“Courts Dismissed: It’s a myth that judicial interventions inevitably provoke a stronger public backlash than those made by legislatures.” Scott Lemieux has this essay online at The American Prospect.

At 3 p.m. eastern time today, the U.S. Senate is scheduled to begin debate on the nomination of Jerome A. Holmes to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Tenth Circuit: An up-or-down vote on the nomination is scheduled to occur in the Senate tomorrow.

Earlier this month, The Tulsa World published this article reporting on the Senate Judiciary Committee‘s approval of the nomination by a voice vote. The Senate debate can be viewed live, online via C-SPAN2 in both RealPlayer and Windows Media Player formats.

“What if the judge reads the lawprof’s blog? And the lawprof has analyzed the issue in the judge’s case?” Law Professor Ann Althouse offers these comments about my latest essay for law.com.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this week’s essay is based on a portion of the remarks that I delivered last Thursday at the Eighth Circuit‘s Judicial Conference. I agree with Ann and the U.S. District Judge who approached me after my talk to say that he was surprised that some of his colleagues appeared to view with concern the possibility of being exposed to web-based commentary about cases under advisement for decision. Yet the question-and-answer session following my remarks demonstrated that the concern apparently does exist among a not insubstantial number of judges, which is why I decided to make my thoughts on the subject available to a wider audience.

“This diversity suit pits two banks * * * against each other in a quarrel over liability for a forged or altered check.” So begins an opinion that Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner issued today on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

In announcing the court’s ruling, the opinion explains: “So the case comes down to whether, in cases of doubt, forgery should be assumed or alteration should be assumed. If the former, Foster wins, and if the latter, Wachovia. It seems to us that the tie should go to the drawer bank, Wachovia.”

“This appeal presents the novel question whether the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act), which prohibits an employer from ordering a mass layoff without giving 60 days’ notice, applies to a mass layoff of employees who worked for a private employer as airport security screeners until the United States government federalized airport security services and took over operations at their airport.” So begins an opinion that a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued today. The panel holds that privately-employed airport security screeners were not entitled to notice under the WARN Act.

“Stanford professor stumps for electoral alternative”: The San Francisco Chronicle today contains a front page article that begins, “A Stanford University computer science professor has come up with an idea to circumvent the more than 200-year-old Electoral College system and institute a national popular vote to elect the president of the United States.”

“Senate revives abortion debate on rights of teens”: This article appeared Saturday in The Las Vegas Review-Journal.

And The Associated Press reports that “Senate Wades Back Into Abortion Debate.”

You can access the text of the proposed legislation known as the “Child Custody Protection Act” by clicking here.

“Lawyers Decry Bush’s Legal Interpretations”: Gina Holland of The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “President Bush’s penchant for writing exceptions to laws he has just signed violates the Constitution, an American Bar Association task force says in a report highly critical of the practice.”

The report of the American Bar Association’s Task Force on Presidential Signing Statements and the Separation of Powers Doctrine can be accessed online at this link. Also available online from the ABA are an “Online Media Kit on Presidential Signing Statements“; a list of Task Force Members; and a Press Release on Task Force Creation.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit — still not one happy family? A unanimous three-judge Sixth Circuit panel today set aside a death sentence imposed in an Ohio state court. In a concurring opinion, however, Circuit Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey states:

I write separately in order to express my dismay at Judge Boggs’s unjustified attack directly on both the capital defense bar and indirectly on the members of this court. For the chief judge of a federal appellate court to state that it is “virtually inevitable” that “any mildly-sentient defense attorney” would consider playing the equivalent of Russian roulette with the life of a client is truly disturbing. Such a comment is an affront to the dedication of the women and men who struggle tirelessly to uphold their ethical duty to investigate fully and present professionally all viable defenses available to their clients. It also silently accuses the judges on this court of complicity in the alleged fraud by countenancing the tactics outlined.

You can access the complete ruling at this link.

On today’s broadcast of NPR‘s “Morning Edition“: This morning’s broadcast contained audio segments entitled “Congress Looks at Creating Judicial Watchdog” (featuring Nina Totenberg) and “Black Student Enrollment at UCLA Plunges” RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments.

“Silence in the Court!: Why are liberals urging that the Supreme Court do next to nothing?” Online at Slate today, Dahlia Lithwick has this review of Law Professor Jeffrey Rosen‘s new book, “The Most Democratic Branch: How the Courts Serve America.”

“Viewing Law Blogs as a Vast Amicus Brief”: Today’s brand new installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com can be accessed at this link.

“Marriage backers hail month of rulings”: The Washington Times contains this article today.

The Chicago Tribune today contains an editorial entitled “Federalism and marriage.”

And online today at washingtonpost.com, Andrew Cohen has an essay entitled “Same Coast, Different Worlds on Same Sex Marriage.”

“Global Warming on Trial: The Supreme Court is right to weigh in on the globe’s hottest issue.” This editorial appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Legal Group Faults Bush for Ignoring Parts of Bills”: The New York Times today contains an article that begins, “The American Bar Association said Sunday that President Bush was flouting the Constitution and undermining the rule of law by claiming the power to disregard selected provisions of bills that he signed.”

The Washington Post reports today that “Bush’s Tactic of Refusing Laws Is Probed; Bar Association Panel Criticizes President’s Many Challenges to Legislation.”

In The Boston Globe, Charlie Savage reports that “Panel chides Bush on bypassing laws; ABA group cites limits to power.”

And The Chicago Tribune reports that “ABA panel urges checks on Bush power; 807 signing statements set perilous path, it says.”

“Citing Precedents, Holocaust Survivors File Brief To Reduce Lawyer’s $4.1M Fee”: This article appears today in The New York Sun.

“Know It All: Wikipedia takes on the experts.” Stacy Schiff has this article in the July 31, 2006 issue of The New Yorker.

And today in The Los Angeles Times, Bernard Haisch has an op-ed entitled “Why Wiki Can Drive You Wacky: When free-form information gets it wrong, watch out.”

In today’s edition of The Christian Science Monitor: Warren Richey has an article headlined “Must US allow Guantanamo detainees to attend own trial?”

A related article is headlined “Tactics of war on terror to occupy Congress; Lawmakers will move this week on how to proceed with warrantless surveillance and treatment of detainees.”

And Brendan O’Neill has an op-ed entitled “Throwing our judicial junk in Britain’s backyard (or courts).”

“Blawg Review #67”: This week’s brand new installment is available here at the “Antitrust Review” blog.

Atlanta Braves 5, Philadelphia Phillies 1: My son and I attended last night’s game, but after eight well-pitched innings, only fans of the Braves went home happy. The failure of Brett Myers to execute a sacrifice bunt, and a Bobby Abreu baserunning error in overlooking the arm of Jeff Francoeur, may have prevented the Phillies from being in the lead heading into the ninth inning.

The Phillies should also make a note that walking the batter ahead of Francoeur is not such a smart idea if Tom Gordon is pitching, given that Francoeur has now homered off Gordon in two straight games. The new closer for the Braves, Bob Wickman, looked sharp in his first appearance for Atlanta, sending the Phillies down in order in the bottom of the ninth inning.

You can access the box score at this link, while wraps are available here and here.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting: Today’s newspaper contains articles headlined “Flurry of Court Rulings, with More Ahead, on Gay Unions“; “Specter Sees Pluses in His Spying Bill“; and “Unsettling Days for King of Class Actions; Prosecutors may want to indict William Lerach, but his career and the shareholder suits he pioneered are booming.”

In newz from New Zealand: The Wairarapa Times-Age reported last Thursday that “Woman cop moonlighted as prostitute.”

And last Friday’s edition of The New Zealand Herald reported that “Policewoman prostitute earned $500-a-night.”

The Providence (R.I.) Journal is reporting: An article in today’s newspaper headlined “GOP fights for control of Congress; The midterm congressional elections tend to receive less attention than presidential elections, but they sometimes bring equally important shifts in the nation’s political direction” states as follows:

As he approaches the final election cycle of his administration, the biggest question to be settled this fall may be Mr. Bush’s ability to complete his transformation of the federal judiciary — and perhaps the Supreme Court.

From Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., to the dozens of judges he has placed in federal district and appeals courts, Mr. Bush has accomplished a substantial rightward shift in the courts that will probably endure well beyond his presidency.

But if age or ill health opens a seat now held by the Supreme Court’s liberal bloc, Mr. Bush might put a truly historic imprint on the judicial branch, said Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution in Washington. A Senate controlled by the Democrats could frustrate that ambition.

A Democratic takeover would make Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, an outspoken liberal from Vermont, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, with the power to bottle up any judicial nomination. Mann said Mr. Bush could be forced to negotiate with the Democrats to win confirmation of any nominee to the high court.

And in other news, “State’s high court sees fewer dissents; Court observers also note that the Rhode Island Supreme Court issues fewer anonymous opinions than in previous years.”

Images from Brainerd, Minnesota and the surrounding region: Thanks to the Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference, my wife and I had the pleasure of spending much of last week in and around Brainerd, Minnesota.

On Wednesday, we decided to drive through much of the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway. Here’s a photo we took at the outset of that trip. Farmhouses in the shape of hats were popular in the area. And if you were searching for bales of hay, you’ve come to the right place.

On the way back to the resort, we stopped in the town of Nisswa, where we walked around a bit. Because it was a Wednesday afternoon, turtle races were on the agenda. Word is that the newest U.S. District Judge for the District of Minnesota, as a youth, once raced turtles there. The Paul Bunyan State Trail also crosses through Nisswa, as shown in this photo.

On Thursday morning, I delivered my remarks. After lunch, my wife and I headed to the “beach,” which in that area of Minnesota is the term used to refer to a man-made patch of sand near a lake. I brought reading material apropos of the setting, Linda Greenhouse’s book “Becoming Justice Blackmun.” At lunch earlier that day, my wife and I dined with Senior Eighth Circuit Judge Gerald W. Heaney and his lovely wife, and Judge Heaney (who served together with then-Judge Blackmun on the Eighth Circuit for nearly four years) was kind enough to share some of his first-hand Justice Blackmun stories. As a non-judge, the least I could do was wear a Major League Baseball umpire’s cap, given the “calling balls and strikes” rhetoric that was so big during the recent U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

Thursday evening consisted of dinner outside at a Minnesota lakes event. Here’s a photo of my wife and me at dinner; Judge Heaney and his wife appear just behind my wife’s shoulder in that photo. After dinner, the guests were invited to take a tour of Gull Lake on pontoon boats. With nearly every Article III, bankruptcy, and magistrate judge from within the Eighth Circuit in attendance, not to mention a U.S. Supreme Court Justice and judges’ families, there was lots of security on hand at all times. During the pontoon boat rides, security boats trailed behind to ensure that the event on the water remained as peaceful as the events on the land had been. The shoreline of Gull Lake featured many lovely homes, and this particularly large one is for sale.

After the pontoon boat rides, it was almost time for s’mores and a campfire sing-along. Here’s a pre-ignition photo of the bonfire ring, and the print at the very bottom of the sign states that “Destruction of this sign will result in a $25 charge.” I do not know whether that sign survived the night. Once afire, the ring gave off a tremendous amount of heat. If my marshmallows were as well-cooked as my hand that was holding the stick, the s’mores I made would have been all the more tasty.

On Friday, after the Judicial Conference drew to a close, it was time to head back to the airport in Minneapolis. On our way out of town, my wife and I stopped at the Brainerd Welcome Center, where a large Paul Bunyan statue wished us farewell.

“Candid phone calls cast doubt on Cantu review; Investigators are heard mocking the claim of wrongful execution, but DA denies any bias”: This article appears today in The Houston Chronicle.

“The Judiciary Strikes Back: The government fails to kill off a court challenge to NSA snooping.” Patrick Radden Keefe has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“GOP lawmakers take aim at U.S. judiciary; Upset over rulings, some in House pursue ‘jurisdiction stripping'”: This article appears today in The Baltimore Sun.

And on Friday, The St. Petersburg Times published an editorial entitled “Meddling moves against the courts.”

“Civil rights hiring shifted in Bush era; Conservative leanings stressed”: Charlie Savage has this article today in The Boston Globe.

“San Diego cross may provide national legal test”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Six of the current Supreme Court justices had other jobs when an atheist sued this city for permitting a giant cross in a public park. Ronald Reagan was president, the Christian Coalition was new and ‘values’ had yet to become a buzzword of American politics.”

DontDateHimGirl.com seeks to dismiss lawsuit brought against it by Pittsburgh-based attorney who claims postings on that web site have defamed him: The motion to dismiss argues both that personal jurisdiction is lacking over the defendants in Pennsylvania and that the federal law known as the Communications Decency Act makes the defendants immune from liability on the plaintiff’s claims. You can access the motion to dismiss at this link, while the affidavit filed in support thereof is here.

I am advised that the defendants’ brief in support of the motion to dismiss is due October 5, 2006, the plaintiff’s opposing brief is due October 12, 2006, and the motion is due to be argued on October 19, 2006.

I previously posted plaintiff’s complaint at this link.

U.S. District Court’s “generalized disagreement with Congress’s policy of punishing crack cocaine offenders more severely than powder cocaine offenders through the 100-to-1 crack-to-powder drug quantity ratio” was an impermissible basis to mitigate convicted criminal’s sentence, Eleventh Circuit holds: You can access yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at this link.

“Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Begins Special Sitting in Anchorage”: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued this news release yesterday.

“Cohabitation law ruling doesn’t apply statewide”: The Raleigh News & Observer contains this article today.

“L.A. Superior Court Drops Volunteer Judge Who Threatened to Deport Woman; Bruce R. Fink is removed from a list of substitute jurists after telling an illegal immigrant seeking a restraining order against her husband that he’d have her sent back to Mexico”: This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

“2 Years Late, Courts Chief Moves In; Administrator Failed to Meet Job’s Residency Requirement”: The Washington Post today contains an article that begins, “The D.C. Courts’ top administrator, Anne B. Wicks, did not meet her job’s residency requirement for more than two years, going home to a house in Arlington County — until a couple of weeks ago. After an anonymous tip to the D.C. inspector general’s office in March, Wicks’s boss, D.C. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Eric T. Washington, ordered her to move into the District promptly. For months after that, she remained in Virginia.”