“SCOTUS Preview”: This audio segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on today’s broadcast of the public radio program “Here & Now.”

“Man charged with defamation after boss’ suicide; Ex-Jefferson staffer routed private e-mails, officials say”: This article appears today in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“Photo Finish: How the Abu Ghraib photos morphed from scandal to law.” Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

Available online from National Public Radio: Today’s broadcast of “Talk of the Nation” contained an audio segment entitled “A Look Ahead at the Supreme Court Docket.”

And this evening’s broadcast of “All Things Considered” contained audio segments entitled “Senate Votes to Approve Detainee Treatment Bill“; “Details of the Senate’s Detainee Bill“; “A New Detainee Bill, and the Fate of Guantanamo“; and “Inmate Questions California’s Lethal Injections.”

RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments.

“Senate OKs Detainee Interrogation Bill”: The Associated Press provides this report.

You can access the official roll call vote tally by clicking here.

“Alabama’s Justice Parker responds to O’Connor’s criticism in WSJ”: The Birmingham Business Journal provides this report.

My earlier coverage appears at this link.

“Ohio’s abortion pill law rejected; Judge: Legislation restricting RU-486 unconstitutional.” This article appears today in The Cincinnati Enquirer.

I have posted online at this link yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

“Pa. Court Says Father Can Teach Polygamy”: The AP provides a report that begins, “A father may teach his young daughter about his religious belief in polygamy despite his ex-wife’s objections, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said Thursday.”

Yesterday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania consists of a majority opinion, a concurring opinion, and a dissenting opinion. The majority opinion begins, “We granted allocatur in this case to consider the extent to which courts can limit parents from advocating religious beliefs that, if acted upon, would constitute criminal conduct.”

“7-Day Stay Granted in Surveillance Case”: The Associated Press provides a report from Detroit that begins, “The federal judge who struck down President Bush’s warrantless surveillance program turned aside a government request for an indefinite stay Thursday but said the government could have a week to appeal.”

“Seventh Circuit Appears Ready to Ground Retired Pilots’ Challenge to United Airline’s Confirmation Order”: “The Bankruptcy Litigation Blog” offers this post about an appellate oral argument that took place on Tuesday.

“Prison drugs are at issue; Witness at death penalty hearing accuses San Quentin officials of lax oversight of barbiturates”: Claire Cooper, legal affairs writer for The Sacramento Bee, today has this article in that newspaper. Earlier today, I collected additional related news coverage at this link.

Ninth Circuit grants rehearing en banc to consider whether RICO claims against Microsoft and Best Buy arising out of the promotion of MSN Internet access service subscriptions at Best Buy stores were properly dismissed: Today’s order granting rehearing en banc can be accessed at this link.

It appears that rehearing en banc has been granted before the original three-judge panel assigned to decide the case has issued an opinion. The case was originally argued on November 16, 2005 before a panel consisting of Circuit Judges Stephen Reinhardt, William A. Fletcher, and Jay S. Bybee. You can download the audio of that oral argument via this link (Windows Media format).

Additional background about the case, now pending as a class action in state court, can be accessed here.

“Proposed class representatives of Vietnamese bank depositors seek to recover the dollar value of bank deposits made in Saigon, South Vietnam, before April 1975.” So begins an opinion that a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued today. Today’s ruling affirms the federal district court’s dismissal of the case as time-barred.

“The Roberts Court: One-Year Out.” The Wolfson Center for National Affairs at The New School last night hosted a seminar featuring some leading scholars and journalists who cover the U.S. Supreme Court. You can view archived video of the event by clicking here (RealPlayer required).

Thanks to WSJ.com’s “Law Blog” for the pointer.

“Two military lawyers assigned to Gitmo defense seek private counsel”: Next week’s issue of The National Law Journal will contain an article (free access) by Pamela A. MacLean that begins, “Two military lawyers defending Guantanamo Bay detainees have sought their own private lawyers in a looming ethical fight over the right of detainees to self-representation and to refuse appointed counsel.”

“The dispute in this case involves the collection of information regarding internet protocol (IP) addresses and their linkage to universal resource locators (URLs) that facilitate use of the internet.” Today, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in an opinion written by Circuit Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey, affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action challenge brought against Comcast Cable Communications under the Protection of Subscriber Privacy provision of the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984.

Please hold your applause until all of the appellate attorneys have presented oral argument: The author of the blog “Eminent Domain” has listened to the oral argument audio (available online here in mp3 format) from the Seventh Circuit in the slave reparations lawsuit, and he writes that “My favorite part is halfway through when people in the courtroom start clapping after the plaintiffs’ lawyers are finished.” The post goes on to describe how the three-judge panel, consisting of Circuit Judges Richard A. Posner, Frank H. Easterbrook, and Daniel A. Manion, reacted to the applause.

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s oral argument can be accessed here and here.

“Woman charged over ‘vile’ Web stories”: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today contains an article that begins, “A Donora woman who federal prosecutors say posted fictional stories online about the rape, torture and murder of children was indicted this week on six charges of distributing obscene materials over the Internet. Unlike typical obscenity cases, though, Karen Fletcher, 54, of Meldon Avenue, is charged with violating the law through simple writing, and not with pictures or movies.”

And The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports today that “Woman charged in porn case.”

At “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Eugene Volokh has a post titled “Text as Obscenity.”

“New U.S. top court term has abortion, race cases”: James Vicini of Reuters provides this report.

“New day in court for reparations; Plaintiffs appeal ruling in suit seeking pay for slaves’ descendants”: The Chicago Tribune contains this article today.

And The Chicago Sun-Times reports today that “Court hears appeal of reparations suit; African-American judge recuses self from panel.”

My earlier coverage appears at this link.

“Detainee Bill Now Goes to Senate; The House measure bars torture but not specific techniques; Approval is expected and appears to be part of the GOP’s election strategy”: This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times, along with an editorial entitled “Don’t Suspend Habeas Corpus: Any bill that denies that basic right to detainees should be rejected” and an op-ed by Law Professor Bruce Ackerman entitled “The White House Warden: Congress may give the president the power to lock up almost anyone he thinks is a terror threat.”

The Boston Globe reports today that “Legal residents’ rights curbed in detainee bill.”

The New York Times reports that “Legislation Advances on Terrorism Trials.” And an editorial is entitled “Rushing Off a Cliff.”

The Washington Post contains a front page article headlined “House Approves Bill on Detainees; 253 to 168 Vote Backs Bush on Prosecution Of Terrorism Suspects.”

The Washington Times reports that “House approves Bush proposal on tribunals for Gitmo suspects.”

USA Today reports that “Rules for terror detainees near final passage; House sends bill on interrogations, trials to Senate.”

And The Hartford Courant reports that “Terror Trial Rules Advance; Bill Creates System To Deal With Detainees.”

“In court, blogs can come back to dog the writers; Use as evidence increases”: The Boston Globe contains this article today.

“Bag on Lawn Leads to Evacuation; Federal Courthouse Emptied While Building Is Searched”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

“State’s ‘No Child’ Lawsuit Still Alive; A Federal Judge Dismisses 3 Of Connecticut’s 4 Complaints Against The Law’s Cost, But Leaves Room For The Case To Proceed”: The Hartford Courant contains this article today.

And The New York Times reports today that “Connecticut Lawsuit Is Cut Back.”

My earlier coverage appears at this link.

“As Bonds Finishes Play, Grand Jury Is at Work”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

“Sedation May Fail in California Executions, Doctor Testifies; Anesthesiologist testifies that state has flawed lethal injection procedures, poorly trained employees”: Maura Dolan and Henry Weinstein have this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko reports that “Doctor describes chaotic handling of executions; Anesthesiologist testifies that methods used on San Quentin’s Death Row aren’t conducive to prisoner’s pain-free death.”

And in The San Jose Mercury News, Howard Mintz reports that “Witness assails state’s methods of lethal injection.”

“The New Supreme Court Term: Justice Kennedy’s Pivotal Role in Abortion and Race Cases.” Edward Lazarus has this essay online today at FindLaw.