“Justices Say Law Bars Retaliation Over Bias Claims”: Linda Greenhouse will have this article Wednesday in The New York Times.

And Wednesday in The Washington Post, Robert Barnes and William Branigin will have a front page article headlined “Justices Uphold Retaliation Lawsuits; Federal, Private Workers Have Same Protections.”

“Philadelphia to challenge boy scouts on gay stance”: Reuters provides this report.

“U.S. Supreme Court rejects Ryan appeal; Ex-Illinois governor runs out of legal options”: The Chicago Tribune provides this news update.

“Does the Supreme Court’s Current Doctrine of Stare Decisis Require Adherence to the Supreme Court’s Current Doctrine of Stare Decisis?” Law Professor Michael Stokes Paulsen has posted this article (abstract with link for download) online at SSRN (via “Legal Theory Blog“).

“Firm’s unlikely client: Bin Laden’s ex-driver; Seattle lawyers taking on Bush, Guantanamo.” Today’s edition of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer contains an article that begins, “With corporate clients such as The Boeing Co. and more than a third of a billion dollars in annual revenue, it might seem odd that lawyers from the Seattle firm of Perkins Coie would find themselves defending a dirt-poor Yemeni tribesman with a fourth-grade education. But the tribesman is Osama bin Laden’s former driver. And defending him, the lawyers say, means checking the power of the president of the United States and exposing inhumane conditions at the Guantanamo Bay prison.”

“Workers can sue firms over retaliation, Supreme Court rules; In two rulings Tuesday, the justcies took an expansive view of civil rights law”: Warren Richey will have this article Wednesday in The Christian Science Monitor.

“Texas appeal says FLDS families are flight risks”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Families of children seized from their polygamist sect’s ranch could flee Texas if they regain custody, child welfare authorities said Tuesday as they urged the state Supreme Court to block a ruling that found the massive removals to be improper.”

State of California, don’t tax Eugene Volokh’s porn! Law Professor Volokh (the elder) explains why a proposed California tax on “the sale of, or the storage, use, or other consumption of, tangible personal property that is adult material” would be unconstitutional in a post that you can access here.

“Boy Scouts sue Phila. to stay in headquarters”: The Philadelphia Inquirer provides a news update that begins, “The Boy Scouts of America’s Philadelphia chapter has sued the City of Philadelphia in federal court to block the city’s May 31 deadline for the scouts to open membership to gays and atheists, or vacate their historic 1928 headquarters off Logan Square. The civil rights lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in Center City, contends that the city’s ultimatum violates the scouts’ rights under the U.S. and Pennsylvania Constitutions.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Boy Scouts sue Philadelphia over rent, policy barring gays.”

“Supreme Court bolsters anti-bias protections for workers in 2 rulings; In one case, justices back a fired black man’s bias claim based on the nation’s first civil rights law; In the other, a federal clerk wins an anti-retaliation safeguard enjoyed in the private sector”: David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this news update.

Access online today’s decisions in argued cases and Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court: The Court today issued three decisions in argued cases but did not grant review in any new cases, although the Court did call for the views of the Solicitor General in one case.

1. In Gomez-Perez v. Potter, No. 06-1321, Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Justices John Paul Stevens, Anthony M. Kennedy, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen G. Breyer joined. The Chief Justice issued a dissenting opinion, in which Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas joined. Justice Thomas also issued a short separate dissent, in which Justice Scalia joined. Speculation abounds that Justice Alito did not want to squelch the current meme about the Court’s no longer deciding cases by 5-4 margins, and also he never really liked those Harry Potter books very much. You can access the decision at this link and the oral argument transcript at this link.

2. In CBOCS West, Inc. v. Humphries, No. 06-1431, Justice Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court, in which the Chief Justice and Justices Stevens, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Alito joined. Justice Thomas issued a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Scalia joined. You can access the decision at this link and the oral argument transcript at this link.

3. And in Riley v. Kennedy, No. 07-77, Justice Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court, in which the Chief Justice and Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, Breyer, and Alito joined. Justice Stevens issued a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Souter joined. You can access the decision at this link and the oral argument transcript at this link.

At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Court protects against retaliation.”

The Associated Press provides reports headlined “Court OKs suits on retaliation in race, age cases“; “Supreme Court sides with Ala. governor“; “Court turns down former Illinois governor“; and “Justices turn down T-Mobile appeal over contracts.”

Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Worker Retaliation Suits Backed by U.S. Supreme Court.”

And James Vicini of Reuters reports that “Court rejects appeal by ex-Illinois Gov. Ryan.”

“Court to hear insemination case; Lesbian’s suit spurred by denial of treatment”: Today in The San Diego Union-Tribune, Greg Moran has an article that begins, “With its historic same-sex marriage ruling still reverberating across the state, the California Supreme Court this week will take up another case – with landmark potential – involving same-sex civil rights and religious freedom. The issue is whether fertility physicians at North Coast Women’s Care in Vista discriminated against a lesbian couple from Oceanside when they cited religious beliefs in refusing to perform artificial insemination.”

And The Associated Press reports that “High court to hear lesbian’s case; Woman claims doctors denied artificial insemination because of sexual orientation.”

“Are FLDS sect’s beliefs sufficient grounds for taking the kids? Texas Supreme Court is set to weigh in on state’s actions toward a polygamous sect.” The Christian Science Monitor contains this article today.

“Judge’s old notes shed light on last execution in R.I.” This article appeared Sunday in The Providence Journal.

“Three Gavels for Tennessee”: Today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal contains an editorial that begins, “It was sunny in Tennessee last week, when the state’s controversial method of picking judges was allowed to expire amid high-stakes legislative wrangling. The change marks the first time a merit selection plan has been ousted in any state that has adopted it.”

“Off the bench, judge blogs her mind; Gertner’s observations an anomaly in Mass.” The Boston Globe today contains an article that begins, “For those who think the typical blogger is a twenty-something tapping on a laptop while wearing pajamas and listening to Death Cab for Cutie through earbuds, a Brookline woman who blogs on legal affairs for Slate magazine is an anomaly. At 62, she finds listening to music with lyrics too distracting when she writes, although she sometimes likes Chopin in the background. She typically composes her blogs in her work attire – a business suit or a dress. And she’s a federal judge.”

U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner is among the many contributors to Slate’s “Convictions” blog. You can access only her posts (totaling four, thus far) by clicking here.

“The California Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Marriage for Same-Sex Couples: Why Domestic Partnerships Are Not Enough.” Joanna Grossman and Linda McClain have this essay online today at FindLaw.