“Justice Beasley brings Fayetteville perspective to N.C. Supreme Court; Cheri Beasley’s legal and judicial career launched in Fayetteville; Now she is the chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court”: Paul Woolverton has this front page article in today’s edition of The Fayetteville Observer.

“Clarence Thomas Alone Knows the Right Answer; His claims of authority are outlandish, and have of late verged on the delusional”: Law professor Garrett Epps has this essay online at The Atlantic.

“Arguments in an upcoming NC case could lead to a landmark Supreme Court ruling”: Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer has this report.

“Ex-WV Supreme Court justice Ketchum avoids jail time”: Kate Mishkin of The Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette-Mail has this report.

“Court candidate Brian Hagedorn says critics are attacking him for his Christian faith”: Patrick Marley of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has this report.

And Ivan Moreno of The Associated Press reports that “Wisconsin Supreme Court hopeful defends views on gay rights.”

“Harvard Shouldn’t Punish Harvey Weinstein’s Lawyer; Judging the morality of lawyers by the morality of their clients carries echoes of the McCarthy Era”: Law professor Stephen L. Carter has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“The Supreme Court Is Quietly Changing the Status of Religion in American Life”: Jeffrey Toobin has this post online at The New Yorker.

“Neomi Rao’s confirmation saga is a sign that partisanship could get even worse”: This editorial appears in today’s edition of The Washington Post.

“Colorado, baker end legal spat over transgender woman’s cake”: Kathleen Foody (yes, that’s her real name) of The Associated Press has this report.

“Senate Confirms Trump Nominee Who as Justice Official Fought the Affordable Care Act”: Carl Hulse of The New York Times has this report.

Jack Torry of The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch reports that “Senate confirms former Columbus attorney Chad Readler to federal appeals bench.”

Sabrina Eaton of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that “Senate confirms Ohio’s Chad Readler as federal appeals judge over objections from Democrats.”

Marianne LeVine of Politico reports that “Senate confirms Trump’s judicial nominee who opposed Obamacare.”

Jordain Carney of The Hill reports that “Senate confirms controversial Trump court pick who backed ObamaCare lawsuit.”

And Niels Lesniewski of Roll Call reports that “Democrats vow Judge Chad Readler will be 2020 issue; Murray and Schumer among Democrats blasting his role in targeting health care law.”

You can access at this link the official U.S. Senate roll call vote tally on the confirmation of Chad A. Readler to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit by a vote of 52-to-47.

“Michael Park — Nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit”: Harsh Voruganti has this post at his blog, “The Vetting Room.”

“Hip-Hop Artists Give the Supreme Court a Primer on Rap Music”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report, which is accompanied by a photo of Killer Mike.

Killer Mike’s group, Run the Jewels, performed on DJ Shadow’s “Nobody Speak,” which was featured on an episode of the debut season of HBO’s “Succession.”

You can view at this link the amicus brief filed today in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Update: In other coverage, Travis M. Andrews of The Washington Post reports that “Killer Mike, Chance the Rapper and others file Supreme Court brief to educate justices about rap music.”

Krystie Lee Yandoli of BuzzFeed News reports that “Rappers Are Teaching The Supreme Court About Music To Help Free A Man Jailed For His Lyrics; The popular rappers are fighting for the First Amendment rights of Jamal Knox, aka Mayhem Mal, who was jailed for a song in which he rapped about shooting police officers.”

And Chris Mills Rodrigo of The Hill reports that “Hip-hop stars urge Supreme Court to hear Pittsburgh rapper’s case.”

“In a blow to conservatives, a national business group is staying out of the Wisconsin Supreme Court race”: Patrick Marley and Molly Beck of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have this report.

Also online at that newspaper, columnist Daniel Bice has an essay titled “Supreme Court candidate Brian Hagedorn reverses ‘radical position’ on church and state separation.”

“The Supreme Court’s Peace Cross case highlights a deeper question about religion”: Columnist Charles Lane has this op-ed in today’s edition of The Washington Post.

In #SCOTUS bar admission news from here and there: Nadia Tamez-Robledo of The Brownsville (Tex.) Herald has an article headlined “Aiming high: Brownsville nurse attorney sworn in to Supreme Court.”

“Phony Constitutionalists Despise This Freshman Senator”: Mark Pulliam has this post at American Greatness.

“McConnell preps new nuclear option to speed Trump judges; The Senate majority leader is moving quickly to confirm appointments to the Circuit and District Courts — likely leaving few vacancies for the next potential Democratic president”: Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine of Politico have this report.

“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.