Recusal request in death penalty case draws the ire of its subject, a Justice serving on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania: Last Friday, Justice Ronald D. Castille issued this decision denying the motion to recuse.

Divided three-judge Second Circuit panel holds unlawful a federal Bureau of Prisons regulation limiting placement in a community corrections center to the lesser of the last ten percent or six months of a federal prisoner’s sentence: You can access today’s ruling at this link.

“Howard powers way to Derby crown; Wright takes second despite hitting 16 homers in one round”: Some happy news in what’s otherwise been a disappointing season thus far for the Philadelphia Phillies.

“A Branch Too Far: The dopey plan to appoint an inspector general for the judiciary.” Dirk Olin has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

My earlier essay on this subject was headlined “Exaggerations Plague Debate Over Need for Judicial Inspector General.”

“Judge Hears Arguments in Spy Program Case”: The Associated Press provides this report.

The Detroit Free Press provides a news update headlined “Lawyers lock horns over NSA spying program.”

And in earlier coverage, today’s edition of The Detroit News reported that “Hearing begins on spying program; Bush administration and civil liberties groups in Detroit will argue for and against wiretapping.”

“Judge: FBI Raid on Lawmaker’s Office Legal.” The Associated Press provides this report.

“Justice’s libel suit figures his losses”: The Chicago Sun-Times today contains an article that begins, “Illinois’ highest-ranking judge is seeking as much as $7.7 million in his lawsuit against a suburban newspaper — and has considered pursuing other jobs when his term ends in 2010, legal documents show.” Thanks to The Wall Street Journal Online’s “Law Blog” for the pointer.

“For the foregoing reasons, the Court has found that the search executed on Congressman Jefferson’s congressional office was constitutional, as it did not trigger the Speech or Debate Clause privilege, did not offend the principle of the separation of powers, and was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.” Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has issued this opinion and order today.

After recess, but before nap time: The Associated Press reports that “Senate to Hear Detainee Issue After Recess.”

Doctrine of “fraudulent joinder,” enabling a federal district court to ignore non-diverse co-defendants in determining whether a case was properly removed from state court based on diversity jurisdiction, does not apply where the plaintiff has sued only one defendant: Circuit Judge Jerry E. Smith issued this opinion today on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

“The Case of the Brilliant Dash: John Roberts shows why judges shouldn’t punctuate from the bench.” Bruce Reed of Slate’s The Has-Been offers these thoughts.

SSM o/a: The California Channel is webcasting live today’s marathon appellate oral arguments in the same-sex marriage appeals pending before California’s First District Court of Appeal.

Click here (Windows Media Player required) to view the oral arguments. The court itself offers this alternate audio-only webcast stream (Windows Media Player required).

Divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit orders the entry of a preliminary injunction requiring Southern Illinois University School of Law to recognize a chapter of the Christian Legal Society as an official student organization: You can access today’s ruling at this link.

“Ga. Appeals Restraining Order on Voter IDs”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Georgia’s attorney general filed an emergency appeal Monday of a court order that blocks the state from enforcing its new voter photo identification law during next week’s primary elections.”

“Mass. Court Backs Gay Marriage on Ballot”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “The same court that made Massachusetts the first state to legalize gay marriage ruled Monday that a proposed constitutional amendment to ban future same-sex marriages can be placed on the ballot, if approved by the Legislature.”

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

“Political Portents: Latest Supreme Court rulings on election law may foreshadow a far more conservative approach.” Law Professor Richard L. Hasen of “Election Law” blog fame has this essay (free access) in today’s issue of Legal Times.

“First Amendment eludes spotlight this term”: Tony Mauro has this news analysis online at the First Amendment Center.

“Fight over same-sex unions hits court in S.F.; Several lawsuits, pro and con, will be argued in marathon session”: Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.

“Death Penalty Disquiet Echoes Earlier Time; Anti-capital punishment advocates hope momentum is on their side, but for now, the votes on the Court aren’t there”: Tony Mauro has this article (free access) in today’s issue of Legal Times.

And this Wednesday afternoon in Washington, DC, Tony will serve as moderator at an event titled “Sizing Up the 2005-06 Supreme Court Term.”

“One year later, power to seize property ripe for abuse; Backlash to high court ruling grows, as do land grabs”: USA Today contains this editorial today, along with an op-ed by Donald J. Borut entitled “Vital tool of last resort: Uproar obscures eminent domain’s crucial role in revitalizing areas.”

“Initiative Would Overturn Same-Sex Marriage in Massachusetts; A proposed amendment is called ‘a real threat’ in the only state where such unions are legal”: This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

“‘Sanitizers’ of Home Video Lose in Court”: The Los Angeles Times today contains an article that begins, “A federal judge has issued final cut to studios, ruling that companies that snip out potentially offending material from movies for home viewing violate copyright laws.”

“Would-be attorney tries to shed ties to ’87 murder”: The Chicago Tribune contains this article today.

And in related coverage, one month ago today The Orlando Sentinel published an article headlined “Hush-hush past derails career in prosecuting” (Google cache of article).

“Investigations, Lawsuits Still Dogging 9/11 Lawyer; Violation of Order Halted Moussaoui Trial”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

“Gay Ruling Shows New York Is Less Liberal Than It (and the U.S.) Thinks”: The New York Times contains this article today.

And The Los Angeles Times today contains an editorial entitled “Setback for marriage justice: New York and Georgia courts will be on the wrong side of history of gay marriage.”

“Bringing the Church to the Courtroom; Christian Group Becomes Force in Major Legal Battles”: This front page article will appear Monday in The Washington Post.

“The Perils of Unpublished Non-precedential Federal Appellate Opinions: A Case Study of the Substantive Due Process State-Created Danger Doctrine in One Circuit.” Law Professor Sarah E. Ricks has this article (abstract with links for download) online at SSRN (via “Legal Theory Blog“).

The article’s abstract begins, “About 80% of federal appellate decisions are non-precedential. This Article examines the practical consequences for district courts and litigants confronting inconsistent appellate opinions issued by the same federal circuit. Specifically, this is a case study comparing the divergent binding and non-precedential opinions applying one frequently invoked constitutional theory within the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the ‘state-created danger’ theory of substantive due process. The comparison demonstrates that the risks of non-precedential opinions are real. During the six-year interval between binding state-created danger decisions, the Third Circuit created inconsistent non-precedential opinions on the identical legal theory.”

“Semper lie: Fake veteran must wear sandwich board.” Friday’s edition of The Daily Inter Lake contained an article that begins, “A Whitefish man was sentenced Thursday to spend 50 hours wearing a sandwich board with the words, ‘I am a liar. I am not a Marine. I have never served my country.’ Chief U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula also sentenced William Horvath to four months of house arrest for making a false statement.”

And yesterday’s edition of The Missoulian contained an article headlined “Judge orders public shaming for deceit.”

“On this week’s America and the Courts, the San Francisco Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals hears arguments in the case of Padilla v. Lever. The Court must decide if Orange County, California election officials violated the Voting Rights Act by not providing petitions in English and Spanish for the recall of a local school board member.” You can view yesterday evening’s broadcast of C-SPAN‘s “America & the Courts” by clicking here (RealPlayer required).

The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “California Court to Hear Gay Marriage Case” and “Papers From Jefferson Office Raid in Limbo.”

“Bush on Guantanamo: ‘I want to move forward’; Despite an adverse ruling from the Supreme Court on military tribunals, President Bush says a solution can be worked out to handle terror suspects.” Carol Rosenberg has this article today in The Miami Herald.

“Detainee Rights Create a Divide on Capitol Hill”: This article will appear Monday in The New York Times, along with an article by Neil A. Lewis headlined “Court’s Decision Offers Scant Guidance.”

“The Gitmo Fallout: The fight over the Hamdan ruling heats up–as fears about its reach escalate.” Michael Isikoff and Stuart Taylor Jr. will have this article in the July 17, 2006 issue of Newsweek.

“Supreme Confusion”: Stuart Taylor Jr. had this essay in last week’s issue of National Journal.

“Congress argues the recrafting of terror tribunals; At issue: the extent of fair-trial protections for suspected terrorists.” Warren Richey will have this article Monday in The Christian Science Monitor.