Programming note: On Friday morning, I will be in a trial court in connection with a case I am working on that’s at the post-trial motion stage. As a result, additional posts will appear here on Friday afternoon.

As always while I am away from the office, additional appellate-related retweets may appear on this blog’s Twitter feed.

“Lawmakers warn judges ruling on travel bans against exceeding power; Rulings seen as political”: Andrea Noble and Stephen Dinan of The Washington Times have this report.

“House, Senate Approve Justice Palmer For Another Term On Supreme Court Bench”: Christopher Keating of The Hartford Courant had this article last week.

“The Revolt of the Judges: What Happens When the Judiciary Doesn’t Trust the President’s Oath.” Benjamin Wittes and Quinta Jurecic have this post at “Lawfare.”

“Campaign Pledges Haunt Trump in Court”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

“Judge Gorsuch’s Writings Signal He Would Be A Conservative On Social Issues”: Nina Totenberg had this audio segment on this evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

“Alito: US’s dedication to religious liberty being tested.” David Porter of The Associated Press has this report.

“Chief Justice Roberts Considers the Case of Tom Sawyer”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

SCOTUSDaily interviews Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal: You can read the interview at this link.

“AP Explains: The doctrine sure to emerge in Gorsuch hearings.” Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has an article that begins, “When Democrats question Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch at his Senate confirmation hearing next week, they’ll probably ask a lot about something called ‘Chevron deference.'”

“NY court asked to determine if chimp is legally a person”: Verena Dobnik of The Associated Press has this report.

Karin Brulliard of The Washington Post has an article headlined “Corporations can be people. A river was just made a person. What about chimpanzees?” (The article is also available here directly from The WaPo bearing a much less interesting headline.)

And Andrew Denney of The New York Law Journal reports that “Chimp Advocate Doggedly Pursues Animal Rights.”

“9th Circuit judges to Congress: Leave us alone.” Mary Clare Jalonick of The Associated Press has this report.

“Why Courts Shouldn’t Try to Read Trump’s Mind: The judiciary should not abandon its traditional role simply because the president has abandoned his.” Law professor Josh Blackman has this essay online today at Politico Magazine.

“Why Trump’s Revised Travel Ban Could Still Succeed: Despite judicial setbacks, federal law leaves open the possibility that the president’s new executive order might prevail — if he can keep quiet.” Law professor Garrett Epps has this essay online today at The Atlantic.

And online at Bloomberg View, law professor Noah Feldman has an essay titled “Real Drama for Travel Ban Will Be at Appeals Court.”

“Senate Democrats focus on Gorsuch’s defense of Bush-era terrorism policies”: Robert Barnes and Ed O’Keefe of The Washington Post have this report.

And in today’s edition of The New York Times, Charlie Savage has an article headlined “Neil Gorsuch Helped Defend Disputed Bush-Era Terror Policies.”

“Four Confirmation Fights That Shaped the Supreme Court”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

“Appeals court judges rebuke Trump for ‘personal attacks’ on judiciary, ‘intimidation'”: Fred Barbash of The Washington Post has this report.

“A Time to Choose for the Supreme Court”: Linda Greenhouse has this essay online today at The New York Times.

“Faith in the Ninth Circuit”: Daniel Hemel has this post today at the new “Take Care” blog.

“Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Restructuring: Three judges from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals testified at a hearing on proposals to split the court, which is the largest of the 13 U.S. Courts of Appeals.” C-SPAN is broadcasting live at this link this morning’s hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.

“Gorsuch Has Strong Tie to Proponent of Morality-Based ‘Natural Law’; Among Supreme Court nominee’s mentors is revered law professor whose conservative views on social issues have ignited controversy”: Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

New blog alert: A blog titled “Take Care: Ensuring the President ‘shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed’” has made its debut today, featuring a stellar list of contributors.

“A Matter of Life: The death penalty as a conservative conundrum.” Mary Cuddehe has this article in the March 2017 issue of Harper’s Magazine.

“The Sage of Yale Law: Anthony Kronman was a university dean. Now he’s a ‘born-again pagan’ who thinks he might have discovered the meaning of life.” Joshua Rothman has this post online today at The New Yorker.

“The Supreme Court Confronts Racism in the Jury Room: Is racism in deliberations any less toxic than racism in open court?” Law professor Garrett Epps has this essay online today at The Atlantic.

“Cochran likely to pick federal judge to replace Jolly”: Sid Salter has this essay online at The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi.

“5th Circ. Won’t Rehear 3-D Gun Printing Restriction Dispute”: Jess Krochtengel of Law360.com has a report (subscription required for full access) that begins, “The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday declined to rehear en banc a gun advocacy group’s argument that the U.S. Department of State had wrongfully barred it from posting digital firearm designs for 3-D printing online.”

You can access yesterday’s order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denying rehearing en banc by a 9-to-5 vote, and the dissent therefrom, at this link.

My earlier coverage of the original divided three-judge Fifth Circuit panel’s ruling can be accessed here.