“Drugs Used in Executions May Cause Paralysis, Pain for Conscious Inmates”: The Washington Post on Tuesday will contain an article that begins, “The cocktail of drugs used for lethal injections is unreliable and could render inmates paralyzed but not unconscious, unable to cry out as they experience excruciating pain and eventually suffocate, according to a new scientific analysis.”

“Cheesy Judges”: Saturday in The Wall Street Journal, John Fund had an op-ed (pass-through link via “Confirm Them“) that begins, “Last year, candidates for state supreme court seats spent a combined $40 million nationwide. Earlier this month, a whopping $6 million was spent to win a single vacant seat on Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court. It seems voters are growing discontented with their judges and increasingly willing to engage in partisan battles over who should sit on the bench.”

Available online from law.com: An article reports that “DOJ Defections Grow as Prosecutor Firings Controversy Builds; Several key attorneys have left the Department of Justice in the last month alone.”

In other news, “Case Before 11th Circuit Will Test Student Threats, Free Speech; Federal appeals court judges to hear of high school student suspended for story about shooting a teacher.”

And in news from Florida, “Defense Bar Protests Removal of Plea Deals From U.S. Web Site.”

“Doctors, Activists Weigh Abortion Ruling”: This audio segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Talk of the Nation.”

“Faith-Based Justices”: ABC News correspondent Jan Crawford Greenburg has this post today at her “Legalities” blog.

“Court Weighs Rights of Passengers When Police Stop Cars”: Linda Greenhouse will have this article Tuesday in The New York Times.

And Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers reports that “Supreme Court considers case involving searches of car passengers.”

“Gonzales’s Testimony Satisfied at Least One Person, His Boss”: This article will appear Tuesday in The New York Times.

And The Washington Post on Tuesday will report that “Bush Asserts Increased Confidence in Gonzales.”

“The Face-Off Over Partial-Birth Abortion: Judicial restraint and ‘facial’ challenges.” Edward Whelan has this essay today at National Review Online.

“Abortion Complaint Against Judge Dropped”: In news from Topeka, Kansas, The AP provides a report that begins, “A state panel has dismissed an ethics complaint that abortion opponents filed against a judge who threw out a criminal case against the state’s best-known abortion provider.”

“Passenger Rights Pondered by Court”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Is a passenger in a car stopped by police free to get out and walk away? Most Supreme Court justices didn’t seem to think so as they took up a case Monday dealing with passengers’ rights.”

Access the transcript of today’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in Hinck v. United States, No. 06-376: The transcript is at this link.

“Reaction to the Oral Argument in Brendlin v. California”: Orin Kerr attended today’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in the case, and he offers these thoughts at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

The Court has posted online at this link the transcript of today’s oral argument in Brendlin v. California, No. 06-8120.

Access the transcript of today’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in United States v. Atlantic Research Corp., No. 06-562: The transcript is at this link.

Access the transcript of today’s online chat with the authors of “Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas” by Kevin Merida and Michael A. Fletcher. Available here from washingtonpost.com.

“Loss for Whistle Blowers”: Inside Higher Ed today provides this report on a decision that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued on Friday.

En banc Eighth Circuit rules that plea agreement signed by federal prosecutors and criminal defendant cannot be enforced unless accepted by the federal district court: Today’s ruling failed to produce a majority opinion, although the vote in favor of the federal government’s position on appeal was 8-4.

“Abortion Groups Exploit Court Decision, Democrats See Boost”: Bloomberg News provides this report.

“Supreme Court to Hear Environmental Case”: The AP provides a report that begins, “The Supreme Court is scheduled to consider an environmental case Monday that could make it easier for many industrial companies to recover some of the millions of dollars they’ve spent cleaning up hazardous waste sites.”

“Court to hear money launder case”: Lyle Denniston has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”

And in early news coverage, The Associated Press provides reports headlined “Court to Review Money Laundering Case“; “Court Avoids Student Recruiting Case“; and “Summary of Supreme Court Actions Monday.”

You can access today’s U.S. Supreme Court Order List at this link.

“Abortion rights gain ground in Latin America; Mexico City is voting Tuesday on a bill that would legalize abortion”: The Christian Science Monitor contains this article today.

“An Abortive Decision: The Supreme Court’s recent decision moves American jurisprudence in the wrong direction.” This editorial appears today in The Harvard Crimson.

Today in The Chicago Tribune, Dennis Byrne has an op-ed entitled “Court ruling abets life, logic.”

And in The Washington Post, columnist Robert D. Novak has an op-ed entitled “The Democrats’ Partial Pro-Lifers.”

“Gonzales remains in the spotlight; Key GOP senator says the attorney general’s testimony hurt the White House and the Justice Department”: The Los Angeles Times contains this article today, along with an editorial entitled “The next attorney general? If Gonzales does step down, Bush would do well to follow the example of Ronald Reagan with a crony-free nomination.”

And The Washington Times reports today that “GOP hits Gonzales’ ‘harmful’ testimony.”

“New York’s Most Obnoxious Lawyer”: This article appears in the current issue of The Village Voice.

“Few Specifics Evident As Padilla Trial Nears; Prosecutor Calls Charge ‘Hard to Particularize'”: The Washington Post today contains an article that begins, “The trial of Jose Padilla, the ‘dirty bomber’ whose alleged plotting was used to justify extraordinary presidential power, will get underway next month, and the prosecution’s case is rich in atmospherics.”

“D.C. Circuit Hears Oral Argument Today in Murphy Rehearing”: “TaxProf Blog” provides this post today.

“DNA to clear 200th person; Pace picks up on exonerations”: This front page article appears today in USA Today, along with an article headlined “DNA likely to exonerate man who served 25 years; Parolee seeks to have rape conviction vacated.”

“‘Supreme Discomfort’ leaves Clarence Thomas as an open case”: Today in The Los Angeles Times, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David J. Garrow has this review of the book “Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas” by Kevin Merida and Michael A. Fletcher.