Available online from law.com: Tony Mauro reports that “High Court Justices Question Power of Bush Order in ‘Medellin’ Case; Presidential directive that Texas heed World Court ruling on rights of jailed foreign nationals is aggressively challenged.”

In other news, “NYC Loses Round Before Supreme Court on Tuition Payback Policy for Learning-Disabled Students.”

And Pamela A. MacLean reports that “Filing Error Comes at a Bad Time for Federal Judicial Hopeful.”

“Immigrant’s sex with minor doesn’t merit deportation, court rules”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “An immigrant who is in the United States legally does not have to be deported if convicted of having sex with a minor, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. In a 2-1 decision, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the crime that Alberto Quintero-Salazar admitted in 1998, illegal intercourse between an adult over 21 and a youth under 16, was not the type of ‘vile, base or depraved’ conduct that subjects a lawful U.S. resident to deportation.”

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Ninth Circuit ruling appears at this link.

“Secrecy defense prevails in torture case; The Supreme Court refuses to hear a lawsuit from an alleged victim of brutality by the CIA; The decision is seen as a setback for civil libertarians”: David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

Today in The Washington Post, Robert Barnes reports that “Supreme Court Won’t Review Alleged CIA Abduction.”

And Joan Biskupic of USA Today reports that “Supreme Court rejects case of CIA accuser; Man says he was abducted, tortured.”

“Texas Holds Him: Leave it to Texas to put a stop to executive overreaching.” Dahlia Lithwick has this Supreme Court dispatch online at Slate.

“High court seems likely to limit suits in Charter case; Justices appear skeptical of investors’ right to sue outside firms that may have played key roles in a company’s fraud scheme”: David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

And today in The Washington Post, Robert Barnes reports that “Justices Doubt Investors’ Arguments; Court Hears Case Seen as Proxy For Enron.”

“Cal Supremes to consider legality of pat-down searches at 49er games”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle provides a news update that begins, “The state Supreme Court agreed today to decide whether the San Francisco 49ers invade their fans’ privacy by conducting pat-down searches at the stadium gates, a measure ordered by the National Football League to catch potential terrorists. A state appeals court upheld the searches in a 2-1 ruling in July, saying two fans who challenged the policy had tacitly agreed to be searched when they bought their season tickets. But six of the high court’s seven justices voted today to set the appellate ruling aside and review the case. No hearing date has been scheduled.”

The July 9, 2007 installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com was headlined “Did a Federal Appeals Court Avoid Tackling the Real Issues Behind Football Fan’s Lawsuit? 11th Circuit rules that season ticket-holder can’t object to being searched upon entering stadium.”

“Ex-detainee Hicks gets prerelease help”: Yesterday in The Miami Herald, Carol Rosenberg had an article that begins, “David Hicks, the lone Guantanamo captive convicted of a war crime, is getting special counseling ahead of his December release from a prison in his native Australia, a newspaper reports in its Monday’s editions.”

And Monday’s edition of The Adelaide Advertiser contained an article headlined “Tailor-made package to help Hicks.”

“Guantanamo Detainees Enjoy Historic Protections, Administration Says”: Linda Greenhouse will have this article Thursday in The New York Times.

“Sniper says he feels shame, guilt for murders”: Online at CNN.com, Soledad O’Brien has a report that begins, “Sniper Lee Boyd Malvo said in a letter to CNN that he is still ‘grappling with shame, guilt, remorse and my own healing if that will ever be possible.’ And a social worker who has worked extensively with him said he draws self-portraits that often show him with a tear running down his cheek.”

Today’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in Medellin v. Texas, No. 06-984, featured an extra twenty-six minutes of oral argument time: At her “Legalities” blog, ABC News correspondent Jan Crawford Greenburg has a post titled “Overtime.”

And at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Orin Kerr’s review of the oral argument transcript caused him to write a post titled “Great Argument.”

“Lawyers argue R.I. should allow gays to divorce”: The Providence Journal today contains an article that begins, “Rhode Island’s first same-sex divorce case has generated a pile of detailed legal arguments, but lawyers for the two Providence women yesterday told the state Supreme Court that the issue is simple and clear-cut.”

On this evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered“: The broadcast contained audio segments entitled “High Court Considers Test of Federal-State Power” (featuring Nina Totenberg) and “House Panels Retool Eavesdropping Legislation.”

RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments.

“Thomas and Oral Argument”: At her “Legalities” blog, ABC News correspondent Jan Crawford Greenburg has a post that begins, “Justice Thomas is known for his silence on the bench, and he’s talked over the years about why he rarely asks questions.”

“Court weighs case of Mexican on Texas death row”: James Vicini of Reuters provides this report.

And Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Rights of Mexicans on Death Row Questioned by U.S. High Court.”

“Government’s witness in Convertino prosecution admits he lied”: The Detroit News provides an update that begins, “The prosecution of former federal assistant U.S. attorney Richard Convertino hit an early hitch today when the government’s first scheduled witness admitted he lied under oath during a pretrial hearing on Tuesday.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Ex-Prosecutor on Trial Over Terror Case.”

Available online from National Public Radio: Today’s broadcast of “Morning Edition” contained audio segments entitled “High Court Hears Case of Mexican on Death Row” (featuring Nina Totenberg) and “Indian Trust Funds Suit Returns to Court.”

And today’s broadcast of “Day to Day” contained an audio segment entitled “Judge Bars Pentagon from Shipping off Detainee.”

RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments.

“[T]he making of finer gradations within the category of deferential review strains judicial competence”: So writes Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner in an opinion issued today on behalf of a unanimous three-judge Seventh Circuit panel.

Judge Posner goes on to explain, “The gradations exist formally: there is clear-error review, substantial-evidence review, review for rationality (as of jury verdicts, where the test is whether any rational trier of fact could have arrived at the jury’s verdict), arbitrary-and-capricious review, abuse-of-discretion review, ultra-narrow review of credibility determinations based on a witness’s demeanor, and more.”

Three-judge Ninth Circuit panel rejects challenge to San Diego County’s comprehensive zoning ordinance that governs the operation of adult entertainment businesses: You can access today’s ruling at this link.

The U.S. Supreme Court has posted online the transcript of today’s oral argument in Medellin v. Texas, No. 06-984: You can access it at this link.

“The question in this case is whether it is arbitrary and capricious for an ERISA plan administrator to deny Personal Accident Insurance benefits to the beneficiary of an insured who died as result of his own drunk driving.” So begins the lead opinion announcing the decision that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued today. Each of the three judge on the panel issued his own decision, with the court ruling 2-1 that the denial of insurance benefits should be upheld.

That this issue proved difficult should not be surprising, as the en banc Eighth Circuit in July 2005 issued opinions totaling 40 pages in a decision that appears to have reached the opposite result from today’s Sixth Circuit ruling.

“Bush, Texas at Odds Over Death Case”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Neither the president nor an international court can tell Texas how to treat criminal defendants, the state’s top Supreme Court advocate told the justices in a lively argument Wednesday over the fate of a Mexican citizen on death row.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “How to say no to the President?”

“New York Loses Special Education Appeal”: Pete Yost of The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “The Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed a ruling that requires New York City schools to reimburse a wealthy businessman for private special education for his son. The justices split 4-4 on the case, which means a lower court ruling siding with former Viacom executive Tom Freston remains in place.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Court rules for parents of disabled child.”

Today’s per curiam ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court can be accessed here.

Programming note: I have a court appearance in a neighboring State this morning. As a result, additional posts should appear here by mid-afternoon.

“Exotic Dancer Worker’s Comp Upheld”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “An Indiana appeals court upheld a worker’s compensation award Tuesday for an exotic dancer who was injured while performing on a pole at a strip club.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the Court of Appeals of Indiana at this link.

Available online from law.com: Tony Mauro reports that “Justices Appear Skeptical of Investor Class Actions in ‘Stoneridge’ Case.”

Laurel Newby has an article headlined “Supreme Court Argument Report: Calling Noam Chomsky and Gertrude Stein; In linguistics debate, will justices decide that a use is a use is a use?”

And in other news, “Qualcomm Lawyers Late to Search Laptop; Outside counsel didn’t search witness’s laptop until midtrial, but may have had indications of relevant e-mails months before.”