“Seventh Circuit affirms Judge Adelman’s below-guideline work”: At his “Sentencing Law and Policy,” Doug Berman has this post about an interesting ruling that Seventh Circuit Judge Diane S. Sykes issued today on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of that court upholding a below-Guidelines sentence on a conviction for downloading and electronically sharing child pornography.

Fifth Circuit holds that Texas law which restricts the right of an auto insurer to own and operate auto body shops in that State does not violate the dormant Commerce Clause but does in certain respects violate the First Amendment: You can access today’s ruling at this link.

“Originalist Sins: The faux originalism of Justice Clarence Thomas.” Doug Kendall and Jim Ryan have this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “Gonzales Admits Testimony ‘Confusing’“; “Judge Nominee Runs Into Senate Trouble“; “House Panel Approves Reporter Shield“; and “Bush Likely to Prevent Aides’ Testimony.”

Programming note: Following my participation in a panel discussion at the 16th Annual Meeting of the Conference of Court Public Information Officers this afternoon in Columbus, Ohio, I’ll be heading home. Additional posts will appear tonight.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirms decision declaring District of Columbia’s Prescription Drug Excessive Pricing Act of 2005 preempted by the federal patent laws and enjoining that act’s enforcement: You can access today’s Federal Circuit ruling at this link. Challengers to the act provide additional background on the case here and here.

“This case calls upon us to decide whether the New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. can enforce a copyright in the settlement prices it produces to value customers’ open positions.” So begins an opinion that a partially divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued today.

“Pork at issue in doughnut franchise row; Discrimination claimed in lawsuit as Muslim proprietor is threatened with loss of business”: This article appears today in The Chicago Tribune.

My earlier coverage of last month’s Seventh Circuit ruling appeared in a post titled “Dunkin Donuts may regret going whole hog on this particular franchisee.”

“A Moose for a Lawyer”: Eugene Volokh has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” discussing a Seventh Circuit ruling that I noted yesterday.

As a comment to Eugene’s post observes, it’s not impossible to have a Moose for a lawyer.

“Padilla Lawyers: No Defense Witnesses.” The Associated Press provides this report.

“Roberts Back at Summer Home After Seizure; Chief Justice and His Doctors Must Decide About Medication”: Robert Barnes and Shankar Vedantam have this article today in The Washington Post.

USA Today reports today that “Roberts leaves hospital, said to be ‘in great spirits’; Chief justice faces greater risk after second seizure.”

And The Los Angeles Times contains an editorial entitled “Roberts’ welcome openness: The transparency surrounding the chief justice’s seizure should set a precedent for the Supreme Court.”

“Shielding Sources: Journalists need protection at the federal level.” This editorial appears today in The Washington Post.

And The Los Angeles Times today contains an editorial entitled “Get behind a shield law: Congress should reject attempts to water down legislation that would let journalists protect their sources.”

“Gonzales’s Woes Create Legal Liability for Bush Administration”: Bloomberg News provides this report.

And today in The Washington Post, Dana Milbank’s “Washington Sketch” column is headlined “Here Lies a Man Impeached.”

“U.S. Attorney Became Target After Rebuffing Justice Dept.” This front page article appears today in The Washington Post.

The Roanoke Times reports today that “Brownlee retells events that led to Purdue plea; In testimony before a Senate judiciary panel, the U.S. attorney described his encounter with a Justice official.”

And USA Today reports that “U.S. attorney tells of clash before he was placed on list.”

“Musharraf Accepts Chief Justice Ruling”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has publicly accepted a court ruling that reversed his suspension of Pakistan’s chief justice, saying judicial independence was essential to governing the country, state media said Wednesday.”

“NSA Spying Part of Broader Effort; Intelligence Chief Says Bush Authorized Secret Activities Under One Order”: The Washington Post today contains a front page article that begins, “The Bush administration’s chief intelligence official said yesterday that President Bush authorized a series of secret surveillance activities under a single executive order in late 2001. The disclosure makes clear that a controversial National Security Agency program was part of a much broader operation than the president previously described. The disclosure by Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, appears to be the first time that the administration has publicly acknowledged that Bush’s order included undisclosed activities beyond the warrantless surveillance of e-mails and phone calls that Bush confirmed in December 2005.”

And USA Today reports today that “Letter attempts to clarify Gonzales’ testimony; Specter sought explanation from national spy chief.”

“Court Okays Using Churches As Polling Places”: Today in The New York Sun, Josh Gerstein has an article that begins, “Using a Catholic church as a polling place does not violate the Constitution, even if voters are told to cast their ballots in a room containing crucifixes and other religious icons, a federal judge in Florida ruled.”

I have posted online at this link yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.