Divided D.C. Circuit panel rejects challenge to Federal Aviation Administration rule mandating that air carriers require drug and alcohol tests of all employees of contractors and subcontractors who perform safety-related functions such as aircraft maintenance: You can access today’s ruling at this link.

Only Circuit Judge David B. Sentelle, in dissent, argued in favor of making air travel that much more interesting by allowing airline workers with safety-related jobs to forgo drug and alcohol testing.

The former home of Susette Kelo on East Street in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood of New London is dismantled: This item appears today on the web site of The Day of New London, Connecticut.

“In Prison, Anti-Abortion Terrorist Taunts via Web”: This audio segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on yesterday evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

“In this consolidated appeal, the plaintiffs appeal the dismissal pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) of their complaints alleging that the defendants’ advertising is responsible for the underage, and therefore illegal, purchase of alcoholic beverages by the plaintiffs’ minor children.” So begins a three-page opinion that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued today. Today’s ruling holds that the parents lack standing to pursue the suit.

“Specter walks tightrope on Southwick nomination”: The Hill today contains an article that begins, “Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) is walking a tightrope above a crowd of angry conservatives and prickly Senate Democrats. To his right, conservative activists are spoiling for a fight over judicial nominations. To his left, Senate Democrats could bring judicial confirmations to a standstill.”

“Injury waiver no protection from lawsuit; High court rules liability still exists”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “The state Supreme Court spurned pleas of hardship from operators of parks, racquetball clubs and stock car races and ruled Monday that recreation programs that require participants to sign liability waivers aren’t protected from lawsuits for accidents caused by gross negligence.”

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

“Liberty’s Lamp Is Dimmed by 2nd Circuit”: Today in The New York Sun, Joseph Goldstein has an article that begins, “Many recent Chinese immigrants will find it more difficult to get asylum after a federal appellate court in New York yesterday narrowed the definition of who qualifies as a political refugee. At issue is how America views policies in some localities of China requiring abortions or sterilization for those who have more than the government’s allotment of one or two children.”

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s en banc Second Circuit ruling can be accessed here.

“Court clarifies nations’ influence on sentencing; 9th Circuit reverses itself in murder case involving Venezuela”: Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s amended opinion in this appeal, in which over the course of three separate recent decisions the Ninth Circuit appears to have reached every conceivable outcome, can be accessed here.

Available online from law.com: An article reports that “Billionaire Gets Calif. Justices’ OK to Sue Judge, Lawyer; Court also dismissed arguments that the ruling would discourage settlements and disrupt attorney-client relationship.” You can access yesterday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of California at this link.

And an article is headlined “In Humorous Dissent, 2nd Circuit Chief Calls Students’ Speech Suit a ‘Silly Thing.’” My earlier coverage of last week’s Second Circuit ruling appears here.

“Double standard: Bush’s leniency for Libby doesn’t jibe with administration’s push to enforce mandatory minimum sentences.” Bob Egelko had this article yesterday in The San Francisco Chronicle.

“One of America’s Top Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Makes a Key Tactical Error During Oral Argument in a Case Against Big Tobacco: When Bad Things Happen to Smart Lawyers.” Anthony J. Sebok has this essay online today at FindLaw.

Mootness versus dicta: If you’d think that the author of an editorial about the U.S. Supreme Court in the current issue of The New Republic would understand the difference in meaning between those two words, you’d be wrong.

“Washington Mayor to Take Fight for Gun Law to Supreme Court”: Adam Liptak has this article today in The New York Times.

And The Washington Post today contains a front page article headlined “D.C. Wants High Court To Consider Gun Law.”

Update: In addition, The Washington Times reports today that “City to appeal overturning of handgun ban.”

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has today posted online draft Rules Governing Judicial Conduct and Disability Proceedings: You can access the draft rules via this web page, which provides instructions on how to submit comments. You can also access the draft rules directly by clicking here.

Among other things, the draft rules were written with an eye toward addressing issues raised in the so-called Breyer Committee Report.

“Picking judges in a time of turmoil: Despite increasingly being seen as under siege and in a state of turmoil, it can be argued that judicial appointments represent a success story for the administration in achieving its policy agenda.” This article appeared in the May-June 2007 issue of Judicature magazine.

“In Defense of the 9th Circuit: Why the federal appeals court from the Left Coast doesn’t deserve its bad rap.” Cullen Seltzer has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“IRS Sued Over Sex-Change Deduction”: The Associated Press provides this report.

Ninth Circuit “goes Rambo” on gun-related federal sentencing enhancement: Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski displays a bit of his vast cinematic knowledge in this decision issued today.

Update: A few readers have emailed to point out something that I too noted when I first saw this opinion — Judge Kozinski’s opinion includes a hypothetical about a wife who is cheating on her husband with another woman.

Dude, don’t bogart the qui tam largesse! A man with the last name Bogart brings a qui tam lawsuit and makes lots of money for himself, the federal government, and ten States. But Bogart wants even more money for his efforts, which he says benefited forty other States without qui tam statutes to the tune of another $30 million in settlements. Notwithstanding Bogart’s high-powered appellate team, today a unanimous Third Circuit panel holds that he will get nothing and like it.

The Ninth Circuit odyssey of Cristobal Rodriguez Benitez continues: Back on May 23, 2006, a three-judge panel held that his California state court sentence for murder could not exceed thirty years because of an extradition decree from the Supreme Court of Venezuela and the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs pursuant to the extradition treaty between the United States and Venezuela.

Thereafter, in January 2007, the same three-judge panel issued a revised decision holding that any sentence other than a life sentence would be permissible.

Today, the very same three-judge panel delivered even worse news for Benitez — the Ninth Circuit has now ruled by means of an amended opinion that the original California state court indeterminate sentence of fifteen years to life is just fine. Thus, in contrast to the appellate court’s two earlier rulings in the case reversing the federal district court’s denial of federal habeas relief, today’s decision affirms that denial.

“Second Amendment case headed to Court”: At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post that begins, “Local government officials in Washington, D.C., announced Monday they will appeal to the Supreme Court in a major test case on the meaning of the Second Amendment. The key issue in the coming petition will be whether the Amendment protects an individual right to have guns in one’s home — an issue on which there is now a clear conflict among federal Circuit Courts.”

And The Associated Press reports that “D.C. to Appeal in Handgun Ban Case.”

Majority on en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturns Board of Immigration Appeals decision holding that an individual whose spouse has been forced to abort a pregnancy, undergo involuntary sterilization, or been persecuted under a coercive population control program automatically qualifies for asylum as a “refugee”: You can access today’s 86-page ruling at this link. The vote to invalidate that BIA holding as contrary to statute was 8-4. Even before today’s ruling, a circuit split existed over how to construe the statute in question, and today’s ruling greatly increases the chance that the U.S. Supreme Court will wish to review this issue.

Today’s decision may strike some as an unlikely vehicle for the holding I mention in the title to this post, because the petitioners seeking asylum are the unmarried partners of individuals allegedly victimized by China’s coercive family planning policies. However, if even husbands are not automatically entitled to asylum, it would seem to follow that neither are unmarried partners.

Update: In other coverage of this ruling, The Associated Press reports that “Asylum Ruling Leaves Out Chinese Spouses.”

“Full Constitutional Protection for Some, but No Privacy for the Poor”: You can access today’s installment of Adam Liptak‘s “Sidebar” column at this link (TimesSelect pass-through link).

“Democrats Attack Gonzales, Supreme Court”: The Associated Press provides this report.

“Sex-tour trial set to begin in Phila.; Eight Moldovan teens were flown in to testify against a N.J. millionaire accused of child molestations there”: This article appears today in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

And The Associated Press reports that “Trial Set in Overseas Child Sex Case.”

St. Louis Cardinals 10, Philadelphia Phillies 2: The quixotic quest of the Phillies to avoid becoming the first North American team in professional sports history to reach 10,000 losses came to an end tonight in front of a sell-out home crowd (which included my son and me) at Citizens Bank Park as the team failed to achieve a sweep of a three-game series against the world champion Cardinals.

The Phillies thus managed to earn this mark of indistinction against a surprisingly appreciative home crowd, as the team now jets to southern California to face the top two teams in the National League West. The Phillies pitching staff gave up a total of six home runs tonight to the Cardinals, including two to Albert Pujols, giving him four in the three-game series. Phillies relief pitcher Brian Sanches, who entered the game in the top of the seventh inning with the Phillies trailing 6-0, gave up three solo home runs in that half inning, including two after having recorded two outs. Because the Phillies were so far out of contention in the game, Sanches was allowed to return to pitch the top of the eighth inning, where he performed comparatively better, yielding only one solo home run.

On the bright side, the Phillies did outscore the Cards in the ninth inning 2-0. But, regrettably, the preceding eight innings also counted toward the result. After the Cardinals had recorded the first two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the remaining crowd was surprisingly enthusiastic, applauding the Phillies as the team stood one out away from its 10,000th loss. After the final out was recorded, when slugger Ryan Howard struck out swinging, the crowd was quizzically quiet, unsure of how to respond.

You can access the box score of tonight’s game at this link, while wraps from MLB.com are available here and here. The Philadelphia Inquirer provides a news update headlined “Phillies lose No. 10,000.” The Associated Press reports that “Cardinals hand Phillies 10,000th loss.” And Bloomberg News reports that “Phillies Fall to Cardinals for 10,000th Loss in Team History.”

“Rally urges racial justice; Thousands call for Wilson’s release”: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution today contains an article that begins, “As thunder rumbled overhead, about 2,000 marchers chanted through the streets of Douglasville Saturday morning in a ‘March For Justice’ protest organized by the NAACP, calling for the release of convicted teen sex offender Genarlow Wilson.”

“Terrorism and the Law: In Washington, a Need to Right Wrongs.” The New York Times today contains an editorial that begins, “Congress and President Bush are engaged in a profound debate over what the founding fathers intended when they divided the powers to declare and conduct war between two co-equal branches of government. But on one thing, the Constitution is clear: Congress makes the rules on prisoners.”

“Keeping Secrets: How to balance national security with people’s rights to have their day in court.” The Washington Post contains this editorial today.

“Dred Scott v. Sandford: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer presides over a moot court to reconsider the Dred Scott case at Harvard University’s Law School in Cambridge, MA.” This broadcast (RealPlayer required) appeared two weeks ago on C-SPAN’s “America & the Courts.”

“A Fight over Privileged Positions”: In the July 23, 2007 issue of Time magazine, Reynolds Holding will have an article that begins, “You would think that after 218 years, 43 Presidents and countless partisan battles, the Federal Government would have worked out the rules for when Congress gets to question White House officials. But as President George W. Bush and the House and Senate Judiciary committees have made clear, you would be wrong.”

“School Diversity Based on Income Segregates Some”: This article will appear Sunday in The New York Times.

Philadelphia Phillies 10, St. Louis Cardinals 4: For the second day in a row, the offense of the Phillies achieved double digits in runs to defeat the reigning world champion Cardinals. Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, and Aaron Rowand homered, and even Pat Burrell contributed to the offensive production, going three-for-three with four RBIs. When Burrell was removed for a pinch runner in the bottom of the sixth inning after a two-RBI bloop single to the opposite field, he was greeted with sustained applause, in contrast to the usual round of boos that he regularly receives and often has deserved.

Phillies starting pitcher Cole Hamels did not have a strong outing, recording only two strikeouts in six innings and giving up four runs, including a home run to Albert Pujols, who has now hit one out of the park in each of the past two days. But the Phillies offense and the bullpen, which held the Cardinals scoreless over the final three innings, allowed Hamels to record the win.

For those who regret that an appellate angle is lacking from most of my baseball coverage, I have some good news. At Citizens Bank Park before the start of today’s game I had the pleasure of eating cheesesteaks with an Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States. My son and I, and the aforesaid ASG and his lovely wife, also walked around the stadium a bit, taking in the sights.

Today’s Phillies victory, before another sell-out crowd, postpones for at least another day the team’s 10,000th loss. You can view the box score of today’s game at this link, while wraps from MLB.com are available here and here. And The Associated Press reports that “Phillies Rout Cards, Avoid 10,000th Loss.”

Update: Here are some photos that I took at last night’s and this afternoon’s Phillies games.

The view from last night, when our seats were in the very last section of the Hall of Fame Club along the third base side.

Batting in the top of the eighth inning on Friday night, former Phillie and current Cardinal Scott Rolen only needs to hit a nine-run home run to tie the score.

In the top of the first inning of this afternoon’s game, Albert Pujols is at bat. He would pop out to second base.

In the bottom of the first inning, with leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins at the plate facing a 3-2 count, the scoreboard helpfully reminds Rollins that he is good at hitting home runs. Moments later, Rollins hits a home run to lead-off the bottom half of the first inning, and here he is seen trotting to home plate to record the run.

Ryan Howard also knows a thing or two about hitting home runs. Earlier this season he hit his 100th home run, reaching that distinction in fewer games than anyone else in Major League Baseball history. Here he is digging in at the plate in the bottom of the first inning. And here’s the pitch. And there it goes, as Howard has just hit the Phillies second solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, this one on a line drive to the right field seats.

In the bottom of the second inning, with two runners on base and two outs, Chase Utley is at the plate. You can see Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels on second base. Here’s the pitch to Utley. With the baserunners on second and first running on the 3-2 pitch to Utley, he hits a double, and both runners score.

A bit later in the game, here’s the pitch to Ryan Howard. In this at bat, he reached base after being hit by the pitch.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Greg Dobbs entered the game as a pinch hitter. In this photo, you can see the baseball just before it reached the plate. Dobbs ended up striking out.

“Federal Appellate Judge Dissents Without Reading Majority Opinion“: At “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Eugene Volokh has this interesting post about a Second Circuit decision issued yesterday that I previously noted at this link. Many of the comments to Eugene’s post are also worth reading. And Eugene also offers additional thoughts about the merits of the ruling in this other post.

“Ex-mayor’s conviction upheld on appeal”: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution today contains an article that begins, “A federal appeals court on Friday unanimously upheld former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell’s conviction last year on tax fraud charges.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at this link.