“Iowa Supreme Court justice blocks Register’s use of court records; Newspaper says Wiggins’ order violates the First Amendment”: Clark Kauffman of The Des Moines Register has this report.

And Ryan J. Foley of The Associated Press reports that “Iowa justice blocks newspaper from reporting court records.”

“Trump’s push to fill courts with conservative judges hits first speed bump”: John Wagner, Robert O’Harrow Jr., and Karoun Demirjian have this front page article in today’s edition of The Washington Post.

For the second Saturday in a row, an article about Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski appears on the front page of the print edition of The Washington Post: You can access today’s front page in PDF format at this link.

Season 2, Episode 7 of “People Magazine Investigates” — “Marked for Murder”: Next Monday’s episode on the Investigation Discovery network is described as follows: “Friends and family are stunned when an esteemed criminal law professor and father of two is executed in his garage. Investigators follow a series of leads that take them on a statewide hunt through Florida in search of the murderous masterminds.”

Once the episode has aired, you can view the full episode online via this link.

“Judges to investigate Alex Kozinski as more women allege sexual misconduct”: Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

According to the article, “At least two of Kozinski’s law clerks resigned on Thursday, according to a source knowledgeable about the situation. That source, who requested anonymity because of a professional connection with Kozinski, said it was almost unheard of for a circuit judge’s clerk to resign from such a prestigious position midway through the term.”

Access the 2009 statement of law professor Arthur D. Hellman to the House Committee on the Judiciary regarding the possible impeachment of former U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent (S.D. Tex.): At this link. CNN reported on the impeachment proceedings in an article headlined “Victims allege years of sexual misconduct by federal judge.”

Kent ultimately served prison time after pleading guilty to the federal offense of obstruction of justice for having lied under oath during his judicial misconduct proceeding investigating charges of sexual abuse and sexual harassment. In August 2010, Lise Olson of The Houston Chronicle had an article headlined “Former federal judge Kent calls prison unfair, ‘cruel.’”

According to the latest article from The Washington Post, attorney Susan Estrich is now representing Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski: In September 2016, Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times had an article headlined “The Curious Case of Susan Estrich.”

And in August 2016, Paul Farhi of The Washington Post had an article headlined “What is feminist hero Susan Estrich doing representing Roger Ailes?”

“Judge Kozinski’s Opinion in this 2001 Sexual Harassment Case Is Even More Alarming Now; Alex Kozinski has enormous power over his law clerks; He has even more over litigants who come before him”: Sam Sankar has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“How the Trump White House and GOP senators fast-track judicial nominees”: Ariane de Vogue and Joan Biskupic of CNN.com have this report.

“Nine more women say judge subjected them to inappropriate behavior, including four who say he touched or kissed them”: Matt Zapotosky of The Washington Post has an article that begins, “Nine more women say that Alex Kozinski — a high-profile judge who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit — subjected them to sexual comments or other conduct, including four who say he touched them inappropriately.”

“Prominent Appeals-Court Judge Faces Sexual-Harassment Probe; Court opens investigation of Judge Alex Kozinski following claims of sexual misconduct by former law clerks”: Sara Randazzo of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

“This federal justice has no business sitting in judgment of others”: Columnist Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post has an essay that begins, “Of the deluge of sexual harassment stories gushing forth in recent weeks, one of the most disturbing — one of the creepiest, really — has also been one of the least noted: the allegations involving federal appeals court judge Alex Kozinski.”

“Law School Is Hot Again as Politics Piques Interest; The number of people applying to law school has risen 12%, in the first significant boost in years”: Sara Randazzo of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

The Second Circuit has won this round of the Judge Kozinski judicial misconduct sweepstakes: As Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News notes in a Tweet that you can access here. (A PDF copy of the letter from Chief Justice Roberts can be accessed here.)

The Third Circuit had been assigned the first round.

A list of the current members of the Judicial Council of the Second Circuit can be accessed here. Of the 13 members, seven are Second Circuit judges, while the remaining six are U.S. District Judges. Seven of the judges on the Second Circuit’s Judicial Council are female, while the other six are male.

Update: In early news coverage, Ross Todd of The Recorder reports that “Kozinski Harassment Inquiry Is Routed to the Second Circuit; Chief Justice John Roberts has called on Second Circuit Chief Judge Robert Katzmann to head up an inquiry into sexual harassment complaints against Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski.”

“First Amendment is at a crossroads in Supreme Court”: Ariane de Vogue of CNN.com has this report.

Received in today’s mail: A review copy of law professor Orly Lobel‘s new book, “You Don’t Own Me: How Mattel v. MGA Entertainment Exposed Barbie’s Dark Side.”

SCOTUSDaily interviews Art Lien, a/k/a “Courtartist“: You can read the interview at this link.

“Vulgar Clothing Trademark Deserves Legal Protection, Court Rules”: Susan Decker of Bloomberg News has this report on a ruling that a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued today.

“Court rules for AP in reporter impersonation document fight”: Jessica Gresko of The Associated Press has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued today.

“Clerkships are invaluable for young lawyers. They can also be a setup for abuse. When things go wrong, too often law clerks — about half of whom are women — feel they have nowhere to turn.” Law professor Catherine N. Crump has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“Blind Justices: The Supreme Court should’ve tried to put a stop to Judge Alex Kozinski’s behavior; Instead, the court abetted it.” Claire Madill has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“How Do You Solve A Problem Like Kozinski?” Scott H. Greenfield has this post at his “Simple Justice” blog.

“Why is legal academia still remaining (mostly) silent on Alex Kozinski?” Paul Campos has this post at “Lawyers, Guns & Money.”

“One Less Senate Vote Could Mean More Headaches for GOP; With margin reduced to 51-49, approving nominations and passing legislation get tougher”: Kristina Peterson and Natalie Andrews of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

“In boon to securities plaintiffs, 6th Circuit pushes loss causation bounds”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this post.

“Hospital worker fired for refusing flu shot isn’t a victim of religious discrimination, U.S. court says”: Matt Miller of The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued today.

“The #MeToo Moment: How One Harasser Can Rob a Generation of Women.” Online at The New York Times, Amanda Taub has an essay that begins, “Last week Heidi Bond, a former law clerk to Judge Alex Kozinski, accused the prominent judge of sexually harassing her while she was working in his chambers a decade ago.”

To which other federal appellate court’s judicial council should the Alex Kozinski judicial misconduct complaint be assigned? That is a decision now facing Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. Last time this question arose, with regard to the same judicial officer, Chief Justice Roberts assigned the matter to the Third Circuit.

As Matthew Stiegler of the “CA3blog” has explained on Twitter, one of the issues that could arise in the new misconduct proceeding is whether Judge Kozinski lied under oath during his testimony in the previous misconduct proceeding.

If I were the Chief Justice, the circuits that would be at the top of my list to handle the new misconduct proceeding would be (in numerical order) the Fifth, Eighth, and Eleventh Circuits.

“Federal judge in SF under investigation over sexual misconduct allegations”: Annie Ma of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.

Dan Levine of Reuters reports that “Inquiry launched into harassment allegations against U.S. appeals judge.”

And Miranda Green, Ariane de Vogue, and Dan Berman of CNN.com report that “Court calls for inquiry into Judge Alex Kozinski accusations.”

“Ninth Circuit Judge N. Randy Smith to Assume Senior Status in 2018”: The Public Information Office of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has issued this news release.

I have enjoyed getting to know Judge Smith through my work on the Education Committee of the Appellate Judges Education Institute.

“Making a Murderer Postscript: The Perversion of Henry Friendly’s Innocence Concern.” Michael Dorf has this post at “Dorf on Law.”

“It’s Time to Start Impeachment Proceedings of Judge Kozinski”: Cassandra Burke Robertson has this post, for which the comments are open, at “PrawfsBlawg.”

“Chief judge initiates judicial review of allegations against Alex Kozinski”: Matt Zapotosky of The Washington Post has this report.

Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times reports that “9th Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski to be investigated after sexual misconduct allegations.”

Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News reports that “A Prominent Appeals Judge Accused Of Sexual Misconduct Is Now Facing An Inquiry By The Court System.”

Ross Todd of The Recorder and Marcia Coyle of The National Law Journal report that “Ninth Circuit Brings Complaint Against Alex Kozinski After Sexual Harassment Claims; The Ninth Circuit’s misconduct order indicated that Chief Judge Thomas was initiating a complaint himself based on a Dec. 8 report from the Washington Post.”

At “Above the Law,” Kathryn Rubino and Elie Mystal have a post titled “Sources Report 3 Kozinski Clerks Are Out.”

And The New York Times has published an editorial titled “Who Will Judge the Judge?”

You can access today’s order of the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit at this link.

“What If the Founders Had Free Speech Wrong? A scholar’s jarring claim: America’s framers meant to protect a lot less speech than most of us think.” Law professor Cass R. Sunstein has this essay online at Bloomberg View discussing law professor Jud Campbell‘s article titled “Natural Rights and the First Amendment,” published in the November 2017 issue of The Yale Law Journal.

“Senate confirms third circuit judge this week, 19 total federal judges this year”: Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has an article that begins, “The Senate confirmed President Trump’s 19th federal judge Thursday, approving James Ho for a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and further bolstering the judicial army conservatives wanted to build.”

You can access the U.S. Senate‘s official roll call vote tally confirming James C. Ho to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit by a vote of 53-to-43 at this link.