“Rajaratnam’s $92.8 million SEC civil fine is upheld”: Jonathan Stempel of Reuters has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued today.

“Merrick Garland Loves ‘My Cousin Vinny’ And Isn’t Afraid To Tell Us All About It; In fairness, it really is a good cross-examination”: Joe Patrice has this post at “Above the Law” about a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued today.

“Against Mercy”: Today the sixth and final installment of the “Over My Dead Body” podcast focusing on the murder of law professor Dan Markel was posted online, and you can access it via this link.

“Senate confirms Trump court of appeals picks”: Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has this report.

And Tim Ryan of Courthouse News Service reports that “Senate OKs Fourth Circuit Judge Despite Lack of Experience.”

“Conservatives’ Coming War on the Warren Court: Led by Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court’s originalists are taking aim at the landmark precedents set by liberal justices decades ago.” Matt Ford of The New Republic has this report.

“Could the Supreme Court kill Pennsylvania’s death penalty?” Riley Yates has this front page article in today’s edition of The Morning Call of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

“‘Shame’: Democrats slam Republicans over Trump judicial nominee’s support for overturning Obamacare.” Colby Itkowitz of The Washington Post has this report.

“Inside the D.C. Circuit’s pipeline docket”: Pamela King of Energywire has this report.

“Meet the immigrant who got a second chance from Justice Neil Gorsuch”: Ariane de Vogue of CNN has this report.

“President Trump Just Put His Youngest-Ever Judge On A Federal Court; Allison Rushing, 36, was confirmed to the Fourth Circuit [despite] concerns about her lack of experience and conservative views and affiliations”: Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News has this report.

“RBG Fans Will Plank on the Supreme Court Steps for Her Birthday; About a thousand people have expressed interest in the March 15 demonstration”: Brittany Shepherd of Washingtonian has this report.

“Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Scott Bales to retire, giving Ducey 5th appointment”: Maria Polletta of The Arizona Republic has this report.

And Howard Fischer of The Arizona Daily Star reports that “Scott Bales, chief justice of Arizona Supreme Court, to retire in July.”

On a personal note, I have had the pleasure of getting to know Chief Justice Bales — a longtime “How Appealing” reader — over the years thanks to our mutual involvement in AJEI. I wish him the best in his future endeavors following his departure from the court.

“Guilty: In 1998, I helped convict two men of murder. I’ve regretted it ever since.” Seth Stevenson has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

Rushing to become a federal appellate judge: The U.S. Senate has just confirmed 36-year-old Allison Jones Rushing as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit by a vote of 53-to-44.

“Survey: California Bench Continues to Grow More Diverse; Data show steady increase in women and non-white justices and judges over 13 years.” The California Courts Newsroom of the Judicial Council of California issued this news release today.

“Collins to oppose Trump circuit court nominee over role in pre-existing conditions suit”: Ted Barrett of CNN has a report that begins, “Republican Sen. Susan Collins said Tuesday she will vote against Chad Readler, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals who has come under fire from Democrats for being a lead lawyer for the Justice Department when it declined to defend key provisions of the Affordable Care Act in response to a lawsuit filed by Republican state attorneys general.”

Marianne LeVine of Politico reports that “Senate Dems squeeze GOP on health care with Trump judicial nominee.”

And Jordain Carney of The Hill has reports headlined “GOP senator to oppose Trump court pick” and “Progressive group targets GOP senators on Trump court pick.”

“Trump’s Judicial Nominees Aren’t Just Ideologues. They’re Really Young. Republicans are about to confirm lifetime federal judges ages 37, 40 and 46.” Jennifer Bendery of HuffPost has this report.

“Supreme Court will hear Section 145 Attorney Fees Case”: Dennis Crouch has this post at his “Patently-O” blog.

“Ginsburg’s recovery prescription: Plenty of opinions.” Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report.

Register now to attend the 2019 Justice Donald L. Corbin Appellate Symposium, taking place March 28 & 29, 2019 in Fayetteville, AR: You can register via this link. I will be attending both days of the symposium, and I will be speaking on the morning of the first day about a topic of particular interest to me, “Courts in the age of ‘New Media’: Seeking to Counteract the Decline in Mainstream Media Coverage of Appellate Courts.”

Kannon Shanmugam — who now has his own Instagram account and who is learning to master the NYC subway system like a boss (Instagram photos to confirm forthcoming) — will be speaking about the latest developments at the U.S. Supreme Court.

And plenty of federal and state appellate judges will be participating in the program — too many to list in the time I have allocated myself to draft and publish this blog post. The “ArkansasAppeais” blog has compiled this list of speakers.

I’m told that Fayetteville is a lovely college town, and I look forward to seeing many “How Appealing” readers at what will be my first-ever speaking appearance in Arkansas.