“Two friends, one judge — and a fight for the Senate and Supreme Court”: The Washington Post has published online this essay adapted from Ruth Marcus’s forthcoming book, “Supreme Ambition: Brett Kavanaugh and the Conservative Takeover.”

“My Experience on the Supreme Court Bar Line for the DACA Case; I arrived at 3:11 a.m., and almost did not make it into the Court”: Josh Blackman has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“An Unfair Accusation of Partisanship against the Roberts Court”: John O. McGinnis has this post at the “Law & Liberty” blog.

“Hearings over, all eyes on Supreme Court showdowns over Trump’s financial records”: Joan Biskupic of CNN has this report.

“Could California Appeal Today’s California Supreme Court Ruling on Presidential Candidate Tax Return Disclosure To SCOTUS? Maybe, Under Cases Arising Out of the 2000 Bush v. Gore Race.” Rick Hasen has this post at his “Election Law Blog.”

“Governor vetoes bill outlawing abortions over Down syndrome”: Mark Scolforo of The Associated Press has this report from Harrisburg, Pa.

“The Supreme Court’s Textualism Test: Kagan tries to lure Gorsuch and Roberts off the Scalia method.” The Wall Street Journal has published this editorial.

“1st Circuit: ‘Quasi-cross examination’ not required in private colleges’ sex assault probes.” Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this post.

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s First Circuit ruling can be accessed here.

“Democratic Candidates Are Utterly Delusional About the Looming Judicial Crisis; Even their more moderate policy proposals will struggle to get the approval of a right-wing Supreme Court”: Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“California Court Strikes Down Law Requiring Candidate Tax Returns; State law would have required White House candidates to submit returns 3 months before primary”: Brent Kendall and Richard Rubin of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

Maura Dolan and John Myers of The Los Angeles Times report that “Trump may withhold tax returns and appear on ballot, California Supreme Court rules.”

Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle reports that “California Supreme Court knocks down Trump tax requirement for primary run.”

Gabrielle Canon and Sam Metz of USA Today report that “California Supreme Court strikes down law seeking release of Trump’s tax returns.”

Jeff Mordock of The Washington Times reports that “California Supreme Court rules state can’t force Trump to release tax returns.”

Bryan Anderson of The Sacramento Bee reports that “California can’t force Donald Trump to release tax returns, state Supreme Court rules.”

Brian Melley of The Associated Press reports that “California court invalidates law requiring Trump tax returns.”

Stephanie Becker and Kate Sullivan of CNN report that “California Supreme Court says law requiring presidential candidates to turn over tax returns is invalid.”

Andrew O’Reilly of Fox News reports that “California Supreme Court rejects law requiring Trump to release tax returns to get on ballot.”

Jeremy B. White of Politico reports that “California Supreme Court strikes down Trump tax returns law.”

Sarah Ruiz-Grossman of HuffPost reports that “California Supreme Court Strikes Down Tax Return Law Aimed At Trump; The justices ruled that a new law requiring presidential candidates to release tax filings in order to appear on the California primary ballot was ‘invalid.’”

John Kruzel and Naomi Jagoda of The Hill report that “California high court strikes down state law targeting Trump tax returns.”

Bridget Bowman of Roll Call reports that “California Supreme Court blocks effort to get Trump’s tax returns; Law would have required disclosure to get on 2020 primary ballot.”

And at the “At the Lectern” blog, David Ettinger has a post titled “Supreme Court mostly neutralizes law requiring presidential candidate tax return disclosure.”

You can access today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of California at this link.

“ABA’s evaluation of judicial nominees tarnished by liberal bias; Trump’s nominee to the Ninth Circuit Court, Lawrence VanDyke, rated as ‘not qualified'”: Jenny Beth Martin has this essay online at The Washington Times.

“Lawrence VanDyke judicial nomination advances on party-line vote”: Gary Martin of The Las Vegas Review-Journal has this report.

And Tim Ryan of Courthouse News Service reports that “Senate Committee Advances 9th Circuit Pick With Bad Rating.”

“Justice Kennedy asked Trump to put Kavanaugh on Supreme Court list, book says”: Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has this report.

“FedSoc is a They, not an It”: William Baude has this post at the new “Summary, Judgment” blog.

And also at that blog, Adam Chilton has a post in response titled “The Market for FedSoc.”

“Judge halts scheduled federal executions, says Barr’s lethal injection protocol appears at odds with the law”: Meagan Flynn and Mark Berman of The Washington Post have this report.

And Josh Gerstein of Politico reports that “Judge halts all scheduled federal executions; The Trump administration has been seeking to utilize the death penalty on a federal level.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia at this link.

“The Left Shouldn’t Freak Out About Trump’s Judges (Yet); The federal appeals courts are not irretrievably lost for liberals”: Martin J. Siegel has this essay online at The New York Times.

“Can the Supreme Court Save Itself? Two cases threaten to reinforce its image as a political captive of the Trump administration.” Linda Greenhouse has this essay online at The New York Times.

Programming note: Greetings from Harrisburg, Pa., where I will be attending this morning’s session of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to see the oral argument of an appeal on which I have worked.

As a result, additional posts will appear here this afternoon. In the interim, more frequent appellate-related retweets are likely to appear on this blog’s Twitter feed.

“Amid impeachment drama, Senate helps Trump move U.S. courts to the right”: Lawrence Hurley of Reuters has this report.

In what could be the feel-good appeal of the year, Fifth Circuit decides dispute pitting “Lots-O’-Huggin’ Bear” against “Lots of Hugs“: You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit at this link.

This time Circuit Judge Don R. Willett was a part of the unanimous three-judge panel that decided this case, but the presiding judge decided not to assign Willett the opinion, perhaps to save the other two panel members and the rest of us from the endless puns that surely would have resulted.

“First Circuit Allows BC to Reinstate Student-Athlete’s Suspension”: Jack Miller of The Heights, the student newspaper of Boston College, has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued today in the case that law professor Jeannie Suk Gersen was ultimately permitted to argue on the student-athlete’s behalf.

“Louisiana Supreme Court sidesteps split-jury question, sends case back to Sabine Parish judge”: Matt Sledge of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans has an article that begins, “The Louisiana Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a Sabine Parish judge overstepped his authority when he held that a defendant facing felony charges was entitled to a unanimous jury verdict.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Louisiana at this link.

“DeSantis now has 2 Supreme Court seats to fill after Lagoa’s confirmation by Senate”: Dara Kam of the News Service of Florida has this report.

“Trump Just Flipped a Court That Will Decide Crucial Voter Suppression Cases in the South”: Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Stitt names Tishomingo lawyer to Supreme Court”: Chris Casteel of The Oklahoman has an article that begins, “Gov. Kevin Stitt named Tishomingo lawyer Dustin Rowe to the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Wednesday, filling out the court with a Chickasaw Nation district judge who was once known for being one of the youngest mayors in state history.”

“Down syndrome abortion ban passes Pa. Senate; Gov. Wolf has promised a veto”: Charles Thompson of The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has this report.

“Porn suspect wins password fight at high court”: James Halpin of The Citizens’ Voice of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania has this report.

Matt Miller of The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has a report headlined “Child porn case defendant can’t be forced to reveal his encrypted computer password: Pa. Supreme Court.”

Maryclaire Dale of The Associated Press has a report headlined “Court: Man charged with child porn can withhold his password.”

ACLU of Pennsylvania has issued a news release titled “Pa. Supreme Court Reaffirms Fundamental Right to Remain Silent.”

And Andrew Crocker of Electronic Frontier Foundation has a post titled “Victory: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules Police Can’t Force You to Tell Them Your Password.”

Today’s 4-to-3 ruling of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania consisted of a majority opinion and a dissenting opinion.

“‘The nicest guy you could ever hope to meet’: Chief Justice Mark Cady remembered as a jurist, family man and friend.” Anna Spoerre of The Des Moines Register has this report.

“Two Miami-born Florida Supreme Court justices confirmed as lifetime federal judges”: Alex Daugherty of The Miami Herald has this report.

Tyler Olson of Fox News reports that “Confirmation of latest Trump judicial pick tilts balance of 11th Circuit Court.”

Madison Alder of Bloomberg Law reports that “Majority of U.S. Appeals Courts Now Have GOP-Appointed Edge.”

A.G. Gancarski of FloridaPolitics.com has a report headlined “Second Supreme Court vacancy, as Barbara Lagoa confirmed to federal bench; A second Florida Supreme Court Justice moves to the federal bench.”

Michael Moline of Florida Phoenix reports that “Senate OKs FL Justice Barbara Lagoa for 11th Circuit, flipping it Republican.”

And Tim Ryan of Courthouse News Service reports that “Trump Flips Another Circuit to Majority GOP Appointees.”

Today, the U.S. Senate confirmed Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Lagoa to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit by a vote of 80-to-15.

Big day for the “discovery rule” in Pennsylvania drug and device injury cases: The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania today issued its ruling in Saksek v. Janssen Pharm., Inc. (In re Risperdal Litig.). The ruling consists of a majority opinion, a concurring opinion, and a dissenting opinion.

Also today, a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued this ruling in Adams v. Zimmer US, Inc.

“US Supreme Court holds innovation in the balance in Google v Oracle”: Ephrat Livni of Quartz has this report.

“Cops put GPS tracker on man’s car, charge him with theft for removing it; Cops tracked the man’s car because they suspected he was dealing meth”: Timothy B. Lee of Ars Technica has this report.

“There’s No Scandal in the Supreme Court Being Sociable; Justices can meet with activists who have filed ‘friend of the court’ briefs without compromising their independence”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“General Motors Shielded From Punitive Damages on Ignition Switches; An appeals court limits car maker’s liability for faulty ignition switches linked to more than 100 deaths”: Andrew Scurria of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

Jamie L. LaReau of The Detroit Free Press reports that “GM doesn’t have to pay punitive damages for defect that killed dozens, court rules.”

And Jonathan Stempel of Reuters has a report headlined “GM not liable for punitive damages in ignition switch cases: U.S. appeals court.”

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

“Trump to flip 11th Circuit to majority GOP-appointed judges; third appeals court to change majority”: Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has an article that begins, “Senate Republicans confirmed one of President Trump’s judicial nominees to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday and will flip the federal appeals court to a majority of Republican-appointed active judges with another confirmation later this week.”

Today, the U.S. Senate confirmed Florida Supreme Court Justice Robert J. Luck to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit by a vote of 64-to-31.