“Bringing the Church to the Courtroom; Christian Group Becomes Force in Major Legal Battles”: This front page article will appear Monday in The Washington Post.

“The Perils of Unpublished Non-precedential Federal Appellate Opinions: A Case Study of the Substantive Due Process State-Created Danger Doctrine in One Circuit.” Law Professor Sarah E. Ricks has this article (abstract with links for download) online at SSRN (via “Legal Theory Blog“).

The article’s abstract begins, “About 80% of federal appellate decisions are non-precedential. This Article examines the practical consequences for district courts and litigants confronting inconsistent appellate opinions issued by the same federal circuit. Specifically, this is a case study comparing the divergent binding and non-precedential opinions applying one frequently invoked constitutional theory within the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the ‘state-created danger’ theory of substantive due process. The comparison demonstrates that the risks of non-precedential opinions are real. During the six-year interval between binding state-created danger decisions, the Third Circuit created inconsistent non-precedential opinions on the identical legal theory.”

“Semper lie: Fake veteran must wear sandwich board.” Friday’s edition of The Daily Inter Lake contained an article that begins, “A Whitefish man was sentenced Thursday to spend 50 hours wearing a sandwich board with the words, ‘I am a liar. I am not a Marine. I have never served my country.’ Chief U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula also sentenced William Horvath to four months of house arrest for making a false statement.”

And yesterday’s edition of The Missoulian contained an article headlined “Judge orders public shaming for deceit.”

“On this week’s America and the Courts, the San Francisco Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals hears arguments in the case of Padilla v. Lever. The Court must decide if Orange County, California election officials violated the Voting Rights Act by not providing petitions in English and Spanish for the recall of a local school board member.” You can view yesterday evening’s broadcast of C-SPAN‘s “America & the Courts” by clicking here (RealPlayer required).

The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “California Court to Hear Gay Marriage Case” and “Papers From Jefferson Office Raid in Limbo.”

“Bush on Guantanamo: ‘I want to move forward’; Despite an adverse ruling from the Supreme Court on military tribunals, President Bush says a solution can be worked out to handle terror suspects.” Carol Rosenberg has this article today in The Miami Herald.

“Detainee Rights Create a Divide on Capitol Hill”: This article will appear Monday in The New York Times, along with an article by Neil A. Lewis headlined “Court’s Decision Offers Scant Guidance.”

“The Gitmo Fallout: The fight over the Hamdan ruling heats up–as fears about its reach escalate.” Michael Isikoff and Stuart Taylor Jr. will have this article in the July 17, 2006 issue of Newsweek.

“Supreme Confusion”: Stuart Taylor Jr. had this essay in last week’s issue of National Journal.

“Congress argues the recrafting of terror tribunals; At issue: the extent of fair-trial protections for suspected terrorists.” Warren Richey will have this article Monday in The Christian Science Monitor.

Philadelphia Phillies 8, Pittsburgh Pirates 3: The Phillies enter the All Star break with a series win, albeit against the team sporting the National League’s worst record. My son and I especially enjoyed today’s game, because thanks to the generosity of two other Phillies fans who had two extra tickets directly behind home plate in section 222 of the Hall of Fame Club, we once again had great seats. You can access the box score of today’s game at this link, while wraps are here and here.

On the editorial page of today’s issue of The Washington Post: The newspaper contains editorials entitled “Congress’s Turn: President Bush failed to create a fair legal system for accused terrorists; Congress can do better” and “‘Gettysburg’ for Gay Marriage? The decision by a New York court changes little.”

“Investigator in Cantu case made wrongful arrests in past; Judgment errors led to suspensions before, after controversial probe of murder”: This article appears today in The Houston Chronicle. And columnist Rick Casey has an op-ed entitled “Was Corpus man wrongly executed?”

“His Hipness, John G. Roberts”: Linda Greenhouse has this article today in the Week in Review section of The New York Times.

“What Chief Justice Roberts Forgot in His First Term: Judicial Modesty.” Adam Cohen has this Editorial Observer essay today in The New York Times.

“Sides line up unpredictably in S. Dakota’s abortion battle; Political party and sex don’t always indicate where residents stand on a controversial law”: This article appears today in The Philadelphia Inquirer.