“Supreme Court convenes to crowded, controversial docket”: Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.

Laura Smith-Spark of BBC News has a report headlined “US Supreme Court’s swing to right: As the US Supreme Court begins a new term, it promises once again to become the stage where America’s ideological battles are played out.”

And James Vicini of Reuters reports that “U.S. court opens term, with terrorism, death penalty.”

“Lilly Withstands U.S. High Court Challenges to Zyprexa Patent”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News provides this report.

Reuters is reporting: James Vicini reports that “U.S. top court won’t hear Guantanamo prisoner’s case.”

And in other news, “US top court rejects tobacco industry in Fla. case.”

Access online the transcript of today’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party, No. 06-713: The Court has posted the transcript at this link.

Update: The transcript of the other case argued today, Board of Education of the City School District of the City of New York v. Tom F., No. 06-637, can now be accessed here.

“David Savage, Los Angeles Times, Supreme Court Reporter reviews the major cases of the Supreme Court term which begins today.” C-SPAN has posted online this video segment (RealPlayer required) from today’s broadcast of “Washington Journal.”

The Associated Press is reporting: An article reports that “Washington State’s Primary System Argued.”

And Mark Sherman reports that “Dispute on Private School Payments Heard.”

“Court opens term with First Amendment case”: Tony Mauro has this news analysis at the First Amendment Center.

Lyle Denniston is reporting: At “SCOTUSblog,” he has posts titled “Court refuses to hear Hamdan case” and “Court opens new Original case in water dispute.”

“Justices’ docket a combustible mix; Death penalty, guns, drugs among issues”: James Oliphant has this article today in The Chicago Tribune.

And today in The Christian Science Monitor, Warren Richey has an article headlined “Too-close-to-call cases at Supreme Court; In this term, beginning Monday, several key cases could hinge on one justice.”

“Commentary: Conservative Supreme Court is Bush’s legacy.” Jeffrey Toobin has this essay online at CNN.com.

“Court Time: Why I’m Not Looking Forward to the New Supreme Court Term.” Benjamin Wittes has this essay today at The New Republic.

“Detainee, Gun Cases at High Court May Temper Roberts-Led Shift”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News provides this report.

In early coverage of today’s denials of review by the U.S. Supreme Court: The first Monday in October is typically accompanied by a lengthy Order List from the U.S. Supreme Court denying review in a massive number of cases. Today is no different. You can access today’s 83-page Order List at this link.

The Associated Press provides reports headlined “High Court Won’t Hear Birth Control Case“; “Court Refuse Osama Driver Detainee Case“; “Court Rejects Tobacco Case“; “Court Turns Down Evangelical Group“; and “High Court Won’t Hear Two Religion Cases.”

On today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition“: The broadcast contained audio segments entitled “Detainee Rights to Top Supreme Court Docket” (featuring Nina Totenberg) and “Justice Clarence Thomas’ Memoir Hits Stores.”

RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments.

“Sowell of a Justice: An early influence on Clarence Thomas.” Kathryn Jean Lopez has this essay at National Review Online.

“Kennedy talks poverty, rights; Justice avoids topic of Court politics”: Last Friday’s issue of The Yale Daily News contained an article that begins, “He may be the swing vote on the U.S. Supreme Court, but Anthony Kennedy said calling it the ‘Kennedy Court’ might motivate his colleagues to rebel. ‘If you keep saying that, the decisions will be 8-1,’ Kennedy joked after delivering a lecture at the Yale Law School. His speech, according to attendees, mostly avoided talk about the High Court, its decisions and its internal politics.” A related photo can be viewed at this link.

“On the Bench in the Philippines, An Improbable Revolutionary; Chief Justice Campaigns to End Killings of Journalists, Activists”: The Washington Post contains this article today.

“Woman Suing IRS Over Sex-Change Tax Claims; Case to Test if Procedure Is Deductible”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

“Courtroom to be full as jury selection starts”: The Rene Gazette-Journal today contains an article that begins, “Beginning today, a stretch of Virginia Street in front of the Washoe District Court will be lined with large satellite television vans as jury selection begins in Darren Mack’s trial on charges of murder and attempted murder. National, state and local news organizations will pack the courtroom as prosecutors and defense lawyers begin questioning potential jurors to decide the fate of the 45-year-old pawn shop owner, charged with fatally stabbing his 39-year-old estranged wife, Charla, and shooting their divorce judge, Chuck Weller.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Reno Courthouse Shooting Case to Begin.”

“Yale Law, Newly Defeated, Allows Military Recruiters”: The New York Times contains this article today.

“Exoneration Using DNA Brings Change in Legal System”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

“The Right Judicial Litmus Test”: Today in The Wall Street Journal, Law Professor Steven G. Calabresi has an op-ed that begins, “Today the U.S. Supreme Court begins its second full term since President Bush’s appointments of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito. Given the complaints made by many on the left and in the press about the Court’s alleged ‘radical turn to the right’ last year, now is a good time to consider how the Court ought to decide its constitutional cases.”

“New Issues, Familiar Battles: Supreme Court Begins Term With Kennedy Again as Swing Vote.” Jess Bravin has this article today in The Wall Street Journal.

Today in The Washington Post, Robert Barnes reports that “Supreme Court to Take On Contentious Cases in New Term.”

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Guantanamo inmates’ rights to get fresh look; The Supreme Court will also consider drug sentences, workplace fairness and how lethal injection is carried out.” In addition, the newspaper contains an editorial entitled “Consensus on the Supreme Court: After a fractious last term, the Supreme Court has a fresh chance to forge a strong voice.”

And at National Review Online, Jonathan H. Adler has an essay entitled “First Monday: What next for the ‘Kennedy Court’?”

“Thomas memoirs try to clear ‘untruths’ about him”: Joan Biskupic has this article today in USA Today.

Today in The Washington Post, Kevin Merida has an essay entitled “To Cite a ‘Mockingbird’: Justice Thomas Casts His Ordeal in a Literary Light.”

And The New York Sun reports today that “Justice Thomas’s Remarks May Impact Race in 2008.”

“Court To Hear Ground Zero Liability Case”: Today in The New York Sun, Joseph Goldstein has an article that begins, “A federal appeals court’s reading of an obscure Cold War-era law, passed amid fears of a Soviet nuclear attack, will decide whether the thousands who toiled at ground zero can hold the city liable for their exposure to toxins. The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, which sits in Manhattan, will hear oral arguments today on whether the city is immune from lawsuits brought by the thousands of firefighters, police officers, and construction workers who searched for survivors and cleaned up on the site of the World Trade Center.”

“Clarence Thomas: The Justice Nobody Knows; Supreme Court Justice Gives First Television Interview To 60 Minutes’ Steve Kroft.” You can access the transcript of Sunday’s “60 Minutes” segments by clicking here (or click here to access the single-page print version).

The two video segments themselves can be accessed online here (part one) and here (part two).

“Law-and-order issues top Supreme Court docket”: Bill Mears has this report at CNN.com.