“New eminent domain war: Vincent Rack’s family has owned North Bend land since 1932; now Green Township wants to claim 6.5 acres of it.” The Cincinnati Enquirer contains this article today.

“Case to test states’ bank rules; Supreme Court to hear Wachovia’s challenge to local regulations”: This article appears today in The Charlotte Observer.

The Detroit News reports today that “Mich. takes Wachovia to High Court; State argues Wachovia subsidiary must follow its consumer protection laws, not U.S. agency’s.”

And Bloomberg News reports that “Spitzer Battles Wachovia’s Dream Team in State-Power Court Case.”

The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “Supreme Court to Mull Pay-Discrimination” and “Texas Jury to Get Smuggling Deaths Trial.”

“Ledbetter v. Goodyear: The Supreme Court Considers Procedural Technicalities That Perpetuate the Gender Wage Gap.” Joanna Grossman and Deborah Brake have this essay today at FindLaw.

“Killing Habeas Corpus: Arlen Specter’s about-face.” Jeffrey Toobin has this article in the December 4, 2006 issue of The New Yorker.

“Blawg Review #85”: Available online here, at “Freedom To Differ.”

“Supreme Court to hear global warming case this week”: The Detroit Free Press provides this report.

“Justice Stevens and Panel on Judicial Selection”: You can view online yesterday evening’s broadcast of C-SPAN‘s “America and the Courts” by clicking here (RealPlayer required).

C-SPAN describes yesterday’s broadcast as follows: “Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens spoke about original intent and stare decisis at the Chicago Bar Association on September 14th. He is followed by a panel discussion on judicial selection, moderated by Legal Times Supreme Court Correspondent Tony Mauro at the Georgetown Law Center in Washington, DC on September 28th.”

“Regulate CO2? Justices To Rule; Connecticut Helps Put Global Warming Before Supreme Court.” This article appears today in The Hartford Courant.

“Hail to the chief: Dick Cheney’s mission to expand — or ‘restore’ — the powers of the presidency.” Charlie Savage has this lengthy article in the Ideas section of today’s edition of The Boston Globe.

“Nicaragua abortion ban called a threat to lives”: This article appears today in The Boston Globe.

“Courts Don’t Belong to Judges”: The Connecticut regional section of today’s edition of The New York Times today contains an editorial that begins, “The state legislature, the news media and the judicial branch clashed repeatedly this year over a simple question: Who has the final say on how Connecticut courts are run?”

“Judicial nominations: Time for bipartisanship.” Law Professor Carl Tobias will have this essay in Monday’s issue of The National Law Journal.

“High Court Case Could Imperil Pending Patents; Justices to Hear Dispute Over What Constitutes an Invention”: law.com’s Tony Mauro provides this report.

“Lawmaker Leaves Judge Nominee in Limbo”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A conservative Republican lawmaker is considering whether to stop blocking a judicial nominee over concerns her appearance at a lesbian commitment ceremony betrayed her legal views on gay marriage.”

And The Des Moines Register on Thursday published a related article headlined “Politics stall Iowan’s judgeship; John Jarvey’s qualifications aren’t involved in standoff.”

“Check Still Needed On Judicial Power: Should Judges Answer Only To Themselves?” Mitchell W. Pearlman has this op-ed today in The Hartford Courant.

“Record damages for Irish billionaire who sued ‘Mirror'”: This article appeared yesterday in The Independent (UK).

The Sunday Business Post of Ireland reports today that “Supreme Court may reduce O’Brien award.”

The Press Gazette (UK) reported on Friday that “Billionaire businessman wins record Irish damages against Mirror.”

And today in The Sunday Times of London, Sarah Carey has an essay entitled “Doing justice to O’Brien.”

“Lawyers cram for justices’ grilling; Jefferson schools case heard Dec. 4”: The Louisville Courier-Journal today contains an article that begins, “They’ve spent six months studying case law, writing legal briefs and flying around the country to sharpen their arguments before panels of top law professors. But Dec. 4, two Louisville lawyers will argue opposite sides of a landmark school-integration case before the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. — a first for both.”

In somewhat related news, The Los Angeles Times reports today that “Affirmative action era is over, longtime foe says; Former UC regent Ward Connerly, buoyed by success of Michigan measure, is eyeing new targets.”

And in The Seattle Times, columnist Danny Westneat has an op-ed entitled “Seeing our way to diversity.”

“Activism already a factor in races for Pa. high court”: The Philadelphia Inquirer today contains an article that begins, “Russell M. Nigro is wrestling with a dilemma: Should he try to win back a seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court after being ousted in a wave of voter anger last year? Or should he skip the political drama and stick with his growing court-mediation business? Nigro, a former Philadelphia trial judge, is weighing a variety of factors – whether the legal community would support him, how to raise money for another costly statewide campaign, and even what to do about bloggers who, he fears, might spread misinformation about him.”

“Gay couple awaits adoption ruling from U.S. court; The Seattle men’s quest for their child’s birth certificate in Oklahoma highlights how states’ rules conflict”: This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

“High Court to Hear Global Warming Case”: The Associated Press provides this report.

“Scalia the Civil Libertarian? As it conducts the war on terror, the Bush administration may find the conservative justice a bigger obstacle than the Democratic Party.” Scott Turow has this Idea Lab essay in today’s issue of The New York Times Magazine.

“Killing habeas corpus: Arlen Specter’s about-face.” Jeffrey Toobin will have this article in the December 4, 2006 issue of The New Yorker.

“In Fractured Decision, CAFC Refuses to Reexamine De Novo Claim Construction”: This post appeared yesterday at “Patently-O: Patent Law Blog.” My earlier coverage is at this link.

“Age of consent to be set at 16”: The Sunday Times of London contains an article that begins, “The Irish government is to reduce the age of consent by a year to 16, in a reform of the law on teenage sexual activity and the protection of children recommended by a parliamentary committee.”

My earlier coverage of this matter, from May 2006, can be accessed here.

“Internet peek at jail life could end soon; Anderson County sheriff says Web cam jeopardizes security”: This article appeared yesterday in The Tennessean.

“No liability found in STD case”: The San Luis Obispo Tribune today contains an article that begins, “A jury decided this week that a former San Luis Obispo County resident did not negligently infect his ex-wife with a sexually transmitted disease, likely the first case in the state to be decided using a California Supreme Court ruling on the issue, legal experts said.”

“Government Urges Supreme Court to Stay Out of Times Case”: This article will appear Sunday in The New York Times.

And The Associated Press reports that “Gov’t Asks Court Not to Block Records.”

“University of Michigan vs. the people”: Thursday in The Chicago Tribune, columnist Steve Chapman had an op-ed that begins, “After the votes were counted on election night, there were lots of gracious concession statements by losing candidates thanking their supporters, offering to work with the winners and paying tribute to the virtues of democracy. Then there was Mary Sue Coleman, who was having none of this. The day after Michigan’s citizens voted to ban the use of racial and gender preferences by public institutions, the president of the University of Michigan gave an embittered speech telling them to take a long walk off a short pier.”

“Case Tests Federal Supremacy Over Banks; Supreme Court to Hear Arguments Next Week in States’ Challenge to ‘Preemption’ of Regulation”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

“New York Times seeks shield for phone records”: Lyle Denniston has this post online today at “SCOTUSblog.” Lyle’s post links to both the newspaper’s application for a stay and the federal government’s response.

“Climate in the Court: The justices take up global warming.” This editorial will appear Sunday in The Washington Post.

Programming note: Today is day two of my family’s visit to Washington, DC. Additional posts will appear tonight.

“States will tell Supreme Court feds must act on warming; The EPA must address warming, California and others will tell justices”: David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

And today in The Wall Street Journal, Jess Bravin has an article (free access) headlined “An Inconvenient Case for Supreme Court” that begins, “Things are bound to heat up at the Supreme Court Wednesday, when justices weigh whether the Clean Air Act requires the Bush administration to do something about global warming.”

“Lawyers learn to share their pain with jurors; They use a technique called psychodrama to connect better by showing vulnerability”: This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times.