Programming note: On Wednesday, I will be arguing an appeal before a three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Additional posts will appear here by late Wednesday afternoon.

At 10 a.m. eastern time on Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to issue one or more rulings in argued cases. The decisions will be available via this link just as soon as the Court posts them online.

“Supreme Court Hints at Way to Avert Tie on Birth Control Mandate”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Robert Barnes of The Washington Post reports that “Reality of a divided Supreme Court: A split decision and a search for compromise.”

And Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Supreme Court Struggles to Deal With 4-4 Split; A pair of developments revealed the new dynamic of a court equally divided between conservatives and liberals.”

“Kirk becomes first GOP senator to meet with Garland”: Lisa Mascaro of The Chicago Tribune has this report.

Columnist Lynn Sweet of The Chicago Sun-Times has an essay titled “Senate GOP must be ‘rational’ about court pick, Kirk says.”

The Associated Press reports that “Garland holds first meeting with GOP senator, Kirk of Ill.”

Reuters reports that “Senator Kirk criticizes fellow Republicans on Garland boycott.”

And Burgess Everett of Politico.com reports that “Kirk rips ‘closed-minded’ GOP on Garland nomination.”

“How Democrats could force a Supreme Court vote; Sen. Grassley expects them to use a rare procedural maneuver to press the issue”: Seung Min Kim of Politico.com has this report.

“Texas AG files Supreme Court brief against Obama immigration plan”: Lomi Kriel of The Houston Chronicle has this report.

You can access the Brief for the State Respondents filed yesterday in the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.

“Kane creates solicitor general post in Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General”: Brad Bumsted of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has this report.

Angela Couloumbis and Jeremy Roebuck of The Philadelphia Inquirer report that “AG Kane hires Bruce Castor as top aide.”

Wallace McKelvey of The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania reports that “Kathleen Kane hires new ‘second in command’ to oversee AG’s office.”

And Carl Hessler Jr. of Montgomery Media reports that “Former Montgomery County DA Bruce Castor appointed to new post created by Kane.”

“Making sense of the #SCOTUS Order in Zubik v. Burwell Based on Oral Argument Questions”: Josh Blackman has this blog post.

“Years after win, couple still battle EPA to build dream home”: Robin Bravender of Greenwire has an article that begins, “In 2012, an Idaho couple won big in the Supreme Court when the justices ruled they could bring a legal challenge against U.S. EPA enforcement actions that blocked the construction of their dream home.”

“U.S. Supreme Court Asks Parties for Paths to Settling Religious Contraception Case; Move suggests high court may be seeking to avoid 4-4 tie on a ruling”: Brent Kendall and Louise Radnofsky of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

“Supreme Court’s Split on Union Dues Could Be Harbinger of More Deadlocks; Tie underscores how much one justice can affect the direction of closely divided court”: Brent Kendall and Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

“A Prescription for Religious Liberty”: Today at National Review’s “Bench Memos” blog, Ed Whelan has a post that begins, “In two weeks, the Supreme Court is scheduled to decide whether to hear one of the most important Free Exercise cases in decades.”

“Justices seem to seek compromise in birth control case”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report.

Lawrence Hurley of Reuters reports that “U.S. top court seeks more information in contraception insurance case.”

Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “High Court Order on Contraceptives Hints at Possible Compromise.”

At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Court seeks new way to decide birth-control cases.”

In commentary, Ian Millhiser of ThinkProgress has a post titled “How To Make Sense Of The Baffling Order The Supreme Court Just Handed Down On Birth Control.”

And at the “Bill of Health” blog, Greg Lipper has a post titled “About that Order for Supplemental Briefing in Zubik v. Burwell.”

U.S. Supreme Court requests supplemental briefing in Zubik v. Burwell: You can access at this link the order issued only minutes ago. The parties’ responses are due April 12, 2016, with the ability to file reply briefs no later than April 20, 2016.

“High court nominee Garland’s record of backing journalists”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report (subscription required for full access). You can freely access the full text of the article via Google.

“High court deadlocks on union fees for California teachers”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.

Howard Mintz of The San Jose Mercury News reports that “California teachers union survives U.S. Supreme Court challenge.”

And Brian Mahoney and Josh Gerstein of Politico.com report that “Supreme Court deadlocks in key labor case.”

“In Iowa, Grassley takes flak for court stance”: Jason Noble has this front page article in The Des Moines Register. And online at that newspaper’s web site, Noble has an update headlined “Grassley: No ‘lame duck’ appointment for Supreme Court nominee.”

Seung Min Kim of Politico.com reports that “Supreme Court vise closes on Grassley; The Judiciary Committee head insists he’s not bending in the Garland confirmation clash; But the pressure has only begun.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Amid Supreme Court battle, Grassley seeks friendly audience.”

“NC attorney general refuses to defend state from HB2 legal challenge”: Anne Blythe of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina has an article that begins, “Roy Cooper, the N.C. Attorney General, said on Tuesday that his office will not defend North Carolina officials and state agencies against the law adopted last week that strikes down locally enacted protections for lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender people.”

“Court again dismisses creditors’ case from Tribune Co bankruptcy”: Reuters has this report about a revised ruling that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued today.

“Influence of Chief Justice John Marshall: Jeffrey Rosen spoke about on the influence of former Chief Justice John Marshall, who served from 1801-1835.” C-SPAN has posted online at this link the video of this recent Supreme Court Historical Society event, at which Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. delivered introductory remarks.

“Opinion analysis: Result but no guidance on public unions’ fees.” Lyle Denniston has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”

And online at Bloomberg View, law professor Noah Feldman has an essay titled “Unions Get Lucky at the Supreme Court.”

“‘Star Trek’ Lawsuit Now Explores What Vulcans and Vampires Have in Common; Plus, the 19th-century Supreme Court case that is being called upon to knock the contention that the language of Klingon is copyrighted”: Eriq Gardner has this post today at the “THR, Esq.” blog of The Hollywood Reporter.

“Unions Win Fee Victory as Supreme Court Ties 4-4”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Robert Barnes of The Washington Post reports that “Supreme Court deadlocks over public employee union case; Calif. teachers must pay dues.”

And David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Supreme Court’s tie vote upholds public employee fees for unions.”

“Judges Coercing Lawyers to Donate to Charities”: Ronald D. Rotunda has this essay online at Justia’s Verdict.

“The Merrick Garland Project”: Available online at this link from the New York University Law Review.

Access today’s ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in an argued case: In Friedrichs v. California Teachers Assn., No. 14-915, the Court issued a per curiam decision affirming the judgment by an equally divided Court. You can access the oral argument via this link.

In early news coverage, The Associated Press reports that “Supreme Court deadlock upholds win for unions in fee case.”

Lawrence Hurley of Reuters reports that “Split U.S. Supreme Court rejects conservative challenge to union fees.”

Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Mandatory Union Fees Survive as U.S. Supreme Court Deadlocks.”

And Richard Wolf of USA Today reports that “Public employee unions dodge a Supreme Court bullet in tie vote.”