“Fear mustn’t infringe upon our open courts”: Tony Mauro will have this op-ed Wednesday in USA Today.

Available online from law.com: Tony Mauro reports that “Federal Judges Call for Full Review of Security Measures; Chief Justice William Rehnquist presides over closed-door meeting at the U.S. Supreme Court.”

And in other news, “3rd Circuit Dismisses Fen-Phen Attorney Fees Appeal” and “Playing Out the String of Fen-Phen’s Yo-Yo Settlement.”

“Ten Commandments display’s arrival renews debate in state”: In news from Michigan, The Daily Oakland Press contains this article today.

Meanwhile, in Alabama, The Huntsville Times reports today that “Big crowd likely for Moore’s talk here on Saturday.”

“Case Stirs Fight on Jews, Juries and Execution”: This article will appear Wednesday in The New York Times.

Happy birthday wishes to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Irrational gender stereotyping suggests that it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to disclose her age, but The Associated Press didn’t exhibit any qualms about doing so here.

California Chief Justice Ronald M. George delivers “State of the Judiciary” address: You can access at this link the text of the remarks that he delivered today to a a Joint Session of the California Legislature. In news coverage, The Associated Press reports that “Lack of court security breeds fear, justice warns.”

“Dillard’s asks Mississippi court to take black judge off racial-profiling case”: The Associated Press provides this report.

“Senate Work May Come to Halt If GOP Bars Judicial Filibusters”: This article will appear Wednesday in The Washington Post.

And Wednesday’s edition of The New York Times will report that “Blame Is Laid as Senate Sees Rift on Judges.”

“Reid’s letter to serve as his warning”: Wednesday’s edition of The Hill will contain an article that begins, “Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) warned Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) yesterday that Democrats will stop working with Republicans on most legislation if Republicans invoke the so-called ‘nuclear option’ on judges.”

“Nurse says Williams ‘restless, pacing’ at hospital”: The Houston Chronicle provides this update on the human smuggling death penalty trial underway in that city.

Courthouse violence continues, this time in California: The Los Angeles Times today contains an article headlined “Man Slashes His Lawyer in Court; A defendant standing trial in two killings smuggled a razor blade into the San Fernando courtroom in his mouth, authorities say.”

“Disney Wins Some Pooh Legal Costs; A judge says the heirs of Stephen Slesinger must pay at least $250,000; The company had sought reimbursement of more than $1 million”: The Los Angeles Times today contains this article reporting on a tentative ruling that former Ninth Circuit nominee (and, I hope, still current “How Appealing” reader) Carolyn B. Kuhl issued yesterday.

“Federal judges seek better protection in wake of fatal attacks”: This article will appear Wednesday in The Chicago Tribune.

“Blog stars”: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports today that “Blog stars shine at SXSW Interactive.” Blog stardom in general is severely overrated, although it is pleasing to be referred to as the equivalent of a rock star on a behind-the-scenes tour of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Law Professor Lawrence Lessig is emboldened to rebel against law review publication practices now that Creative Commons licenses have been featured in The Washington Post: The Washington Post today contains an article headlined “Creative Commons Is Rewriting Rules of Copyright.”

Coincidentally, on the Ides of March, 2005, Professor Lessig has a post at his blog explaining that he “will not agree to publish in any academic journal that does not permit [him] the freedoms of at least a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.”

“Kansas Abortion Clinics Fight Data Request; Criminal Inquiries Trump Issues of Privacy, State Says”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

“Dems to Block Senate Business if GOP Imposes New Rule on Bush Nominations”: The Los Angeles Times provides this news update.

“Protecting Adam and Steve: The neglected significance of California’s same-sex marriage ruling.” Julian Sanchez has this essay online today at Reason.

“God Again: The Supreme Court, the Ten Commandments, and pluralism.” Leon Wieseltier has this essay online today at The New Republic.

“Reid threatens partial Senate shutdown; Parties hurtle toward April clash over Democratic filibusters of Bush judicial nominees”: Tom Curry, national affairs writer for MSNBC, provides this report.

“Federal Judges Call for Full Review of Security Measures; Chief Justice William Rehnquist presides over closed-door meeting at the U.S. Supreme Court”: law.com’s Tony Mauro provides this news update.

“Gay marriage ruling galvanizes both sides; Decision by a California court allowing gay unions reflects a judiciary moving in one direction and legislatures in another”: Wednesday’s edition of The Christian Science Monitor will contain this article.

“Senate near meltdown over judges; A vote on nominee William Myers may be a rehearsal for a next Supreme Court justice”: This article will appear Wednesday in The Christian Science Monitor.

Bloomberg News reports that “Democrat Reid Threatens to Block Senate Action.”

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NC) today sent a letter on this subject to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN). Senator Reid today also delivered a speech entitled “Preserving Checks and Balances” on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. You can read a transcript of the speech here and view recorded video of the speech here (RealPlayer required).

Senator Frist’s brief statement on judicial confirmations, issued today, can be accessed here.

First Circuit panel to reconsider eligibility of Puerto Rico residents to vote for President and Vice-President of the United States: A reader emails:

Igartua v. United States is a case in which the U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico granted Puerto Rico electoral votes in U.S. presidential elections. The First Circuit, having overturned the granting of this relief in 2000 (Case No. 00-2083, available here), rejected it again in 2004 (case No. 04-2186; available here), over a dissent by Judge Torruella, who is from Puerto Rico and was formerly a District Judge there.

A motion for rehearing and rehearing en banc was filed, which was pending without decision for an unusually long time. Yesterday, quite unexpectedly, the panel granted rehearing in the following order (from PACER):

“ORDER entered by Judge Juan R. Torruella, Senior Judge Levin H. Campbell, and Judge Jeffrey R. Howard. The petition for panel rehearing is granted respecting the issues described below. The rehearing will be scheduled for Wednesday, May 4, 2005, at 3:00 p.m. in the John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse. The government and petitioners shall file briefs, not to exceed 20 pages, no later than 30 days from the issuance of this order, addressing the following issues: 1. the international legal obligations of the United States with respect to the eligibility of Puerto Rico residents to vote for President and Vice-President of the United States pursuant to international agreements, including (1) the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. Res. 217 A (III), U.N. Doc. A/810 (1948); (2) the Inter-American Democratic Charter of the Organization of American States, 28th Spec. Sess., OAS Doc. OEA/Ser.P/AG/RES.1 (XXVIII-E/01) (OAS General Assembly) (Sept. 11, 2001); and (3) the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, opened for signature Dec. 16, 1966, 999 U.N.T.S. 171; 2. the availability of declaratory judgment concerning the government’s compliance with said obligations, see 28 U.S.C. 2201. Subject to the provisions of Fed. R. App. P. 29, the court would also invite the submission of amicus curiae briefs not to exceed 20 pages addressing the above matters.”

I thank my reader for sending along news of this quite interesting and potentially very important development.

The wire services are reporting: The Associated Press reports that “Democrats Warn on GOP Judge Rule Change.”

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that “U.S. Judges Urge More Security After Court Killings” and “Wyeth to Streamline Some Fen-Phen Claim Payments.”

“Chief Justice ‘in good form'”: Over at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston provides this report.

“Public Rights, Private Rites: Reliving Richmond Newspapers For My Father.” Law Professor Laurence H. Tribe‘s article published in the Spring 2003 issue of The Green Bag spawned this essay by Ramesh Ponnuru in the March 14, 2005 edition of National Review. Ponnuru’s essay, in turn, triggered yesterday’s letter from Professor Tribe to the National Review’s editor.

With the assistance of the good folks at “SCOTUSblog,” I have posted online Professor Tribe’s Green Bag article. Part one is here and part two is here; be forewarned, these are especially large PDF files.

A golf-loving appellate judge writes an opinion about video golf: Today, Circuit Judge Terence T. Evans issued an opinion on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit that begins:

As anyone who plays it knows, golf can be a very addicting game. And when real golfers want to tee-it-up, they head for their favorite course, which might be a gem like Brown Deer in Milwaukee, a public course that nevertheless plays host to an annual PGA Tour event every July. What most golfers do not do when they want to play 18 is head for a tavern. Also, most people are quite familiar with Tiger Woods. But who knows Jeff Harlow of Florissant, Missouri? This case is about “golfers” who prefer taverns to fairways and aspire to be more like Harlow than Tiger. Our case concerns video golf.

The appeal decided today involves copyright and trade dress claims that one manufacturer of a popular video golf game filed against another manufacturer of a video golf game.

Judge Evans’s love of golf (and of sports generally) can also be glimpsed in this golf-related decision that he issued in March 2000.

Third Circuit holds that Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act is not a valid exercise of Congress’s authority to abrogate a State’s sovereign immunity under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment with regard to disabled prison inmates: You can access today’s ruling of a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit at this link.

“The Chief Justice: Respect his privacy.” In the current issue of The National Law Journal, Law Professor Thomas E. Baker has an essay that begins, “Newspaper reporters and editors ought to stop hectoring Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist for not satisfying their exaggerated demands for every last detail about his cancer treatment.”

The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are reports headlined “Judges Call for Better Safety Measures” and “Shooting Suspect Faces 4 Murder Charges.”

“Conference Calls Off-Site Security for Judges Top Priority”: The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has just issued this news release.

“Perry appoints appellate judge to Texas’ highest court”: The Associated Press provides this report.

“Nichols appears for refiling of rape charge; Prosecutors will pursue murder charges later”: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution provides this news update.

“Lawyers ask justices to toss sentencing rules; But prosecutors argue the system is constitutional and can be adjusted”: This article appears today in The Newark Star-Ledger.