“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.

“Judge’s Guantanamo Ruling Bodes Ill for System”: The New York Times contains this news analysis today.

And The Washington Post reports today that “Adviser Barred From Detainee Case Over Bias Concerns.”

“Voter ID Battle Shifts to Proof of Citizenship”: This article will appear Monday in The New York Times.

“Scalia and Garner: First A Book, Now Performance Art.” Tony Mauro has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

Edward Fitzpatrick of The Providence (R.I.) Journal is reporting: In today’s newspaper, he has articles headlined “Breathalyzer challenge argued in Rhode Island Supreme Court” and “As courts turn to e-filing, couriers get less work.”

And in Friday’s newspaper, he had an article headlined “Judge puts off same-sex divorce ruling.”

“Justices to hear Pa. beer battle; Dispute could change how and where suds are sold”: This article appears today in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Journalist facing fines urges press to protect 1st Amendment”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A former USA Today reporter facing fines for failing to reveal her sources for stories about the 2001 anthrax attacks said Saturday that news organizations need to go on the offensive in the fight to protect the First Amendment.”

“Texas high court operates in secrecy, group claims; Watchdog says justices producing too many unsigned legal opinions”: The Associated Press provides this article about a report that the group Texas Watch issued recently.

“Standing for Change in the Courts? Good Luck.” That was the headline of Al Kamen’s “In the Loop” column published yesterday in The Washington Post.

“Stevens addresses lethal injections”: The Chattanooga Times Free Press today contains an article that begins, “Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens drew a round of applause Friday night in Chattanooga when he suggested that the recently-euthanized Kentucky Derby horse Eight Bells had probably experienced a more humane death than those who die on death row.”

“Following year of division, Supreme Court avoids 5-4 splits”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press provides this report.

“3 suspended for not standing for Pledge of Allegiance”: The Minneapolis Star Tribune today contains an article that begins, “Three small-town eighth-graders in Minnesota were suspended by their principal for not standing Thursday morning for the Pledge of Allegiance, violating a district policy that the principal now says may soon be reworded to protect free speech rights.”

And The Forum of Fargo, North Dakota reported on Friday that “3 D-G-F students sit, get punished.”

“Mississippi’s Tort Reform Triumph”: Stephen Moore has this op-ed today in The Wall Street Journal.

“Tennessee’s Trial Run”: The Wall Street Journal today contains an editorial that begins, “Making things happen can be difficult in government, so Tennessee lawmakers have a plum assignment in the coming weeks. As the clock runs down on the state’s method of judicial selection, the best thing they can do is nothing at all.”

“Conservatives Supporting Shield Law for the Press”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

And in related coverage, ABC News reports that “Reporter Faces Financial Ruin for Not Naming Sources; Former USA Today Reporter Appeals Contempt Order for Not Revealing Her Anonymous Sources, Faces Fines of up to $5,000 a Day.”

“Judge disqualifies general from war-court case”: Carol Rosenberg has this article today in The Miami Herald.

And The New York Times reports today that “Judge Drops General From Trial of Detainee.”

“Reporter Explores America’s Unique Take on Justice”: This audio segment (RealPlayer required) consisting of an interview with Adam Liptak of The New York Times appeared on Thursday’s broadcast of National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air with Terry Gross” (via “LawBeat“).

“9th Circuit Blasts U.S. Prosecutor for Withholding Documents”: Pamela A. MacLean of The National Law Journal provides this report.

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

“The 2008 Bench Press: The most important decision a president ever makes? It’s choosing a Supreme Court nominee. Voters, take note.” Columnist Anna Quindlen has this essay in the May 12, 2008 issue of Newsweek.

“Persuasion: Justice Antonin Scalia is persuadable. Or he finally thinks you are.” Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “Yale Club settles ex-nominee Bork’s suit over 2006 stumble“; “Guantanamo detainees spread word to boycott trials“: and “Government asks court to block wider testing for mad cow.”

“Convincing a Federal Court of Appeals”: Seventh Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner is the author of the May 2008 installment of “Tips from the Trenches” available online via the web site of the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation.

Joseph Goldstein of The New York Sun is reporting: An article headlined “Congress Seeks To Protect U.S. Authors” begins, “Congress is taking an even more aggressive approach than New York State in responding to the fining of American journalists and authors for libel by foreign courts.”

And an article headlined “Gag on 2nd Amendment Is City’s Aim in Guns Suit” begins, “Lawyers for Mayor Bloomberg are asking a judge to ban any reference to the Second Amendment during the upcoming trial of a gun shop owner who was sued by the city. While trials are often tightly choreographed, with lawyers routinely instructed to not tell certain facts to a jury, a gag order on a section of the Constitution would be an oddity.”

“McCain Sings Same Old GOP Song On Justices; Republican Presidential Nominee Parrots Party Lines Bashing Judges”: CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen recently had this “CourtWatch” column.

The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online, in coverage of cases pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, are articles headlined “Reporter challenges ruling over sources in anthrax case” and “Plame seeks to resurrect lawsuit in CIA leak case.”

An article headlined “Nevada judge accused of demanding royal treatment” begins, “Elizabeth Halverson is a judge. But the way courthouse staffers see it, she expects to be treated like a queen.”

And in other news, “Kentucky death row inmate: ‘I’m ready and I’m sorry’” and “Judge: Jury selection can begin in R. Kelly pornography case.”

“Judge threatens to suspend war court trial; A military judge agreed with defense lawyers that they should have access to the log that tracked the life of a Canadian brought to the prison camp in 2002, at age 15”: Carol Rosenberg has this article today in The Miami Herald.

“Court weighs whether to restrict ‘business method’ patents”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Is a baseball pitcher’s method for throwing a curveball patentable? How about a chiropractor’s techniques? A federal appeals court wrestled with those kinds of questions Thursday when it considered placing restrictions on patent protections for business practices. The case under review is being closely watched by financial services and software companies.”

Reuters reports that “US court mulls standard for business method patents.”

And Dow Jones Newswires report that “Appeals Panel Reviews Standard For Business-Method Patents.”

You can download the audio of yesterday’s en banc oral argument of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit via this link (55.7MB mp3 audio file). [Update: Given the large size of the oral argument audio file, the Federal Circuit has recently made the oral argument available for download in two parts, consisting of part one and part two. Thanks to the Federal Circuit employee who drew this to my attention.]

“Send in the clones? Judges should be independent thinkers, not political partisans.” This editorial appears today in USA Today.

The newspaper also contains an op-ed by Tony Perkins entitled “Restrain judicial activism: Judges should interpret the law and leave legislating to the people.”

In commentary available from FindLaw: Edward Lazarus has an essay entitled “McCain’s Remarks Regarding the Kind of Judges He Would Nominate As President: His Surprising Failure to Take Into Account the Rightward Turn of the Supreme Court and of the Law in Recent History.”

And Vikram David Amar has an essay entitled “What the Supreme Court’s Recent Decision Upholding Indiana’s Voter ID Law Tells Us About the Court, Beyond the Area of Election Law.”