“Court refuses to bar high-profile lawyer from State Farm case”: The Associated Press provides this report on a non-precedential ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued today.

“4th Circuit Nominee Named in Defamation Suit”: Pamela A. MacLean of The National Law Journal provides this report.

This blog’s earlier related posts appear here and here.

“Death Becomes Us? Tennessee tries to keep its machinery of death in motion as U.S. Supreme Court considers the legality of lethal injection.” This article appears in the current issue of Nashville Scene.

“Public Disclosure Needed in Kent Case”: Steven Long has this post today at “In Cold Blog.”

“Letters from Prison”: This feature in the current issue of The Texas Observer consists of two essays written by prisoners — “Life and Death in a Cold, Lonely Cell” and “Give Me Shelter.”

There’s something different about the look of this blog: Indeed there is. The ad unit that appeared vertically below the law.com headlines in this blog’s right-hand column now appears horizontally across the top of the page. As a consequence, those who advertise here using Blogads will now have their ads appearing higher on the page.

“California’s high court seeks death penalty fix; Justices propose to deal with a massive backlog by allowing case review to be transferred to lower courts”: Henry Weinstein of The Los Angeles Times provides this news update.

You can access at this link the press release that the Supreme Court of California issued today.

“U.S. Attorney in Minnesota Is Reassigned”: The New York Times provides a news update that begins, “The embattled United States attorney in Minnesota announced today that she would be stepping down to go work at the Justice Department in Washington on legal policy issues.”

“Paulose steps down, takes D.C. job; U.S. Attorney quit today in wake of public comments last week”: The Minneapolis Star Tribune provides this news update.

“Orlando prep school sues mother for criticizing it on blog; The New School of Orlando calls comments defamatory, libelous”: This article appeared yesterday in The Orlando Sentinel.

And The Associated Press reports that “Orlando private school sues blogging parent; The mom says she wants to warn others about conditions her child faced in kindergarten.”

(Links via “Obscure Store.”)

“D.C. Circuit Doesn’t Swallow Lactose-Intolerance Class Action”: Today’s installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com can be accessed at this link.

Access online today’s alcohol ban in strip club ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit: The decision is available at this link. The decision involves the Village of Washington Park, Illinois, which, according to the opinion, “derives almost 100% of its income from the adult entertainment industry.”

“The State of the Term”: Tom Goldstein has this post today at “SCOTUSblog.”

“Court Considers Changing Look of Money”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A federal appeals court seems troubled that blind people are unable to distinguish between a $50 bill and a $1 bill, but judges appeared reluctant Monday to force a redesign of U.S. currency.”

“Geographically incorrect”: The Baltimore Sun yesterday contained an editorial that begins, “Given their history, President Bush’s nomination of U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein to the long-vacant Maryland seat on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seems primarily intended as a poke in the eye to Maryland’s two senators.”

“Mass. Gay Marriage Law Still Contested; On fourth anniversary, future of law still remains unclear”: This article appears today in The Harvard Crimson.

“Michigan Primary Goes to High Court”: The Associated Press provides this report.

“The Death Penalty: Slowly Fading?” Stuart Taylor Jr. has this essay in today’s issue of National Journal.

“Fourth Circuit Nominee Getchell Sued For Defamation”: Today at WSJ.com’s “Law Blog,” Peter Lattman has this post linking to the complaint filed in a Virginia state trial court.

My earlier post on this matter appeared Friday afternoon at this link.

“Constitution wins as appellate court strikes down ‘bait-and-switch’ legislation”: The Allentown Morning Call today contains an editorial that begins, “Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court last week struck down a 2002 expansion of the state’s hate-crimes law to cover victims who are gay or disabled. The loss of this needed protection is regrettable, of course, but the court’s majority made the right call. Specifically, Commonwealth Court has called the Legislature on yet another attempt at stealth legislation.”

My earlier coverage appears at this link.

“Court documents detail loans that led to KC judge’s downfall”: This article appeared Saturday in The Kansas City Star.

“Feinstein often crosses party lines on Senate Judiciary Committee”: Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.

“California a leader in number of youths in prison for life; The state has 227 inmates serving such sentences for crimes committed before they were 18, a new study says”: Henry Weinstein has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Philadelphia Gives Boy Scouts Ultimatum; City Solicitor Tells Branch to Renounce Its Ban on Gays or Lose Rent Subsidy”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

“Rendition, Torture and Accountability”: The New York Times today contains an editorial that begins, “Maher Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian, was stopped at Kennedy Airport in 2002 while returning from a family vacation. After being held in solitary confinement in a Brooklyn detention center and interrogated without proper access to a lawyer, he was spirited off to Syria. He was tortured there for months before officials decided that their suspicions that he was a member of Al Qaeda were mistaken and let him go.”

“Making sense of the Second Amendment”: This editorial appears today in The Washington Times.

“’60 Minutes’ airs video of Omar Khadr”: The Toronto Globe and Mail today contains an article that begins, “CBS News has broadcast shocking new footage of a Canadian terrorism suspect allegedly building bomb timers and planting land mines while he was a 15-year-old militant hoping to take on American soldiers in Afghanistan.”

And the web site of the CBS News program “60 Minutes” contains a report headlined “Omar Khadr: The Youngest Terrorist? Was Only 15 Years Old When He Was Captured In Afghanistan.”

“Land-claims trial takes unusual turn”: This article appears today in The Toronto Globe and Mail.

“‘Spectacular Trial’ Is Seen in Case of Liberty Dollar”: Joseph Goldstein has this article today in The New York Sun.

“Some cleared Guantanamo inmates stay in custody; Lawyers call US system of hearings a sham”: This front page article appears today in The Boston Globe.

“Case of AIDS, secrets heads to Illinois supreme court; Suit before state’s high court filled with complex legal, moral issues”: The Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Illinois contains this article today.

“Former Supreme Court justice O’Connor visits Texas Tech”: This article appears today in The Daily Toreador.

The Associated Press reported that “O’Connor speaks in Lubbock.”

And today’s edition of The Arizona Republic contains an editorial entitled “Again, she inspires.”

“Blaze that destroyed Supreme Court justice’s home a mystery”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “It might sound like the kind of case fire investigators deal with routinely: A family with some financial problems loses their house in a blaze that’s later ruled as arson. What makes this story so unusual is the homeowner, Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina.”

In commentary available online at FindLaw: Michael C. Dorf has an essay entitled “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Dismisses a Challenge to Warrantless Wiretapping But Leaves Plaintiffs With a Sliver of Hope.”

And Mark H. Allenbaugh and Paul J. Hofer have an essay entitled “The U. S. Sentencing Commission Considers Shortening Terms for Imprisoned Crack Offenders: Should the Reduction of the Disparity Between Crack and Powder Cocaine Sentencing Be Retroactive?”

“How to Tell Someone She’s Being Sued, Without Really Telling Her”: Adam Liptak has this “Sidebar” column today in The New York Times.