“Doctor convicted of killing family loses another appeal”: The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina provides a news update that begins, “Jeffrey MacDonald, the ‘Fatal Vision’ military doctor convicted of murdering his wife and children at Fort Bragg 38 years ago, lost yet another courthouse battle this week when a federal judge dismissed his most recent appeal.”

I have posted online at this link Tuesday’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

“Fighting Over Voter-Approved Ban on Gay Marriage Puts Squeeze on California’s Chief Justice; Meanwhile, legal observers are split on the validity of same-sex marriages performed prior to the passage of state proposition”: law.com has this report.

“Court: Payday lending law violated constitution.” The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A 1999 state law allowing so-called payday lenders to charge high fees for short-term loans violates the state constitution, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday.”

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

“Witnesses criticize agents in Joyce case”: This article appears today in The Erie (Pa.) Times-News. And later today, the newspaper posted online an update headlined “Joyce trial in recess until Monday.”

“Nichols jury begins deliberation”: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution provides a news update that begins, “Twelve jurors began Thursday trying to decide whether Brian Nichols is insane, mentally ill or simply a cold-blooded murderer. The 36-year-old Nichols has confessed to killing four people during an escape from custody at the Fulton County courthouse in 2005.”

“Shape of Chamber Hangs in Balance; Outcomes of Four Tight Races Could Take Up to a Month to Determine”: The Washington Post today contains an article that begins, “The final shape of the new Senate lingered in doubt yesterday with a runoff likely in Georgia, recounts pending in Minnesota and possibly Oregon, and uncertainty over whether the longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history had held on to his Alaska seat barely a week after being convicted on corruption charges.”

“Bans in 3 States on Gay Marriage”: This article appears today in The New York Times, along with an editorial entitled “Equality’s Winding Path.”

The Los Angeles Times today contains articles headlined “Backers focused Prop. 8 battle beyond marriage; Opponents of gay marriage shrewdly targeted the implications for schools, churches and children, analysts say” and “Gay rights backers file 3 lawsuits challenging Prop. 8; Lawyers for same-sex couples argue that the anti-gay marriage measure is an illegal constitutional revision; Backers of the measure attack the suits.” In addition, the newspaper contains an editorial entitled “After Prop. 8: The road to equal rights may be long, but Obama’s victory proves that change can come,” and John Corvino has an op-ed entitled “Gay marriage isn’t over; The passage of Prop. 8 is only a temporary setback.”

The Washington Post reports that “California Voters Narrowly Approve Same-Sex Marriage Ban; Limits on Abortion Rejected in Colorado And South Dakota.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that “California Set to Join Trend of Banning Gay Marriage.” The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “Voters and Marriage: The people have spoken — again.”

USA Today reports that “California same-sex marriage ban faces three lawsuits.”

And The Harvard Crimson reports that “California Gay Marriage Ban Inflames Students.”

“Federal judge wants his polygraph used in Houston trial”: Last Friday in The Houston Chronicle, Mary Flood had an article that begins, “U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent is asking that the results of two polygraph tests he passed be presented to the jury that will decide whether he is guilty of federal charges of sexually abusing an employee.”

“First Female Solicitor General? Could Happen In Obama’s Administration.” Rachel Breitman has this post today at “The Am Law Daily” blog.

“Court Hears Asylum Case of Ex-Guard From Eritrea”: Adam Liptak has this article today in The New York Times.

“Lawyers Will Be Lawyers, Dumping More on Juries Than They Can Process”: Leslie Eaton and Amir Efrati have this article today in The Wall Street Journal.

“Difficult Choices Await New President On Guantanamo, Intelligence Policies”: Jess Bravin and Siobhan Gorman have this article today in The Wall Street Journal.

“School Board, Frederick reach settlement in ‘Bong Hits’ case; Agreement includes a $45,000 payment to former student”: This article appeared yesterday in The Juneau Empire.

And The Associated Press reports that “Settlement brings end to Juneau’s Bong Hits case.”

Thanks to the author of the “Sheridan: Con-Law” blog for the pointer.

In news from Harvard Law School: The Boston Globe today contains an article headlined “Clients’ data missing, Harvard Law warns; Computer backup lost during transit” that begins, “Harvard Law School is alerting thousands of clients from a legal services clinic after a computer tape containing their Social Security numbers, addresses, and financial information was lost in September.”

The Harvard Crimson reports today that “Nesson, Harvard Law Professor, Sues RIAA.” The article begins, “A Harvard Law School professor filed a counterclaim last Friday against the Recording Industry Association of America that challenges the constitutionality of the RIAA’s efforts against those caught downloading music from file-sharing services.”

And a news release from the law school headlined “Will the Supreme Court be transformed in the next four years?” links to this video (RealPlayer required) of a panel discussion that was “moderated by Dean Elena Kagan ’86, [and] included professors David Barron ’94, Charles Fried, Cass Sunstein ’78, Laurence Tribe ’66 and New Yorker staff writer and CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin ’86.”

“San Francisco Court Puts Kozinski Complaint on Hold”: Cynthia Cotts of Bloomberg News has an article that begins, “An ethics committee of the federal appeals court in San Francisco issued an order to stop an investigation of a lawyer’s complaint alleging misconduct by Alex Kozinski, the court’s chief judge. Cyrus Sanai, a Los Angeles attorney, accused Kozinski of putting pornography on a public Web site and revived allegations that the judge broke into a computer security system in 2001 and disabled porn-detecting software.”

You can access Monday’s order of the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit at this link.