“Court will stay true to public, Rosen says”: Today’s edition of The Brown Daily Herald contains an article that begins, “The Supreme Court of the United States has and will continue to make decisions that largely reflect majority public opinion, George Washington University Professor of Law Jeffrey Rosen told a nearly full Salomon 001 Wednesday afternoon.”

“Stalemate Over Judicial Nominations Dampens Bush Legacy; Bush likely to leave office with fewer judges in place than Clinton, Reagan”: law.com provides this report.

“Vermont Supreme Court hears reappeal of lesbian custody case”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A Virginia woman asked the Vermont Supreme Court again Thursday to bar her former lesbian partner from visiting a 5-year-old girl born when the two were still together.”

“Court hears Harman Mining arguments”: The Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette today contains an article that begins, “The state Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday afternoon over whether to reverse its November ruling that dismissed a $76 million verdict against Massey Energy, after photos surfaced of the state’s chief justice and Massey’s chief executive together on vacation along the French Riviera.”

The Wall Street Journal reports today that “New Hearing Held in Coal Case; West Virginia Top Court Revisits Appeal in Suit After Pair of Recusals.”

And The West Virginia Record reports that “Court rehears headline-grabbing Massey case.”

“FBI Found to Misuse Security Letters; 2003-06 Audit Cites Probes of Citizens”: Dan Eggen will have this article Friday in The Washington Post.

And The Associated Press provides a report headlined “Audit: FBI Privacy Abuses Rose in 2006.”

You can access the report of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice at this link.

Failure to exhaust state court remedies before seeking habeas corpus relief in federal court and executing the mentally retarded: Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an order granting rehearing en banc in a case involving Texas death row inmate Eric Moore.

Earlier, a divided three-judge panel twice voted 2-1 (see here and here) to overturn the federal district court’s grant of habeas relief, which had been based on a finding that Moore was retarded.

“Judge refuses to strike down school integration plan ; Lawyer said it revived quotas”: Yesterday’s edition of The Louisville Courier-Journal contained an article that begins, “A temporary plan to keep Jefferson County Public Schools desegregated next year survived its first legal challenge yesterday when a federal judge refused to strike it down. U.S. District Judge John Heyburn II rejected a challenge by Louisville attorney Ted Gordon, who contends the plan for the 2008-09 school year is unconstitutional.”

“WA high court says random school drug testing unconstitutional”: The Seattle Times provides this news update.

The Associated Press reports that “WA high court says random school drug testing unconstitutional.”

And at Education Week’s “School Law Blog,” Mark Walsh has a post titled “Washington State Supreme Court Strikes Down Student Drug Testing.”

Today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Washington State consists of a plurality opinion and three concurring opinions (here, here, and here).

Tenth Circuit‘s chief judge takes “under advisement” judicial misconduct complaint asserting that Chief Judge Edward W. Nottingham of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado has brought disrepute to the judiciary: You can access Monday’s order at this link. The original judicial misconduct complaint can be accessed here, via KnowYourCourts.com.

The Tenth Circuit’s order from Monday is also available for download via that court’s own web site at this link.

President Bush has nominated G. Steven Agee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit: You can view the announcement at this link. The nominee currently serves as a Justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia, where his term is due to expire on March 1, 2015.

The nominee, if confirmed by the U.S. Senate, would fill the vacancy created when J. Michael Luttig resigned.

The Associated Press reports that “Va. Justice Nominated to Appeals Court.”

“Immunity Issue at Center of FISA Fight”: This audio segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

And The Associated Press reports that “House to Close Its Doors for Spying Bill.”

Are senior status federal judges costing too much? Joe Palazzolo, in this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” explains that the question arose yesterday at a hearing before the Financial Services and General Government subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“Novak, Clement, Cheney, and the Gun Case”: Marty Lederman has this interesting post at “SCOTUSblog.”

And at National Review Online’s “The Corner,” Shannen Coffin writes that “Novak’s claim are remarkable and, quite frankly, difficult to believe.”

“Detainee in U.S. pursues new claim”: At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post that begins, “Lawyers for the only detainee now being held inside the U.S. as an ‘enemy combatant’ on Thursday opened a new challenge to his confinement, arguing that his constitutional rights have been violated by the conditions under which he has been held for almost five years.”

“US Accused of Altering Gitmo Evidence”: The Associated Press provides this report about the latest developments in the case against Canadian detainee Omar Khadr.

Ninth Circuit denies rehearing en banc of decision recognizing a First Amendment right to operate web sites that encouraged people to “swap” their votes to improve the chances of a Democratic presidential victory: You can access today’s order denying rehearing en banc, and a dissent therefrom that only three judges joined, at this link.

My earlier coverage of the original three-judge panel’s ruling appears at this link.

“Not even Thomas Reed Powell–who famously defined the legal mind as one that can think of something that is inextricably connected to something else without thinking about what it is connected to–could miss the fact that a pot pipe is related to the pot that it is used to smoke.” Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit today issued this decision about drug paraphernalia and immigration law.

“Scrutiny for a Bush Judicial Nominee”: At Time magazine’s web site, Adam Zagorin has an article that begins, “As the top lawyer for America’s biggest private prison company, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), Gus Puryear IV, is known to sport well-pressed preppy pink shirts, and his brownish mop of hair stands out among most of President Bush’s graying nominees to the federal bench.”

And today’s issue of the weekly Nashville Scene contains an article headlined “A White Man’s Dance: With Ted Kennedy on his back, judicial candidate Gus Puryear is forced to defend his membership at the exclusive Belle Meade Country Club.”

“Justices Back Pay Raise, Oppose Cameras”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Two Supreme Court justices pressed lawmakers Thursday to raise the pay of federal judges and refrain from requiring the court to televise its sessions.”

And at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Tony Mauro has a post titled “A Meeting of the Branches.”

Former U.S. Supreme Court law clerks discuss the life and legacy of Justice Thurgood Marshall: You can view online this past Saturday’s broadcast of C-SPAN’s “America and the Courts” by clicking here (RealPlayer required). One of the panelists is former Fifth Circuit nominee Michael B. Wallace.

“F.B.I. Made ‘Blanket’ Demands for Phone Records”: The New York Times contains this article today.

“L.A. Times Legal Reporter Weinstein Said to Take Buyout”: This post appears today at the ABA Journal’s blog. Further confirmation of the news appears at this link.

“Judge calls immigration officials’ decision ‘beyond cruel’; The ruling says a detainee who later died of penile cancer was denied a biopsy of a lesion though several doctors said the procedure was urgently needed; His family will be allowed to seek damages”: Henry Weinstein has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

I have posted online at this link Tuesday’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

“Guantanamo trial delayed amid prisoner’s protests; An Afghan accused in attack on U.S. soldiers refuses to cooperate in what he calls an ‘illegal’ tribunal”: Carol J. Williams has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

And today in The Miami Herald, Carol Rosenberg has articles headlined “Defiance, shackles in Afghan’s war trial; In a military commissions first, a Marine judge ordered a Guantanamo detainee to be shackled at the ankles at a chaotic hearing” and “Pentagon to charge another Afghan.”

“Gun Battle at the White House?” Today in The Washington Post, columnist Robert D. Novak has an op-ed that begins, “In preparation for oral arguments Tuesday on the extent of gun rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court has before it a brief signed by Vice President Cheney opposing the Bush administration’s stance.”

“New York stripper says Hillsborough judge owes her money; She says he refused her offer to keep quiet in return for the money”: The St. Petersburg Times contains this article today.

“Cyclist’s Trial May Foreshadow Perjury Case Against Bonds”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

“Author says Supreme Court often takes side of business”: In today’s edition of The Providence (R.I.) Journal, Edward Fitzpatrick has an article that begins, “Since John G. Roberts Jr. became chief justice, the U.S. Supreme Court has been sharply divided over hot topics such as abortion, race and the environment, but it has been unified in one area that receives far less attention: The court is decidedly pro-business.”

“Bill to close prostitution loophole”: The Providence (R.I.) Journal today contains an article that begins, “With the nation’s eyes trained on former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s alleged involvement with a prostitute, Rhode Island lawmakers are considering a bill that would close the loophole in this state’s laws that makes prostitution legal if it occurs indoors.”

“Pentagon Cites Tapes Showing Interrogations”: Today’s edition of The New York Times contains an article that begins, “The Defense Department is conducting an extensive review of the videotaping of interrogations at military facilities from Iraq to Guantanamo Bay, and so far it has identified nearly 50 tapes, including one that showed what a military spokesman described as the forcible gagging of a terrorism suspect.”

And The Washington Post reports today that “Detainee’s Suit Says Abuse Was Videotaped.”

The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “Juvenile Suspects Face Trial at Gitmo“; “White House Threatens Surveillance Veto“; and “German Court Upholds Incest Law.”