“New York’s High Court Hears Death Penalty Arguments”: Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times will contain an article that begins, “Prosecutors argued on Monday before New York State’s highest court that the lone man remaining on the state’s death row should face execution despite a landmark 2004 court ruling that effectively invalidated the state’s death penalty law.”

“Reaganites Reconsider”: Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Charlie Savage, the national legal affairs correspondent for The Boston Globe, has this essay in the September 24, 2007 issue of The Nation.

Charlie’s brand new book is titled “Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy.”

“The Other General: Ted Olson for DOJ.” Kate O’Beirne has this essay today at National Review Online.

“Rush to Judgment: The fight to fill judicial vacancies grows ever weirder.” Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Under the Robes: Secrets of the Supreme Court; New Book’s Revelation: Souter Almost Quit After 2000 Recount Fight.” ABCNews.com provides this report (via “Above the Law“).

“Pa. Tries to Toss Libby Law License”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court took a step Monday to suspend the law license of I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby Jr., the former White House aide convicted of lying and obstructing justice in a probe into the leak of a CIA operative’s identity.”

You can access last Friday’s order of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania at this link.

This 2008 wall calendar devoted to the U.S. Supreme Court will provide you not only with the first Monday in October, but also with every other day of the year: Today’s mail included a lovely 2008 wall calendar that, according to an enclosed transmittal letter, is the first ever devoted to exploring the Supreme Court — its history, architecture, cases, and people.

law.com’s Tony Mauro developed the idea for and text of the calendar, and Museum Concepts of Arlington, Virginia is the calendar’s publisher. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the calendar will go to the Supreme Court Historical Society. You can learn more about the calendar and place an order for it both here and here.

“Super Bowl Striptease Back on Stage”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A federal appeals court on Tuesday will consider whether a notorious ‘wardrobe malfunction’ that bared singer Janet Jackson’s breast during a televised 2004 Super Bowl halftime show was indecent, or merely a fleeting and accidental glitch that shouldn’t be punished.”

Divided three-judge Third Circuit panel holds that that court’s ruling from 1990 in United States v. Kikumura is no longer good law and thus a district judge may employ the preponderance standard to find facts justifying large sentencing enhancements: You can access today’s ruling at this link.

Ironically, the majority in today’s ruling notes that by holding that Kikumura no longer remains good law, the Third Circuit is disagreeing with rulings from both the Eighth and Ninth Circuits. Various other federal appellate courts have already agreed with the conclusion that the Third Circuit reached today.

By a vote of 9-6, en banc Ninth Circuit panel upholds death sentence imposed on California inmate Stevie Lamar Fields: You can access today’s ruling at this link. The jury’s use of biblical passages while deliberating created much fodder for discussion in today’s en banc majority and dissenting opinions.

On recent broadcasts of C-SPAN’s “America & the Courts“: The broadcast from two Saturday’s ago was titled “Supreme Court Review.” law.com’s Tony Mauro moderated a stellar panel. The program starts approximately seven minutes into this video segment (RealPlayer required). I previously linked here to the transcript of the event.

And this past Saturday evening’s broadcast was titled “Role of the Courts in Times of War” (RealPlayer required). C-SPAN has also posted online the complete panel discussion from the recent Ninth Circuit judicial conference in Honolulu at this link (RealPlayer required).

“Conservatives denounce governor’s pick for the Missouri Supreme Court”: This article appeared Saturday in The Kansas City Star.

And The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on Saturday that “Blunt picks new high court judge.”

“Thong politics: The history of shortsighted laws to control young people’s underpants.” Professor Jill Fields has this op-ed today in The Los Angeles Times.

“The liberty/security debate: From FISA fixes to appointing a new attorney general, Congress will have many opportunities to have an honest, open discussion.” This editorial appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Missouri abortion law under review; Facilities that regularly provide first-trimester terminations — including the pill version — may be regulated as outpatient surgical centers; Two of the state’s three clinics would have to close”: The Los Angeles Times contains this article today.

“Nursing Mother Goes to Court for Exam Time”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

“Court Cloaked in Secrecy Shows a Hint of Openness”: You can access today’s installment of Adam Liptak‘s “Sidebar” column at this link (TimesSelect temporary pass-through link).

“New Focus on the Effects of Life Tenure”: Linda Greenhouse has this Supreme Court Memo today in The New York Times.

“Prisons Purging Books on Faith From Libraries”: The New York Times today contains an article that begins, “Behind the walls of federal prisons nationwide, chaplains have been quietly carrying out a systematic purge of religious books and materials that were once available to prisoners in chapel libraries. The chaplains were directed by the Bureau of Prisons to clear the shelves of any books, tapes, CDs and videos that are not on a list of approved resources.”

“Class in New Jersey”: The Wall Street Journal today contains an editorial that begins, “Gadzooks, good news from New Jersey, and concerning a lawsuit no less. The state’s Supreme Court ruled late last week that lawsuits filed against Merck & Co. for its Vioxx painkiller can’t be consolidated into a giant class action suit.”

Last Friday’s issue of The Newark Star-Ledger reported that “Court rejects Vioxx class suit.”

You can access last Thursday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of New Jersey at this link.

“D.C. attorney known for work on high-profile cases; Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho joins clientele list that includes Michael Vick, Monica Lewinsky’s mom”: This article appears today in USA Today.

And The New York Times reports today that “Sting Charges Against Craig Harsher Than Some.”

“Highest Court To Hear Appeal, Decide Fate of Death Penalty”: Today in The New York Sun, Joseph Goldstein has an article that begins, “The state’s highest court today will hear an appeal by the last inmate on New York’s death row. In the process, the Court of Appeals, which sits in Albany, will decide the future of capital punishment in New York State, legal analysts say.”

The New York Daily News reports today that “Last man on N.Y.’s Death Row to plead for his life.”

The New York Post contains an article headlined “’00 Fiend’s Bid for Life.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Man in limbo on death row in NY awaiting decision on his fate.”

Today’s oral argument before the New York State Court of Appeals — that State’s highest court — is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. eastern time, and the court is planning to post a link to a live webcast of the oral argument on its web site’s home page approximately fifteen minutes before that time.