“Phone privacy case pits Justice Dept. vs. states; A federal judge will hear arguments as the Bush administration tries to block investigations into its Terrorist Surveillance Program”: Henry Weinstein has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

The Associated Press is reporting: An article headlined “Officials Near Decision to Close Gitmo” begins, “The Bush administration is nearing a decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and move the terror suspects there to military prisons elsewhere, The Associated Press has learned.”

And an article headlined “Appeal of Bush Assassination Plot Heard” begins, “An American Muslim convicted of plotting to assassinate President Bush had been tortured into confessing and was denied his constitutional right to confront his accusers, his attorney told a federal appeals court Thursday.”

“Vote on judicial nominee Southwick postponed again”: The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi provides a news update that begins, “Sen. Patrick Leahy, the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said today he agreed to hold over a panel vote on the nomination of Mississippi Judge Leslie Southwick for a federal appeals court seat. Leahy, D-Vt., said he had postponed the vote at the request of Republicans on the committee. He declined to elaborate. Thursday’s postponement is the fourth time the Judiciary Committee has decided to put off a vote on the nomination.”

Programming note: I must attend a court hearing in Atlantic City, New Jersey this afternoon, so additional posts will appear here later today.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton has today issued an opinion explaining why he denied “Scooter” Libby’s request for release pending appeal: I have posted a copy of today’s opinion online, and you can access it via this link.

“Court rules on Sentencing Guidelines”: At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has this post reporting on the three opinions in argued cases that the U.S. Supreme Court issued today.

Today’s first decision in an argued case issued in Rita v. United States, No. 06-5754. You can access the opinion here and the oral argument transcript here. The Court’s syllabus provides the following breakdown of how the Justices voted: “Breyer, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Stevens, Kennedy, Ginsburg, and Alito, JJ., joined, and in which Scalia and Thomas, JJ., joined as to Part III. Stevens, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which Ginsburg, J., joined as to all but Part II. Scalia, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, in which Thomas, J., joined. Souter, J., filed a dissenting opinion.”

The Court today also issued its ruling in Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd., No. 06-484. You can access the opinion here and the oral argument transcript here.

Today’s third and final opinion in an argued case issued in Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assn. v. Brentwood Academy, No. 06-427. You can access the opinion here and the oral argument transcript here.

In early news coverage, The Associated Press reports that “Standard for Fraud Suits Tightened” and “High School Sports Recruiting Limited.”

Heading into its final week of the Term, the Court has eight decisions in argued cases outstanding.

The Associated Press is reporting: An article reports that “‘Brown V. Board’ School Could Be Razed.”

In other news, “Pakistanis Protest Suspension of Judge.”

And on this date in 1788, “the United States Constitution went into effect as New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it.”

“Precedents Begin to Fall for Roberts Court”: Linda Greenhouse has this article today in The New York Times.

“Judge Rejects Pleas To Free Al-Arian”: Josh Gerstein has this article today in The New York Sun.

The St. Petersburg Times reports today that “Al-Arian’s wife, 2 children will move to Egypt.”

And The Tampa Tribune reports that “Al-Arian’s Family Said To Be Leaving.”

“The Transformation of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, As the Roberts Court Shifts from Harmony and Consensus to Bitter Division”: Edward Lazarus has this essay online today at FindLaw.

Available online from law.com: An article reports that “Citing Supreme Court Precedent, 11th Circuit Reverses Major Copyright Ruling; ‘Greenberg’ and ‘Tasini’ cases pit publishers against freelance photographers and writers.” My earlier coverage of last Wednesday’s Eleventh Circuit ruling appears at this link.

In other news, “Calif. Justices to Decide: Should Good Deeds Go Unpunished?”

And in news from Florida, “Judge Goes Easy on Lawyer Who Made ‘French Fries’ Comment About Her.”

“Four Myths of Judicial Review: A Response to Richard Posner’s Criticism of Aharon Barak’s Judicial Activism.” Law Professor Barak Medina has posted this essay (abstract with links for download) online at SSRN (via “Legal Theory Blog“).

I previously linked here to Seventh Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner‘s interesting review (pass-through link) published in The New Republic.

Terry Evans hits a home run in his second Major League Baseball at bat: We knew that this particular Seventh Circuit judge was quite the sports fan, but this evening’s news is quite remarkable. It was only just the other day that Evans received his call-up to the majors. No other Seventh Circuit judges, or their namesakes, are currently active on any Major League Baseball rosters.

Update: MLB.com provides reports headlined “Evans helps Angels top Astros; Rookie provides first big-league hit, scores go-ahead run” and “Evans soaking in first start; New Angels outfielder homers in second big-league at-bat.” And The Los Angeles Times provides this coverage.

“Supreme process: An insider’s guide; Coats details contentious Senate confirmations.” The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, Indiana today contains an article that begins, “Baseball was the common ground Samuel Alito found with several senators he had lingering discussions with in the weeks before his confirmation to the Supreme Court.”

“A Conundrum on Federal Court Determinations of State Law Issues”: This post appears today at the “The California Blog of Appeal.”

“What’s in a Laptop? Court Ponders Legality of Border Searches.” Wired News provides a report that begins, “Is your laptop a fancy piece of luggage or an extension of your mind? That’s the central question facing a federal appeals court in a case that could sharply limit the government’s ability to snoop into laptop computers carried across the border by American citizens.”

Additional information about the case is available from Electronic Frontier Foundation here and here.

“Paulson Pushed on Shareholder Suit Issue”: Pete Yost of The AP has an article that begins, “Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday he personally initiated his department’s role in a Supreme Court case that could hurt shareholders’ efforts to recover losses in securities fraud lawsuits.”

“Libby Draws Conservative Appellate Panel”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Two of the three judges considering whether to delay former White House aide I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby’s prison sentence were Republican appointees. Libby’s request was assigned to Judges David B. Sentelle, Karen Lecraft Henderson and David Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.”

“Gag Order: A Nebraska judge bans the word rape from his courtroom.” Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“FREE and clear: Judge Ginsburg (not Sentelle) gets engaged.” Tony Mauro has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

“A preliminary statistical analysis … shows that, overall, former federal appellate court judges on the U.S. Supreme Court are more likely to affirm decisions from their own circuit than from all others.” Lee Epstein has this post today at “Balkinization.” Of course, the general rule doesn’t apply to Justices whose home court is the Ninth Circuit, given how rarely that federal appellate court’s rulings are upheld.

Whether it’s fair, for purposes of the study, to treat Justice Stephen G. Breyer — who served on the First Circuit for nearly fourteen years — the same as Justice David H. Souter — who basically stopped in at the First Circuit for a cup of coffee before heading upstairs — is not discussed in Epstein’s post.

“Breaking into Appellate Law”: Eugene Volokh has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.” (Update: A second, related post appears here.)

And via this separate post at that blog, you can access the state trial court’s opinion granting habeas relief in favor of Genarlow Wilson.

“An apolitical government employee appeals a grant of summary judgment rejecting her claim that she was fired in violation of her First Amendment rights because she failed to support the administration or political party in power. We hold that First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and association protect government employees who lack a political affiliation from political patronage discrimination.” So begins the majority opinion that a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued today.

Under federal law, “a person who has committed a felony may still own a gun if that person’s felony relates to certain business crimes.” And today, the Eighth Circuit issued a ruling considering whether a felony conviction for violating the Federal Meat Inspection Act prohibits gun ownership. By a vote of 2-1, today’s ruling holds that the conviction does prohibit gun ownership.

Do “individuals who make an informed decision to contribute their biological materials voluntarily to a particular research institution for the purpose of medical research retain an ownership interest allowing the individuals to direct or authorize the transfer of such materials to a third party”? A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit today issued this decision resolving that question.

“Nominee for C.I.A. Counsel Offers Few Details in His Senate Confirmation Hearing”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

The Washington Post reports today that “Senators Question CIA Nominee on Torture.”

And today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition” contained an audio segment entitled “CIA’s Rizzo Mum at Confirmation Hearing” (RealPlayer required).

Available online from the “Law and Justice” unit of ABC News: An article reports that “Court Grants E-Mail Users New Privacy Protections; The Constitution Protects E-Mail Privacy, Court Says.” My earlier coverage of Monday’s Sixth Circuit ruling can be accessed here.

And in other news, “Judicial Elections Turn ‘Bitter, Nasty’ and Pricey; Attack Ads and Special Interests Cash Are Poisoning Judicial Campaigns, Critics Say.”

“Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reviews the cases released this Supreme Court term and talks about being the only woman on the Court.” You can view online, on-demand this past Saturday’s broadcast of C-SPAN’s “America and the Courts” by clicking here (RealPlayer required).

“Gill drops bid to block Rabner for chief justice; Meeting with senator clears way”: The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger today contains an article that begins, “As mysteriously as it began, a state senator’s opposition to the nomination of Attorney General Stuart Rabner as chief justice of the state Supreme Court came to an end yesterday, clearing the way for a confirmation vote tomorrow.”

And The New York Times reports today that “Senator Drops Objections to Corzine Court Nominee.”

“Kopp gets life without parole in Slepian killing; Gun adds to term as abortion opponent is sentenced for assassinating doctor”: This article appears today in The Buffalo News.

And The New York Times today contains an article headlined “Life Term for Killer of Buffalo-Area Abortion Provider.”

“Appeals Court Dismisses Sprewell’s Suit”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A state appeals court in Manhattan dismissed former basketball star Latrell Sprewell’s libel suit against the New York Post over the newspaper’s account of how he broke his finger nearly five years ago.”

And law.com reports that “N.Y. Appeals Panel Dismisses Former Knick’s Defamation Suit.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, at this link.

“Unmarried couples lose legal benefits; Laws on gay marriage also apply to domestic unions”: This article appears today in USA Today, along with related articles headlined “Michigan domestic partners face tough choices; End of benefits for same-sex couples in Ohio sought in suit” and “Legal loophole could let abusers off the hook.”

And The New York Sun reports today that “Gay Rites Advance in Albany, as Assembly Gives Its Okay.”

“High court rulings come down on side of business; Consumers, workers lose in several decisions this term”: Joan Biskupic has this article today in USA Today.

In commentary online today at FindLaw: Michael C. Dorf has an essay entitled “The Supreme Court’s Most Kafkaesque Decision: Penalizing a Criminal Defendant for Relying on a Court’s Official Statement of the Due Date for His Habeas Corpus Appeal.”

And Carl Tobias has an essay entitled “Republicans Threaten to Shut Down the Senate, Charging that Democratic Consideration of Judicial Nominees Is Too Slow: Are These Charges Accurate?”

“Energy refunds over alleged gouging in 2000 survive appeal”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “Californians could receive at least $1 billion in refunds from energy companies that allegedly gouged the state in 2000 as federal regulators stood by, under a ruling that survived an appeal Monday to the U.S. Supreme Court.”