“On death penalty, Supreme Court veering badly off course”: The Baltimore Sun has published this editorial.

“Talk to my former Supreme Court judge: Retired Supremes are getting busy in their post-work years — see the SNC-Lavalin case — and it is raising concerns”: Shannon Proudfoot of Maclean’s has this report.

“Groups try to get lame-duck lawsuit to the Wisconsin Supreme Court”: Patrick Marley of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has an article that begins, “Groups challenging lame-duck laws limiting the powers of Gov. Tony Evers asked the state Supreme Court on Wednesday to take up their case quickly.”

“Senate Republicans trigger ‘nuclear option’ to speed Trump nominees; Democrats blasted the move as a blow to the Senate and a sign the filibuster might soon be on its way out”: Burgess Everett of Politico has this report.

And Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News reports that “Mitch McConnell Just Made It A Whole Lot Easier For Trump To Confirm A Bunch Of Nominees; Republicans on Wednesday forced through a rules change that slashes the amount of time it will take to confirm many of Trump’s nominees.”

“Texas bans chaplains from its execution chamber; The U.S. Supreme Court last week halted the execution of Patrick Murphy because he wasn’t given access to a Buddhist chaplain; Now, no chaplains will be allowed in the death chamber”: Jolie McCullough and Elizabeth Byrne of The Texas Tribune have this report.

“Pack the Court? Putting a popular imprint on the federal judiciary.” Russell Wheeler has this post at the “FixGov” blog of the Brookings Institution.

“Justice Neil Gorsuch to release book in September”: Ariane de Vogue of CNN has this report. It may prove to be even more popular than his last book, published in 2006.

“Trump floated nominating Merrick Garland to supreme court, book reveals; Exclusive: Trump raised the prospect in summer 2018, according to The Hill to Die On, but it was ‘not clear how serious’ he was.” Tom McCarthy and Martin Pengelly of The Guardian (UK) have this report.

The official publication date of the new book “The Hill to Die On: The Battle for Congress and the Future of Trump’s America,” by Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer, is April 9, 2019.

“Gains in northern Wisconsin boost Hagedorn to narrow lead in Wisconsin Supreme Court race”: Craig Gilbert of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has this report.

And Riley Vetterkind of The Wisconsin State Journal reports that “Brian Hagedorn calls win ‘historic’ victory, says he’s prepared for possible recount.”

“Is Kavanaugh as Conservative as Expected?” Adam Feldman has this post at his “Empirical SCOTUS” blog.

“Trump is appointing judges at a record pace. Now McConnell wants to move even faster.” Jennifer Haberkorn of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

“What Bucklew Doesn’t Say”: John Stinneford, a law professor who is a leading scholar on the original understanding of the Eighth Amendment, has this guest post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“Brian Hagedorn declares victory in tight Wisconsin Supreme Court race that has both campaigns bracing for a recount”: Patrick Marley and Molly Beck of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have this report.

And Scott Bauer of The Associated Press has reports headlined “1.2M votes later, Wisconsin Supreme Court race up in air” and “Wisconsin Supreme Court race firmly in recount territory.”