“‘Ruth Bader Ginsburg’ Review: An Unlikely Celebrity.” Online at The Wall Street Journal, Bryan A. Garner has this review of Jane Sherron De Hart’s new book, “Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life.”

“‘NYT’ Reporter Digs Into Conservative Group’s Secret Judicial Training Program”: This audio segment featuring Adam Liptak appeared on yesterday evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

“After outpouring of personal stories, Congress still grappling with Kavanaugh confirmation fallout”: Clare Foran of CNN has this report.

“Ed Whelan theory of Christine Ford’s mistaken identification of Kavanaugh ultimately prevailed; Susan Collins believed that Ford was sexually assaulted, just not by Kavanaugh, a theory floated by Whelan, though Collins did not name a suspect”: William A. Jacobson has this post today at his “Legal Insurrection” blog.

“SF judge throws out charges against homeless people camping on sidewalk”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has an article that begins, “A San Francisco judge dismissed criminal charges Thursday against three homeless people who were arrested for camping or sleeping on the streets, a decision that follows a federal appeals court ruling barring cities from prosecuting such cases when no shelters are available.”

“Democrats think they can flip a key seat on the NC Supreme Court. Here are the candidates.” Will Doran of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina has this report.

“Judges appear skeptical of a nationwide injunction that bars exemptions to birth control mandate”: Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

And Helen Christophi of Courthouse News Service reports that “Ninth Circuit May Lift Block of Trump Contraceptives Exemptions.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has posted on YouTube at this link the video of yesterday’s oral argument before a three judge panel consisting of Circuit Judge Susan P. Graber and Senior Circuit Judges J. Clifford Wallace and Andrew J. Kleinfeld. The Ninth Circuit also provides via this link free access to the briefs filed in this appeal.

“Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas encourages judges to uphold constitutional principles”: Alice Queen has this front page article in today’s edition of The Newton Citizen of Covington, Georgia.

And Kate Brumback of The Associated Press reports that “Supreme Court Justice Thomas stresses need for neutrality.”

“Why Trump’s Supporters Will Believe Any Lie He Tells: From Kavanaugh to Khashoggi, they are immune to the truth.” Teri Kanefield has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Swift Justice: New Appellate Judge Courts Trouble With Traffic Cops; Ryan Nelson has racked up more than a dozen speeding tickets; ‘maybe he will bring a little bit of empathy to recidivists.'” In Saturday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, James V. Grimaldi and Alexa Corse will have a front page article that begins, “Ryan D. Nelson is a man in a hurry — really, in a hurry.”

And one week ago today, the Public Information Office of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a news release titled “Senate Confirms Idaho Attorney Ryan D. Nelson to Seat on Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.”

“Harvard’s Admissions Process, Once Secret, Is Unveiled in Federal Court”: Anemona Hartocollis of The New York Times has this report.

“Some Of Trump’s Judicial Nominees Have Private Twitter Accounts They Aren’t Sharing With The Public; Nominees have to tell the Senate Judiciary Committee about ‘published writings’; Some disclose Twitter and Facebook accounts; Others don’t”: Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News has this report.

“The GOP Doesn’t Trust Women: Not when it comes to sexual assault accusations and not with the decision to terminate a pregnancy.” Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Asian-American Harvard Applicants Saw Lowest Admit Rate of Any Racial Group From 1995 to 2013, Court Filings Show”: Shera S. Avi-Yonah and Molly C. McCafferty of The Harvard Crimson have this report.

“John Roberts touts collegiality, but Supreme Court’s record suggests otherwise”: Joan Biskupic of CNN has this report.

“Supreme Court: Conservative groups see opportunities to cut regulation, shore up property rights.” Richard Wolf of USA Today has this report.

At 11:30 a.m. eastern time (8:30 a.m. pacific time) you can view live, online the Ninth Circuit oral argument in California v. Little Sisters of the Poor: On YouTube, via this link. The Ninth Circuit is providing free access to the briefs filed on appeal in this case via this link.

According to the Ninth Circuit’s oral argument calendar for this sitting, the three-judge panel assigned to hear and decide this case consists of Circuit Judge Susan P. Graber and Senior Circuit Judges J. Clifford Wallace and Andrew J. Kleinfeld.

“Millennial Trump Judicial Nominee Pressed on Experience”: Patrick Gregory of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Justice Dept. Rank-and-File Tell of Discontent Over Sessions’s Approach”: Katie Benner of The New York Times has this report.

And online at The Washington Post, Fred Barbash has an essay titled “The Trump administration’s crazy losing streak in the courts: No, Jeff Sessions, it’s not about the judges.”

“AP-NORC Poll: Just 1 in 4 thinks Kavanaugh told entire truth.” Alan Fram of The Associated Press has this report.

You can access the detailed poll results directly at this link, while additional background can be accessed here.

“Who’s responsible for Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court? 4 million voters who stayed home in 2016.” U.S. Representative William Lacy Clay (D-MO) has this essay online at The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“On Kavanaugh and the Supreme Court’s Future: The Court’s ideological majorities are always apt to evolve.” Conrad Black has this essay online at National Review.

“Justice Sotomayor to SBU students: ‘It’s not your journey alone’; Sonia Sotomayor’s memoir, ‘My Beloved World,’ was required reading for freshmen in the First Year Reading Program; Wednesday’s event drew about 3,000 students”: Keshia Clukey of Newsday has this report.

“Deep In The Desert, A Case Pits Immigration Crackdown Against Religious Freedom”: Ryan Lucas had this audio segment on this evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

“Justice Neil Gorsuch’s Speech to Catholic Group Closed to the Media; Recent weeks have seen other Supreme Court justices allow coverage of their remarks at events”: Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal has an article that begins, “Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch’s doctoral study on a conservative philosophy called natural law is a prime reason right-leaning legal thinkers recommended him to President Trump.”

“The Harvard Trial Doesn’t Matter: The lawyers challenging the university are testing out their arguments to see which ones stick ahead of a potential appeal to the Supreme Court.” Adam Harris of The Atlantic has this report.

“Sky is the limit for the ‘Notorious RBG,’ and she keeps on pressin’ on”: Deborah Vankin of The Los Angeles Times has this article about a museum exhibition opening tomorrow in Los Angeles.

“Supreme Court Amicus Curiae Review: ‘Friends of the Court’ Roared Back in 2017–18 Term.” Anthony J. Franze and R. Reeves Anderson have this article (free access) in this week’s issue of The National Law Journal.

“Kavanaugh’s emotions showed he’s human. That’s a good thing in a Supreme Court justice. Kavanaugh’s emotional testimony isn’t disqualifying for the Supreme Court. I’ve been around judges my whole life. It’s the robotic ones who terrify me.” Columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr. has this essay online at USA Today.

“Jimmy Carter: Brett Kavanaugh ‘Unfit’ to Serve on Supreme Court.” Michelle Lou of The Emory Wheel, the student newspaper of Emory University, has an article that begins, “Former U.S. President and Emory University Distinguished Professor Jimmy Carter said on Wednesday that he believes Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is ‘unfit’ to serve on the nation’s most powerful judicial body.”

“Jueza de la Corte Suprema Sonia Sotomayor habla de su vida, Puerto Rico y Brett Kavanaugh”: Univision has posted online this video excerpt of an interview with Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

“Feinstein says she would ‘absolutely’ favor reopening Kavanaugh investigation next year”: John Wagner of The Washington Post has this report.

Bridget Bowman of Roll Call reports that “Feinstein ‘Absolutely’ Supports Revisiting Kavanaugh Allegations, She Says in Debate; California Democrat was asked about further investigating sexual assault claims.”

And Andrew O’Reilly of Fox News reports that “Feinstein wants Kavanaugh sexual misconduct investigation reopened if Dems take Senate.”

“Two ways Democrats can remove Kavanaugh — without impeaching him: Impeachment would be a hyperpartisan spectacle; But it’s not the only disciplinary option.” Law professor Aziz Huq has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“Battle Over Courts Emerges as Pivotal Issue in Senate Races”: Sahil Kapur of Bloomberg News has this report.

“Clinic Presses Government to Release Documents About Prison Email Monitoring”: Michael Bazeley of Berkeley Law has a report that begins, “The law school’s Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic filed a lawsuit today in federal court to compel the Federal Bureau of Prisons and Department of Justice to release records related to the monitoring of email messages between federal inmates and their attorneys.”

This issue is likely to be of particular interest to lawyers who represent federal criminal defendants on appeal.