“Justices reject S.C. limit on defendant’s case”: Joan Biskupic will have this article Tuesday in USA Today.

“Justices Reinstate Smith’s Claim”: In Tuesday’s edition of The Washington Post, Charles Lane will have an article that begins, “The Supreme Court handed a victory to former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith in the battle over her late husband’s fortune yesterday, ruling that the California federal courts that awarded her tens of millions of dollars had not exceeded their authority.”

Tuesday’s edition of The Guardian (UK) contains an article headlined “Anna Nicole Smith’s victory in legacy fight.”

And Reuters, via The Sydney Morning Herald, reports that “Anna may not go bust.”

“9th Circuit says players protected by Constitution”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Eight members of the 2000-2001 Clatskanie High School basketball team were constitutionally entitled to criticize a coach whom they believed was being verbally abusive, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled in a decision issued Monday.” My earlier coverage is here.

“Anna Nicole Smith scores Supreme Court win”: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram provides this news update.

And Patty Reinert of The Houston Chronicle provides a news update headlined “Anna Nicole Smith wins Supreme Court ruling.”

“Complaint against justice dismissed”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A state judicial panel has dismissed a complaint that accused state Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker of violating the standards of conduct for Alabama judges by writing a newspaper commentary critical of his fellow justices.”

On this evening’s broadcast of NPR‘s “All Things Considered“: The broadcast contained segments entitled “Supreme Court Sides with Anna Nicole Smith” (featuring Nina Totenberg) and “Lay Ends Testimony; Character Witnesses Next.” RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments.

“U.S. Supreme Court asked to rule on Tennessee’s ‘Choose Life’ license plates”: The Tennessean provides a news update that begins, “The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Tennessee’s ‘Choose Life’ license plate.” For reasons that I have previously explained here, this case has a very good likelihood of obtaining U.S. Supreme Court review.

Justice John Paul Stevens sneaks bosom reference into his separate opinion in the Anna Nicole Smith case: But since the reference was in Latin, it fell to Steve Vladeck of “PrawfsBlawg” to explain the matter.

“John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and Second-Principles Conservatism”: Orin Kerr has this post at his solo blog.

The Associated Press is reporting: Gina Holland reports that “Supreme Court Rejects Abortion Poster Case.”

In other news, “Long Deliberations Seen to Favor Moussaoui.”

And an article reports that “Jury Selection Begins in Sniper’s 2nd Trial.”

“Power Surge: The Constitutional Record of George W. Bush.” The Cato Institute has today issued this white paper by Gene Healy and Timothy Lynch.

Stephen Colbert roasts President Bush (and has a few words for Justice Antonin Scalia, too): The comedian’s interaction with Justice Scalia (who can be seen laughing in response to Colbert’s remarks) appears approximately two-thirds of the way through this video clip.

“Alito Pens First Opinion as a Supreme Court Justice; Court Also Rules in Favor of Anna Nicole Smith”: law.com’s Tony Mauro provides this news update.

“Anna Nicole Smith wins over justices; Former Playmate can pursue share of late husband’s millions”: CNN.com provides this report.

“Plea Deal Points to Milberg Partners”: Justin Scheck today has this report at law.com.

The principal is your pal, at least half the time: A reader emails:

Not only does the Ninth Circuit’s Pinard case break new ground–high school basketball players have a right to free speech!! Who knew?–but the opinion contains a priceless misspelling: principle for principal, on p. 4911. I would have thought that the Court would have taken special care to spell it right in this one. Guess not.

To the court’s credit, principal is spelled correctly on page 4913. My earlier coverage of this ruling appears here.

“Anna Nicole Smith Scores Supreme Court Win”: The Los Angeles Times provides this news update.

“Of pain and punishment: Concerns have been raised about Florida’s lethal injection regime that should be addressed by lawmakers rather than wait for a high court ruling.” This editorial appears today in The St. Petersburg Times.

And online at Reason, Ronald Bailey has an essay entitled “Killing Me Softly: Is ‘putting down’ a murderer ‘cruel and unusual’?”

“We hold that the district court erred in adopting from the government employment context the public concern standard for determining whether the First Amendment protects student speech.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued this opinion today. The opinion begins, “This student speech case arises from a school district’s suspension of student athletes from its high school varsity basketball team. The students allege that the school district and various school officials violated their First Amendment free speech rights by suspending them in retaliation for speaking out against their coach.”

“[W]e conclude that the Department has successfully navigated between the Scylla of not respecting its employee’s right to the free exercise of his religion and the Charybdis of violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by appearing to endorse religion.” Circuit Judge Consuelo M. Callahan today issued this opinion on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

“Kin of alleged victim ejected from sniper trial; Man asked to leave courtroom after shouting obscenities at Muhammad”: The Baltimore Sun provides this news update.

“I Was Juan Non-Volokh”: Jonathan H. Adler has this post today at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

Three-judge Eighth Circuit panel finds merit in reverse discrimination claim challenging the 2002 Affirmative Action Plan of Omaha, Nebraska’s fire department: Today’s ruling holds that “[t]he promotional decisions at issue thus were the result of racial classifications that were not narrowly tailored to remedy identified past discrimination.”

“A sex toy story: Fabled San Francisco co-op Good Vibrations brought ‘adult novelties’ out of the closet in the 1970s; Now it’s ditching its socialist roots to try to grab its share of the billion-dollar industry it spawned.” This article appears in the current issue of Business 2.0 Magazine. I recently explored the appellate aspect of sex toy litigation in a column that you can access here.

“Chief justice has revolutionized California’s judiciary; George marks 10th year as leader of court system”: The San Diego Union-Tribune contains this article today.

“Death Sentence Could Challenge Both Sides; If Moussaoui seeks to be executed, will lawyers — and feds — oblige?” This article appears in today’s issue of Legal Times.

This week’s installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com takes a look at a likely appeal in the Moussaoui case.

Today’s U.S. Supreme Court decisions in argued cases and Order List: The Court today issued three decisions in argued cases.

1. Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court in Holmes v. South Carolina, No. 04-1327. This is Justice Alito’s first opinion as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. You can access the syllabus here; Justice Alito’s opinion here; and the oral argument transcript here.

2. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court in Marshall v. Marshall, No. 04-1544, more famously known as the Anna Nicole Smith case. You can access the syllabus here; Justice Ginsburg’s opinion of the Court here; Justice John Paul Stevens’ opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment here; and the oral argument transcript here.

3. Finally, Justice Stevens delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court in Arkansas Dept. of Health and Human Servs. v. Ahlborn, No. 04-1506. You can access the syllabus here; Justice Stevens’ opinion here; and the oral argument transcript here.

In early news coverage of today’s developments, Gina Holland of The Associated Press reports that “Supreme Court Backs Ex-Playmate’s Effort.” And The AP also reports that “Court Says Defendants Can Blame Others” and “Court Limits States Seeking Medical Costs.”

You can access today’s Order List at this link. The Court granted review in one case.

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Alito’s first opinion; Court rules on probate case.”

“Ready to Rumble: The justices, sometimes with vulgar hand gestures, are lashing back at their critics; Is that such a bad thing?” Tony Mauro has this article in the May 2006 issue of The American Lawyer.

The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “2nd Week of Moussaoui Deliberations Begin” and “Jury Selection to Begin in 2nd Sniper Case.”

“Controversial Bush judge broke ethics law; A Salon/CIR investigation reveals that Terrence Boyle, a key circuit court nominee touted by the White House and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, ruled in multiple cases involving corporations in which he held investments”: Will Evans has this article today at Salon.com.

And The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina today contains a related article headlined “Claims put Boyle’s new bench seat at risk.”

“High court to decide if woman can sue pastor”: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram today contains an article that begins, “In a local case that could have broad implications for First Amendment rights, the Texas Supreme Court will review a lower court ruling allowing a woman to sue her minister after he divulged details from her marriage counseling sessions to his congregation.”

“Blawg Review #55”: SoloBlawg.com hosts this week’s installment, which appears to be a day-long work in progress.

“Mr. Moussaoui’s Punishment: When prosecutors and a defendant are eager for a death sentence, think twice.” The Washington Post contains this editorial today.

And the brand new installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com is headlined “Considering a Likely Appeal in the Moussaoui Case.”

“Lethal injection challenges mount; Penalty isn’t issue – just the drugs used”: This article appears today in The Dallas Morning News.

“Abortion law puzzles even judges; Starts today: Clinics rush to train people to help pregnant teens navigate new guidelines.” The Salt Lake Tribune today contains an article that begins, “A few months ago, Utah lawmakers were baffled about legislation requiring a parent’s consent before a teen can get an abortion. Abortion-rights advocates and foes struggled to figure out the bill as it wound through Capitol Hill. And now the confusion is carrying over to judges who have to translate it during real-life cases.”