“Court: Lawyer in Flatley Case Committed Extortion; An attorney for a woman who had accused the ‘Riverdance’ star of rape threatened to go public with the allegation, justices rule”: Maura Dolan has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

law.com reports that “Calif. High Court Slaps Misuse of Anti-SLAPP Laws.”

BBC News reports that “Dancing star sues rape accuser; Former Riverdance star Michael Flatley has won a court ruling allowing him to counter-sue a woman who sued him for allegedly raping her in Las Vegas.”

The Associated Press reports that “Michael Flatley Gets Go-Ahead for Lawsuit.”

And Metropolitan News-Enterprise provides an article headlined “Suit Against Lawyer Alleging Extortion Attempt Not SLAPP–S.C.”

You can access yesterday’s rulings of the Supreme Court of California in these two cases here and here.

The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “Court Blocks Feds on Congressman’s Files” and “CBS Appeals ‘Wardrobe Malfunction’ Fine.”

Available online from law.com: An article reports that “2nd Circuit Affirms Ebbers Conviction, 25-Year Sentence; Panel calls sentence ‘harsh,’ but ‘not unreasonable.’”

An article is headlined “Save a Cocktail Napkin, Win a Lawsuit; Entertainment lawyers find idea-submission claims worthwhile in the post-‘Grosso’ world.”

And the new installment of my “On Appeal” column is headlined “Could Increased Openness in Judges’ Decision-Making Depoliticize Confirmations?”

Florida Marlins 4, Philadelphia Phillies 1: My son and I attended tonight’s Phillies game, the third of four in a one week period that we will have attended between last Sunday night and this Sunday afternoon. Florida’s starting pitcher carried a no-hitter through 6 2/3 innings. The only bright spots for the Phillies were that second baseman Chase Utley extended his hitting streak to 28 games in his final at bat, and Ryan Howard smacked another monster home run in his final at bat. On the ride home, we learned that third baseman David Bell, who never developed much of a fan base here, has been traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for 22-year-old right-handed pitcher Wilfrido Laureano. You can access the box score of tonight’s game at this link, while wraps are available here and here.

“Klan Leader’s Pipe Bomb Conviction Overturned”: Shannon P. Duffy of The Legal Intelligencer provides a news update (free access) that begins, “A Pittsburgh area Ku Klux Klan imperial wizard who was convicted on multiple weapons charges won a partial victory in his appeal today when the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the ‘mere possession’ of a pipe bomb does not qualify as a ‘crime of violence.'”

You can access today’s ruling by a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit at this link. The dissenting opinion, by Senior U.S. District Judge Harold A. Ackerman (D.N.J.), sitting by designation, concludes: “Today, the Court holds that the ‘mere’ possession of a pipe bomb is not a federal crime of violence. As I read this holding, the ‘mere’ possession of a car bomb, or a landmine, or an explosive vest, or a ‘dirty bomb,’ or even a nuclear bomb, would also not constitute a crime of violence, because there would be no substantial risk that the possessor may use physical force against another in the course of committing the offense of possession.”

“CBS appeals fine for Janet Jackson breast flashing”: Reuters provides this report.

“Appeals Court Upholds Ebbers Conviction”: The Associated Press provides this report.

“An employer of teenagers is not in loco parentis, but he acts at his peril if he fails to warn their parents when he knows or should know that their children are at substantial risk of statutory rape by an older, male shift supervisor in circumstances constituting workplace harassment.” Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner issued this opinion today on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Earlier in the opinion, Judge Posner writes: “Nor are American teenage girls such blushing violets that sexual badinage is harassment per se.” Finally, a search of Westlaw suggests that this may be the first published judicial opinion in the USA to use the phrase “tittie twisters.”

Update: “Daily Developments in EEO Law” discusses today’s ruling here.

“NeXus Journal Blawg Issue”: Denise Howell has this post about the current issue of the Nexus journal from the Chapman University School of Law.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirms criminal convictions of Bernard J. Ebbers, former Chief Executive Officer of WorldCom, Inc.: You can access today’s ruling at this link. The ruling also upholds the 25-year jail sentence imposed on those convictions.

Ninth Circuit grants rehearing en banc in appeal in which a divided three-judge panel ordered a new trial after the defendant was convicted of traveling across state lines with intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor and using an interstate facility to attempt to persuade a minor to engage in sex: A central issue in the case was whether the district court erred in admitting into evidence stories extracted from the defendant’s PDA about a father’s having sex with his young daughter and the daughter’s enjoyment of the experience. The three-judge panel’s ruling is available at this link, while my earlier coverage of that ruling is here. Today’s order granting rehearing en banc is at this link.

Available today at National Review Online: Ramesh Ponnuru has an essay entitled “Slate’s Hamdan Hoax: Justice Stevens just can’t be defended.”

Rich Lowry has an essay entitled “Judges in Check — for Now: Is the balance back?”

And an editorial entitled “Signing Off” asserts that “[t]he idea that Bush’s use of signing statements has created a constitutional crisis is impossible to take seriously.”

“Neb. Court Rejects Electric Chair Appeal”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “The state Supreme Court on Friday rejected an inmate’s appeal that the electric chair amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, leaving Nebraska as still the only state with electrocution as its sole means of execution.”

You can access today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Nebraska at this link.

“If the Judicial Confirmation Process is Broken, Can a Statute Fix It?” Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl has this essay (abstract with link for download) online at SSRN (via “Legal Theory Blog“).

D.C. Circuit rejects claim of best-selling author and producer of radio and TV infomercials that Federal Trade Commission press release announcing the settlement of a case the agency brought against him for false and misleading advertising was itself false and misleading: Bloggers who are in the habit of discussing, while linking directly to, primary materials found on the internet may find the following passage from today’s opinion to be of interest:

Finally, Trudeau asserts that the press release is misleading because it fails to expressly state, as the 2004 Final Order did, that there had been “no findings or admissions of wrongdoing or liability” with respect to Trudeau. 2004 Final Order ¶ 8. As we said above, we do not believe that a reasonable reader could construe the press release as suggesting that there had been such a finding; accordingly, an express disavowal was unnecessary to prevent such a reader from being misled. In any event, the online version of the release — which is the version upon which Trudeau focuses his attention — contains a link to the 2004 Final Order, prominently displayed in bold at the top-right corner of the webpage. The link permits any interested reader to compare the release with the order itself, including its disavowal of a judicial finding. See 2004 Final Order ¶ 8. With the terms of the order just two mouseclicks away, any potential misreading of the release can easily be averted.

You can access today’s D.C. Circuit ruling at this link. The press release at issue in the appeal can be accessed here, while additional records from the proceeding can be accessed via this link.

“Review Panel Clears Chatigny; Report Finds No Bias In Dispute Over Michael Ross Case”: Lynne Tuohy has this article today in The Hartford Courant.

The Associated Press reports that “Judge cleared of misconduct in handling of Ross appeals.”

And The Connecticut Law Tribune provides an article headlined “Report: Chatigny Not Motivated By Bias; 2nd Circuit panel finds no misconduct on judge’s part in Ross litigation.”

This earlier post of mine links to the report and to Wednesday’s order; the report is also available online here via the Second Circuit‘s web site.

Finally for now, at the “Crime & Federalism” blog, Connecticut-based attorney Norm Pattis has a post that begins, “I confess wonder and awe at the recent decision of the Judicial Council of the Second Circuit.”

“On Prosecuting Detainees; Draft Bill Waives Due Process for Enemy Combatants”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

“Judicial Undersight: Don’t blame Congress for investigating Judge Manuel Real when judicial self-policing fails.” The Los Angeles Times contains this editorial today.

“Signing Off: Presidential signing statements aren’t a problem; What Mr. Bush is saying in them is.” This editorial appears today in The Washington Post.

“Detainee Abuse Charges Feared; Shield Sought From ’96 War Crimes Act”: The Washington Post today contains an article that begins, “An obscure law approved by a Republican-controlled Congress a decade ago has made the Bush administration nervous that officials and troops involved in handling detainee matters might be accused of committing war crimes, and prosecuted at some point in U.S. courts.”