“Justices Support Guidelines for Sentencing”: Linda Greenhouse will have this article Friday in The New York Times.

And in Friday’s edition of The Washington Post, Charles Lane will report that “Sentencing Guidelines ‘Reasonable,’ Justices Rule.”

“Court Rules Coach’s Violations Are Not a Form of Free Speech”: Linda Greenhouse will have this article Friday in The New York Times.

More Kerr-ect Ninth Circuit decision in in workplace computer search appeal survives sua sponte call for rehearing en banc: Yet eleven active judges — ten Democratic appointees and Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski — note their dissent from the denial of rehearing en banc. And the original three-judge panel — which also had a majority of Democratic appointees — today issued an opinion concurring in the denial of rehearing en banc.

That three-judge panel also issued two earlier rulings in the case. The panel’s initial ruling, which Law Professor Orin Kerr criticized in this post, issued in August 2006. My initial coverage of that ruling appeared here. That panel’s more-Kerr-ect revised opinion issued in late January 2007, and my coverage of that revised opinion appeared here.

How is a federal district judge to calculate the equivalent of sixty percent of a life sentence? A federal district court, with the federal government’s support, wished to reduce a federal convict’s sentence of imprisonment by forty percent for cooperation. The fly in the ointment, however, was that the sentence to be reduced was a sentence of life imprisonment. How the district court should proceed when faced with this quandary is the subject of this decision that a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued today.

“The background of this case reads like a novel but represents the true story of hopes dashed, fees wasted, and dreams lost by hundreds of individual inventors caught up in the world of self-interested promoters who promise the world and deliver very little.” So states an opinion that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued today.

“High Court Rules on School Athletics, Sentencing”: This audio segment (RealPlayer required) featuring Nina Totenberg appeared on this evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

“Court Sets Stricter Standard for Shareholder Lawsuits”: Robert Barnes of The Washington Post provides this news update.

The New York Times provides a news update headlined “Justices Tighten Rules on Shareholder Suits.”

law.com’s Tony Mauro provides a news update headlined “High Court Raises the Bar for the Plaintiffs Bar.”

Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Top U.S. Court Tightens Limits on Shareholder Suits.”

Reuters reports that “Top court makes US securities fraud suits harder.”

And MarketWatch reports that “High court backs Tellabs in securities case; Decision sets tougher standards for securities class-action suits.”

“Justices uphold rules on high school athletic recruiting”: David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times provides this news update.

And Reuters reports that “Supreme Court upholds school sports rules.”

“High court bolsters sentencing guidelines; In a closely watched decision, court’s majority says they’re more than advisory but less than mandatory”: Warren Richey will have this article Friday in The Christian Science Monitor.

James Vicini of Reuters reports that “Justices make it harder to get lower sentences.”

And Mark Sherman of The Associated Press reports that “Court Backs Rules Governing Prison Terms.”

“High court has been good for business; A dozen rulings in the last year have been a boon to corporations by making it harder to sue them or limiting lawsuit damages”: David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Questions surprise lawyers on same-sex marriage case”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “The California Supreme Court surprised participants in the same-sex marriage case Wednesday with a new set of questions on the nature of matrimony, the rights of spouses and domestic partners and the meaning of a voter-approved ballot measure.”

“Man to pay nearly $3,000 for fecal incident”: The Post-Bulletin of Rochester, Minnesota provides a news update that begins, “An Austin man who put dog feces in a payment envelope for a parking ticket in April must pay nearly $3,000 in restitution to the woman who opened it.”

“Phone privacy case pits Justice Dept. vs. states; A federal judge will hear arguments as the Bush administration tries to block investigations into its Terrorist Surveillance Program”: Henry Weinstein has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

The Associated Press is reporting: An article headlined “Officials Near Decision to Close Gitmo” begins, “The Bush administration is nearing a decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and move the terror suspects there to military prisons elsewhere, The Associated Press has learned.”

And an article headlined “Appeal of Bush Assassination Plot Heard” begins, “An American Muslim convicted of plotting to assassinate President Bush had been tortured into confessing and was denied his constitutional right to confront his accusers, his attorney told a federal appeals court Thursday.”

“Vote on judicial nominee Southwick postponed again”: The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi provides a news update that begins, “Sen. Patrick Leahy, the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said today he agreed to hold over a panel vote on the nomination of Mississippi Judge Leslie Southwick for a federal appeals court seat. Leahy, D-Vt., said he had postponed the vote at the request of Republicans on the committee. He declined to elaborate. Thursday’s postponement is the fourth time the Judiciary Committee has decided to put off a vote on the nomination.”

Programming note: I must attend a court hearing in Atlantic City, New Jersey this afternoon, so additional posts will appear here later today.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton has today issued an opinion explaining why he denied “Scooter” Libby’s request for release pending appeal: I have posted a copy of today’s opinion online, and you can access it via this link.

“Court rules on Sentencing Guidelines”: At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has this post reporting on the three opinions in argued cases that the U.S. Supreme Court issued today.

Today’s first decision in an argued case issued in Rita v. United States, No. 06-5754. You can access the opinion here and the oral argument transcript here. The Court’s syllabus provides the following breakdown of how the Justices voted: “Breyer, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Stevens, Kennedy, Ginsburg, and Alito, JJ., joined, and in which Scalia and Thomas, JJ., joined as to Part III. Stevens, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which Ginsburg, J., joined as to all but Part II. Scalia, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, in which Thomas, J., joined. Souter, J., filed a dissenting opinion.”

The Court today also issued its ruling in Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd., No. 06-484. You can access the opinion here and the oral argument transcript here.

Today’s third and final opinion in an argued case issued in Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assn. v. Brentwood Academy, No. 06-427. You can access the opinion here and the oral argument transcript here.

In early news coverage, The Associated Press reports that “Standard for Fraud Suits Tightened” and “High School Sports Recruiting Limited.”

Heading into its final week of the Term, the Court has eight decisions in argued cases outstanding.

The Associated Press is reporting: An article reports that “‘Brown V. Board’ School Could Be Razed.”

In other news, “Pakistanis Protest Suspension of Judge.”

And on this date in 1788, “the United States Constitution went into effect as New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it.”

“Precedents Begin to Fall for Roberts Court”: Linda Greenhouse has this article today in The New York Times.

“Judge Rejects Pleas To Free Al-Arian”: Josh Gerstein has this article today in The New York Sun.

The St. Petersburg Times reports today that “Al-Arian’s wife, 2 children will move to Egypt.”

And The Tampa Tribune reports that “Al-Arian’s Family Said To Be Leaving.”

“The Transformation of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, As the Roberts Court Shifts from Harmony and Consensus to Bitter Division”: Edward Lazarus has this essay online today at FindLaw.

Available online from law.com: An article reports that “Citing Supreme Court Precedent, 11th Circuit Reverses Major Copyright Ruling; ‘Greenberg’ and ‘Tasini’ cases pit publishers against freelance photographers and writers.” My earlier coverage of last Wednesday’s Eleventh Circuit ruling appears at this link.

In other news, “Calif. Justices to Decide: Should Good Deeds Go Unpunished?”

And in news from Florida, “Judge Goes Easy on Lawyer Who Made ‘French Fries’ Comment About Her.”