“Supreme Court Looks at Race and Schools”: The Associated Press provides this updated report.

C-SPAN has just begun its rebroadcast of today’s oral arguments in the race-based school admission cases: You can access C-SPAN live, online using either Real Player or Windows Media Player.

“Supreme Court Lets Stand 55-Year Term”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a mandatory 55-year prison sentence, condemned as excessive by the federal judge who imposed it, for a man convicted of carrying a handgun during three marijuana deals.”

And The AP also reports that “Court Turns Down Sex Survey Case Review.”

Update: Today’s U.S. Supreme Court Order List can be accessed at this link.

View the video of Justice Stephen G. Breyer’s appearance yesterday on FOX News Sunday: You can view the video online by clicking here.

My earlier coverage of Justice Breyer’s television appearance yesterday can be accessed at this link.

“Supreme Court to Weigh Schools’ Racial Plans”: This audio segment (RealPlayer required) featuring Nina Totenberg appeared on today’s broadcast of NPR‘s “Morning Edition.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Supreme Court Looks at Race and Schools.”

C-SPAN plans to air the same-day oral argument audio in these cases as soon as it becomes available. The broadcast of the audio from this morning’s first oral argument is likely to start at approximately 11:15 a.m. You can access C-SPAN live, online using either Real Player or Windows Media Player.

“Just Looking: Should Internet Ignorance Be a Defense to Child Porn Charges?” The brand new installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com can be accessed here.

My essay begins, “Two appellate courts recently ruled that an individual who intentionally visited Web sites to view child pornography, but who did not intentionally save those images to his computer’s hard drive, could not be convicted or punished for possessing images that were automatically saved due to the Web browser’s cache functions. These rulings strike me as badly mistaken, for reasons that I explain below.”

“Prosecutor of drug case found killed; Assistant U.S. attorney for Md. discovered shot, beaten and stabbed in Pa.; ‘We will find out who did this’; Authorities retrace Luna’s steps, ask for public’s help”: Three years ago tomorrow, The Baltimore Sun published an article that begins, “A federal prosecutor who disappeared as he was preparing to conclude a drug case against a would-be Baltimore rap artist and another man was found beaten, stabbed and shot in rural Pennsylvania yesterday, and top federal officials vowed to track down his killer.”

Today thus marks the three-year anniversary of the date on which Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Luna’s lifeless body was found in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Yesterday, The Sunday News of Lancaster published an article headlined “Luna case takes turns; Book update tells of wounds to back, hands of assistant U.S. attorney found dead in 2003; mortician is source; lawsuit could force an inquest.” And an archive of The Baltimore Sun’s coverage of this still unsolved case can be accessed here.

“Politically correct abortion-speak”: Nat Hentoff has this op-ed in today’s issue of The Washington Times.

“We’re Still Learning From Brown v. Board of Education; As long as we struggle to integrate schools, race-based measures should pass muster”: Andrew J. Pincus has this essay (free access) in today’s issue of Legal Times.

“The mock-amole defense: When a guacamole dip is only 2% avocado, it’s mislabeled, but that’s no reason to seek punitive damages.” This editorial appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Global warming to gay rights: The worldwide trend of recognizing same-sex marriage will likely continue.” Paula L. Ettelbrick has this op-ed today in The Los Angeles Times.

“As Md. Court Weighs Same-Sex Marriage, Plaintiffs Hear Echoes of Previous Fight”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

And The Washington Times reports today that “Religious liberty group takes up ‘marriage’ case.”

Today’s oral argument before the Court of Appeals of Maryland — that State’s highest court — in the case of Conway v. Deane presents the question whether Maryland law prohibits the marriage of two persons of the same gender. The court is scheduled to webcast the oral argument live starting at 10 a.m. today. You can access the webcast online via this link. And the briefs filed in the case can be accessed here (link via “The Volokh Conspiracy“).

“Cases retread Brown vs. Board of Education steps; The Supreme Court takes up two school integration disputes that could have far-reaching effects”: David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports today that “Court to hear unlikely advocate; Lawyer challenges Jefferson desegregation policy.”

In The New York Sun, Joseph Goldstein reports that “Spitzer Argues For Race-Based School Admission.”

The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger contains an article headlined “Jersey’s stake in U.S. justices’ integration ruling.”

The Detroit Free Press reports that “Detroit eyes Supreme Court cases; Activists fear return to inequality in schools.”

And The Washington Post today contains an editorial entitled “A Different Race Case: The Supreme Court considers whether race can be used in public school placement.”

“Try bipartisanship on judge nominees; Delay on Iowa judge typifies polarization”: This editorial appears today in The Des Moines Register.

“Top court asked to rule on Jewish rite; Montrealer wants her ex-husband to pay for refusing to give her a bill of divorce”: CanWest News Service provides this report.

“The Supreme Court Oral Argument in the Global Warming Case Reveals What’s Wrong with the Standing Doctrine”: Michael C. Dorf, co-author of the blog “Dorf on Law,” has this essay today online at FindLaw.

“Hot and Cold”: In the December 11, 2006 issue of The New Yorker, Elizabeth Kolbert has this essay about the U.S. Supreme Court and global warming.

“Blawg Review #86”: Available here, at “Infamy or Praise.”

Say hello to the new blog “International Civil Litigation“: There are a bunch of posts up already at this interesting new law blog, and I give the blog’s authors credit for having avoided the difficulties inherent in linking to Seventh Circuit opinions on that court’s web site.

By the way, one of the blog’s authors is a student at Yale Law School, which is where I’ll be this Tuesday evening to give a Federalist Society-hosted talk together with two quite popular law professor bloggers. Details here.

“An Assault on Local School Control”: The New York Times on Monday will contain an editorial that begins, “More than 50 years after the Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board of Education, the nation still has not abolished de facto segregation in public schools. But thanks to good will and enormous effort, some communities have made progress. Today the Supreme Court hears arguments in a pair of cases that could undo much of that work.”

“Videotape Offers a Window Into a Terror Suspect’s Isolation”: Monday’s edition of The New York Times will contain an article that begins, “One spring day during his three and a half years as an enemy combatant, Jose Padilla experienced a break from the monotony of his solitary confinement in a bare cell in the brig at the Naval Weapons Station in Charleston, S.C.”

“Last Stop for Detainee Cases May Be High Court; With Democrats running Congress, and cases in the courts, detainees’ rights remain in limbo”: This article (free access) will appear in Monday’s issue of Legal Times.

And Monday in The Miami Herald, Carol Rosenberg will have an article headlined “Pentagon invoking emergency authority for Guantanamo court.”

“School Integration: Back To The Future? Supreme Court Will Hear Cases As Some School Districts Re-Segregate.” The CBS Evening News provides this report.

And The Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Monday will contain an editorial entitled “Seattle Schools: Diversity’s value.”

“Court revisits school integration case”: Patti Waldmeir will have this article Monday in Financial Times.

“Ruling favors prosecutors in death cases”: Monday in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Bill Rankin will have an article that begins, “To the delight of district attorneys, the Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that a judge can sit as a jury in a criminal trial only when the prosecution consents. In past years, defendants have asked judges to sit as juries in death penalty cases with the hope of getting a life sentence. Defendants have been granted the request over objections by prosecutors. But the state Supreme Court, in a 6-1 decision, said that judges can now sit as juries in what are called bench trials only when prosecutors agree as well.”

You can access last Thursday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Georgia at this link.

“High Court Will Hear School-Integration Arguments”: This audio segment appeared on this evening’s broadcast of NPR‘s “All Things Considered.”

“Supreme Court to Weigh Schools’ Racial Plans”: Nina Totenberg provides this written report at National Public Radio’s web site.

“Back to the Supreme Court: racial balance in schools; On Monday, the court takes up cases from Seattle and Louisville on the role of race in school enrollment.” Warren Richey will have this article Monday in The Christian Science Monitor.

“Supreme Court arguments focus on diversity in Seattle schools”: The Associated Press provides this report.

“Judge Karen Williams of Orangeburg in line to be chief judge of 4th Circuit Court”: On Friday, this article appeared in The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg, South Carolina.

“New Senate leader’s shortened recesses could cut off Bush judicial nominees”: Today in The Chicago Sun-Times, columnist Robert Novak has an op-ed that begins, “Sen. Harry Reid, leading the Senate’s new Democratic majority, is framing next year’s schedule in a way that will make it difficult, if not impossible, for President Bush to give recess appointments to nominees blocked for confirmation.”

“More Disorder in the Court? If there’s a Supreme Court vacancy, the Democrats will have a lot to say about it.” This article will appear in the December 11, 2006 issue of U.S. News & World Report.

“Breyer: Court Should Aid Minority Rights.” Hope Yen of The Associated Press provides this report.

“Transcript: Justice Stephen Breyer Sits Down With ‘FOX News Sunday.'” FOXNews.com has posted online this transcript of today’s television appearance by Justice Stephen G. Breyer.

As someone who viewed the telecast on TV emailed me to point out, during the interview Justice Breyer refers to the U.S. Supreme Court‘s abortion ruling in “Casey v. Polino.” From the context of Jusice Breyer’s remarks, however, it appears that he is referring to the Court’s ruling in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey. When the video of the appearance becomes available online, I’ll link to it.

Update: A resourceful “How Appealing” reader emails that then-Circuit Judge Breyer was the author of the First Circuit’s ruling in Palino v. Casey, 664 F.2d 854 (1981), a non-abortion-related ERISA case.

Second update: You can download a 19MB podcast of today’s FOX News Sunday broadcast via this link. Justice Breyer’s mention of the Casey ruling appears at 21 minutes and 45 seconds into the podcast recording.

“State high court rules in favor of car-rental firm on license validity; Company not liable if driver lies”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Rental-car companies are not liable for accidents that result from their unknowingly leasing a car to a motorist who lies about having a valid driver’s license, the Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled. The court, in a recent 5-4 decision, said if the driver presents a license that looks legal, the rental-car company can use that to defend itself against damage lawsuits.”

You can access this past Thursday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Mississippi at this link.