“Another Kind of Appeal From Death Row: Kill Me.” Adam Liptak will have this “Sidebar” column (TimesSelect temporary pass-through link) Monday in The New York Times.

I previously wrote about the very same quite interesting case, in the September 18, 2006 installment of my “On Appeal” essay, headlined “When Can an Inmate ‘Volunteer’ for Death? 9th Circuit rejects a competent inmate’s decision to abandon legal challenge to his capital sentence.”

“SJC Justice Dead at 56”: The Boston Globe provides a news update that begins, “Justice Martha B. Sosman of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, whose appointment in 2000 gave the state’s highest court its first female majority, died Saturday night of respiratory failure, court officials said.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Mass. Supreme Court Judge Sosman Dies.”

Via the web site of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, you can access the biography of Justice Martha B. Sosman at this link.

“Oregon takes stock of ‘right to die’ law; 292 patients have died with aid of physicians since the law went into effect in 1998, new figures show”: This article will appear Monday in The Christian Science Monitor.

“‘Vagina Monologues’ controversy not first to hit John Jay High School”: The Journal News of Westchester, New York yesterday contained an article that begins, “A student in the performing arts program earlier this year feigned an orgasm on stage. A book containing explicit sexual references is required reading. A teacher has a tongue piercing and other body rings that are allegedly visible through tight clothing. These are just some of the examples people in the Katonah-Lewisboro school district are using to show that freedom of speech and artistic expression are respected at John Jay High School.”

And you can access online Friday’s related segment (Windows Media Player) from NBC’s “Today” show, while a related written report can be accessed here.

“To conservative activists battling to shift the federal courts to the right, Giuliani has too often been missing in action”: Today in Newsday, Tom Brune has an article that begins, “To many conservative activists who have been battling for decades to shift the federal courts to the right, Rudolph Giuliani has too often been missing in action.”

“Abuse of Authority: The FBI’s gross misuse of a counterterrorism device.” This editorial appears today in The Washington Post.

“Thomas colorblind in his own mind”: Today in The Chicago Tribune, Clarence Page has an op-ed that begins, “The late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously declared that he could not define pornography but he knew it when he saw it. Justice Clarence Thomas does not define affirmative action in the same way that a lot of other people do, but he knows when he has not benefited from it. He reveals that view and more in a rare and surprisingly expansive interview with Business Week senior writer Diane Brady, posted on the magazine’s Web site.”

I linked to that interview in this earlier post.

“Episode at Guantanamo Leaves Family at a Loss”: Today’s edition of The Washington Post contains an article that begins, “Mishal al-Harbi’s brain was deprived of oxygen for several minutes on the evening of Jan. 16, 2003, while he was in U.S. detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. As a result, he cannot stand, his speech is slurred, and he has a twitch that periodically causes his head to shake and his legs to jerk.”

And The Boston Globe today contains an editorial that begins, “Pawns in Guantanamo’s game.”

“After Tough Week, Gonzales Says He Remains Focused”: The Washington Post contains this article today, along with a news analysis headlined “Ex-U.S. Attorney’s Failings Documented.”

The Los Angeles Times reports today that “U.S. attorneys often clash with Washington; Ousted prosecutors, many from the West, had disagreed with an increasingly involved Justice Department.”

The New York Times reports that “Prosecutor’s Ouster Shifts Political Order.”

And The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that “Allegations of fired U.S. attorneys ‘very serious’; Ex-officials recall post’s pressures.”

“Plaintiffs Reflect on Gun Ruling; Residents Suing D.C. Explain Motivation”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

“The Brain on the Stand”: Law Professor Jeffrey Rosen has this interesting cover story today in The New York Times Magazine.

Happy birthday to Justice Antonin Scalia: According to The AP’s “Today in History” feature, Justice Scalia is celebrating his 71st birthday today.

“Behind the low comedy, high stakes”: Friday in The Detroit Free Press, columnist Brian Dickerson had an op-ed that begins, “When last we peeked in on the guardians of Michigan’s judicial system, as I recall, they were rolling around on the floor of the state Supreme Court chamber, trading insults and eye-gouges in a disciplinary proceeding involving Geoffrey Fieger (who’d been hauled before them, ironically enough, for making unflattering remarks about judges). Now the skirmishing has resumed, with Justice Elizabeth Weaver renewing accusations that her GOP colleagues are making mischief in secret conclaves and the targeted justices insinuating that Weaver’s elevator no longer goes all the way to the top.”

My most recent earlier coverage appeared at this link.

“The issue presented in this case is whether the detectable odor of burning marijuana creates an exigent circumstance permitting a warrantless search of a residence. We hold that it does not.” So begins a decision that the Supreme Court of Utah, by a vote of 4-1, issued on Friday.

In press coverage of the ruling, The Deseret Morning News reported yesterday that “Search over smell of pot ruled out; High court rejects police’s rationale in home entry.”

And The Salt Lake Tribune reported yesterday that “Burning pot smell does not justify police entry.”

Thanks to “Althouse” for the pointer.

“Smith Death a Case Study at Law Schools”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Anna Nicole Smith never finished high school, but the strange twists of the model’s life – and now her death – are helping teach lessons at law schools around the country.”

“Church, state and taxpayers”: Law Professor Cass R. Sunstein has this op-ed today in The Boston Globe.

“Alito Trades Robe for Devil Rays Jersey”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Samuel Alito liked being on this bench, too. Dressed in a green Devil Rays jersey instead of a black robe, the Supreme Court justice stood in the dugout Saturday, getting ready to throw out the first ball before Tampa Bay played his favorite team, the Philadelphia Phillies.”

My earlier coverage appears at this link.

“The Failed Attorney General”: The New York Times today contains an editorial that concludes, “Mr. Bush should dismiss Mr. Gonzales and finally appoint an attorney general who will use the job to enforce the law and defend the Constitution.”

“Rove was asked to fire U.S. attorney”: McClatchy Newspapers provide this report.