“Down a justice, John Roberts looks to find compromise, avoid 4-4 ties”: Ariane de Vogue of CNN.com has this report.

“Brother, Spare Me a Dime. Or Else.” Online at Bloomberg View, law professor Noah Feldman has an essay that begins, “Laws that ban street begging often are challenged as a violation of First Amendment free speech rights. Appellate courts are divided on the question, and the Supreme Court has never answered it definitively.”

And at The Huffington Post, Evan Bernick has a blog entry titled “Yes, the First Amendment Protects Panhandling: A Defense of the Supreme Court’s ‘Free Speech Absolutism.’”

“There’s Almost No Evidence That Merrick Garland Will Take Away Your Guns; A congressional report on the Supreme Court nominee should relieve fears that he’s a nemesis of the Second Amendment”: Cristian Farias of The Huffington Post has this report.

“A Nasty Split in U.S. Courts Over Human Rights”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online today at Bloomberg View.

“Critical Evidence May Have Been Destroyed, Sheikh Mohammed Lawyers Say; Defense sought to halt proceedings and disqualify military judge Col. James Pohl and prosecution team led by Brig. Gen. Mark Martins”: Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

“2nd Circuit splinters over rehearing Alien Tort Statute case v. Arab Bank”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this report today.

“Alleged 9/11 plotter’s lawyers ask prosecutor, judge to quit trial over destruction of evidence”: Carol Rosenberg of The Miami Herald has this report.

And The Associated Press reports that “Removal of judge, prosecutors sought in Guantanamo 9/11 case.”

“Garland questionnaire doesn’t include detailed financial info”: Seung Min Kim and Josh Gerstein of Politico.com have this report.

“Appeals court hears challenge to Maryland’s ban on ‘assault weapons'”: Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post has this report.

And The Associated Press reports that “US appeals court hears Maryland gun control case.”

You can access via this link (51.2 MB mp3 audio file) the audio of today’s oral argument before the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

“Sex Offenders and a Facebook Free Speech Fight”: Patrick Gregory of Bloomberg BNA has this blog post today.

“With Trump And SCOTUS, Do Qualifications Even Matter? It’s a question Republican senators found extremely hard to answer.” Michael McAuliff of The Huffington Post has this report.

“Fit to be tied: Why the Supreme Court is slowing down.” Steven Mazie has this post at the “Democracy in America” blog of The Economist.

“History as Farce at the Alabama Supreme Court”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg View.

“No News Is No News: Why it’s virtually impossible to cover Merrick Garland.” Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Appeals court to revisit challenge to Maryland’s ban on ‘assault weapons'”: Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post has an article that begins, “A federal appeals court on Wednesday will revisit the legality of Maryland’s ban on certain semiautomatic firearms passed after the 2012 mass shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.”

Once the audio of today’s oral argument of the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit becomes available online, I will link to it.