“Constitution Check: Is the Supreme Court playing politics with immigration?” Lyle Denniston has this post today at the “Constitution Daily” blog of the National Constitution Center.

“Judging a Bribe Is Hard If It’s Unsuccessful”: Online at Bloomberg View, law professor Noah Feldman has an essay that begins, “Who put the quid in the quid pro quo? Was it the same person who put the ram in the rama lama ding dong? The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday that it would consider a version of this eternal question in the appeal of Bob McDonnell, the convicted former governor of Virginia.”

“John Roberts’ Worst Judicial Nightmare: Conservatives say Obama does not ‘take care.'” Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Why class action bar’s SCOTUS win in Campbell-Ewald could be tenuous”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this report today.

“Constitutional Accountability Center Announces Elizabeth B. Wydra As New President”: You can access the organization’s news release at this link.

“Court considers child porn appeal from ex-school headmaster”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “Delaware’s Supreme Court justices appear to have serious concerns about the validity of a search warrant that led to the arrest and conviction of a former prep school headmaster on child pornography charges.”

And The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware reports that “Supreme Court hears Wheeler’s child porn appeal.”

You can access online via the web site of the Supreme Court of Delaware the video of today’s oral argument in Wheeler v. State of Delaware, along with the brief for appellant, the state’s answering brief, and the reply brief for appellant.

“Wright as U.S. judge in historic appointment; With the vote (including 14 Republicans), she again makes judicial history”: The Minneapolis Star Tribune has an article that begins, “The U.S. Senate has confirmed Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Wilhelmina Marie Wright to fill a vacancy on the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, making her the state’s first black female federal judge and ending nearly a year of waiting. Wright was confirmed after a 58-36 vote on Tuesday.”

You can access the U.S. Senate‘s official roll call vote tally on the confirmation at this link.

“President Obama, Meet the ‘Take Care’ Clause; The Supreme Court orders the president to prove that he is faithfully executing the law”: Law professor Josh Blackman has this essay online today at National Review.

“As Supreme Court Clerk, Ted Cruz Made Death Penalty His Cause”: Jason Horowitz will have this article in Thursday’s edition of The New York Times.

“A moose-hunter and his hovercraft tell the Supreme Court Alaska is different”: Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has this report.

“Obama faces immigration hurdles even if he wins at high court”: Lawrence Hurley of Reuters has this report.

“Immigration Case Ratchets Up Supreme Court Drama”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg View.

“Two more Pa. Supreme Court justices received offensive emails, records show”: Mark Fazlollah, Craig R. McCoy, and Angela Couloumbis have this front page article in today’s edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

And in yesterday’s edition of that newspaper, McCoy had an article headlined “Cumberland County judges write — some say improper — letter supporting Justice Eakin.”

“The Case Against Separating Church and State”: Online at Bloomberg View, law professor Noah Feldman has an essay that begins, “Is the separation of church and state unconstitutional? You read that right. The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday that it would consider whether Missouri’s constitution, which bars state aid to religious groups, violates the U.S. Constitution by discriminating against religion.”

“Hovercraft-riding moose hunter targets federal land policy”: Robin Bravender of Greenwire has this report.

“High court split over police officer’s First Amendment case”: The Associated Press has this report.

And Robert Iafolla of Reuters reports that “U.S. justices split on New Jersey cop’s political retaliation claim.”

You can access at this link the transcript of today’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in Heffernan v. City of Paterson, No. 14-1280.

“Worse than Death”: Last Friday, The Yale Law Journal Forum posted online this contribution from Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski about solitary confinement in prison.

“The Story Behind The Deadliest Prison Bus Crash In Texas History: In January 2015, a prison transport carrying 15 men — three guards and 12 chained-together inmates — ran off the road; It was one of the bloodiest days in the history of Texas prisons.” Albert Samaha of BuzzFeed News has this report.

“Ten Years After Last Execution, California’s Death Row Continues to Grow”: Liliana Segura has this report online at The Intercept.

“In Union Case, Counting to Five to Overrule Precedent”: Kenneth Jost had this post Sunday at his blog, “Jost on Justice.”

Access online today’s Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court: At this link. The Court today granted review in four new cases.

In early news coverage, Adam Liptak and Michael D. Shear of The New York Times report that “Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Obama Immigration Actions.”

Robert Barnes of The Washington Post reports that “Supreme Court to review Obama’s power on deportation policy.”

Richard Wolf of USA Today reports that “Supreme Court will rule on President Obama’s immigration plan” and “Supreme Court refuses to hear another Obamacare case.”

Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Supreme Court to Rule on Obama’s Bid to Block Deportations; Sets the stage for a blockbuster ruling on presidential powers in key immigration case.”

The Associated Press reports that “Supreme Court sets election-year clash on immigration“; “High court rejects new challenge to Obama health overhaul“; “Supreme Court rejects Arkansas bid to revive abortion law“; “High court rejects challenge over contractor contributions“; and “High court rejects appeal over Picasso painting.”

Lawrence Hurley of Reuters reports that “U.S. top court agrees to review Obama immigration action“; “U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear insider trading appeal“; “U.S. top court rejects new challenge to Obamacare“; and “U.S. justices reject Arkansas bid to revive abortion law.” In addition, Jessica Dye reports that “U.S. Supreme Court won’t review J&J appeal of $140 million judgment.”

Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Obama’s Immigration Plan Gets Review From U.S. Supreme Court“; “Insider-Trading Clash Will Get Review From U.S. Supreme Court“; “Obamacare Left Intact as U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Appeal“; and “Arkansas Rejected by U.S. Supreme Court on 12-Week Abortion Ban.”

Cristian Farias and Elise Foley of The Huffington Post report that “Supreme Court To Decide Fate Of Obama’s Immigration Policy Before The Election; Over Texas’ objections, the justices agree to hear the case this spring.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Immigration policy: Review and decision this Term.”

“Constitution Check: Are the states’ ‘Blaine Amendments’ on shaky ground?” Lyle Denniston has this post today at the “Constitution Daily” blog of the National Constitution Center.

“Finding Certainty in Cert: An Empirical Analysis of the Factors Involved in Supreme Court Certiorari Decisions from 2001-2015.” Adam Feldman and Alexander Kappner have posted this paper online at SSRN.

“An Employee Mistakenly Steps Into Politics; Can The Government Retaliate?” Nina Totenberg had this audio segment on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

“Convicted Supreme Court justice Orie Melvin files new arguments in appeal”: Brian Bowling of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a news update that begins, “The state violated Joan Orie Melvin’s constitutional rights when it charged her with theft of services for using her staff to perform political work, the convicted former Supreme Court justice argues in federal court documents.”

“Supreme Court must decide the value of a dog; Death of Lola the dachshund leads to thorny legal question”: Bill Rankin of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has this report.

“Heidi Nelson Cruz: A Political Spouse Making Sacrifices and Courting Donors.” Steve Eder and Matt Flegenheimer have this front page article in today’s edition of The New York Times.

“NY man faces case that tests limits of criminal blame”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Senate panel kills bill to decriminalize adultery”: Graham Moomaw of The Richmond Times-Dispatch has a news update that begins, “A proposal to decriminalize adultery in Virginia was killed Monday morning by a state Senate committee.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Virginia panel rejects bill to decriminalize adultery.”

“Short blog posts have their advantages”: Kevin O’Keefe had this post recently at “Real Lawyers Have Blogs.”

Therein, he writes: “Look at one of the most extraordinarily successful law blogs. Pennsylvania Appellate Attorney, Howard Bashman, has been publishing his blog, How Appealing, for almost fourteen years. Each post is two to three lines long documenting a case and result. Bashman’s posts are tad short for my liking . . . .”

In Bashman news from Australia: In recent months, Australia has been derelict in failing to provide any Bashman news. For those who have been yearning for a return of this formerly semi-regular feature, thank you for bearing with me until now.

Today, Australia’s Seven News reports that “Drunk dad abandons son to bash man at train station” (with video).

According to the video report, the attacker’s case is now heading to appeal, making this perhaps the very first Bashman news from Australia to actually contain its own appellate angle.

“Supreme Court keeps protections for Santa Ana sucker fish”: In today’s edition of The Sun of San Bernardino, California, Jim Steinberg has a front page article that begins, “The U.S. Supreme Court has let stand protection of 9,300 acres of critical habitat for the Southern California Santa Ana sucker fish.”

“High court will hear case tied to Mass. clinic death”: In today’s edition of The Boston Globe, Liz Kowalczyk has a front page article that begins, “The Supreme Court has agreed to review a case brought by the parents of a deceased Massachusetts teenager against Universal Health Services, the largest owner of psychiatric hospitals and clinics in the country.”

“Apple v. Samsung: tech powers urge U.S. Supreme Court to take up patent feud.” Howard Mintz of The San Jose Mercury News has this report.

Jeff John Roberts of Fortune reports that “Tech Giants Back Samsung at Supreme Court in Apple Patent Fight.”

And Shara Tibken of c|net reports that “Tech giants, farmers voice support for Samsung in Apple patent spat; Various companies, legal experts and nonprofits argue the high damages allowed in design patent infringement suits hurt everyone from large tech companies to farmers and consumers.”

“Case Could Widen Free-Speech Gap Between Unions and Corporations”: Adam Liptak will have this new installment of his “Sidebar” column in Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times.