“GOP Bill Would Ban Supreme Court From Citing Its Own Obamacare Cases”: Tierney Sneed of TPM DC has an article that begins, “Rep. Steve King (R-IA) hates Obamacare so much that he doesn’t even want the Supreme Court to cite its own major Obamacare cases in future opinions, according to a bill he introduced Tuesday.”

You can view the proposed legislation at this link.

“S.E.C.’s In-House Judges Face Supreme Court Scrutiny”: Peter J. Henning has this post today at his “White Collar Watch” blog at The New York Times.

“Appellate court affirms constitutionality of Minnesota’s sex-offender program; Reversal is a victory for Minnesota, defeat for sex offenders who sued”: Chris Serres of The Minneapolis Star Tribune has this report.

And The Associated Press has a report headlined “Appeals court: Minnesota sex offender program constitutional.”

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

“Three years late, seminal death penalty report still unfinished”: Riley Yates has this front page article in today’s edition of The Morning Call of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

“Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow to step down at the conclusion of the academic year; With a focus on access to justice, public service, and entrepreneurship, Minow has guided HLS in new directions to prepare lawyers for challenges and opportunities brought by globalization and a changing legal profession”: Harvard Law Today has this report.

“Another judicial dirty trick from Senate Republicans”: The Los Angeles Times has posted this editorial online.

“U.S. Sentencing Commission announces Circuit Judge William H. Pryor, Jr. will serve as Acting Chair of the Commission”: The U.S. Sentencing Commission issued this news release today.

“President Obama’s Supreme Court Nomination of Merrick Garland Expires; Garland’s nomination languished for 293 days as Republicans declined to give him a hearing”: Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

And Mallory Shelbourne of The Hill reports that “Schumer regrets Dems triggering ‘nuclear option.’”

“Inside Trump’s strategy to remodel the Supreme Court: The president-elect is narrowing his short list while his advisers look beyond the current opening.” Shane Goldmacher and Josh Gerstein of Politico.com have this report.

And Gerstein also has a related article headlined “A closer look at Trump’s potential Supreme Court nominees: These eight people have been identified by people on the transition team as frontrunners to replace late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.”

“India’s Top Court Bars Campaigns Based on Identity Politics”: Ellen Barry will have this article in Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times.

You can access today’s 4-to-3 ruling of the Supreme Court of India at this link.

“RBG: Supreme Champion of Justice and Civil Rights.” Rahel Musleah has this cover story in the December 2016 issue of Hadassah Magazine.

And recently at “SCOTUSblog,” Ronald Collins had a post titled “Ask the author: Justice Ginsburg in her own words . . . and then some.”

“After Obama, Some Health Reforms May Prove Lasting; A transformation of the delivery of health care may be an enduring legacy for the president, even as Republicans plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act”: Abby Goodnough and Robert Pear of The New York Times have this report.

And Kelsey Snell and Mike DeBonis of The Washington Post have an article headlined “Why Obamacare is unlikely to die a swift death.”

“Dylann Roof, Charleston Church Killer, Is Deemed Competent for Sentencing”: Alan Blinder will have this article in Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times.

And Jennifer Berry Hawes and Glenn Smith of The Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina have an article headlined “Dylann Roof found competent to proceed with penalty phase.”

“Resolve the ‘ALJ Quandary’: Let the D.C. Circuit Appoint and Remove ALJs.” Kent Barnett has this guest post today at the “Notice & Comment” blog of the Yale Journal on Regulation.

“D.C. Circuit Review — Reviewed: Resolved 2.0.” Aaron Nielson has this post at the “Notice & Comment” blog of the Yale Journal on Regulation.

“Roberts’ ‘Missed Opportunity’ on Judicial Vacancies”: Kenneth Jost has this post at his blog, “Jost on Justice.”

“Purging Criminal Code of defunct ‘zombie laws’ no simple task; Outdated offences that are still included in Canada’s Criminal Code include duelling, abortion and pretending to practise witchcraft”: Alyshah Hasham of The Toronto Star has an article that begins, “Given the epidemic of fake news and the influence it may have had on the U.S. election, Section 181 of Canada’s Criminal Code would seem particularly noteworthy. The charge: spreading false news.”

“Lawmakers and advocates seek to undo Texas Supreme Court rulings that concealed public records”: J. David McSwane of The Dallas Morning News has an article that begins, “Recent rulings by the Texas Supreme Court have hidden records long regarded as public, such as contracts between a governmental body and a private business, and have contributed to growing secrecy about how state and local authorities spend your tax dollars.”

“With New Congress Poised to Convene, Obama’s Policies Are in Peril”: Jennifer Steinhauer has this front page article in today’s edition of The New York Times.

In the January 9, 2017 issue of The New Yorker: Kelefa Sanneh has an article headlined “Intellectuals for Trump: A rogue group of conservative thinkers try to build a governing ideology around a President-elect who disdains ideology.” Not surprisingly, the article contains several mentions of U.S. Supreme Court nominations.

And Nicholas Schmidle has an article headlined “Can Technology Make Football Safer? A high school in Fort Lauderdale is using everything from state-of-the-art helmets to robots to prevent head injuries.”

“101 First Street #2: ‘The Most Exciting Parts.'” While you are out celebrating Christmas and New Year’s, the creators of the First Mondays podcasts are busy recording episodes such as this one about the nuts-and-bolts of U.S. Supreme Court practice. Draw your own conclusions about their priorities, but don’t forget to listen.

“Obama could still force Merrick Garland onto court during ‘intersession recess'”: Stephen Dinan of The Washington Times has an article that begins, “President Obama will have one last chance to force Judge Merrick Garland onto the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday — but it’s a legal gamble and one that has so many pitfalls that even those who say he could get away with it believe it isn’t worth the fight.”

And online at Bloomberg View, Megan McArdle has an essay titled “Hacking Democratic Rules Isn’t Good Government.”

“House Republicans Fret About Winning Their Health Care Suit”: Carl Hulse has this new installment of his “On Washington” column in today’s edition of The New York Times.

“Vermont Supreme Court To Rule Tuesday On Whether Shumlin Can Appoint A New Justice”: Bob Kinzel of Vermont Public Radio has a report that begins, “A very unusual legal case will be decided in Montpelier Tuesday. The Vermont Supreme Court will hold a special hearing to determine whether Gov. Peter Shumlin has the authority to appoint a new member to the court.”

“Dylann Roof Himself Rejects Best Defense Against Execution”: Kevin Sack and Alan Blinder will have this article in Monday’s edition of The New York Times.

“Where the supreme court battle goes from here: ‘There will be a huge fight’; Donald Trump has promised to nominate a conservative in the mould of Antonin Scalia — but Democrats seem ready to battle to prevent that from happening.” David Smith of The Guardian (UK) has this report.

“Appeals court panel upholds secrecy order for Ohio’s execution drugs”: Jeremy Pelzer of The Cleveland Plain Dealer has this report.

And Chris Geidner of BuzzFeed News reports that “Ohio Can Keep Execution Drug Supplier Secret From Death Row Inmates; The 2-1 federal appeals court ruling is a loss for death row inmates who are challenging Ohio’s execution procedures.”

You can access Friday’s ruling of a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit at this link.

“Wallace Hall’s fight over UT records heads to Texas Supreme Court”: Chuck Lindell of The Austin American-Statesman has an article that begins, “The Texas Supreme Court announced Friday that it will decide whether University of Texas System Regent Wallace Hall Jr. should be provided records from an internal investigation into favoritism in admissions to UT.”

And Madlin Mekelburg of The Dallas Morning News reports that “Texas Supreme Court to take up UT regent Wallace Hall’s fight over student records.”