“Texas prison ban on Muslim inmate beards, caps ruled illegal”: The Associated Press has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued yesterday.

Update: And at his “Appellate Briefs” blog, Benjamin Gould has a post titled “Prison’s ban on beards and caps violated Muslim prisoner’s rights, rules Fifth Circuit.”

“Gloucester files petition for appeals court review in transgender case”: Frances Hubbard of The Daily Press of Newport News, Virginia has an article that begins, “he Gloucester County School Board filed a petition Tuesday for a full 4th Circuit Court of Appeals review of the ruling issued last month in the lawsuit filed by a 16-year-old transgender student.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Va. school board appeals transgender restroom ruling.”

“Judge Merrick Garland: His Jurisprudence and Potential Impact on the Supreme Court.” The Congressional Research Service has issued this report.

And Josh Gerstein of Politico.com has a blog post titled “Lawsuit challenges Senate inaction on Garland.”

“Vacancies on bench cause concern”: Patricia Manson of the Chicago Law Bulletin has an article that begins, “John Paul Stevens doesn’t expect to see the highest court in the land up to full strength any time soon. In Chicago on Monday night, the retired U.S. Supreme Court justice predicted the vacancy created by Antonin G. Scalia’s death will not be filled until after President Barack Obama leaves the White House.”

“Scalia’s Comcast legacy is at stake in Google Adwords case”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this report today.

“Senate OKs expanding AZ Supreme Court by two”: Howard Fischer of The Arizona Daily Star has this report.

And columnist Tim Steller has an essay titled “Governor could ‘pack’ Supreme Court under bill.”

“Delaying Execution Isn’t Cruel and Unusual”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg View.

“Former US solicitor general added to Brady’s legal team”: Ben Volin of The Boston Globe recently had an article that begins, “Tom Brady added a heavy hitter to his legal team Friday, the surest sign yet that the Patriots’ star quarterback will exhaust every legal avenue before accepting his four-game suspension. Brady and the NFL Players Association added Theodore Olson, who successfully represented George W. Bush in Bush v. Gore in 2000, then served as US Solicitor General from 2001-04.”