“Thomson wins appeal of software patent verdict”: The Associated Press provides this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued today.

The current version of The AP’s article erroneously attributes the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

“Bin Laden driver wants ‘9/11 braintrust’ as defense witnesses”: Carol Rosenberg of The Miami Herald has a news update that begins, “A Pentagon prosecutor warned Monday that testimony from an alleged al Qaeda kingpin, meant to clear Osama bin Laden’s driver of war crimes, could help terrorists topple another American building.” The newspaper has posted the defense motion at this link.

And The Washington Post has a news update headlined “Lawyers Plan to Call Detainee Witnesses in Terrorism Trial.”

“District Leaders Announce New Handgun Regulations”: The Washington Post provides this news update.

And The Associated Press reports that “DC to vote on gun bill prompted by court ruling.”

“Appeals court upholds $15M award to former LA cops”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a jury’s $15 million award to three officers who accused the Los Angeles Police Department of wrongly arresting them and making them scapegoats in a massive corruption scandal that resulted in the overturning of dozens of criminal convictions and millions of dollars in settlements.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

“New York Times wins ruling in anthrax libel case”: James Vicini of Reuters provides this report.

And The Associated Press reports that “Court rules for NY Times in anthrax libel case.”

“Times Wins in Libel Suit Brought By Former Anthrax Suspect”: Josh Gerstein of The New York Sun has this news update.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has, as of the time of this post, not yet made its rulings issued today freely accessible over that court’s web site.

Update: I have posted a copy of today’s Fourth Circuit ruling at this link.

Second update: The opinion is now freely available over the Fourth Circuit’s web site at this link.

Seattle street performer “Magic Mike” to experience the magic that is rehearing en banc before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit: In January 2008, a divided three-judge Ninth Circuit panel issued a ruling that examined “the bounds of a city’s authority to restrict expression in a public forum.” As my post about that ruling explained, “The lawsuit was brought by street performer Michael Berger, a/k/a ‘Magic Mike,’ against the City of Seattle, which seeks to regulate the manner of his performances at a public forum known as the Seattle Center.”

By a 2-1 vote, the majority upheld the regulations. But Circuit Judge Marsha S. Berzon dissented, writing:

The majority does not acknowledge how radically its holdings alter our law, creating a legal structure which will make it far easier to shut down discourse in public parks and other traditional public fora. Democracies survive and grow through public conversations among their citizens. For this reason, we have always viewed any limitations on speech in traditional public fora with extreme skepticism. [The majority’s] opinion departs from that long tradition. I respectfully dissent.

Today, the Ninth Circuit issued an order granting rehearing en banc in the case.

“No rush to retire black robes on Supreme Court”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press provides this report. A related item is titled “Ages of Supreme Court justices and recent retirees.”

“Woman sues over ongoing sanctions for sex as a teen; Consensual activity by a student shouldn’t force her to move from home, plaintiff says”: Bill Rankin has this article today in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Earlier, the July 19, 2006 issue of Creative Loafing Atlanta contained an article headlined “Life in the shadows: Now facing a legal challenge, Georgia’s war on sex offenders could punish minor violators while failing to focus on the worst ones.”