“Stras nomination for federal appeals court must be blocked; The Minnesota Supreme Court justice has the track record of a conservative ideologue”: Beth Gendler has this essay online at The Minneapolis Star Tribune.

“Can the Justices decide the Trump immigration case swiftly? A lesson from 1981.” Lyle Denniston has this post at the “Constitution Daily” blog of the National Constitution Center.

“Chimps are not people, cannot be freed from custody: New York court.” Jonathan Stempel of Reuters has this report.

And Deepti Hajela of The Associated Press reports that “Appeals court says chimpanzees don’t have rights of people.”

You can access today’s ruling of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, at this link.

“Ginsburg earns $204,000 from book of collected writings”: The Associated Press has this report.

And Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News reports that “The Supreme Court Justices Reported Millions Of Dollars In Assets In 2016.”

“Judges didn’t clearly indicate during the arguments how they might rule, though a clerk for US Circuit Judge Joseph Greenaway has advised that the state’s action be allowed to go forward, MLex has learned.” So reports Richard Vanderford of MLex in an article headlined “GlaxoSmithKline asks appeals court to kill Louisiana Flonase action.” The article is subscription-required and is not freely accessible online.

A “How Appealing” reader kindly brought the text of the article to my attention to highlight the highly unusual sentence contained therein, which I have reproduced as the title of this post. Before publishing this post, I spoke with reporter Vanderford to confirm that this sentence in fact appears in his article. He so confirmed, and he also noted that he attended the Third Circuit’s oral argument of this case in person yesterday in Philadelphia.

The article is far from clear concerning how Vanderford or MLex learned what recommendation a law clerk of Judge Greenaway may have made to his or her judge about the case. Of course, even those judges who welcome law clerk recommendations concerning how an appeal should be resolved remain fully capable of deciding the case in whatever way the judges think appropriate, without regard to a law clerk’s recommendation. It is unusual, to say the least, for the recommendation of an appellate judge’s law clerk concerning how a case should be decided to become public while the case is pending.

“A Celebration of Black Lawyers, Past and Present”: Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. has this post online at The New Yorker.

“James Comey’s Remarkable Story About Donald Trump”:Online at The New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin has a post that begins, “President Trump appears to be guilty of obstruction of justice.”

Also online at The New Yorker, Nicholas Schmidle has a post titled “James Comey’s Intellectual History.”

“What the Judges Know About Trump”: Linda Greenhouse has this essay online at The New York Times.

“Court overturns summary judgement for FMCH in wrongful-birth suit”: Jeff Hunt of The Fort Madison (Iowa) Daily Democrat has this report.

And at “On Brief: Iowa’s Appellate Blog,” Rox Laird has a post titled “Iowa Supreme Court opens the courthouse doors to ‘wrongful birth’ lawsuits.”

You can access last Friday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Iowa at this link.

“Trump aides tell him to keep Sessions as U.S. attorney general: sources.” Julia Edwards Ainsley of Reuters has this report.

“Maryland court to hear bid for new trial in ‘Serial’ murder case”: Ian Simpson of Reuters has this report.

And Brian Witte of The Associated Press reports that “‘Serial’ star, guilty of killing girlfriend, seeks new trial.”

“La. Not Immune From Flonase Class Settlement, Says GSK”: Jeannie O’Sullivan of Law360.com has this report (subscription required for full access) on an oral argument that occurred today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Lisa Blatt argued the appeal for appellant GSK. You can access the oral argument audio via this link (16.8 MB mp3 audio file).

“Fed appeals court quashes bids to unravel Colorado marijuana laws, but door still open for RICO suits; Appeals court panel sends racketeering claim by southern Colorado horse ranchers back to district court; shuts down complaints by Oklahoma and Nebraska”: Alicia Wallace of The Cannabist, a publication of The Denver Post, has this report.

Sara Randazzo of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Court Allows Colorado Couple to Sue Marijuana Growers; Ruling based on federal law that considers pot production and sales illegal, even though the state law allows it; could expose recreational marijuana industry to more private litigation.”

And Kristen Wyatt of The Associated Press has a report headlined “Court: Neighbors can sue pot grower for stinky smells.”

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

Not to be outdone, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit today issued a ruling upholding the First Amendment rights of an organization seeking to hold a rally supporting the legalization of marijuana on the steps of the Tippecanoe County Courthouse in Lafayette, Indiana.

My first Twitter poll ever: At this link, concerning a visit to Northern California later this month.

“Nakamura is new chief justice of NM Supreme Court”: Katy Barnitz of The Albuquerque Journal has this report.

“Constitution Can’t Stop Trump From Blocking Tweets: Twitter as a private company can set the rules, even for a public figure like the president.” Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg View.

“Beef expert says controversial label for BPI product is false”: Nick Hytrek of The Sioux City (Iowa) Journal has this report.

“President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Candidate Nominations”: The White House issued this news release (in two parts) today.

And at “Above the Law,” David Lat has a post titled “The Latest Legal Luminaries Nominated For Federal Judgeships By President Trump; Prominent conservatives are hailing this latest slate as ‘a fantastic list.’”

“White House Announces Slate of 11 Judicial Nominees”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

“In defense of Trump’s DOJ lawyers: a guest post.” Andrew Pincus has this guest post at Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight.

“#AppellateTwitter Becomes Internet Hotspot For Legal Nerds”: Jess Krochtengel of Law360.com has this report.

“Who Is Dangerous, and Who Dies? An appalling and racialized standard of ‘future dangerousness’ has been used to condemn defendants. This lawyer fought it.” Errol Morris has this essay/interview online at The New York Times.

“Privacy in the Cellphone Age”: This editorial appears in today’s edition of The New York Times.

“Answers, and new questions, on partisan gerrymandering”: Lyle Denniston has this post at the “Constitution Daily” blog of the National Constitution Center.

“Trump nominates new slate of federal judges”: Dave Boyer of The Washington Times has an article that begins, “President Trump announced a new round of 11 judicial nominations Wednesday, including three nominees for high-profile federal appeals courts.”

“Trump’s Terrible Judicial Trifecta: Passing on alt-right conspiracies. Railing about ‘teaching gayness.’ Arguing for leniency to sentence minors to death. And these three nominees are expected to be confirmed easily.” Eleanor Clift has this essay online at The Daily Beast.

“State Supreme Court skeptical about key death penalty provision”: Bob Egelko has this front page article in today’s edition of The San Francisco Chronicle.

Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times reports that “California’s top court appears divided on ballot measure to speed up executions.”

Brian Melley of The Associated Press reports that “Justices skeptical about death sentence appeal deadlines.”

Randol White and Ben Adler of Capital Public Radio report that “California Supreme Court Weighs Proposition 66 Lawsuit.”

And Maria Dinzeo of Courthouse News Service reports that “California Justices Leery of Bid to Speed Executions.”

Once it becomes available online, you will be able to view the video of yesterday’s oral argument in the Supreme Court of California via this link.

“White House lawyers face a Clinton-era legal trap in Russia probe; In Whitewater, communications with government attorneys were subject to review by special counsel — something Trump may avoid now by relying on his own lawyer”: Josh Gerstein of Politico.com has this report.

“Former Pa. governors: Time for merit selection of judges.” Dick Thornburgh, Tom Ridge, Mark Schweiker, Ed Rendell, and Tom Corbett had this op-ed in yesterday’s edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Ruling: San Diego officers used reasonable force when police dog bit sleeping woman.” Kristina Davis of The San Diego Union-Tribune has this report on a 10-to-1 ruling that an en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued today.

Guess who’s issuing published D.C. Circuit opinions again? Today. Chief Judge Merrick B. Garland issued his first published opinion for that Court since his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court expired.

“Twitter Users Blocked by Trump Seek Reprieve, Citing First Amendment”: Charlie Savage of The New York Times has this report.

“Go Ahead. Eat Pink Slime.” Alexander Aciman has this essay online at The New York Times. And in today’s edition of that newspaper, Niraj Chokshi has an article headlined “Trial Will Decide if ABC News Sullied a Company With ‘Pink Slime.’”

In local coverage of the trial, Nick Hytrek of The Sioux City (Iowa) Journal has articles headlined “Jurors hear 2 sides on first day of BPI defamation case” and “Survey showed people didn’t think BPI product was beef.”

And at the “THR, Esq.” blog of The Hollywood Reporter, Eriq Gardner has posts titled “ABC ‘Pink Slime’ Trial Opens With Scathing Attacks on Media Bias, Corporate Secrecy” and “Marketing Expert Testifies ABC’s ‘Pink Slime’ Reports Influenced Negative Perceptions.”

“New challenge to labor union support fees”: Lyle Denniston has this post at the “Constitution Daily” blog of the National Constitution Center. You can view the cert. petition at this link.

“Sessions Is Said to Have Offered to Resign”: Maggie Haberman and Peter Baker of The New York Times have this report.

And Michael S. Schmidt and Matt Apuzzo of The New York Times have an article headlined “Comey Told Sessions: Don’t Leave Me Alone With Trump.”