“Judge: Nichols trial may start in early September.” Today’s edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contains an article that begins, “After 14 days of jury selection, 101 prospective jurors have been questioned and 40 placed in the pool of ‘qualified’ jurors that will eventually reach 100. From that group, 18 jurors and alternates will be selected to decide the fate of courthouse murder suspect Brian Nichols.”

“Campaigns Halt as Nevada Court Upholds Term Limits”: The New York Times today contains an article that begins, “A day before the start of early voting in Nevada, 21 incumbents found that their re-election bids were suddenly over as the State Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld term limits passed by voters in 1996.”

The Reno Gazette-Journal today contains an article headlined “State’s high court: 12-year limits valid.”

And The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that “State high court rules 21 ineligible; Woodbury can’t run again; Buckley, Raggio can stay on ballot.”

You can access here and here yesterday’s rulings of the Supreme Court of Nevada.

“Court limits defendant’s right to seek mercy”: Yesterday in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko had an article that begins, “A criminal defendant’s right to address the judge before sentencing and plead for mercy without being cross-examined, a right traced back to 17th century England, doesn’t exist in California, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.”

You can access Thursday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of California at this link.

“Conflicting marijuana laws take stage in trial; San Luis Obispo County businessman is fighting prosecutors’ contention that he is a drug trafficker”: The Los Angeles Times contains this article today.

“Mr. Mukasey’s Justice: Attorney General Michael Mukasey’s demand for an expansion of the president’s power to detain foreigners without charge was couched, as usual, in apocalyptic terms.” This editorial will appear Sunday in The New York Times.

“Driver: U.S. let bin Laden escape; Former Osama bin Laden driver Salim Hamdan told FBI interrogators that the United States had multiple chances to capture Osama bin Laden before the Sept. 11 attacks.” Carol Rosenberg has this article today in The Miami Herald.

Today in The Los Angeles Times, Carol J. Williams has an article headlined “Guantanamo war crimes defendant helped Bin Laden succeed, FBI agent testifies; Bit players like the Al Qaeda leader’s driver are key to protecting Bin Laden, says a special agent who interrogated Salim Ahmed Hamdan for 13 days.”

And The New York Times reports that “Prosecutors State Case in First Guantanamo Trial.”

“Pa. hate-crime protections weakened”: The Philadelphia Inquirer today contains a front page article that begins, “Victims of hate crimes who are gay, female or disabled no longer have special protections under state law. The state Supreme Court has upheld a lower-court ruling striking down the 2002 expansion of the Ethnic Intimidation Act that covered sexual orientation, gender identity, and physical or mental disability.”

Friday’s edition of The Lancaster Intelligencer Journal reported that “Pa. court upholds gay-rally ruling.”

And Thursday’s edition of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that “Top state court backs Christian group in hate-crimes case.”

You can access Wednesday’s order of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania at this link.

“Scalia Makes the Case on Stage”: Tony Mauro had this post yesterday at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

“Roberts Can Do Better Than Consensus: He needs to start moving the law in the direction he prefers.” Law Professor Scott D. Gerber has this op-ed today in The Wall Street Journal.

“In the Balance: Depending on who wins the presidency, the Supreme Court could turn sharply to the right or see its first crusading liberal justice in many years.” Stuart Taylor Jr. will have this cover story in the forthcoming issue of National Journal magazine.

“U.S. Trades Alito To British Supreme Court In Six-Judge Deal”: The Onion provides this audio report.

And in actual news, The Daily Item of Sunbury, Pennsylvania reports today that “Justice Alito to speak in Valley on Sept. 15.”

“Reporter Invokes Fifth Amendment, Then Is Celebrated by the Judge”: Josh Gerstein has this article today in The New York Sun.

The Washington Times reports today that “Judge upholds reporter’s right to protect sources.” The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “The right to know.”

The Los Angeles Times reports that “Judge declines to order reporter to reveal sources; Bill Gertz of the Washington Times wrote about Chi Mak, who was found guilty of plotting to send U.S. Navy information to China.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Grand jury to call reporter on indictment sources.”

“Janet Jackson’s Breast Freed, This Time by Court”: Bloomberg News columnist Ann Woolner has this essay today.

“Top U.S. Court Near Decision on Exxon Valdez Interest Payments”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.

Available online from law.com: Tony Mauro reports that “High Court Justices Go Digital to Access Founding-Era Documents.”

And Shannon P. Duffy reports that “Five Tapped for Federal Bench Openings in Pennsylvania.”

“Justice Advised CIA in ’02 About Legal Waterboarding”: The Washington Post on Friday will contain an article that begins, “Lawyers for the Bush administration told the CIA in 2002 that its officers could legally use waterboarding and other harsh measures while interrogating al-Qaeda suspects, as long as they acted ‘in good faith’ and did not deliberately seek to inflict severe pain, according to a Justice Department memo made public yesterday.”

The Associated Press reports that “2002 Justice memo OKs CIA interrogation tactics.”

And CNN.com reports that “Previously secret torture memo released.”

CNN.com has posted the heavily redacted memo, signed by then-Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee, who now serves as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, at this link.

“Court: Colorado financial aid ban unconstitutional.” The Denver Post today contains an article that begins, “Colorado violated the U.S. Constitution when it blocked taxpayer-funded financial aid to students at religious schools that the state calls ‘pervasively sectarian,’ a federal appellate court in Denver ruled Wednesday.”

And The Associated Press provides a report headlined “Another courtroom victory for religious colleges.”

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Tenth Circuit ruling appears at this link.

“Council’s sectarian prayer ban upheld; Fredericksburg member may appeal to high court in bid to use Christ’s name in blessing”: This article appears today in The Richmond Times-Dispatch.

And The Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg, Virginia reports today that “City prayer policy upheld; Circuit court rules for city.”

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Fourth Circuit ruling appears at this link.

“Court backs Pledge of Allegiance refusal”: The Palm Beach Post today contains an article that begins, “A federal appeals court has upheld the right of former Palm Beach County student Cameron Frazier to refuse to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance in school, but it did not settle the broader question of whether all students have the right to refuse to participate in the pledge.”

The Miami Herald has a news update headlined “Court: Student can refuse to stand for pledge.”

And law.com reports that “11th Circuit Rejects Most of Fla. Pledge Challenge.”

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Eleventh Circuit ruling appears at this link.

Programming note: Today I will be traveling back and forth to SCI Rockview, located near State College, Pennsylvania, to meet with an incarcerated appellate client. Additional posts will appear here later today.

“Court affirms Va. council’s prayer policy”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “The Fredericksburg City Council’s policy prohibiting a member from opening meetings with a prayer mentioning Jesus does not violate his free-speech rights, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected the Rev. Hashmel Turner’s lawsuit challenging a nonsectarian prayer policy adopted by the council in 2005. The court said the policy does not violate Turner’s rights because the prayer is ‘government speech,’ not individual speech.”

Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

“Part of Fla. Pledge of Allegiance law stricken”: The Associated Press provides this report.

My earlier coverage of today’s Eleventh Circuit ruling appears at this link.

“Judge to Moussaoui jury: You got it right.” The Associated Press provides this report.

Tenth Circuit declares unconstitutional Colorado’s refusal to provide scholarships to otherwise eligible students who attend accredited Colorado colleges deemed “pervasively sectarian”: Circuit Judge Michael W. McConnell issued today’s ruling on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel.

Today’s ruling states, “We find the exclusion unconstitutional for two reasons: the program expressly discriminates among religions without constitutional justification, and its criteria for doing so involve unconstitutionally intrusive scrutiny of religious belief and practice.” The Tenth Circuit’s ruling reverses a federal district court’s decision that rejected the constitutional challenge to this exclusion.

May a State require parental permission in order to exempt a student from having to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school? In an opinion issued today, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit holds that a federal district court erred in ruling that this aspect of Florida’s Pledge of Allegiance statute — requiring parental permission before a student will be excused from reciting the Pledge — was facially unconstitutional.

“Defense Lawyer Files to Dismiss MySpace Case”: The Washington Post has a news update that begins, “The case against a Missouri mother accused of creating a fake MySpace page to harass a 13-year-old girl should be tossed out of court because if she is guilty as charged, then so are millions of Internet users every day, her attorney said in court documents filed today.”

WSJ.com’s “Law Blog” makes the motions to dismiss available via a post titled “Lori Drew Moves to Dismiss Indictment in MySpace Suicide Case.”

“Candidates Strongly Disagree On Abortion”: This audio segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

“Disability protections ordered for sexually incapacitated”: Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers has an article that begins, “A South Carolina breast-cancer survivor has beaten the State Department and convinced judges in Washington that the inability to have sex is a disability protected under federal anti-discrimination laws.”

My earlier coverage of last Friday’s D.C. Circuit ruling appears at this link.

“3rd Circuit Strikes Down COPA — Again”: Shannon P. Duffy has this article today in The Legal Intelligencer.

You can access yesterday’s Third Circuit ruling at this link.

“Conspiracy idea floated at war-crimes trial; An al Qaeda 9/11 conspiracy theory and conflicting portrayals of Osama bin Laden’s former driver dominated the opening arguments in the first U.S. war-crimes tribunal since World War II”: Carol Rosenberg has this article today in The Miami Herald, along with an article headlined “Sketch artist greeted with new Gitmo obstacle.”

Today in The Los Angeles Times, Carol J. Williams reports that “Bin Laden’s driver knew 9/11 target, lawyer says.”

The New York Times reports that “Two Sides at Guantanamo Trial Paint Starkly Different Pictures of the Defendant.”

The Washington Post contains an article headlined “Witness: Hamdan Had 2 Missiles When Arrested.”

And USA Today reports that “Prosecutors paint bin Laden aide as top al-Qaeda insider.”

Happy birthday to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy: According to the “Today in History” feature from The Associated Press, Justice Kennedy turns 72 today.

“Court’s dilemma over cuts in Medi-Cal fees”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “A federal appeals court that halted and then reinstated a 10 percent cut in Medi-Cal fees for prescription drugs has received a conflicting set of warnings: from pharmacists, who say the reduction means patients will lose access to vital medicines; and from state health officials, who say suspending the cut would deepen California’s fiscal crisis.”

“Pa. high court OKs forced drugging of mentally ill death-row inmates”: Today in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Emilie Lounsberry has an article that begins, “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court yesterday dealt setbacks to four death-row inmates, including two mentally ill prisoners from Philadelphia who can now be forcibly medicated in order to make them mentally competent to continue their appeals.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Pa. court OKs forced drugging of death row inmates.”

Yesterday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania consists of a majority opinion, a concurring opinion, and a dissenting opinion. And that court’s ruling yesterday in a second, related case consisted of a majority opinion and a dissenting opinion.

“Mukasey’s Wary Start Dismays Ex-Backers”: This article will appear Wednesday in The New York Times.

“Abu-Jamal loses latest appeal for new trial”: Emilie Lounsberry of The Philadelphia Inquirer has a news update that begins, “A federal appeals court yesterday refused to reconsider the decision denying a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal in the 1981 murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner.”