“Despite 2004 ruling, Mexican truck travel still limited”: The Associated Press provides this report.

“The Judicial Vesting Option: Opting Out of Nomination and Advice and Consent.” Suppose new federal trial and appellate judges were selected by current federal trial and appellate judges instead of being nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. That’s the provocative proposal described in this article (abstract with links for download) by Law Professor Tuan Samahon (via “Legal Theory Blog“).

“Journalists May Testify in CIA Leak Case”: The Associated Press provides this report.

“Paul Clement Stays Cool in Court Hot Seat; He’s the government’s point man for defending anti-terror policies — which can lead to some uncomfortable moments”: law.com’s Tony Mauro provides this report.

“Constitutional Crisis, at Least at the Roberts Household”: Jess Bravin has this post today at WSJ.com’s “Washington Wire” blog.

“The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries That Defined America.” Law Professor Jeffrey Rosen‘s new book is scheduled to go on sale later this month, in connection with the debut of a four-part series on PBS.

An online companion resource for the PBS series can be accessed via a web site titled “The History of the Supreme Court.”

“Leave Us Alone”: In the Sunday Book Review section of yesterday’s edition of The New York Times, Gary Rosen had this review of Charles Fried‘s new book, “Modern Liberty: And the Limits of Government.”

“A Retreat on Rationing Free Speech?” Columnist George F. Will had this op-ed yesterday in The Washington Post.

“Contempt in Massachusetts: Suddenly the Supreme Judicial Court can’t tell the legislature what to do.” This editorial appears online at OpinionJournal.

And at National Review Online, Hadley Arkes has an essay entitled “Lawyers@Bay: A moment of truth in Massachusetts.”

“Open Secrets: Enron, intelligence, and the perils of too much information.” Malcolm Gladwell has this article in the January 8, 2007 issue of The New Yorker.

Bring out your unpublished opinions: Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1 officially starts to apply today, as the rule expressly mandates that federal appellate courts cannot prohibit citation to unpublished or non-precedential opinions issued on or after January 1, 2007.

Due to court closures in observance of the National Day of Mourning for President Ford on January 2, 2007, most federal appellate courts will not have an opportunity to issue their first unpublished or non-precedential opinions governed by FRAP 32.1 until January 3, 2007. One exception is the Tenth Circuit, which will be open for business tomorrow.

“Blawg Review #89”: Available online here, at “Blawg Review.”

“Chief Justice Advocates Higher Pay for Judiciary”: Linda Greenhouse has this article today in The New York Times.

Today in The Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage reports that “Roberts calls for pay raise for judges; The chief justice says federal jurists’ lagging salaries pose a threat to the court system.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Roberts Blasts Inadequate Pay for Judges.”

Via this link, you can access the 2000 through 2006 editions of the “Chief Justice’s Year-End Reports On The Federal Judiciary.”

“Chief makes judges’ pay the top issue”: Lyle Denniston has this post online at “SCOTUSblog.”

You can access Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.’s “2006 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary” by clicking here.