“The New Detainee Law Does Not Deny Habeas Corpus; Fear not, New York Times, al Qaeda’s lawfare rights are still intact”: Andrew C. McCarthy has this essay today at National Review Online.

“Tequila Mockingbird: Justice Scalia opens the 2006 term with a bang.” Dahlia Lithwick has this Supreme Court dispatch online at Slate.

On this evening’s broadcast of NPR‘s “All Things Considered“: The broadcast contained audio segments entitled “Justices Debate Legal Threshold for Deportation” (featuring Nina Totenberg); “Supervisory Ruling on Nurses, Union“; and “Prosecutor: MLB Doping Story Inaccurate.”

“Scalia’s Tequila Remark Raises Eyebrows”: law.com’s Tony Mauro provides a news update that begins, “During oral arguments Tuesday in an immigrants’ rights case, Justice Antonin Scalia made a reference to one of the parties, a Mexican who has been deported back to his country, as someone unlikely to keep from drinking tequila on the chance he could return to the United States.”

The remark appears on page 16 of the oral argument transcript.

“Getting His Due — For forcing Swiss banks to repay their debts to Holocaust survivors, NYU law professor Burt Neuborne was hailed as a hero; Then he submitted his bill: $4,760,000.” This article appears in the October 9, 2006 issue of New York Magazine.

“Terror Inmates’ Mail Still Goes Unread”: The AP provides an article that begins, “Mail for convicted terrorists and other dangerous federal inmates isn’t being fully read by prison authorities, and that is a risk to national security, a Justice Department review concluded Tuesday.”

You can access the report of the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice by clicking here.

“Pentagon: No Terror Trials Imminent.” The Associated Press provides this report.

Same-day transcript indeed means same-day: As Lyle Denniston notes in this post at “SCOTUSblog,” the first same-day transcript that the U.S. Supreme Court posted online today appeared online at “2:15 p.m., three hours and 15 minutes after the conclusion of the hearing.”

Update: The transcript in the second and final case argued today can be accessed here. Not quite as fast as same-day audio release, but still quite timely nonetheless.

“Judge Denies ‘Light’ Cigarettes Request”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, ” A federal judge has denied a request by tobacco companies to let them keep marketing ‘light’ and ‘low tar’ cigarettes until an appeal is settled in their case.”

In today’s edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The newspaper contains articles headlined “Trial OK’d on one Jewell claim against AJC“; “Juries too white, Nichols lawyers say“; and “Nichols banned from making phone calls.”

“Justices Hear Arguments on Deportation”: The Associated Press provides this report.

“Why Lawyers Seek Kennedy Vote; When Ideologies Clash, Justice May Tip Supreme Court’s Balance”: Today in The Wall Street Journal, Jess Bravin has an article (pass-through link) that begins, “Ever since Justice Sandra Day O’Connor retired in January, the High Court has been dubbed the Kennedy Court. Between a bloc of four conservatives facing off against four liberal-leaning members, Justice Anthony Kennedy, with his own occasionally idiosyncratic jurisprudence, may tip the balance on hot-button cases.”

How social is your group? Yesterday, Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner, on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, issued an opinion examining what it means to be entitled to asylum due to persecution or fear of persecution based on “membership in a social group.”

“Lights, (No) Camera, Action! Supreme Court’s New Term Includes Many Likely Historic Cases.” CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen has this essay.

“Wrong-way court”: Today in The Washington Times, Terence P. Jeffrey has an op-ed that begins, “The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has strangely shifting views on freedom of expression. It seems to depend on who expresses what.”

“Starr: Watch affirmative action.” The Herald-Sun of Durham, North Carolina today contains an article that begins, “Ken Starr told Duke University law students the U.S. Supreme Court is facing two ‘extraordinarily controversial’ cases in its term that began Monday. One case is about affirmative action and the other is about partial-birth abortions, said Starr, 60, a 1973 Duke Law graduate.”

Update: At some point in the near future, an archived webcast of the event should be available via this link.

“Cantwell adviser’s file briefly unsealed; The divorce papers were resealed, but not until after a blogger revealed the details”: This article appears today in The Daily Herald of Everett, Washington.

“Abortion case back in lower court; Law requires minors to notify parents beforehand”: The Concord Monitor today contains an article that begins, “Nearly a year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court found a portion of New Hampshire’s controversial abortion law unconstitutional but left the remedy to a lower court. Now, a federal judge in Concord is being asked to decide whether the law’s authors would want him to write the fix himself or scrap the law and let the Legislature write a new one.”

“Appeal on school’s lesson in Muslim culture is rejected”: Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle, along with an article headlined “PG&E’s appeal rebuffed.”

Today in The Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage reports that “Allred Loses Appeal to Supreme Court; The commentator and lawyer had challenged a ‘gag order’ imposed in a state murder trial.”

The Detroit Free Press reports that “High court won’t hear newspaper strike case.”

The Detroit News reports that “High court sides with 3 workers fired during newspapers’ strike.”

The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger reports that “High court refuses to hear state’s appeal on truck rules; Back roads will remain open to tractor-trailers for now.”

In The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Jason Cato has articles headlined “High court won’t hear doctor’s appeal” and “High court ruling bodes ill for ex-Nazi guard.”

And The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that “Doctor again challenges drugs-for-sex conviction.”

“Lawyers Protest in Low Key; Pink soldiers await Law first-years in protest of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell'”: The Harvard Crimson today contains an article that begins, “Lambda, Harvard Law School’s main gay-rights organization, is taking a low-key approach in protesting the presence of military recruiters on its campus today.”

And The Yale Daily News reports today that “Law School keeps up protests of JAG; Despite discouraging ruling, Univ. continues to bar military recruiters as it awaits its own court day.”

“Weblogs expose judge’s vulgarity”: This article appears today in The Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune.

“Doubt Cast on Report That Named Players”: The New York Times today contains an article that begins, “Two days after it was reported that Roger Clemens was among the six major league players who investigators said had been identified as having used performance-enhancing substances, a federal prosecutor said the news media coverage contained ‘significant inaccuracies.'”

“FCC Is Set to Revisit Rules on Ownership; Two L.A.-area hearings will be held today, but major broadcasters’ focus now is elsewhere”: This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Bible-Reading Student Gets Lesson in Litigation”: The Washington Post today contains an article that begins, “Amber Mangum was a frequent reader during lunch breaks at her Prince George’s County middle school, silently soaking up the adventures of Harry Potter and other tales in the spare minutes before afternoon classes. The habit was never viewed as a problem — not, a lawsuit alleges, until the book she was reading was the Bible.”

“Work to Begin at Supreme Court a Day Late”: The Associated Press provides this report.

Today also marks the beginning of “same day” oral argument transcripts from the U.S. Supreme Court. It remains to be seen just how early in the day those transcripts will appear online. Once they do appear online, they should be available via this link.

“Justice for Immigrants”: The New York Times today contains an editorial that begins, “The Supreme Court starts off its term today with arguments in a pair of immigration cases that turn on a technical issue but could have a considerable impact on the real world.”

“Courts are asked to crack down on bloggers, websites; Those attacked online are filing libel lawsuits”: This front page article appears today in USA Today.

In commentary available online from FindLaw: Joanna Grossman has an essay entitled “Rhode Island Same-Sex Couples Now Can Marry In Massachusetts — But Will Rhode Island Recognize Their Unions?”

And Anita Ramasastry has an essay entitled “Does the Americans with Disabilities Act Require that Commercial Websites Be Accessible to the Blind? A Recent Court Ruling Suggests the Answer Is Yes, But Only for Certain Sites.”