“Study Shows Influence of SG in High Court Cases Granted Cert”: Marcia Coyle of The National Law Journal has this report. You can access the study at this link.

“Justice Kennedy addresses Stanford graduates”: This article appears today in The San Francisco Chronicle.

“Kent starts his prison sentence; Federal judge reports in Massachusetts while still refusing to resign”: The Houston Chronicle has this news update.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court‘s reduction of punitive damages last year in the Exxon Valdez case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has today ruled on the related issues of interest and costs: You can access today’s ruling, by a partially divided three-judge panel, at this link.

Update: The Associated Press reports that “Exxon ordered to pay $507.5M for 1989 Alaska spill.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Exxon Valdez: $500 million interest due.”

Access online today’s opinions in argued cases and Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court: The Court today announced two rulings in argued cases. The Court will issue one or more additional rulings in argued cases on Thursday of this week.

1. Justice Stephen G. Breyer announced the judgment of the Court and delivered the opinion of the Court in part in Polar Tankers, Inc. v. City of Valdez, No. 08-310. You can access the ruling at this link and the oral argument transcript at this link.

2. And Justice Breyer delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court in Nijhawan v. Holder, No. 08-495. You can access the ruling at this link and the oral argument transcript at this link.

You can access today’s Order List at this link. The Court granted review in four cases and requested the views of the Solicitor General in one case.

At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Court to rule on student loan debts.”

In early news coverage, The Associated Press reports that “Court goes further spelling out deportation rules“; “Court steps into dispute between Shell, stations“; “Court to determine if bankruptcy hearing needed“; “Court turns down Texas counties over border fence“; and “High court won’t review ‘Cuban 5’ espionage case.”

“Torture, the painful truth: It may be a blow to our self-image, but torture has been part of the American way for decades.” Ben Ehrenreich has this op-ed today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Palau president remains calm as storm brews on island; Johnson Toribiong has no regrets in his decision to accept some Guantanamo detainees; The former defense lawyer says, ‘They should be presumed innocent because no one has proven them guilty'”: The Los Angeles Times contains this article today.

“Justices May Strike Down Part Of Voting Rights Act”: This audio segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on last Friday’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

“N.J. justices uphold law in child sex abuse cases; Emotional effects key to timing of lawsuits”: Last Friday’s edition of The Newark Star-Ledger contained an article that begins, “The state’s highest court yesterday upheld a statute of limitations law that determines when victims of childhood sexual abuse can bring charges against their alleged abusers. Advocates for sex abuse victims lauded the decision, saying the state Supreme Court was lending its authority to a law they say was loosely interpreted by lower court judges.”

You can access last Thursday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of New Jersey at this link.

“Stereotypes confound jury selection; Bias assumptions seldom right; juror’s experiences called best indicator”: This article appears today in The Baltimore Sun.

“CIA Fired Firms Aiding Questioning; One Helped to Introduce Waterboarding”: Today’s edition of The Washington Post contains an article that begins, “Weeks after President Obama took office, the CIA extended its contract with a firm run by two psychologists who helped introduce waterboarding and other harsh methods to the agency’s interrogation techniques, according to a news report. Two months later, CIA Director Leon Panetta fired Mitchell, Jessen & Associates and all other contractors that aided the CIA in its interrogations of alleged terrorists, the New Yorker reported this weekend.”

The New Yorker article in question, by Jane Mayer, appears in the June 22, 2009 issue of the magazine and is headlined “The Secret History: Can Leon Panetta move the C.I.A. forward without confronting its past?”

“Obama Open to Reining in Medical Suits”: The New York Times contains this article today.

“Is Sonia Sotomayor Mean?” This audio segment (RealPlayer required) featuring Nina Totenberg appeared on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

Today in The Los Angeles Times, James Oliphant, David G. Savage, and Andrew Zajac have an article headlined “Sotomayor embracing affirmative action, then and now; The high court nominee’s ruling on New Haven firefighters recalls a 1980s bias case involving a Puerto Rican advocacy group of which she was a board member.”

And The Washington Post contains an article headlined “Riding Herd on the Message: White House Guides Fervent Sotomayor Supporters.”

“Rockefeller appeal possible this week; Lawyer will review transcript”: The Boston Globe today contains an article that begins, “The lawyer for the man who calls himself Clark Rockefeller said yesterday he plans to appeal the jury’s guilty verdict as early as this week.”

“Tennessee Bar Fight: Busting the monopoly on judicial selection.” The Wall Street Journal contains this editorial today.

“Kent is expected to report to prison today”: This article appears today in The Galveston County Daily News.

Last Friday in The Houston Chronicle, Mary Flood reported that “Judge Kent to enter Massachusetts prison Monday.”

Last Friday’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered” contained an audio segment entitled “Federal Judge In Texas Faces Impeachment” (RealPlayer required).

And last Friday’s edition of The New York Times contained an editorial entitled “A Clear Case for Impeachment.”