In today’s mail: I received a copy of professor Stephen L. Wasby‘s new book, “Borrowed Judges: Visitors in the U.S. Courts of Appeals.” If a target audience for a book such as this exists anywhere, it would have to consist largely of the readers of this blog.

“As controversy looms, Trump looks to pack the courts with conservatives”: Dan Merica and Ariane de Vogue of CNN have this report.

“1 year in, Justice Gorsuch remains the noble judge he’s always been”: Alex Harris has this essay online at The Hill.

“Democrats praise Trump nominee for 9th Circuit; Republicans raise critical questions on his gun rights, Citizens United views”: Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has this report.

Nick Grube of Honolulu Civil Beat reports that “Trump’s Federal Judge Nominee For Hawaii Gets Warm Reception In DC; Mark Bennett, the former state AG under Hawaii’s last Republican governor, received bipartisan accolades during his Senate confirmation hearing.”

And at his blog “The Vetting Room,” Harsh Voruganti has a post titled “Mark Bennett — Nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.”

You can view the video of today’s U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for judicial nominees via this link.

“Barnes & Noble must face renewed data breach lawsuit: U.S. appeals court.” Jonathan Stempel of Reuters has this report on an opinion that Circuit Judge Frank H. Easterbrook issued today on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

“Appeal could jeopardize CFPB win in landmark tribal sovereignty case”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this post.

“Trump’s funding threats to SF over sanctuary laws meet chilly response in court”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.

Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Federal appeals court considers ‘sanctuary city’ case.”

Tatiana Sanchez of The San Jose Mercury News reports that “Trump administration takes sanctuary city battle to San Francisco appeals court.”

Sudhin Thanawala of The Associated Press reports that “Judges weigh scope of Trump sanctuary cities order.”

And Josh Gerstein of Politico reports that “Trump’s words complicate feds’ arguments in sanctuary-city case.”

You can access the video of today’s oral argument before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on YouTube at this link.

“Judges should make public sexual harassment settlements, California’s chief justice says”: Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

And Greg Moran of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that “Chief Justice calls for new rules to allow release of harassment records against state judges.”

“Justice Ginsburg Urges New Citizens to Make America Better”: Liz Robbins has this article in today’s edition of The New York Times.

At the “Reliable Source” blog of The Washington Post, Emily Heil has an entry titled “Ruth Bader Ginsburg spotted at the Metropolitan Opera.”

And TMZ has a report headlined “Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Won’t Trade with Judge Judy.”

“Retailers hope for certainty as Supreme Court hears tax case”: Joyce M. Rosenberg of The Associated Press has this report.

And Robert Behre of The Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina has an article headlined “Could South Carolina get a $100 million-plus payday? U.S. Supreme Court will decide.”

“Judiciary Chairman Calls Firing Mueller ‘Suicide’ for Trump; Grassley warns president against firing Mueller or Sessions, notes potential Supreme Court vacancy”: Niels Lesniewski of Roll Call has this report.

“Appellate E-Filing Evolves in the Third Circuit and Pennsylvania State Courts”: This month’s installment of my “Upon Further Review” column appeared in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer, Philadelphia’s daily newspaper for lawyers.

“Pennsylvania senators split over Trump’s David Porter nomination”: Tracie Mauriello of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has this report.

And Tim Ryan of Courthouse News Service reports that “Trump Nominates 20 to Fill Federal Court Vacancies.”

“The First Couple of Trump’s America: Clarence Thomas is moving closer to the right-wing fringe; His wife Ginni is already there.” Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“A year on the bench: High profile cases may pull Neil Gorsuch in different directions; Disputes over public unions and gay rights could put the newest justice’s judicial philosophy at odds with his conservatism.” Steven Mazie has this post at the “Democracy in America” blog of The Economist.

“How Gorsuch’s First Year Compares”: Adam Feldman has this post at his “Empirical SCOTUS” blog.

“State attorney general, environmental group to appeal decision on Trump’s border wall”: Greg Moran of The San Diego Union-Tribune has this report.

“Neil Gorsuch thrills conservatives in first year on Supreme Court”: Melissa Quinn of the Washington Examiner has this report.

“Trump to nominate Justice Grant for federal appeals court”: Bill Rankin of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has this report.

“Trump nominates Pittsburgh attorney to U.S. Circuit Court”: Tracie Mauriello of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has this report.

And Thomas Moriarty of The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger reports that “Trump will name this Christie ally from Jersey to federal judgeship.”

“President Donald J. Trump Announces Twelfth Wave of Judicial Nominees, Twelfth Wave of United States Attorneys, and Sixth Wave of United States Marshals”: The White House issued this news release today.

For the federal appellate courts, the nominees consist of two individuals (one from New Jersey and the other from Pennsylvania) for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and one individual (from Georgia) for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. I will link to news coverage of these nominations later today.

“Harvard: Justice Department carrying water for anti-affirmative action group.” Josh Gerstein of Politico has this blog post.

“Sophomoric and substantial: The college journalism career of James Comey.” Matt Viser of The Boston Globe has this report.

“Prior salary can’t justify wage gap between men and women, U.S. appeals court rules”: Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has an article headlined “Court: Employers can’t set different pay for men and women doing same job.”

Mackenzie Mays of The Fresno Bee reports that “Fresno woman wins major court decision in her quest for equal pay for equal work.”

Sudhin Thanawala of The Associated Press has a report headlined “Court: Women can’t be paid less than men based on past wages.”

Robert Iafolla of Reuters has a report headlined “Salary history cannot justify sex-based pay gaps: U.S. appeals court.”

And Sarah Ruiz-Grossman of HuffPost reports that “Court Rules That Women Can’t Get Paid Less Than Men Based On Past Salaries.”

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

Deceased Ninth Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote the opinion of the court, and — to the extent that he provided the dispositive vote for today’s central holding — this ruling provides one more example of the highly questionable practice of dead judges’ voting.

“Trump University settlement now final as objector drops appeal”: Jonathan Stempel of Reuters has this report.

“Texas Supreme Court Totally Misunderstands Homosexuality in Sexual Harassment Opinion”: Christina Cauterucci has this essay online at Slate.

“Appellate Jurisdiction in Sanchez-Gomez: A Hard Case that Should Be Easy.” Law professor Bryan Lammon has posted this essay online at SSRN.

“A Triumph of Textual Analysis: The Texas Supreme Court Tackles the Issue of ‘Same-Sex’ Sexual Harassment.” Mark Pulliam has this post at his blog, “Misrule of Law.”

“Women dominate the state Supreme Court, but gender parity a long way off for other Wisconsin offices”: Lisa Speckhard Pasque of The Cap Times of Madison, Wisconsin has this report.

“Richard Hasen’s Jumble of Confusions — A Postscript”: Ed Whelan has this post at National Review’s “Bench Memos” blog.

“South Dakota prepares for sales tax showdown in U.S. Supreme Court”: Bob Mercer of The Rapid City (S.D.) Journal has this report.

“The Report on Race That Shook America: It came out in 1968—yet little has changed since the Kerner Commission denounced ‘white racism.'” Law professor Justin Driver will have this article in the May 2018 issue of The Atlantic.

“Clinic widens challenge of Mississippi abortion restrictions”: Emily Wagster Pettus of The Associated Press has this report.

And Ema O’Connor of BuzzFeed News reports that “A Major Abortion Rights Group Just Sued Mississippi Over Dozens Of Abortion Laws; The mega-lawsuit comes shortly after the state’s governor signed a 15-week abortion ban, the most restrictive abortion law in the country.”

“Four Circuits to Watch as Trump Nominees Face Time Hurdle”: Patrick L. Gregory of Bloomberg BNA has this report.

“#MeToo Series: When Will #MeToo Become #WeToo?” At the “Take Care” blog, Leah Litman has a post that begins, “Four months ago, Judge Alex Kozinski chose to retire after the Washington Post published several accounts of his alleged inappropriate behavior. Two months ago, the Second Circuit Judicial Council announced that it would not continue its investigation into the judge’s misconduct, which effectively ended the public accounting of #MeToo in the federal courts.”