Mark Walsh, who has been covering legal issues in education for more than 15 years for Education Week, announces the launch of “The School Law Blog”: You can access the blog at this link.

A “motion to stay the permanent injunction pending appeal,” if filed within the thirty-day period for appeal, qualifies as a notice of appeal even if the party desiring to take the appeal never filed a formal notice of appeal: So holds the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a ruling issued today.

I wrote about this topic in the August 20, 2007 installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com, headlined “You Call That a Notice of Appeal?”

Sorry, but your religion requires too many absences from work: Today, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a decision rejecting the EEOC’s appeal from the grant of summary judgment against that federal agency in a religious discrimination case. On appeal, the EEOC argued that a Firestone subsidiary had failed to reasonably accommodate the beliefs of an adherent of the Living Church of God. The Fourth Circuit disagreed, holding that it would be too burdensome to give the employee as much time off as he was seeking.

“Not Even U.S. Supreme Court Victory Can Vanquish $79.5 Million Punitive Award Against Philip Morris”: Today’s installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com can be accessed at this link.

“Lawyer Sentenced in Kickback Scheme”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “William Lerach, a former partner at a prestigious New York law firm, was sentenced Monday to two years in federal prison for his role in a lucrative kickback scheme involving class-action lawsuits against some of the nation’s biggest corporations.”

“Defense Department Seeks Death Penalty for Six Guantanamo Bay Detainees”: The U.S. Department of Defense today issued a news release that begins, “The Defense Department announced today it has sworn criminal charges and is seeking the death penalty against six detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The detainees charged include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and five others charged in connection with the attacks, Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Hartmann, legal advisor to the convening authority in DoD’s Office of Military Commissions, told reporters at the Pentagon.”

You can view the charges, which contain a list of the names of those killed in the 9/11 attacks, by clicking here.

“Suit: Airport searches of laptops, other devices intrusive.” Jeanne Meserve of CNN.com provides this report.

You can access this blog’s earlier coverage of the lawsuit at this link.

“2008 Election, the Supreme Court and Punitive Damages”: Jeremy Rosen has this post at the blog “California Punitive Damages.”

“The Republican Candidates’ Views on Judicial Selection: How Would a President McCain, Huckabee, or Paul Influence the Supreme Court and the Rest of the Federal Judiciary?” Carl Tobias has this essay online today at FindLaw.

“Wiretap Showdown”: This editorial appears today in The Wall Street Journal.

“Unworthy Nominees”: The New York Times today contains an editorial that begins, “President Bush staged an event in the East Room last week for his unconfirmed appointees and repeated a story line so tired that it’s hard to imagine even he believes it. His nominations — of judges, top Justice Department officials and others — are stalled, he said, because of undue Senate delay. The real problem, of course, is that 15 months after American voters put the Democrats in control of the Senate, Mr. Bush is still trying to muscle far-right ideologues with troubling records into important positions.”

“Clinton v. Obama: The Lawsuit.” Theodore B. Olson has this op-ed today in The Wall Street Journal.

“Lerach Says Payoffs Were Widespread”: Today in The New York Sun, Josh Gerstein has an article that begins, “A prominent class-action lawyer facing sentencing today for secretly paying plaintiffs to file securities lawsuits, William Lerach, is suggesting that the under-the-table practice was widespread and was not isolated to the firm he helped run for decades, Milberg Weiss.”

And The Los Angeles Times reports today that “Class actions feel effects of Milberg case; The probe of William Lerach, who will be sentenced today, has altered the arena.”