“Abner Mikva: Senate Republicans could find Supreme Court nominee after Garland even worse.” CNN.com has this report.

“Did Act 10 affect spending in Wisconsin Supreme Court race?” Jason Stein of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has an article that begins, “In Tuesday’s election, labor-backed candidate JoAnne Kloppenburg lost a race for the Supreme Court in which her side in the contest was badly outspent.”

“The Supreme Court justices are the adults in our democracy as the other branches bicker”: Columnist Fred Hiatt has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“Ex-American Bar Association chiefs push for vote on Garland”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “Fifteen former American Bar Association presidents are joining the push to urge Republicans to consider President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.”

“In Pa. and elsewhere, death penalty is dying a slow death”: Michaelle Bond has this front page article in today’s edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“The Civil Illiberties Union Targets a Yeshiva: New Jersey’s college grants set off church-state alarms — and years of litigation.” Avi Schick had this op-ed in Friday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal. You can freely access the full text of the op-ed via Google.

“Inside Obama’s Supreme Court charm offensive: The president personally reached out to several Republicans — to no avail.” Seung Min Kim of Politico.com has this report.

And Ben Wolfgang of The Washington Times reports that “Obama vows never to pull nomination of Merrick Garland to Supreme Court.”

“So far, Supreme Court has found unanimity in silence on Garland nomination”: Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has this report.

“For Shame: The criminal justice system encourages prosecutors to get guilty verdicts by any means necessary — and to stand by even the most questionable convictions; Can one crusading court stop the lying and cheating?” Lara Bazelon has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Sometimes a Cross Is Just a Cross (or Is It?)” Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg View.

“Chuck Grassley’s Supreme Court Coup: The Senate judiciary chairman just took a torch to the high court for the sake of partisanship.” Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“New Trial for False Expert Testimony”: Dennis Crouch has this post at “Patently-O” about a ruling that a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued on Thursday.

“Conservative student can sue over free speech rights, court rules”: Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

And Mackenzie Mays of The Fresno Bee reports that “Former student’s case against Fresno State to be revived.”

You can access Thursday’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

“Court upholds dismissal of suit alleging state caused Andrea Kruger’s death by releasing Nikko Jenkins”: Paul Hammel of The Omaha World-Herald has this report.

The Associated Press reports that “Appeals court upholds dismissal of suit in Nikko Jenkins killings.”

And Courthouse News Service reports that “State Cleared on Release of Mentally Ill Killer.”

On Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued this ruling, and yesterday that Court issued this related ruling.

“Appeals Court Rules for Mississippi AG Over Subpoena of Google’s Search Practices”: Ted Johnson of Variety has this report.

And at the “THR, Esq.” blog of The Hollywood Reporter, Eriq Gardner has a post titled “Google’s Injunction Against Mississippi Attorney General Reversed By Appeals Court.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit at this link.

“So Far There’s Not Much Dirt on Obama’s Supreme Court Pick; Here’s the best Merrick Garland’s opponents have to work with”: Stephanie Mencimer of Mother Jones has this report.

“Did Catholic theologians influence the Zubik order?” Lyle Denniston has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”

“Sotomayor: US high court needs more diversity, in many ways.” The Associated Press has this report.

And at WSJ.com’s “Law Blog,” Jacob Gershman has a post titled “Sotomayor Regales Law School Students in Brooklyn.”

Elsewhere, in earlier coverage, The Santa Fe Reporter has an article headlined “‘Still tilting at windmills’; Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor speaks to the books that inspired her, and the work that continues.”

“How ‘Citizens United’ is helping Hillary Clinton win the White House: Reforms wait as Democrat’s allies target GOP with super PACs, ‘dark money.'” Dave Levinthal of The Center for Public Integrity has this report.

“It’s Not Just The Supreme Court. Republicans Are Screwing Lots Of Other Courts Too. GOP senators are barely confirming judicial nominees — even their own.” Jennifer Bendery of The Huffington Post has this report.

“Lawyers: Underage sex claims against Dershowitz a ‘mistake.'” Josh Gerstein of Politico.com has this blog post.

“Supreme Court nominee moderate who can go hard left or right”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Constitution Check: If the Supreme Court’s birth-control idea is rejected, what then?” Lyle Denniston has this post today at the “Constitution Daily” blog of the National Constitution Center.

“Federal Appeals Court: Yes, Puerto Rico’s Same-Sex Marriage Ban Is Unconstitutional.” Chris Geidner of BuzzFeed News has this report on a per curiam ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued yesterday.

“The Supreme Court Extremism of Clarence Thomas and Chuck Grassley”: Jeffrey Toobin has this post online today at The New Yorker.

“D.C. Circuit sends ominous signal on CFPB constitutionality”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this report today.

“Defamation lawsuits involving U.S. lawyer Dershowitz end in settlement”: Reuters has this report.

Programming note: My quick, work-related trip to Houston, Texas will be wrapping-up this afternoon. I will be arriving back in Philadelphia this evening. Additional posts will appear here tonight.

As always when I am traveling, more frequent appellate-related updates are likely to appear on this blog’s Twitter feed.

“Garland Clerks Feed Pipeline to SCOTUS on Left & Right”: Kimberly Robinson of Bloomberg BNA has this report.

“Obama Revisits Law School to Give a Supreme Court Lecture”: Michael D. Shear of The New York Times has this report.

Kim Geiger and Rick Pearson of The Chicago Tribune report that “Obama makes his case at U. of C. for Supreme Court nominee.”

Tina Sfondeles of The Chicago Sun-Times reports that “Obama returns home to push for ‘ideal’ Supreme Court nominee.”

And The Associated Press has a report headlined “Obama: GOP jeopardizing judicial integrity with Garland.”

“Court says Farmington can’t fire school counselor who helped student get abortion”: The New Hampshire Union Leader has this report.

And The Associated Press has a report headlined “Court: Adviser who helped girl get abortion should keep job.”

You can access today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire at this link.

“Sotomayor, in Santa Fe, discusses court qualifications, her childhood”: This article appears in today’s edition of The Santa Fe New Mexican.

“SJC hears case of teen who allegedly encouraged friend to kill himself”: Andy Rosen of The Boston Globe has an article that begins, “An attorney for Michelle Carter on Thursday asked the state’s highest court to halt the prosecution against her for allegedly encouraging a friend to kill himself, arguing that she should not have been charged because her actions did not directly cause the death.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Court hears case of teen who sent beau texts urging suicide.”

You can view the publicly available briefs filed in the case via this link. The prosecution’s brief appears to have been filed under seal. And the oral argument video should be available via this link sometime soon.

“Christian cross has no place on L.A. County seal, judge rules”: Abby Sewell of The Los Angeles Times has an article that begins, “In a long-awaited ruling, a federal judge has sided with plaintiffs who argued it was unconstitutional for Los Angeles County supervisors to place a Christian cross on the county seal.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Judge rules putting cross on LA County seal unconstitutional.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California at this link.

“The Counter-Clerks of Justice Scalia”: Ian J. Samuel has posted this paper online at SSRN.