutional Dialogue.”

Programming note: Tomorrow I will be in Scranton, Pennsylvania preparing for the oral argument of two appeals next Tuesday before a three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania sitting in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. As a result, additional posts will not appear here until tomorrow evening.

As is often the case, additional appellate-related posts may appear at this blog’s Twitter feed while I am away from the computer.

“Federal appeals court weighs challenge to anti-hacking law”: Howard Mintz of The San Jose Mercury News has this report.

You can view the video of today’s oral argument before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in United States v. Nosal on YouTube via this link.

“Ventura says he was ‘booster rocket’ propelling sales of defamatory ‘American Sniper’; Ventura says he is prepared to fight the case again if retrial is ordered”: Randy Furst and Abby Simons of The Minneapolis Star Tribune have this news update.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press has a news update headlined “Ventura says he will fight ‘Sniper’ case again if court orders retrial.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Appeals court weighs $1.8M award to Ventura in ‘Sniper’ case.”

You can access the audio of today’s oral argument before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit via this link (21.9 MB mp3 audio file).

“Scalia: ‘Wouldn’t surprise me’ if death penalty struck down.” The Associated Press has this report.

“Yale wins court fight over Van Gogh’s ‘The Night Cafe’ painting”: The New Haven Register has this news update.

And Reuters reports that “New York court rejects appeal, lets Yale keep van Gogh painting.”

You can access today’s summary order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit at this link.

“Law School Alma Mater Honors Ninth Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown”: The Public Information Office of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued this news release today.

“Former judge with local ties dies at 90; Former Judge Richard J. Cardamone of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit died Friday”: The Utica (N.Y.) Observer-Dispatch has this report.

“Guantanamo Detainee’s Request Delays Progress Toward 9/11 Trial”: Charlie Savage has this article in today’s edition of The New York Times.

And Carol Rosenberg of The Miami Herald reports that “Accused 9/11 plotter asks about self-representation at Guantanamo war court, snags hearing.”

“Federal Appeals Court Upholds Connecticut Gun Law; Appeals court rules post-Newtown gun laws ‘pass constitutional muster'”: Jenny Wilson has this front page article in today’s edition of The Hartford Courant.

In today’s edition of The New York Times, Benjamin Weiser has an article headlined “Bans on Assault Weapons in New York and Connecticut Are Upheld.”

And today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition” contained an audio segment titled “Supreme Court May Have Last Word On States’ Assault Weapons Bans.”

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Second Circuit ruling can be accessed here.

“After a decade-long Conservative reign, what’s on Trudeau’s justice agenda?” Sean Fine of The Toronto Globe and Mail has an article that begins, “Following the decade-long reign of a prime minister determined to erase the Liberal Party’s imprint on the justice system, Justin Trudeau inherits a tough-on-crime approach and judicial appointment processes vastly different than the ones left behind by his party forebears.”

“Constitution Check: Does the Supreme Court need stronger ethical rules?” Lyle Denniston has this post today at the “Constitution Daily” blog of the National Constitution Center.

“Supreme Court Landmark Case, Slaughterhouse Cases”: C-SPAN has posted the video of last night’s broadcast, featuring Paul D. Clement, at this link.

“Goldman asks 2nd Circuit to re-examine price-impact rebuttal standard”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this report today.

“Federal appeals court hears Ambassador Bridge challenge; Three-judge panel in Washington wonders why Coast Guard won’t commit to firm timeline for issuing permit for twin span”: Todd Spangler of The Detroit Free Press has this news update.

You can access the audio of today’s oral argument before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit via this link (63.2 MB mp3 audio file).

“Supreme Court takes on another high-stakes FERC case”: Robin Bravender of Greenwire has this report today.

“Judge: No quick appeal in House lawsuit over health care law.” The Associated Press has this report.

You can access today’s order of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia at this link.

“Supreme Court to Consider Patent Damages, New Electricity Case”: Brent Kendall has this post at WSJ.com’s “Law Blog.”