“New York Prisons Take an Unsavory Punishment Off the Table”: Jesse McKinley had this article earlier this month in The New York Times.

And today, McKinley has a related item headlined “Goodbye, Prison Loaf: Reporter’s Notebook.”

“Campaign cash in state judicial elections grows”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Tweeter Laureate rocks social media from judicial post; Justice Don Willett embraces social media”: Peggy Fikac of The San Antonio Express-News has this report. You can freely access the full text of the article via Google.

“The Worst Civil Liberties Betrayals of 2015: These 10 problems make us less safe and less free.” Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern have this jurisprudence essay online today at Slate.

The film Machete Kills also bombs at the Fifth Circuit: Circuit Judge Catharina Haynes today issued this ruling on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

“Is sending porn illegal in Pennsylvania?” Today at NewsWorks, Dave Davies has a blog post that begins, “When Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Michael Eakin was facing suspension last week for the raunchy email on his private account, he apologized, but said at a hearing his conduct was ‘not criminal.’ Or was it?”

“Federal judge’s ruling on evidence could fuel John Doe appeal to U.S. Supreme Court”: Matthew DeFour of The Wisconsin State Journal has this report.

“U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to speak at Rummel on Saturday”: The New Orleans Advocate has this report.

“Cisco wins U.S. patent dispute over wifi technology”: Reuters has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued today.

“Killer Mike’s Supreme Court Brief”: Gilad Edelman has this post today at The New Yorker.

In the January 2016 issue of ABA Journal magazine: Mark Walsh has an article headlined “Nonunion teachers seek relief from paying fees for collective bargaining.”

Steven Seidenberg has an article headlined “Tug-of-war over interpretations of patent law continues between Federal Circuit and SCOTUS.”

Brian Sullivan has an article headlined “These plaintiffs argue derogatory words can’t hurt them.”

Stephanie Francis Ward has an article headlined “FAA claims that airplane ride-arranging sites violate federal regulations.”

Lorelei Laird has an article headlined “You can sue someone who broke into your email, but you’d better find proof fast.”

Leslie A. Gordon has an article headlined “Florida Supreme Court orders judges to wear black robes.”

Philip N. Meyer has an article headlined “Behavioral economist’s work offers lessons for legal storytellers about judgment and decision-making.”

And James Podgers has an article headlined “ABA’s Ankerwycke imprint publishes books that show the ‘flesh and blood’ side of the law.”

“Academic highlight: The ‘first petition’ effect and summer pool memos.” Ronald Mann has this post today at “SCOTUSblog.”

The paper that Mann’s post is discussing — “Seasonal Affective Disorder: Clerk Training and the Success of Supreme Court Certiorari Petitions” by William Blake, Hans Hacker, and Shon Hopwood — can be accessed online via SSRN.

“Pentagon thwarts Obama’s effort to close Guantanamo”: Reuters has this report.

“Activists predict abortion will be a hot issue in campaigns”: The Associated Press has this report. The article notes that “[t]he Supreme Court will be hearing arguments, probably in March, regarding a Texas law enacted in 2013 that would force numerous abortion clinics to close.”

“Appeal filed in free speech case over anti-gay essay”: The Associated Press has this report on a case scheduled for oral argument in January 2016 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.