“All opinions should be online, lawyer argues”: This article appears today in The Madison County (Ill.) Record. The article mentions last week’s installment of my weekly “On Appeal” column for law.com headlined “It’s Time to Abolish ‘Invisible’ State Appellate Court Rulings.”

“Detainee DNA may be put in database; ACLU says plan violates privacy”: Richard Willing has this front page article in today’s edition of USA Today.

“Sioux to Illini: Return regalia; Tribe says attire’s use is degrading.” The Chicago Tribune today contains an article that begins, “In a 1982 halftime ceremony at Memorial Stadium, a 93-year-old Oglala Sioux chief and medicine man presented the University of Illinois with tribal regalia for use by the university’s mascot, Chief Illiniwek. The university paid $3,500 for the moccasins, blanket, peace pipe pouch, breastplate and war bonnet with 90 eagle feathers, all owned by Sioux Chief Frank Fools Crow, according to the university’s archives. On Thursday, Oglala Sioux tribal members, including Fools Crow’s grandson, asked for it all back.”

And The Argus Leader of Sioux Falls, South Dakota reports today that “Tribal resolution decries mascot; University asked to return regalia.”

Update: This blog’s coverage of a related Seventh Circuit decision from June 2004 can be accessed here, here, here, and here.

“Wiretap review plan is still unclear; Bush and Gonzales say the domestic spying program is essentially unchanged except for its legal justification”: Richard B. Schmitt, Greg Miller, and David G. Savage have this article today in The Los Angeles Times. The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “The administration that cried wolf on spying: With Democrats in charge on Capitol Hill, the White House discovers it can submit wiretap requests to FISA after all.”

USA Today reports today that “Senators press Gonzales on delay in getting court OK on surveillance.”

The Christian Science Monitor reports that “White House backs down on wartime powers; The Bush administration is putting its disputed NSA domestic surveillance program under judicial oversight.”

And The Washington Times reports that “Gonzales hit on wiretap oversight delay.”

“Pentagon Revises Its Rules on Prosecution of Terrorists”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

In USA Today, Joan Biskupic reports today that “Marine Corps colonel among critics of new terror trial rules.”

And The Los Angeles Times reports that “Guantanamo detainees’ trial rules set; The Pentagon plans to charge 60 to 80 under its guidelines, which have renewed debate on harsh treatment.”

The the 238-page “Manual for Military Commissions” can be accessed here.

“Law firm boycott call raises ethical issues; Experts differ on whether defense official broke rules”: Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.

And The New York Times today contains a related editorial entitled “Apology Not Accepted.”

“Jury Selection in Libby Trial Moves Slowly Because of Bias”: Neil A. Lewis has this article today in The New York Times.

“Congressmen intercede for 2 reporters; The San Francisco Chronicle writers have been subpoenaed over their confidential sources in the BALCO steroids case”: Today in The Los Angeles Times, Henry Weinstein has an article that begins, “The new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and an influential Republican congressman asked Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales on Thursday to withdraw grand jury subpoenas to two San Francisco Chronicle reporters facing 18 months in federal prison for refusing to disclose their confidential sources of information about steroid use in professional sports.”

And The San Francisco Chronicle reports today that “Key lawmakers urge Justice Department to rescind subpoenas of BALCO reporters.”

You can also access online the “Statement of Chairman Conyers“; his letter to the Attorney General; and a “Statement from the Department of Justice.”

“Jury spares trucker in smuggling deaths; Williams avoids the death penalty, is sentenced to life without parole”: This article appears today in The Houston Chronicle.

The New York Times reports today that “Jury Spares Driver in Smuggling Deaths Case.”

And The Los Angeles Times reports that “Driver gets life on prison in deadly human smuggling case; After a retrial, Tyrone Williams is spared the death penalty on his 36th birthday.”

“Obama Left Mark on HLS; Profs fondly recall Law School alum as he launches presidential bid”: The Harvard Crimson contains this article today.

“Dems put eminent domain reform on back burner”: This article appears today in The Stamford (Conn.) Advocate.

“Abortion’s elusive middle ground”: Columnist Ellen Goodman has this op-ed today in The Boston Globe.

“Law Firms Are Urged Not to Force Retirements”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

“Unfettered Debate Takes Unflattering Turn in Michigan Supreme Court”: Adam Liptak has this article today in The New York Times.

“Surging and Purging”: Today in The New York Times, columnist Paul Krugman has an op-ed (TimesSelect temporary pass-through link) that begins, “There’s something happening here, and what it is seems completely clear: the Bush administration is trying to protect itself by purging independent-minded prosecutors.”

In related news coverage, The Washington Post today contains an article headlined “Prosecutor Firings Not Political, Gonzales Says; Attorney General Acknowledges, Defends Actions.”

And in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko reports that “U.S. attorney was forced out, Feinstein says.”

“Why Both Cully Stimson – Who Suggested a Boycott of Firms Representing Detainees Pro Bono – and Some of His Critics Are Off-Base”: Vikram David Amar has this essay online today at FindLaw.

“Senators Demand Details on New Eavesdropping Rules”: This article will appear Friday in The New York Times. In addition, Adam Liptak will have a news analysis headlined “White House Shifting Tactics in Surveillance Cases.”

The Washington Post on Friday will report that “Spy Court’s Orders Stir Debate on Hill; Some Want Documents Made Public.”

And McClatchy Newspapers report that “Gonzales faces sharp criticism by senators.”

Available online from law.com: An article headlined “The Record of Achievement No Lawyer Wants” begins, “As he has done for years, California Supreme Court Clerk Frederick Ohlrich warned attorneys just before oral arguments last week to be sure they got the justices’ names correct when addressing them. He had forgotten to give that warning before arguments the day before, Ohlrich said, and, sure enough, one lawyer wound up referring to Justice Ming Chin as Justice Ming.”

And in other news, “Super Lawyers/Best Lawyers Buoyed by N.Y. Advertising Rule.”

“Pentagon Releases Rules for Trials of Terrorism Suspects”: This article will appear Friday in The Washington Post.

And McClatchy Newspapers report that “Hearsay, coerced testimony OK for detainee trials.”

You can access the 238-page “Manual for Military Commissions” by clicking here.

“Gary Condit’s lawyer bails out on a defamation lawsuit”: McClatchy Newspapers provide this report.

“Parents of 9/11 Victims Torn From Grandchildren”: This article, which mentions court-ordered grandparent visitation, will appear Friday in The New York Times.

“Accused Egyptian Blogger Stands Trial”: The Associated Press provides this report.

Feces as species of free speech? The Greeley Tribune reported yesterday that “Constitutional question raises stink during criminal case involving congresswoman.”

The Denver Post reports today that “Poop prank defended as free speech; Since Rep. Marilyn Musgrave got a feces-laden package, it’s unleashed a big stink in the court.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Prof. Defends Right to Send Feces.”

On this evening’s broadcast of NPR‘s “All Things Considered“: The broadcast contained audio segments entitled “Gonzales Takes Fire on Domestic Eavesdropping” and “Leahy: Gonzales and the Bush Domestic Spying Program” (RealPlayer required).

“Michigan colleges file brief on Prop 2; U-M, MSU and Wayne State tell Supreme Court that altering admission standards at midyear weakens goals”: This article appears today in The Detroit News.

The Detroit Free Press reports today that “Universities wait for high court say.”

And The Ann Arbor News reports that “U-M brief before highest court; State universities respond to Supreme Court’s request for information on admissions.”

“Supreme Court justices will teach, lecture at UA during next 2 years”: The Arizona Daily Star provides a news update that begins, “Current Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Stephen Breyer will join retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor as guests of the UA’s law school over the next two years.”

The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law today issued a news release entitled “Three United States Supreme Court Justices in Law School Lineup.”

The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “BALCO Journalists Find Ally in Conyers” and “Bush Makes Concessions to Congress.”

“[W]e reverse the Court of Special Appeals in accordance with our holding that there must be a finding of either parental unfitness or exceptional circumstances demonstrating the current or future detriment to the child, absent visitation from his or her grandparents, as a prerequisite to application of the best interests analysis.” The Court of Appeals of Maryland, that State’s highest court, issued this grandparent visitation ruling last Friday.

A newsbrief published today in The Baltimore Sun reports: “The Court of Appeals said Friday that Maryland’s grandparent visitation law was constitutional but that a grandparent must first show that a parent is unfit or demonstrate that there are exceptional circumstances before a court can consider whether visitation is in the child’s best interests. Enacted in 1981 and amended in 1993, Maryland’s law allows a court to grant grandparents visitation rights if it determines that it is in the best interests of the child. More than a decade of case law had not required grandparents to meet the standards established by Friday’s ruling.”

“A judicial truce: Bush was right to drop four controversial picks for the bench; Now Democrats can reciprocate.” This editorial appeared yesterday in The Los Angeles Times. (Thanks to Ed Whelan for the pointer.)

“Pentagon Sets Rules for Detainee Trials”: The Associated Press provides this report.

“Williams gets life in truck deaths trial”: The Houston Chronicle provides a news update that begins, “On his 36th birthday, Tyrone Williams was sentenced to life in prison today for his role in the 2003 human-smuggling scheme that left 19 illegal immigrants dead. The trucker was convicted last month of 58 smuggling counts. The same jury determined his punishment. The death penalty was an option for 20 counts – the overall conspiracy charge and one count for each person who died.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Truck Driver Sentenced to Life in Prison.”

“The court reconsidered this case en banc in order to determine whether an arbitration award must be vacated for ‘evident partiality,’ 9 U.S.C. §10(a)(2), where an arbitrator failed to disclose a prior professional association with a member of one of the law firms that engaged him.” So begins the en banc majority opinion, written by Chief Judge Edith H. Jones, that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued today. By a vote of 11-5, the court has answered that question in the negative.

The lead dissenting opinion, written by Senior Circuit Judge Thomas M. Reavley, begins:

In 1968 the Supreme Court held that an arbitral award could not stand where the arbitrator had failed to disclose a past relationship that might give the impression of possible partiality. The Court has never changed that holding; it is the law that rules us today. But the majority of this court disapprove of that law because they prefer to protect arbitrators and their awards when they fail to disclose prior relationships with parties or counsel. They therefore change the law for this case and, to make it appear as if their transgression does not matter, trivialize their report of the past relationship. I dissent because this court may not overrule a decision of the Supreme Court.

Judge Reavley wrote the unanimous three-judge panel’s opinion that reached a result opposite from the result that the en banc majority reaches today.

“Panel Grills Gonzales Over Spy Program”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Senators demanded details Thursday from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about new orders putting the government’s domestic spying program under court review – and questioned why it took so long to do so. Meanwhile, the presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court said she had no objection to disclosing legal orders and opinions about the program that targets people linked to al-Qaida, but the Bush administration would have to approve release of the information.”

The presiding judge in question is Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

“Akaka says revised bill can pass this term; Opponents doubt the changes will swing enough votes”: The Honolulu Star-Bulletin today contains an article that begins, “U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka reintroduced a bill yesterday to grant native Hawaiians their own government, saying this time the Democratic majority in Congress gives him hope the revised measure will finally pass.”

And The Honolulu Advertiser reports today that “Akaka bill foes ready for new fight.”

Meanwhile, at National Review Online, Peter Kirsanow today has a related essay entitled “Disunited States: Multiculturalism run amok.”

“Maybe Bush didn’t back down on wiretaps: Stop celebrating — it’s not yet clear whether the administration really intends to start obeying the law.” Glenn Greenwald has this essay today at Salon.com.