By a vote of 9-7, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has denied rehearing en banc of its decision earlier this year upholding the University of Texas’ consideration of race and ethnicity in undergraduate admissions: You can access today’s order denying rehearing en banc, and the opinion dissenting therefrom, at this link.

My earlier coverage of the original three-judge panel’s ruling can be accessed here and here.

“2 Top Lawyers Lost to Obama in Libya War Policy Debate”: Charlie Savage will have this article Saturday in The New York Times.

“Top State Dept. Lawyer Defends Goodwin Liu Nomination”: Mike Scarcella has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

Two against Six: Yesterday’s edition of The Topeka Capital-Journal contained an article headlined “Both Kansas senators will oppose Six” that begins, “Both of Kansas’ United States senators say they will oppose the nomination of a fellow Kansan, former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six, to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.”

And the Kansas City Business Journal reports that “Roberts, Moran won’t back Six’s federal judicial nomination.”

“Judge in Hustler case disallows jury’s $19 million award to Benoit family; Georgia law caps punitive damages unless there is intent to harm”: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a news update that begins, “A jury on Friday voted to penalize Hustler magazine nearly $20 million for publishing nude photographs of wrestler Chris Benoit’s late wife — a verdict overturned by the presiding judge moments later. Instead, the adult magazine will be liable for only $375,000 in compensatory and punitive damages after U.S. District Court Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. ruled the jury could not exceed Georgia’s punitive cap. Richard Decker, hired by Nancy Benoit’s family in 2008 after Hustler published the photos, said he will appeal the judge’s decision.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Judge penalizes Hustler over dead woman’s photos.”

“Illinois Supreme Court rules state cannot take inmate’s money earned from prison job; One justice calls Department of Corrections’ action ‘absurd, unjust'”: This article appears today in The Chicago Tribune.

And The Associated Press reports that “Ill. high court limits taking prisoners’ savings.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Illinois at this link.

“This case is not, in my view, close. A criminal defendant’s right to a public trial extends to voir dire. Therefore, the intentional, unjustified, and undisclosed closure of an entire voir dire is necessarily a non-trivial structural error that violates the Sixth Amendment and requires reversal. The result in this case is so self-evidently inconsistent with Supreme Court jurisprudence that I would hope that it becomes the subject of certiorari.” So concludes the dissenting opinion that Senior Second Circuit Judge Barrington D. Parker issued today in the case captioned United States v. Gupta.

“Attorney Eugster loses another legal battle”: The Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Washington has a report that begins, “Attorney and former Spokane City Council member Steve Eugster lost another legal decision today, this time challenging the way the state elects appellate judges and assigns them to three-judge panels.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the Washington State Supreme Court at this link.

“Briana Waters pleads guilty in eco-terror attacks”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “An Oakland woman has admitted taking part in a radical environmental group’s arson attacks on a University of Washington research center and a Northern California corral, in a plea agreement calling for a four-year prison sentence.”

Meanwhile, in coverage from earlier this week, The Olympian reported that “Former Olympia woman pleads guilty in University of Washington arson.”

And The Seattle Times reported that “California violin teacher pleads guilty to 2001 UW arson.”

My earlier coverage of the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in this case from September 2010 can be accessed here.

“Supreme Court rules against longer prison sentences in order to rehabilitate; Supreme Court justices rule 9-0 that federal law does not allow judges to lengthen sentences with the aim of rehabilitating prisoners”: David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Lansdale woman can challenge terror law in poisoning case”: Today’s edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer contains an article that begins, “The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a Lansdale woman who poisoned her husband’s pregnant paramour can challenge her conviction under a terrorism law that has kept her in prison since 2007.”

“Does Suspect Need Miranda Warning? It May Depend on Age, Justices Rule.” Adam Liptak has this article today in The New York Times.