“Abortion Foes Criticize One of Their Own”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Anti-abortion leaders are accusing one of their own, Focus on Family founder James Dobson, of misrepresenting a Supreme Court decision that upheld a ban on late-term abortions.”

“Inquiry of Federal Prosecutor Firings Continues”: This audio segment (RealPlayer required) featuring Dahlia Lithwick appeared on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Day to Day.”

Ninth Circuit denies rehearing en banc in Exxon Valdez punitive damages case: You can access today’s order, and accompanying dissents, at this link.

My earlier coverage of the divided three-judge panel’s original ruling appears at this link.

“Texas Horse Slaughter Plants Stay Shut”: The AP provides a report that begins, “Two of the nation’s three horse slaughter plants appear likely to remain closed after they were apparently denied reprieve by the state Legislature, then turned away by the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Earlier, The Houston Chronicle reported on Monday that “Texas lawmakers to weigh ban on horse slaughter; Legislature to weigh a repeal of 1949 state ban.”

“Goodling Denies Major Role in Firings”: The Associated Press provides this report.

“Hill Panel to Question Justice Aide Goodling”: This audio segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

The testimony of former Justice Department White House Liaison Monica Goodling before the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to begin momentarily. You can access the committee’s live webcast by clicking here (RealPlayer required).

“R.I. court to rule on same-sex marriage”: The Providence Journal today contains an article that begins, “Faced with the question of how a lower court should proceed with a divorce case, the state Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments about whether a same-sex marriage performed in Massachusetts should be recognized in Rhode Island.”

“An Online Symposium on Televising the Supreme Court”: “First Impressions,” an online companion to the Michigan Law Review, offers this interesting online symposium. You can download the complete symposium in PDF format by clicking here.

“Lazar Incompetence Assertion Disavowed”: Today in The New York Sun, Josh Gerstein has an article that begins, “A psychologist who testified that a defendant was not competent to stand trial in a federal criminal case against a leading class action law firm now says that assertion was mistaken. Prosecutors have argued that a finding of incompetence on the part of the defendant, Seymour Lazar, 79, would mean that he would be automatically placed in the custody of the attorney general for hospital care, an outcome his lawyers seem eager to avoid.”

“Government shouldn’t judge morality for us”: Monday in The Miami Herald, columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. had an op-ed that begins, “Sherri Williams took sex toys to the Supreme Court last week. Again. The first time was in 2005, but justices declined to hear the case. Williams is hoping for better luck this time. Otherwise, a Valentine’s Day ruling by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will stand and a ban on the purchase of sex toys in Alabama — enacted in 1998 but not enforced pending the outcome of litigation — will go into effect.”

“The American Liberal Liberties Union: The ACLU is becoming very selective about what it considers ‘free’ speech.” Today in The Wall Street Journal, Wendy Kaminer has an op-ed (free access) in which she writes, “One of the clearest indications of a retreat from defending all speech regardless of content is the ACLU’s virtual silence in Harper v. Poway, an important federal case involving a high-school student’s right to wear a T-shirt condemning homosexuality.”

“Goodling: a Power player behind Justice’s scenes; The former Justice insider, a mystery to many, is set to testify under immunity in Congress on the U.S. attorneys’ firings.” This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times. In addition, David C. Iglesias has an op-ed entitled “‘Cowboy up,’ Alberto Gonzales; A fired U.S. attorney calls on the attorney general to serve the people, not politics.”

The Washington Post reports today that “Officials Describe Interference by Former Gonzales Aide.”

And The Atlanta Journal-Constitution today contains an editorial headlined “When blind loyalty transcends duty: Evidence of partisan fervor likely to reveal Gonzales and others were expected to follow suit.”

Former Justice Department White House Liaison Monica Goodling is scheduled to testify today before the House Judiciary Committee. The hearing will get underway at 10:15 a.m. eastern time, and the committee will provide a live webcast that you can access by clicking here (RealPlayer required).

“Guilty of Insufficient Overreaching”: Today in The Washington Post, columnist Ruth Marcus has an op-ed that begins, “Patrick Philbin is an unlikely victim of the war on terror. In fact, he’s one of its chief legal architects. Philbin’s conservative bona fides are unimpeachable. Law clerk for federal appeals judge Laurence Silberman, the ideological godfather of scores of conservative lawyers, then for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.”

“Murderer maintains defiant smile to end; Comer finally gets last wish in execution by lethal injection”: This article appears today in The Arizona Republic, along with an article headlined “Reporter details killer’s execution.”

And The Associated Press provides a report headlined “Murderer’s last words: ‘Go, Raiders.’”

My most recent earlier coverage appears at this link.

“Louisiana Court Backs Death in Child Rape”: Adam Liptak has this article today in The New York Times.

And The Times-Picayune of New Orleans reports today that “Death penalty in rape case upheld; Stepdad convicted of assaulting girl, 8.”

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Louisiana appears at this link.

“Court hears prayer issue”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A federal appeals court in New Orleans is taking a second look at whether boards that run public school systems can open their meetings with a prayer, as Congress and state legislatures do — and whether the prayer can mention Christ.”

“Google Wins the Right to Display Thumbnails and to ‘Frame’ Copyrighted Material Used Without Permission: A Mostly Sensible Ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.” Michael C. Dorf has this essay online today at FindLaw.

“Senators accuse Gonzales of ‘stonewalling’ about wiretap program”: McClatchy Newspapers provide this report.

The Los Angeles Times reports today that “Bush defends Gonzales, calling attacks ‘pure political theater’; Senate Democrats press ahead on a vote of no-confidence in the attorney general over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.”

And The Washington Post today contains articles headlined “President Stands by Gonzales” and “The Next Best Path: Warming to Limelight, Dismissed U.S. Attorney David Iglesias Forges a New Future.”

“Naked truth: Two Lancaster homeowners may have been embarrassed during a mistaken search by L.A. County sheriff’s deputies, but their 4th Amendment rights weren’t violated, the Supreme Court says.” This editorial appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times is reporting: In today’s newspaper, he has articles headlined “High court rules in favor of special-ed parents; They may go to court without a lawyer to fight a school district’s programs for their children, justices say” and “Rights not violated in home search, justices rule; A Southern California couple had been rousted from bed and held naked at gunpoint by deputies.”

“Ruling Favors Poor Convicts; Court Expands Right To Counsel”: Today in The Hartford Courant, Lynne Tuohy has an article that begins, “The state Supreme Court has said that impoverished convicts have a right to counsel to determine whether they have a legitimate reason to claim their sentence was illegal and, if so, to represent them throughout any subsequent proceedings. In its unanimous ruling released Monday, the court further expanded its interpretation of a state law granting indigent defendants and convicts a court-appointed lawyer in ‘any criminal action.'”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Connecticut at this link.

In reader mail: A reader emails, “The memorial service for Seventh Circuit Judge Thomas E. Fairchild was held today before the Seventh Circuit’s en banc rehearing of Pruitt v. Mote. It was a beautiful memorial for a true titan of the legal world, especially in this area of the country where he touched so many people. The tributes by former clerks, including the Honorable Reena Raggi and the Honorable Joan Lefkow, were particularly touching.”

“La. Supreme Court upholds death sentence for child rapist”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Louisiana may execute a man convicted of raping an 8-year-old girl, the state Supreme Court said Tuesday — the first time it has upheld such a death sentence under a 1995 law allowing execution of child rapists.” The article goes on to report that “The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned a death sentence for a man convicted of raping an adult, but Tuesday’s opinion said it is not clear whether that ruling would apply to a child’s rape as well.”

You can access today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Louisiana at this link.

“Former Gonzales Staffer Prepares to Testify”: This audio segment (RealPlayer required) featuring Dahlia Lithwick appeared on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Day to Day.”

In news from the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims: If you’ve been clamoring for more coverage of this Article I federal appellate court, The Associated Press has granted your wish. Hope Yen reports that “Judge Warns of Disability Appeal Backlog.”

According to its web site, this court has “exclusive jurisdiction to provide judicial review of final decisions by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals,” an adjudicative body that proudly retains its apostrophe.

“Imagine, for example, www.harrassthem.com with the slogan ‘Don’t Get Mad, Get Even.'” So wrote Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski last week in his opinion for the court in Fair Housing Council v. Roommates.com. Thanks to Joe Gratz, you no longer need to use your imagination. Now if only that domain name were worth millions.

Arizona death penalty volunteer Robert Charles Comer achieves his wish: The Associated Press reports that “Ariz. Executes Inmate Who Fought Appeals.”

And today’s edition of The Arizona Republic reports that “Execution 1st in Ariz. in years; 112 inmates linger on state’s death row as cases wade through court system.”

My earlier coverage of the Ninth Circuit‘s rulings in this case appeared in posts titled “Death penalty volunteer complains about the Ninth Circuit’s delay in announcing its apparent refusal of the inmate’s request to dismiss his appeal, as does a dissenting judge on the three-judge panel“; “Death penalty volunteers not wanted, divided three-judge Ninth Circuit panel holds“; “U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ends 2006 by granting rehearing en banc in four separate cases“; and “En banc Ninth Circuit holds that death row inmate can indeed ‘volunteer’ for death.”

And the September 18, 2006 installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com was headlined “When Can an Inmate ‘Volunteer’ for Death? 9th Circuit rejects a competent inmate’s decision to abandon legal challenge to his capital sentence.”

Seventh Circuit Judge Daniel A. Manion announces intention to take senior status on confirmation of successor: That’s how I construe this listing of future vacancies from the U.S. Courts web site. The Seventh Circuit is, if I have my facts correct, one of only three U.S. Courts of Appeals that thus far has only one George W. Bush appointee. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit are the others.

Perhaps you, too, have lost your ability to smell meth labs: The Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail yesterday published an article headlined “Officer sues cold remedy maker, saying he can’t smell meth labs anymore” that begins, “A deputy U.S. marshal based in Charleston is suing the makers of the popular cold remedy Zicam over his lost sense of smell, which he says has put him in danger of being unknowingly exposed to methamphetamine labs.”

Of course, this raises the question “What exactly do meth labs smell like?” (Via “Obscure Store“).

News you can use — The plural of moose is moose: A trademark dispute over images of moose produced this ruling today from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. v. Moose Creek, Inc.

Federal Circuit‘s ruling that claims 1 through 3 of Pfizer’s patent for the high blood pressure drug Norvasc are invalid for obviousness fails to raise the blood pressure of the requisite number of that court’s judges needed to obtain rehearing en banc: Over the dissenting opinions of three judges, the Federal Circuit yesterday issued this order denying rehearing en banc in Pfizer, Inc. v. Apotex, Inc. The dissents contain an interesting discussion of whether the Federal Circuit should be more willing to grant rehearing en banc in patent-related appeals.

My earlier coverage of the three-judge panel’s ruling in this case can be accessed here.

Programming note: Today, I’ll be arguing an appeal before a three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania from a ruling reported on here.

Additional posts will appear this afternoon.

Update: This morning’s oral argument seemed to go quite well.

“Supreme Court to Address State Tax Breaks for Bonds”: Linda Greenhouse has this article today in The New York Times.

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports today that “High court will hear Ky. bond case; Implications reach beyond the state.”

And The Wall Street Journal reports that “Justices to Hear Muni-Bond Case; Kentucky Tax Fight Over Exemptions Affects Many States.”

“Becker is remembered as ‘a judge’s judge'”: This article appears today in The Philadelphia Daily News.

“Legal Victory for Families of Disabled Students”: Linda Greenhouse will have this article Tuesday in The New York Times.

Tuesday in The Washington Post, Robert Barnes will report that “Parents of Disabled Child Win Ruling; High Court Says They Don’t Need Lawyer to Sue Over Special-Ed Needs.”

Tuesday in USA Today, Joan Biskupic will report that “Parents of disabled kids can represent selves in court; Justices broaden right to challenge school plans.”

And Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers reports that “Supreme Court hands victory to parents of disabled children.”