“Bush judge under ethics cloud: James H. Payne broke the law by ruling on corporations in which he held financial interests; Now Bush’s nominee to the nation’s second-highest court has the Senate and a top judge on his case.” This article bearing tomorrow’s date is available at Salon.com. And Salon’s earlier report on the matter can be accessed here.

Available online from law.com: Justin Scheck reports that “9th Circuit Fishes for Punitive Fix in Exxon Case.”

In other news, “Ebbers’ Appeal Argument Claims Prosecution Prevented Key Witnesses From Testifying.”

An article reports that “Calif. Appeal Courts at Odds Over Meal Breaks.”

And in news from New Jersey, “Bush Names Five to Federal Bench; Bumb, Hillman, Sheridan, Wigenton to district court; Chagares to circuit.”

“Enron Jury Chosen in First Day, Setting Stage for Opening Arguments”: The New York Times on Tuesday will contain this article.

Tuesday’s edition of The Washington Post will report that “Jury Chosen for Lay, Skilling; Former Enron Executives’ Trial, Which Starts Today, Caps Era of Corporate Scandal.”

And The Dallas Morning News provides an update headlined “Jury is seated in Enron trial; Defense pleased with panel, which judge had pledged to pick in a day.”

“Senate Clears Way for Vote to Confirm Court Nominee”: This article will appear Tuesday in The New York Times, along with an article headlined “Two Nominee Strategies. One Worked.”

And The Washington Post on Tuesday will contain a front page article headlined “Senate to Vote On Alito Today; Confirmation Near as Filibuster Fails.”

“Kennedy Seen as The Next Justice In Court’s Middle; Alito Expected to Tilt Conservative”: Charles Lane will have this article Tuesday in The Washington Post.

The Chicago Tribune on Tuesday will report that “Filibuster attempt fails; Alito likely to be confirmed Tuesday.”

The San Francisco Chronicle provides a news update headlined “Democrats don’t get support for Alito filibuster; Just 25 votes of 41 needed means conservative is headed to Supreme Court.”

The Hill on Tuesday will contain articles headlined “Nuke option fizzles with easy cloture” and “Ford, black leaders at odds over Alito.”

And in Tuesday’s issue of Financial Times, Patti Waldmeir has an article headlined “Conservatives join court, but how will they vote?”

“Judge seats jury in Enron trial; Lay says trial is an opportunity to clear his name”: The Houston Chronicle provides this news update.

The New York Times provides a news update headlined “Jury Picked in Enron Trial.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Jury Selected for Enron Trial.”

“Anti-Alito filibuster soundly defeated; Final confirmation of Supreme Court nominee expected Tuesday”: CNN.com provides this report.

And Thomas Ferraro of Reuters reports that “Senate clears way for Alito confirmation.”

“Why Bush won the Alito fight: A look at the decisive dates in the struggle over the Supreme Court.” Tom Curry, national affairs writer for MSNBC, provides this news analysis.

“Science Puts Enron E-Mail to Use”: Wired News provides this report.

“DNA tests gain ground as legal defense; Even prosecutors are embracing the technology as a protection against wrongful imprisonment”: Warren Richey will have this article Tuesday in The Christian Science Monitor.

“Senate Moves Alito Close to Confirmation”: Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press provides an updated report that begins, “The Senate all but guaranteed Samuel Alito’s confirmation as the nation’s 110th Supreme Court justice Monday, shutting down a last-minute attempt by liberals to block the conservative judge’s nomination with a filibuster.”

“Filibuster Effort Shows Intensity of Alito Opposition; Filibuster vote, expected tally on final confirmation demonstrate depth of opposition to Alito record and judicial philosophy”: People For the American Way has issued this press release.

And the National Women’s Law Center has issued a press release entitled “Sad Day for Women’s Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.”

The U.S. Senate has voted to invoke cloture on the debate over the nomination of Samuel A. Alito, Jr. to the Supreme Court of the United States: The vote in favor of cloture was 72-25, exceeding the 60 votes required to end debate. The official roll call vote tally is here.

The up-or-down vote on confirmation is scheduled to occur at 11 a.m. tomorrow.

“Senate to Decide on Ending Alito Debate”: Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press provides this update. Based on the votes cast thus far, it sounds like cloture will be invoked by a comfortable margin.

“Haleigh Poutre is no Terri Schiavo”: Cathy Young has this op-ed today in The Boston Globe.

“EBay v. MercExchange Amicus Briefs”: “Patently-O: Patent Law Blog” offers this post today summarizing and linking to the amicus briefs.

Just moments from now: The U.S. Senate is about to begin voting on whether to invoke cloture of the debate over whether Samuel A. Alito, Jr. should be confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States. Such votes tend to take about 45 minutes to conclude. You can view the voting live, online via C-SPAN2 (RealPlayer required).

Samuel A. Alito, Jr. will still receive more senatorial support from the Third Circuit than Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. received from the D.C. Circuit: Only two of the six U.S. Senators who come from the States within the jurisdiction of the Third Circuit — the two Republican Senators from Pennsylvania — will vote to confirm Judge Alito.

Update: In response to this post, a reader emails, “0/0 is undefined!”

New Jersey’s junior U.S. Senator, Robert Menendez (D-NJ), announces that he will vote against confirmation of New Jersey native Samuel A. Alito, Jr. to the Supreme Court of the United States: The Senator’s speech — his first ever on the floor of the U.S. Senate — is underway now.

“No appellate court has yet decided whether adding named plaintiffs to a class action suit ‘commences’ a new suit for purposes of removal under CAFA.” Once again, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has issued a ruling construing the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005. Today’s opinion, written by Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel, can be accessed here.

New Jersey’s senior U.S. Senator, Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), announces that he will vote against confirmation of New Jersey native Samuel A. Alito, Jr. to the Supreme Court of the United States: The Senator’s speech is underway now on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

Fourth Democratic U.S. Senator plans to vote to confirm Samuel A. Alito, Jr. to the Supreme Court of the United States: U.S. Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) has issued a press release entitled “Conrad To Vote In Favor of Alito; Senator Accepts Judge’s Personal Pledge.”

“Appeals Judges Question Ebbers Sentence”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A lawyer for former WorldCom Corp. chief Bernard Ebbers found a receptive audience Monday in appeals court judges who questioned the fairness of prosecutors and of the 25-year sentence Ebbers faces for an $11 billion fraud.”

“Democrats unlikely to sustain filibuster against Alito”: CNN.com provides this report.

“The filibuster fiasco: If they had geared up from the start to stop Alito, the Dems might have at least won a political battle; Now they’ll lose both ways.” Walter Shapiro has this essay at Salon.com.

At National Review Online, Law Professor Douglas W. Kmiec has an essay entitled “Injudicious: John Kerry’s threat.”

And at The Nation, John Nichols of “The Online Beat” blog has a post titled “Checks, Balances and the Duty to Filibuster.”

They paved paradise and put up a tax-exempt parking lot: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today contains an article headlined “Church parking lots win tax plea; High court ruling could affect property throughout state.”

Earlier this month, The Harrisburg Patriot-News reported that “Court’s ruling gives church tax break on vital parking lot.”

The ruling that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania issued late last month is available online (majority opinion; dissenting opinion).

“Chafee statement on Judge Alito nomination”: U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) has issued a four-page statement that concludes, “I am a pro-choice, pro-environment, pro-Bill of Rights Republican and I will be voting against this nomination.”

And The Providence Journal offers a news update headlined “Chafee will vote against Alito.” The update concludes, “Chafee had committed himself to help fellow Republicans break a last-ditch Democratic filibuster of the nomination. He re-affirmed that stand this morning.”

“Enron Trial Puts Focus on Fastow; Testimony by Ex-Finance Chief Will Likely Pose Challenges For Both Defense and Prosecution”: This article (pass-through link) appears today in The Wall Street Journal.

U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) to vote against the confirmation of Samuel A. Alito, Jr. to the Supreme Court of the United States: He becomes the first Republican to announce an intended “no” vote against the nominee. Details here.

“German patent court rules in RIM’s favor”: Reuters provides this report. Research In Motion’s press release issued today is here.

“Kennedy Leads Final Effort to Block Alito”: Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press provides this report.

“John Kerry’s Last Stand: The Alito Filibuster Backstory.” The first substantive (in a manner of speaking) post of the new “Wonkette” is here.

“Trial of Enron ex-bosses to begin today; Finding unbiased jurors may be tough”: This article appears today in The Toronto Globe and Mail.

Today’s broadcast of NPR‘s “Morning Edition” contained a segment entitled “Jury Selection Begins in Enron Fraud Trial” (RealPlayer required).

Reuters reports that “Jury selection starts in long-awaited Enron trial.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Enron’s Lay, Skilling Arrive at Court.”

The Houston Chronicle features three blogs that will provide coverage of the trial: “Enron: TrialWatch“; “Enron: Legal Commentary; Lay-Skilling trial analysis from Houston-area attorneys“: and “Full Disclosure.”

“Why Bush needs a new lawyer”: Former D.C. Circuit Judge Abner J. Mikva has this op-ed today in The Boston Globe.

“Too short a career on the federal bench”: The Kalamazoo Gazette yesterday contained an editorial that begins, “Susan Bieke Neilson could have served the last four years of her life as a federal appeals judge.”