“Justice Amy Coney Barrett riles conservatives with moderate rulings”: Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has this report.

“160 years later, Confederate constitution an ignoble relic”: Jay Reeves of The Associated Press has a report that begins, “With the nation locked in debates over Confederate symbols, the very document that laid out the legal framework of a government built to preserve slavery will spend its 160th anniversary where it spends nearly every other day: tucked away in a university archive.”

“New Essay on Sanctioning Qualified-Immunity Appeals; Fact-based qualified-immunity appeals are an immense problem in the courts of appeals; It’s time to start using sanctions to deter them”: Bryan Lammon has this post at his “final decisions” blog about his new essay titled “Sanctioning Qualified-Immunity Appeals” now available at SSRN.

“Former prosecutors, judges join push for new trial in Alabama death row case”: Mark Berman of The Washington Post has this report.

And in today’s edition of that newspaper, Bill Baxley has an op-ed titled “As a former Alabama attorney general, I do not say this lightly: An innocent man is on our death row.”

“Merrick Garland Is Confirmed as Attorney General; The federal judge will take over a Justice Department battered during the Trump administration and confronting the threat from domestic extremism”: Katie Benner of The New York Times has this report.

Matt Zapotosky of The Washington Post reports that “Merrick Garland confirmed as attorney general.”

And Sadie Gurman of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Merrick Garland Confirmed as Biden’s Attorney General; Senate also confirms Marcia Fudge to lead HUD, Michael Regan to head EPA.”

You can access at this link the U.S. Senate‘s official roll call tally confirming D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick B. Garland to be U.S. Attorney General.

“2nd Circuit Flags ‘True Threats’ in NYC Abortion Clinic Protests; Saying the lower court must address tactics that obstruct access to a health clinic, the Second Circuit sided with New York and reversed what had been a win for Christian activists”: Nina Pullano of Courthouse News Service has this report on a 172-page ruling that a partially divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued today.

“Dark Money Judicial Influence Examined in Senate; Senators seemed in agreement during a hearing Wednesday to root out anonymous political donations to nominees of the judicial branch”: Jack Rodgers of Courthouse News Service has this report on a hearing (link includes archived video) that the Senate Judiciary Committee‘s Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights conducted today.

“Full Superior Court Favors Plaintiff’s Venue Choice for Lawn Mower Lawsuit; ‘The percentage of a company’s overall business that it conducts in a given county, standing alone, is not meaningful and is not determinative,’ Judge Maria McLaughlin said”: Katheryn Tucker has this report in which I am quoted for The Legal Intelligencer, Philadelphia’s daily newspaper for lawyers.

Monday’s en banc ruling of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania consists of a majority opinion and a dissenting opinion.

I serve as appellate co-counsel for the plaintiffs/appellants in this case. First I briefed and argued this case before a three-judge Pa. Superior Court panel, where the plaintiffs prevailed in obtaining reversal of the trial court’s order by a 2-1 vote (access the majority opinion here and the dissenting opinion here). The three-judge panel’s opinion was unpublished, however, meaning that it could not be cited by anyone in any other case.

Dissatisfied with the outcome, the defendant moved for en banc reargument, which was granted. I then re-briefed and reargued the appeal before a nine-judge Pa. Superior Court en banc panel, where the plaintiffs once again prevailed, this time by a 7-to-2 margin, by means of a published and thus precedential en banc decision.

“Biden’s First Judicial Nominees Will Test His Commitment to Diversifying Courts; More than 40 court seats have opened up for President Joe Biden, making up nearly half of the 90 judgeships his White House will now be able to fill”: Jacqueline Thomsen of The National Law Journal has this report.

“Bring on the Biden Judges Already; When it comes to confirming federal judges, it’s going to get late early for the Biden administration”: Andrew Cohen has this essay online at the Brennan Center for Justice.

“Guns Are a Threat to the Body Politic: America must regulate guns not only to protect life, but to protect its citizens’ equal freedoms to speak, assemble, worship, and vote without fear.” Law professors Joseph Blocher and Reva Siegel have this essay online at The Atlantic.

“Arkansas’ New Abortion Ban Is a Direct Message to Amy Coney Barrett”: Online at Slate, Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence essay consisting of his conversation with law professor Mary Ziegler.

“Stephen Breyer adds ‘respect’ to his dissent of Amy Coney Barrett’s first opinion”: Ariane de Vogue of CNN has this report.

“Biden administration backs PennEast pipeline after Supreme Court takes the case”: Caroline Fassett of NJ Advance Media has this report.

“Governor signs abortion ban; He points to support for Roe challenge”: John Moritz has this front page article in today’s edition of The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

On today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” Sarah Kellogg had an audio segment titled “Abortion Rights Activists Plan To Challenge Arkansas Ban In Court.”

And in commentary, Chris Cillizza of CNN has an essay titled “What the Arkansas abortion ban is really trying to do.”

“Seventh Circuit Greenlights Indiana Toll Road Fee Increase for Big Rigs; A toll road fee increase targeting heavy vehicles did not violate commerce laws, the Seventh Circuit ruled Tuesday”: David Wells of Courthouse News Service has this report on an opinion that Circuit Judge Frank H. Easterbrook issued yesterday on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

A victory for appellate court collegiality — or a chance for even more fervent disagreement? Fifth Circuit grants rehearing en banc in “all due respect” case and vacates three-judge panel’s opinion. You can access yesterday’s order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granting rehearing en banc at this link.

My earlier post about the original three-judge panel’s ruling was titled “‘The dissent begins by expressing “due respect” to the majority — and then ends with a well-known literary quote about idiots. Post, at 24, 37 & n.39. It concludes that my opinion in this case is worth “nothing.” Id. at 37.’“

In Errata Sheet news from the First Circuit: From yesterday’s order, “On page 12, line 17, replace ‘reign’ with ‘rein'”

“DC Circ. Revives Law Prof.’s FOIA Fee Dispute With IRS”: Law360 has this report (subscription required for access) on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued yesterday.

“Judicial Ethics in the #MeToo World”: Law professor Renee (Newman) Knake Jefferson has posted this article at SSRN.

“Is the Supreme Court Preparing to End Qualified Immunity? Experts disagree on whether this is likely or not. The answer remains unclear. But, either way, reform advocates should pursue both litigation and legislative reform. The two approaches are mutually reinforcing, not mutually exclusive.” Ilya Somin has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“Testifying on ‘What’s Wrong with the Supreme Court: The Big Money Assault on Our Judiciary’; Presenting an alternative view as a minority witness before the Senate Judiciary Committee.” Jonathan H. Adler has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

At 3 p.m. eastern time today, the Senate Judiciary Committee‘s Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights is hosting a hearing titled “What’s Wrong with the Supreme Court: The Big-Money Assault on Our Judiciary.” Once the hearing gets underway, you can access the live video via this link.

“Dismissal upheld in Nebraska lawsuit over woman’s slaying”: Margery A. Beck of The Associated Press has this report.

And Brian Flood of Bloomberg Law reports that “Omaha Mental Health Hospital Not Liable for Murder by Ex-Patient” (subscription required for full access).

You can access Friday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Nebraska at this link.

“The Supreme Court Needs to Show Its Work: For an institution whose legitimacy depends largely on the public’s perception of its integrity, the growth of unseen, unsigned, and unexplained decisions can only be a bad thing.” Law professor Stephen I. Vladeck has this essay online at The Atlantic.

“Eighth Circuit Tosses Challenge to Missouri Opt-Out Rules for Vaccines; While the federal appeals court dismissed the case, a challenge on the state level continues and proposed legislation could remove immunization requirements for students in private schools”: Joe Harris of Courthouse News Service has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued Friday.