The Supreme Court of the United States posts online its October Term 2006 calendar: You can view the calendar online at this link. It appears that my birthday will occur on a Saturday this year.

American Bar Association downgrades its rating for Fourth Circuit nominee Terrence W. Boyle from unanimously well qualified to qualified (substantial majority), well qualified (minority): You can access the new rating at this link.

Denise Howell 4.0: The law blogger who inspired me to start “How Appealing” discusses her plans for the future.

“Childers Appeal Reaches The [Florida] Supreme Court”: The blog “Abstract Appeal” provides this post today. My earlier coverage of the case appears here.

City of Las Cruces, New Mexico defends federal lawsuit challenging the crosses in its logo: The Las Cruces Sun-News reported yesterday that “Federal court date set for three crosses’ lawsuit” (via “Religion Clause“). Of course, in English, Las Cruces means “the crosses.” You can view the city’s current logo via this post at the “Logo Design” blog.

“Anti-Smoking Group Wins Legal Victory”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “An anti-smoking group known for its edgy ads featuring teenagers has won a legal victory over No. 3 cigarette maker Lorillard Tobacco Co. The Delaware Supreme Court ruled Monday that the ads created by the Washington-based American Legacy Foundation did not violate a 1998 agreement between the tobacco industry and the states.” As of this moment, the opinion does not appear to be available online at the Supreme Court of Delaware’s web site.

“Detain Game: How Congress can make Guantanamo even worse.” Law Professor Bruce Ackerman has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Hinton admits to Melendi murder; Emory University student raped, killed in 1994”: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution provides this news update. Last month, I had this post reporting on the Supreme Court of Georgia‘s decision affirming that murder conviction, which, according to The Associated Press, was “the first in Georgia where authorities could find neither a body nor a definitive crime scene.”

“Trust Busters on the Supreme Court”: The Cato Institute has today posted online at this link an op-ed from Law Professor Richard A. Epstein that originally appeared last Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal. The op-ed begins, “A huge chunk of the Supreme Court’s work lies in interpreting the statutes and regulations that govern every nook of American life. In reading statutes, the justices oscillate uneasily between two inconsistent approaches.”

“Widow of Late Justice Blackmun Dies”: The Associated Press provides this report.

“Courts and the Law: Better Late Than Never.” Columnist Kenneth Jost has this essay in today’s issue of CQ Weekly.

“Conservative Court eager to make its mark”: James B. Staab has this op-ed today in The Kansas City Star.

“Sedley Alley’s Last-Minute Stay”: At “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Jonathan Adler has a post that begins, “The state of Tennessee executed Sedley Alley in the early morning of June 28 after a series of last-ditch appeals, an unusual 11th hour stay of execution, and a strongly worded order vacating the stay from a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Given the Sixth Circuit’s public dissension in recent years, including several sharply worded opinions and allegations of improprieties in death penalty cases, I suspect this case would have received more attention had it not been overshadowed by the close of the Supreme Court’s term and several high-profile decisions.”

Available online from The Nation: In the July 31, 2006 issue of the magazine, Law Professor David Cole will have an essay entitled “The ‘Kennedy Court.’” And Mickey Edwards will have an essay entitled “Lawyers Challenge Bush.”

Meanwhile, available online only, Aziz Huq has an essay entitled “Hamdan v Rumsfeld: Guidepost or Relic?”

“Barring Faith: A federal judge strikes down prison ministries.” Robert P. George and Gerald V. Bradley have this essay in the current issue of The Weekly Standard.

On today’s installment of NPR‘s “Morning Edition“: This morning’s broadcast contained audio segments entitled “Senate Hearing Highlights Specter-Gonzales Relationship” and “Fight Over Ancient Persian Tablets Goes to U.S. Court” (RealPlayer required).

“Yale, UVA Launch Supreme Court Clinics”: Today in Legal Times, Tony Mauro has an “Inadmissible” item (subscription required) that begins, “The allure of Supreme Court advocacy, Washington-style, is spreading among top law schools. Lawyers from two D.C. firms are working with law schools that are launching Supreme Court litigation clinics this fall, and others may not be far behind. Andrew Pincus and Charles Rothfeld, partners at Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, will be sharing their high court skills at Yale Law School. And Mark Stancil, who is moving this week from Baker Botts to the smaller appellate shop of Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck & Untereiner, will be working on Supreme Court cases at the University of Virginia School of Law.” No word yet on whether Stancil’s “Supreme Court Reports” will be accompanying him to his new law firm.

In today’s issue of Legal Times: T.R. Goldman has an article headlined “Pushing Back on Military Justice: Why the administration won’t use the Uniform Code to try alleged terrorists.”

And an article is headlined “Pentagon Suspects Lawyer Involvement in Deaths; Lawyers for detainees say Pentagon treats them as if they were the enemy.”

“Measuring Federal Appellate Courts’ Success Before the U.S. Supreme Court”: The brand new installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com can be accessed here.

“Wiggle Room on Cruelty”: Law Professor Joseph Margulies has this op-ed today in The Washington Post.

“Protesters battle over Mississippi abortion clinic; Opponents plan week of rallies in effort to shut down state’s last facility”: This article appears today in USA Today.

And The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi reports today that “5 abortion opponents arrested; Windshield broken during incident.”

“Policy raises judgeship doubts”: The Washington Times today contains an article that begins, “The Bush administration’s policy toward detained terrorism suspects has caused the president’s nominee for a federal judgeship in Virginia to face tough questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee.”

“Trying terrorists, Round 2”: Yesterday’s issue of The Chicago Tribune contained an editorial that begins, “John Yoo, a former top lawyer in the Bush administration, has a simple remedy for the Supreme Court decision striking down the military tribunals created for war crimes trials at Guantanamo. Congress, he says, should pass a law overruling the Supreme Court. From a legal point of view, that is not entirely implausible, and given the breadth of the court’s ruling, the administration may be tempted to try to show the court who’s boss.”

“Gays Still Waiting for Washington’s Answer; The Supreme Court in the state has spent 15 months deliberating same-sex marriage”: This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Abu Ghraib Rewarded”: The New York Times today contains an editorial that begins, “William Haynes II, the Pentagon’s general counsel, has been closely involved in shaping some of the Bush administration’s most legally and morally objectionable policies, notably on the use of torture. The last thing he is suited to be is a federal judge, but that is just what President Bush wants to make him.”

And also in today’s newspaper, columnist Bob Herbert has an op-ed entitled “The Definition of Tyranny” (TimesSelect subscription required).

“Blawg Review #66”: Available here, at “David Jacobson’s External Insights.”