“Let voters fix a gerrymander”: Monday’s edition of The Christian Science Monitor will contain an editorial that begins, “The Supreme Court grabbed a live wire last week when it agreed to hear a dispute over Texas congressional redistricting.”

“Matching Granddad? He wins hands down.” Today in The San Diego Union-Tribune, columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr. has an op-ed that begins, “Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito Jr. has a top-notch resume that suggests an interesting life. So I was intrigued when I read an article that mentioned how Judge Alito had said that he’s convinced that the life story of his immigrant father – who died in the mid-1980s – is, hands down, much more interesting.”

“Stevens Celebrates 30 Years on High Court”: Gina Holland of The Associated Press provides this report.

“Courts Lift Curbs On Kids Buying Violent Games; Free-Speech Rights Cited As State Laws Are Blocked; Sen. Clinton Offers a Bill”: This front page article (free access) appeared yesterday in The Wall Street Journal.

“Job dream fizzles for disabled lawyer; If he is employed, the state will not pay for someone to assist him with personal needs”: The Orlando Sentinel today contains an article that begins, “Armed with a law degree from Florida State University and an offer to work as an assistant state attorney in Lake County, Aaron Bates was on the road to self-sufficiency despite being severely disabled almost from birth. But in a classic case of Catch-22, the state warned Bates last month that if he accepts the job, it will no longer pay for an attendant, without whom he cannot function.”

eBay auction of Justice Antonin Scalia bobblehead doll concludes this evening: With just under six hours to go as of the time of this post, the current high bid is a mere $300.00. The complete listing is at this link. For reasons that The Green Bag explains here, even many subscribers to that publication cannot easily obtain a Scalia bobblehead doll.

“Navigating an odyssey to Guantanamo Bay”: Marcia Coyle will have this profile of Navy Lieutenant Commander Charles Swift in tomorrow’s issue of The National Law Journal. Swift is runner-up for the publication’s “Lawyer of the Year” designation.

Tony Mauro is reporting: In tomorrow’s issue of Legal Times, Tony will have articles headlined “The Other Side Of Sam Alito: His speeches reveal a warmer, wittier nominee” and “Longtime AO Chief Mecham to Step Down” (subscription required).

Although, as I have noted, a subscription is required to access both articles, the article about Judge Alito contains links to PDF files of the judge’s speeches, and those PDF files are freely accessible. Judge Alito’s recent talk about unpublished opinions is here; Judge Alito’s speech about amicus briefs is here; and Judge Alito’s humorous remarks from 1995 on the occasion of receiving the Thomas More Medal from Seton Hall University School of Law can be accessed here (upside down, no less).

And while I’m on the subject of talks given by U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito, Jr., the April 2002 issue of the Philadelphia Bar Reporter, at page 6, contained an article headlined “Judge Alito Briefs Committee, Offers Advice” that begins, “Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. spoke candidly about the effects of the litigation explosion in the 1960s and 1970s on appellate courts and gave practical suggestions on how to improve appellate briefs at the March 11 meeting of the Appellate Courts Committee.”

“Tortured logic: The ‘ticking-bomb’ scenario, as an argument for torture, is potent; It is also silly, says one philosopher, and corrupt.” Christopher Shea has this essay in the Ideas section of today’s edition of The Boston Globe.

The Toronto Globe and Mail is reporting: Yesterday’s newspaper contained a front page article headlined “How a terror group cloned Ted Rogers’ cellphone; A customer’s dispute over her hefty bill helped uncover the ability of radicals to duplicate the phones of Rogers executives” that begins, “A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step — and so it was that law professor Susan Drummond’s long, strange trip into the world of wireless security, where she learned that a terrorist organization had appropriated Ted Rogers’ cellphone number, was launched by the arrival of a phone bill for $12,237.60.”

And yesterday’s newspaper also contained an article headlined “Prison tattoos go straight; Pilot project costing $700,000 will give inmates access to clean, legal needlework.”

“Contours Of Evil: Inside Psychopaths’ Brains; Researchers Study How The Mind Works When There’s No Remorse.” This article appears today in The Hartford Courant.

“Legality of Wiretaps Remains in Question”: Today in The Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage and Bob Drogin have a news analysis that begins, “Is it legal for the president, acting on his own authority and without a court warrant, to order federal officials to eavesdrop on people within the United States?”

“Cocaine cases: Finding justice; Rhode Island is at the center of a dispute over how to sentence people convicted of offenses involving crack versus powder cocaine.” The Providence Journal contains this article today.

“Faith and consequences: What Terri’s Law cost the Republicans in Congress.” This article appears today in The St. Petersburg Times.

“Governor notes Supreme Court nominee Judge Baldwin’s integrity, work ethic; Judge says she is ‘humbled’ by decision”: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today contains an article that begins, “Gov. Ed Rendell made it official at a Downtown Pittsburgh news conference yesterday: He intends to nominate Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Cynthia A. Baldwin to a fill a vacancy on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.”

And The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review today reports that “Rendell tabs Baldwin for state high court.”

“Flagging Alito’s allegiances”: Stephen R. Dujack has this op-ed today in The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger.

“Organizations jockey for, against Alito”: This article appears today in The Portsmouth Herald.

Today in The Pueblo Chieftain, U.S. Representative Bob Beauprez (R-CO) has an op-ed entitled “Samuel Alito worthy of Senate confirmation.”

In The Baltimore Sun, Jack Germond has an essay entitled “Before the litmus tests.”

And in The Washington Post, Bruce Fein has an op-ed entitled “Don’t Run From the Truth: Why Alito Shouldn’t Deny His Real Convictions.”

“Casey’s clear view on abortion could muddy campaign waters”: The Philadelphia Inquirer contains this article today.

“Possible Alito filibuster heats up D.C.” This article appears today in The Deseret Morning News.

“Evolution Trial in Hands of Willing Judge”: Today’s edition of The New York Times contains this profile of U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III of the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Jones lives in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, which is home of Yuengling Brewery and also where my clerkship for Judge William D. Hutchinson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit was based.

Here’s a Los Angeles Times op-ed in need of fact-checking: A bit earlier, I noted here that Law Professor Marci A. Hamilton has an op-ed entitled “Is the court Catholic? If the Senate confirms Alito, a majority of the justices would share a faith tradition” in Sunday’s issue of The Los Angeles Times.

In the second to last paragraph of the op-ed, Professor Hamilton writes: “If one were looking for a predominant influence on the Supreme Court, it would seem to be Harvard Law School, not Catholicism. In addition to those listed above, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David H. Souter and Stephen G. Breyer attended Harvard Law, which means that if Alito is confirmed, the school will have seven graduates on the high court.” Unfortunately, the statement that “if Alito is confirmed, [Harvard Law School] will have seven graduates on the high court” is wrong in at least three different ways.

First, earlier in the op-ed, Professor Hamilton incorrectly states that Justice Clarence Thomas attended law school at Harvard. On the contrary, Justice Thomas received his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.

Second, while Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg began law school at Harvard, she transferred to Columbia Law School and received her LL.B. from Columbia. Thus, she cannot be counted as a graduate of Harvard Law.

And finally, Professor Hamilton’s statement in her op-ed that “if Alito is confirmed, [Harvard Law School] will have seven graduates on the high court” implies that Samuel A. Alito, Jr.‘s confirmation would somehow alter the number of Harvard Law School graduates on the Court. Yet because neither Alito nor the Justice he is slated to replace, Sandra Day O’Connor, graduated from Harvard Law, Alito’s confirmation will do nothing to affect the number of Harvard Law graduates on the Court. And because neither Justice Thomas nor Justice Ginsburg graduated from Harvard Law, whether or not Alito is confirmed the number of Harvard Law graduates on the Court will remain at five. Which, ironically, will be the same as the number of Catholics on the Court if Alito is confirmed according to Professor Hamilton’s op-ed.

“Gerrymanders and Judges: A political problem requires a political solution.” This editorial (free access) appears today in The Wall Street Journal.

“Senators press for judges’ safety; Durbin, Obama irked over delay in installing home security systems”: The Chicago Tribune today contains an article that begins, “Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin and Barack Obama of Illinois met Friday with the head of the U.S. Marshals Service to voice frustration over what they call a lack of progress in establishing new safety measures to protect federal judges. Seven months ago, Congress approved money to provide home security systems for members of the federal judiciary after U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow’s husband and mother were slain by a disgruntled litigant in Chicago. But the government has yet to resolve who would pay the monthly fee for the security service.”

“Late filing halts death row appeal; Court won’t hear case, despite U.S. ban on execution of mentally retarded”: This article appears today in The Austin American-Statesman.

And The Dallas Morning News reports today that “Technicality deals retarded death row inmate setback; Judges uphold 1-year statute of limitations for filing key appeal.”

In today’s edition of The Houston Chronicle: An article is headlined “5th Circuit rejects the late appeal by inmate with low IQ; Attorneys for Texas man facing execution had missed deadline by 40 days.” As I noted here last night, Adam Liptak has a similar article today in The New York Times.

And Mary Flood reports that “Judge says no call for gag order, at present; Lay’s speech ‘just a drop in the bucket’ of publicity.”

“Is the court Catholic? If the Senate confirms Alito, a majority of the justices would share a faith tradition.” Law Professor Marci A. Hamilton will have this essay Sunday in The Los Angeles Times.

“Justices Are Urged to Dismiss Padilla’s Case”: Linda Greenhouse will have this article Sunday in The New York Times.

“Pape & Chandler will seek certiorari for their Pit Bull”: This post appears today at the blog “f/k/a….”

In news from Pocatello: The Pocatello Idaho State Journal reports here (fifth item) today that “President Bush on Friday nominated Idaho State District Judge Randy Smith to serve on the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.” The official notice of yesterday’s nomination is available at this link.

Earlier this month, The Idaho Statesman published an essay by columnist Dan Popkey entitled “Ex-GOP chairman would serve Idaho well on court.”

The nomination could prove controversial, however, as law.com’s Justin Scheck reported earlier this month in an article headlined “Concerns Raised Over Politics of 9th Circuit Nomination.”

“His gay claim likely to hold up; Several legal experts think Joe Redner’s statement that he is gay will survive any future legal challenges”: The St. Petersburg Times today contains an article that begins, “Whether or not Joe Redner is gay, attorneys and First Amendment experts are calling the strip club owner’s recent disclosure a brilliant legal move.”

The New York Times is reporting: Sunday’s newspaper will contain an article headlined “In Speech, Bush Says He Ordered Domestic Spying.” The text of the radio address that President Bush delivered today can be accessed here.

And today’s newspaper contains an article headlined “Pataki Wants Death Penalty for Killers of Police.”

“BlackBerry Maker Is Emboldened By Patent Office”: The Wall Street Journal today contains an article (free access) that begins, “Buoyed by a patent-office ruling, BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion Ltd. appears to be gearing up for a court showdown with patent-holder NTP Inc. rather than the last-minute settlement most analysts expect.”

“Rendell moves to fill court opening”: The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review today contains an article that begins, “Allegheny County’s first black female judge is expected to be nominated to fill an upcoming vacancy on the state Supreme Court. Gov. Ed Rendell today plans to announce his nomination of Common Pleas Judge Cynthia A. Baldwin to fill the spot being vacated at the end of the month by Justice Russell M. Nigro, who lost a retention vote in November amid widespread voter backlash over the controversial legislative pay raise.”

And The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today reports that “Governor to name Baldwin for seat on Supreme Court.”

“Lawmakers Back Use of Evidence Coerced From Detainees”: The New York Times today contains an article that begins, “House and Senate negotiators agreed Friday to a measure that would enable the government to keep prisoners at Guantanamo Bay indefinitely on the basis of evidence obtained by coercive interrogations.”

And the newspaper also contain a news analysis headlined “Behind Power, One Principle as Bush Pushes Prerogatives.”

“Judge Alito on Civil Rights”: This editorial appears today in The Washington Post.