“Military prepares for 9/11 suspects’ hearings; The Pentagon is readying a compound where the Bush administration plans to arraign the alleged perpetrators of 9/11”: Carol Rosenberg has this article today in The Miami Herald.

“Just Being Kozinski: The Ninth Circuit’s new chief judge is brilliant, charming – and provocative; But does he have the right temperament for the job?” This article was the cover story of the April 2008 issue of California Lawyer magazine.

“Court blocked from case: Too many investments.” Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report. According to the article, today was “the first time in at least a quarter-century that the justices’ financial holdings prevented them from taking a case.”

“Technological advances in recent years have been such that an untrained eye simply cannot easily distinguish a photograph of a real person from a virtual image by merely eyeballing the photographs in question.” Today, Senior First Circuit Judge Norman H. Stahl has issued an opinion concurring in the judgment criticizing as improperly lax the manner in which federal prosecutors can satisfy the requirement in a child pornography prosecution of proving that the children depicted in the images are real.

Following a retrial, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upholds the conviction of former naval intelligence officer Jay Lentz for interstate kidnapping resulting in the death of his ex-wife: You can access today’s ruling at this link.

The Washington Post previously provided extensive coverage of the case.

“In a case of first impression in this circuit, we address just such a set of challenges and largely conclude that public school mandatory dress policies survive constitutional scrutiny.” In a ruling issued today, the majority on a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejects a student’s constitutional challenge to the dress code policy of the Clark County, Nevada public schools.

Circuit Judge Sidney R. Thomas‘s dissenting opinion begins (footnotes omitted): “Kim Jacobs wanted to wear a T-shirt to Liberty High School containing a message expressing her religious beliefs as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When she did, she was suspended four times, for a total of twenty-five days, because the only messages allowed on shirts were those promoting the school. She alleges that she was penalized academically, suffered emotional harm, and eventually was forced to transfer to another school.” He concludes that “[o]n this record, the governmental interest in promoting ‘school spirit’ cannot come close to outweighing Kim Jacobs’ First Amendment rights.”

Update: At “The School Law Blog” of Education Week, Mark Walsh has a post titled “9th Circuit Upholds School Uniform Policy.”

The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “Court will decide case of Va. man on death row” and “Court turns down Chinese man’s asylum claim.”

“Getting on Scalia’s Good Side”: Today in The Daily Journal of California, Brent Kendall has this very interesting article reporting on his interview last week with Justice Antonin Scalia.

“Bush nominates a moderate judge; Both of Virginia’s senators like Glen Conrad”: This editorial appears today in The Roanoke Times.

Access online today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in an argued case: The Court today issued its ruling in Gonzalez v. United States, No. 06-11612. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy issued the opinion of the Court, in which the Chief Justice and Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, and Samuel A. Alito, Jr. joined. Justice Antonin Scalia issued an opinion concurring in the judgment. And Justice Clarence Thomas dissented. You can access the opinion at this link and the oral argument transcript at this link.

The case presented the question “whether it suffices for counsel alone to consent to the magistrate judge’s role in presiding over voir dire and jury selection [in a felony criminal trial conducted in federal court] or whether the defendant must give his or her own consent.” By a vote of 8-1, the Court today ruled that the consent of counsel suffices even in the absence of the defendant’s own consent.

In early news coverage, The Associated Press reports that “Court rules that magistrate may preside.”

“Court won’t block US lawsuit by apartheid victims”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has a report that begins, “The Supreme Court says it can’t intervene in an important dispute over the rights of apartheid victims to sue U.S. corporations in U.S. courts because four of the nine justices had to sit out the case over apparent conflicts.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Court allows South Africa case to go forward.”

In an article headlined “Stock Holdings May Force Justices to Sit Out Apartheid Case” published on April 25, 2008, Brent Kendall of The Daily Journal of California anticipated this outcome.

You can access today’s Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.

“War crimes trials and outside pressure”: Lyle Denniston has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”

“Next president might be gentler on pot clubs”: Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.

“‘Gap kid’ cases to go before Supreme Court”: Yesterday in The Providence (R.I.) Journal, Edward Fitzpatrick had an article that begins, “The state Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments in cases involving the ‘gap kids’ who were charged as adults during the 130 days that Rhode Island prosecuted 17-year-olds as adults.”

“Domestic spying far outpaces terrorism prosecutions; As more Americans are watched, fewer cases are made; The trend concerns civil liberties groups as well as some lawmakers and legal experts”: The Los Angeles Times contains this article today.

“Thomas tells grads of goal blocked by injustice”: This article appeared yesterday in The Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald.

And The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported yesterday that “Thomas gives grads familiar advice.”

“Six felons ruled retarded are spared execution”: The Cleveland Plain Dealer contains this article today.

“Police in Gun Searches Face Disbelief in Court”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

“In U.S. appeals courts, Reagan’s influence endures; Conservative appointees now a dominant force in the law”: Joan Biskupic has this front page article today in USA Today.