“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.

“Move to End Death Penalty In New Jersey”: This article will appear Monday in The New York Times.

“The Inspirational Life of Clarence Thomas”: Robert Bluey has this essay today at Townhall.com.

Update: And the October 2007 issue of Imprimis, a publication of Hillsdale College, contained an interview headlined “A Conversation with Justice Clarence Thomas.”

“Federalist Society Visits Supreme Court”: This article appeared in Friday’s issue of Virginia Law Weekly.

“Court unlikely to rule against lethal injections”: Yesterday’s edition of The Sydney Morning Herald contained an article that begins, “For the first time in three years, more than a month has gone by in the US without a single execution.”

“A Harvest of Trash and Turmoil for an Agent Fighting Steroids”: The New York Times contains this article today.

In addition, Law Professor John C. Coffee Jr. has an essay entitled “Take Me Out to the Courtroom.”

“Senate isn’t exactly out of town; The chamber will be briefly back in session to forestall any recess appointments by Bush”: This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

“All the President’s Powers”: Emily Bazelon today has this review in the Sunday Book Review section of The New York Times.

“What a judge may tell Kent: The reprimand may sound familiar.” Today in The Houston Chronicle, columnist Rick Casey has an op-ed that begins, “There seems a good chance that U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent will face a jury of his peers — not the judges who already found him guilty, but of 12 good citizens and true.”

“Alzheimer’s Disease Releases Couple to Love Again”: This audio segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on yesterday evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

“Huckabee: Abortion Not States’ Call.” The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee rejects letting states decide whether to allow abortions, claiming the right to life is a moral issue not subject to multiple interpretations.”

“Utahns exercise right to openly carry firearms; More citizens pack heat in plain view; legality remains a murky area”: The Salt Lake Tribune contains this article today.

“Utah’s Cross Controversy: The Utah Highway Patrol Association is faced with a lawsuit over placing by the side of the road crosses honoring state troopers killed in the line of duty.” This article appears online at Newsweek’s web site.

In Thursday’s issue of The Salt Lake Tribune, Pamela Manson had an article headlined “Fallen trooper memorials: Crosses go from highways to courtroom; Are the markers illegal symbols of Christianity, or secular memorials?”

And The Deseret Morning News reported last week that “Attorneys argue Utah Highway Patrol cross case.”

“Love in the Time of Dementia”: The Week in Review section of today’s edition of The New York Times contains an article that begins, “So this, in the end, is what love is. Former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s husband, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, has a romance with another woman, and the former justice is thrilled — even visits with the new couple while they hold hands on the porch swing — because it is a relief to see her husband of 55 years so content.”

And at Poynter Online, Al Tompkins has an essay entitled “Behind the O’Connor Love Story: By telling an intimate story about a famous family, a Phoenix television station examines a side of Alzheimer’s unknown to many; Here’s how it happened” (via “LawBeat“).

“Timing of Bonds’s Indictment Feeds Speculation”: The New York Times today contains this article, along with an article headlined “Prosecution’s Best Pitch Is Precision, Experts Say.”

The Los Angeles Times reports today that “Concern delayed the case against Bonds; Federal prosecutors, unsure of the strength of their evidence, gave the slugger time to break Henry Aaron’s home run record.”

And The San Francisco Chronicle contains an article headlined “Bonds’ defense: Lawyer may have talked his client into a corner.”

“Senate Stays In Session to Block Recess Appointments”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

“A Taste of Baboon and Monkey Meat, and Maybe of Prison, Too”: The New York Times contains this article today.

“Court’s Fuel-Economy Ruling May Prod Congress to Set Even Higher Requirements”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “New Attorney General Mukasey Shows Savvy“; “Courts Stall Inmate’s Desire to Die“; and “Gitmo Day at the Beach Is Anything But.”

Some noteworthy recent law review articles: In the November 2007 issue of Boston College Law Review, Law Professor Adam N. Steinman has an article entitled “Reinventing Appellate Jurisdiction” (via “Concurring Opinions“).

In the Fall 2007 issue of Northwestern University Law Review, Lee Epstein, Andrew D. Martin, Kevin M. Quinn, and Jeffrey A. Segal have an article entitled “Ideological Drift among Supreme Court Justices: Who, When, and How Important?” In response to that article, Linda Greenhouse has an essay entitled “Justices Who Change: A Response to Epstein et al.” And Law Professor Ward Farnsworth has an essay entitled “The Use and Limits of Martin-Quinn Scores to Assess Supreme Court Justices, with Special Attention to the Problem of Ideological Drift.” (All via “Concurring Opinions.”)

Forthcoming in Texas Law Review, Law Professor David R. Stras will have a review essay entitled “The New Politics of Judicial Appointments” (SSRN abstract with links for download) (via “Legal Theory Blog“).

And Law Professor Joshua D. Wright has posted to SSRN an article entitled “The Roberts Court and the Chicago School of Antitrust: The 2006 Term and Beyond” (abstract with links for download) (via “Legal Theory Blog“).

“Child killer’s delayed execution means agony for family”: CNN.com provides this report.

My earlier coverage appears at this link.

“Giuliani says he’d pick conservative justices; Seeking support during an address to the Federalist Society, the Republican presidential candidate promises to nominate justices like Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas; He also backs gun rights”: David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

And The New York Times reports today that “Giuliani Vexes Audiences With His Abortion Views.”

“Hawaii court nominee earns praise”: This article appears today in The Honolulu Advertiser.

“Does Death Penalty Save Lives? A New Debate.” Adam Liptak will have this article Sunday in The New York Times.

“Court rejects challenge to wiretap program; The Bush administration’s warrantless spy effort is protected by the ‘state secrets’ privilege, federal judges rule”: Henry Weinstein has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

The Oregonian reports today that “Islamic charity’s suit blocked in use of U.S. secret document; The 9th Circuit Court ruling may allow the nationally watched case to proceed.”

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that “Court of Appeals allows Islamic group to sue over eavesdropping.”

The New York Times reports that “Court Bars Secret Papers in Eavesdropping Case.”

In The Washington Post, Dan Eggen reports that “Both Government and Islamic Charity Claim Victory in Eavesdropping Case.”

And Declan McCullagh of c|net News.com has a post at his blog “The Iconoclast” titled “Appeals court’s ruling may aid spy suits against AT&T, Verizon.”

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

“Fairbanks lawyer named to Alaska Supreme Court”: This article appears today in The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

The Houston Chronicle is reporting: Today’s newspaper contains articles headlined “Attorneys take slap at barge case prosecution; ‘No scheme to deprive anyone of any money,’ judge hears” and “Temple’s attorneys subpoena Chronicle for data on reader; They want to ID a Web site user whose comments suggested a juror discussed the case.”

“Courthouse shooting trial delayed again”: This article appears today in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

And Fulton County Daily Report reports that “Judge Halts Courthouse Murder Trial Until Funds Found for Defense; ‘It is pointless to move the trial forward under present circumstances,’ Ga. judge says.”

Available online from law.com: An article reports that “Bush Tells Federalist Society Judicial Confirmation Process Is Broken; Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito also spoke at the conservative legal group’s 25th anniversary gala.” Additional extensive coverage of the Federalist Society event can be accessed at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

In other news, Shannon P. Duffy reports that “Bush Chooses District Judge for 3rd Circuit, With Reed Smith Attorney as Replacement.”

An article reports that “Courtroom Cell Phone Camera Ruled Witness Intimidation Tool.” You can access the ruling of the Appeals Court of Massachusetts at this link.

And the brand new installment of my “On Appeal” column is headlined “D.C. Circuit Doesn’t Swallow Lactose-Intolerance Class Action.”

“New guidelines could mean earlier release for 19,500 crack offenders”: McClatchy Newspapers provide this report.

“Court rejects challenge to wiretap program; The Bush administration’s warrantless spy effort is protected by the ‘state secrets’ privilege, federal judges rule”: Henry Weinstein of The Los Angeles Times provides this news update.

“9th Circuit Deals Setback to NSA Surveillance Victim”: Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog this afternoon has a post that begins, “Two Americans who claim to have been given proof they were spied on by the government’s secret, post-9/11 surveillance program can not use the document the government accidentally turned over to prove that they were spied on because the government claims that it will endanger national security, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. A three-judge panel at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision that required that the plaintiff’s lawyers turn all copies of the document over to the court, but let them reconstruct – on secure computers – their recollections of the document in order to prove they had standing to sue the government.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation v. Bush at this link. And the trial court’s ruling can be accessed here.

Update: The Associated Press reports that “Court Deals Blow to Wiretapping Case.”

“Bush judicial nominee sued, accused of defamation”: The Virginian-Pilot today contains an article that begins, “E. Duncan Getchell Jr., a Richmond lawyer nominated to the federal appeals court, was accused this week of making a costly error in 2005, then spreading false statements about it and shifting the blame to another lawyer to save his judicial nomination.”