Wednesday round-up

Here is today’s Court coverage, in brief:

• The WSJ Law Blog, the Washington Post‘s Virginia Politics blog, the Virginian-Pilot, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Main Justice all have coverage of the Obama Administration’s request that the Court deny Virginia’s petition for certiorari before judgment in that state’s challenge to President Obama’s health-care reform law. Coverage of the government’s brief was also featured in yesterday’s round-up.

• Weighing in on the debate over the Court and the Judicial Code of Conduct (which we also covered in round-ups Monday and yesterday), the New York Times editorial board argues that “[t]he court’s lack of a recusal policy . . . damages the justices’ credibility and the court’s authority.” (The Hill‘s Pundits blog also has a post on the subject.)

• Environmental Leader has a report on the respondents’ briefs in American Electric Power Co., Inc. v. Connecticut, in which the Court will consider whether federal law allows states to sue utilities for contributing to global warming.

• Finally, at Sentencing Law and Policy, Doug Berman has a post on Tapia v. United States, a sentencing case to be argued in April; Berman worked with Stephanos Bibas, who was appointed to brief and argue the case as an amicus in support of the judgment below, on the case.