Switched at birth: But barred by the statute of limitations. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued this ruling today.

Third Circuit affirms federal district court decision finding that the Child Online Protection Act facially violates the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution and permanently enjoining the Attorney General from enforcing that act: Marc J. Randazza has this post at “The Legal Satyricon” blog. He has posted a copy of today’s ruling at this link.

Update: You can now access the opinion via the Third Circuit’s web site at this link.

And The Associated Press reports that “Court affirms online content law unconstitutional.”

“Friends mourn death of Judge Brieant at 87”: This article appears today in The Journal News of Westchester, New York.

“Use of interrogations limited in war-crimes trial; The Guantanamo Bay war crimes tribunal began with a not-guilty plea from Osama bin Laden’s driver and some testimony excluded by the judge”: Carol Rosenberg has this article today in The Miami Herald.

Today in The Los Angeles Times, Carol J. Williams reports that “Evidence against terrorism suspect barred at Guantanamo trial; A military judge says some statements by Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a driver for Osama bin Laden, were made in ‘highly coercive’ settings; It could set a standard for other cases.”

The Washington Post contains a front page article headlined “Guantanamo Judge Blocks Use of Some Statements; ‘Highly Coercive’ Conditions Are Cited.”

The New York Times reports that “Military Trial Begins for Guantanamo Detainee.”

From National Public Radio, today’s broadcast of “Morning Edition” contained an audio segment entitled “First Guantanamo War Crimes Trial Begins” (featuring Carol Rosenberg), while yesterday evening’s broadcast of “All Things Considered” contained an audio segment entitled “Expert Weighs In On Guantanamo Trial.”

And yesterday evening’s broadcast of the PBS program “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” contained a segment entitled “Gitmo Trial Begins, but Questions Loom Over Detainee Legal Process” (transcript with links to audio and video) featuring Neal Katyal and Andrew McBride.

“Rules for Guantanamo Bay proceedings are still unclear; Atty. Gen. Michael B. Mukasey calls on Congress to pass legislation on the matter; Democrats’ response suggests that rules for deciding who can be held and for how long are unlikely to be made soon”: David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

Today in The New York Sun, Josh Gerstein has an article headlined “Mukasey: Bar Guantanamo Detainees From U.S.”

From National Public Radio, today’s broadcast of “Morning Edition” contained an audio segment entitled “Mukasey Urges Legislation For Guantanamo Trials,” while yesterday evening’s broadcast of “All Things Considered” contained an audio segment entitled “Mukasey Urges Congress To Create Detainee Rules.”

And The Wall Street Journal today contains an editorial entitled “Mr. Mukasey’s Modest Proposal.”

“Hearing will tackle ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ military policy; Dems seek repeal as troop levels drop”: USA Today contains this article today.

“Super Bowl Fine Is Voided; Court’s Indecency Ruling Trumps FCC”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

The New York Times reports today that “Indecency Penalty Against CBS Is Rejected.”

Jim Puzzanghera of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Court tosses FCC ‘wardrobe malfunction’ fine; The ruling releases CBS from paying a $550,000 penalty levied for Janet Jackson’s breast-baring incident during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show; It’s also a blow to the FCC’s indecency policy.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that “CBS Wins Verdict on FCC Indecency Fine.”

USA Today reports that “FCC loses appeal of ‘wardrobe malfunction’ fine.” The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “A split-second decision.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that “CBS fine for faulty wardrobe is voided.”

The Philadelphia Daily News reports that “FCC wrong in CBS ‘malfunction’ fine.”

And Shannon P. Duffy of The Legal Intelligencer reports that “3rd Circuit Tosses ‘Wardrobe Malfunction’ Fine Against CBS.”

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

“Siblings Support Greater Freedom for Hinckley”: The Washington Post today contains an article that begins, “The siblings of presidential assailant John W. Hinckley Jr. told a federal judge in Washington yesterday that they do not view him as a danger to the community and believe he would benefit from obtaining a driver’s license and spending more unsupervised time at their mother’s home.”

“A.C.L.U. Sues Alabama on Ballot Access”: The New York Times contains this article today.

And The Birmingham News reports today that “ACLU lawsuit challenges Alabama voting practice.”

Yesterday, the ACLU issued a news release headlined “ACLU Challenges Alabama Voter Disenfranchisement Laws In Court; Group Says ‘Moral Turpitude’ Interpretation Violates Constitutional Right To Vote.” You can access the complaint initiating suit at this link.

“Why Dora the Explorer Can’t Come To Your Kid’s Birthday Party: The Issue Is Trademark Infringement; Invite SpongeBob, Get SquishyGuy.” This front page article appears today in The Wall Street Journal (click here to enable free access via Google News).

“Justice Dept. Balks in Case of Reporter”: Today in The New York Sun, Josh Gerstein has an article that begins, “The Justice Department agreed earlier this year to join in questioning of a Washington Times reporter about alleged leaks of grand jury information in a Chinese espionage case, but balked and asked for a delay recently as the time for the journalist’s grilling drew near, according to court papers unsealed yesterday.”

Available online from law.com: Shannon P. Duffy reports that “3rd Circuit Strikes Down Law Criminalizing Sale of Animal Cruelty Depictions.” My earlier coverage of last Friday’s en banc Third Circuit ruling appears at this link.

And David E. Brodsky, Timothy M. Haggerty, and Tamara J. Britt have an essay entitled “At the Border, Your Laptop Is Wide-Open.”

“Louisiana seeks change on death penalty”: At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has this post on the rehearing petition that the State of Louisiana filed today in Kennedy v. Louisiana.

And The Times-Picayune of New Orleans provides a news update headlined “Jeff DA will fight to execute child rapists.”

Refusing to look beyond statutory text to also consider legislative history, the Fifth Circuit creates a circuit split regarding whether a plaintiff must prove an adverse effect on competition to establish a violation of Packers and Stockyards Act sections 202(a)-(b): Today’s ruling, by a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, can be accessed here. Today’s majority opinion acknowledges that it creates a circuit split and that “the great weight of authority in our sister Circuits is to the contrary.” Presumably those advocates desperate for additional U.S. Supreme Court face-time will now begin scurrying to represent the losing parties in the case.

“Justice Dept. Agreed to Grill Reporter, Then Balked”: Josh Gerstein of The New York Sun has a news update that begins, “Over the government’s objections, a federal judge is making public details of the Justice Department’s internal deliberations about whether to force a Washington Times reporter to identify his sources for reporting about planned charges in a Chinese espionage case.”

“U.S. Judge Charles L. Brieant dies, ruled in many notable cases”: The News Journal of Westchester, New York provides this update.

“JQC recommends public reprimand for appeal judge”: Saturday’s edition of The St. Petersburg Times contained an article that begins, “No Florida judge ever has been disciplined for something he wrote in a court opinion, but a divided Judicial Qualifications Commission panel Friday recommended a public reprimand for 1st District Court of Appeal Judge Michael E. Allen.”

Saturday’s edition of The Pensacola News Journal contained an article headlined “Board chides judge; Panel finds that Allen’s criticism harmed judiciary.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Panel Recommends Florida Judge Be Reprimanded; Appellate judge Michael Allen insinuated a judge was corrupt.”

Last Friday, the Hearing Panel of Florida’s Judicial Qualifications Commission submitted its Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations to the Supreme Court of Florida. And today, the Supreme Court of Florida issued this scheduling order governing further proceedings in the case.

I wrote about this case in the May 14, 2007 installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com, headlined “When Should a Judge Face Discipline for What an Opinion Says?”

“Habeas Corpus And Bin Laden’s Driver”: This audio segment (RealPlayer required) featuring Dahlia Lithwick appeared on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Day to Day.”

“Mukasey Asks Congress to Write New Rules on Detainees”: The Washington Post provides this news update.

The New York Times has a news update headlined “Administration Calls for Action on Detainees.”

And Lara Jakes Jordan of The Associated Press has an article headlined “Mukasey: Congress should set rules for detainees.”

C-SPAN has posted video of the Attorney General’s remarks at this link (RealPlayer required).

“Court tosses FCC ‘wardrobe malfunction’ fine; The ruling releases CBS from paying a $550,000 penalty levied for Janet Jackson’s breast-baring incident during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show; It’s also a blow to the FCC’s indecency policy”: Jim Puzzanghera of The Los Angeles Times has this news update.

The New York Times has a news update headlined “Court Throws Out Super Bowl Fine.”

Reuters reports that “Court overturns CBS fine over Janet Jackson.”

And Bloomberg News reports that “CBS Wins Court Ruling Throwing Out $550,000 FCC Fine.”

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

“Some evidence excluded as war trial opens”: Carol Rosenberg of The Miami Herald has a news update that begins, “A military judge without explanation on Monday excluded from the trial of Osama bin Laden’s driver any FBI or other interrogations of him at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, then began seating a military jury in the first U.S. war crimes tribunal since World War II.”

The Washington Post has a news update headlined “Detainee’s Trial in Military System Begins.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Former bin Laden driver pleads not guilty.”

“Court tosses FCC ‘wardrobe malfunction’ fine”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A federal appeals court on Monday threw out a $550,000 indecency fine against CBS Corp. for the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show that ended with Janet Jackson’s breast-baring ‘wardrobe malfunction.'”

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

According to the majority opinion, written by Third Circuit Chief Judge Anthony J. Scirica, “The sanctions stem from CBS’s live broadcast of the Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show, in which two performers deviated from the show’s script resulting in the exposure of a bare female breast on camera, a deceitful and manipulative act that lasted nine-sixteenths of one second. CBS transmitted the image over public airwaves, resulting in punitive action by the FCC.”

The opinion holds that the Federal Communication Commission’s apparently new policy of treating fleeing images of indecency more harshly than fleeting indecent utterances to be arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. The opinion’s conclusion begins:

In finding CBS liable for a forfeiture penalty, the FCC arbitrarily and capriciously departed from its prior policy excepting fleeting broadcast material from the scope of actionable indecency. Moreover, the FCC cannot impose liability on CBS for the acts of Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake, independent contractors hired for the limited purposes of the Halftime Show, under a proper application of vicarious liability and in light of the First Amendment requirement that the content of speech or expression not be penalized absent a showing of scienter.”

The majority opinion remands the matter to the FCC for further proceedings. Circuit Judge Marjorie O. Rendell dissents from this aspect of the ruling, arguing that the FCC remains free to declare its future policy applicable to fleeting indecent images without exposing CBS to the burden and expense of further administrative proceedings in this case.

“Historic first terror trial opens at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Hamdan case tests special courts for ‘illegal enemy combatants'”: Warren Richey has this article today in The Christian Science Monitor.

Yesterday in The Miami Herald, Carol Rosenberg had an article headlined “Much to learn about Hamdan, whose trial begins Monday.”

The Washington Post reports today that “Detainee’s Trial in Military System Begins Today.”

And USA Today reports that “Jury selection today in Gitmo trial; Bin Laden aide may face life in prison.”

“U.S. Supreme Court Justices John Paul Stevens and Antonin Scalia spoke at the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial Conference”: You can view this past Saturday’s broadcast of C-SPAN’s “America & the Courts” by clicking here (RealPlayer required).

Available online from law.com: Tony Mauro reports that “Law Professor Challenges Tale About Blackmun and Race; George Mason professor’s article addresses popular conceptions about late Supreme Court justice’s ‘Flood v. Kuhn’ decision.” Law Professor Ross E. Davies has made his article, titled “A Tall Tale of the Brethren” (abstract with links for download), available for download via SSRN.

And an article reports that “Lawyer Wins Lengthy Fee Fight With Former Client at Texas Supreme Court.”

“Lawsuit Threatens Sarbanes-Oxley Act”: Today in The Washington Post, personal finance columnist Jane Bryant Quinn has this essay about a case now pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

“Right the Ship or Hold the Course? Attorney General Works More Toward Justice Department Stability Than Reform.” This article appears today in The Washington Post.

And The Los Angeles Times today contains an article headlined “William Mercer’s charmed life at Justice; The Montanan is among the few U.S. attorneys who may survive all eight years under Bush, despite brushes with scandal.”

“Some Legal Activists Have Hearts Set on ‘True Liberal'”: Today in The Washington Post, Robert Barnes and Kevin Merida have an article that begins, “It could be seen as the sincerest form of flattery: Ask some activists on the left the kind of Supreme Court justice they would like to see a President Obama appoint, and the name you hear most is the same justice they most often denounce.”

“Justice Department broadening investigation of Kent; Sale of home and gift reporting being examined”: The Houston Chronicle today contains a front page article that begins, “A Justice Department investigation into the sexual conduct of U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent has expanded to include allegations that he accepted but failed to report gifts and also sold his home in a deal arranged by a lawyer with dozens of cases in his court, Kent’s own attorney and other lawyers have confirmed.”

“Serious YouTube test of copyright law”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “A woman who posted a home video on YouTube of her 13-month-old son dancing to Prince’s ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ squared off Friday against entertainment giant Universal Music Corp. in a federal court case that tests copyright law.”

Today in The San Jose Mercury News, Howard Mintz reports that “Mom fights music giant; S.J. court considers key copyright case.”

And at c|net News.com’s “Digital Media” blog, Greg Sandoval has a post titled “Mom continues to chase Prince over ‘fair use’” linking to the video clip in question.

“How reliable is DNA in identifying suspects? A discovery leads to questions about whether the odds of people sharing genetic profiles are sometimes higher than portrayed; Calling the finding meaningless, the FBI has sought to block such inquiry.” Jason Felch and Maura Dolan will have this lengthy article Sunday in The Los Angeles Times.

“Whale Advocates Gain Victory; Decision Declining to Order Review of Ship Traffic Is Overturned”: This article published today in The Washington Post reports on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued yesterday.

“Ruling Gives South Dakota Doctors a Script to Read; Women Seeking Abortion Must Be Told About ‘Unique Living Human Being'”: Sunday’s edition of The Washington Post will contain this article.

“Gitmo Go-Ahead: The men who planned the 9/11 attack will finally face justice.” This editorial appears today in The Wall Street Journal.

“Alan Gura: How a Young Lawyer Saved the Second Amendment.” James Taranto has this “Weekend Interview” feature today in The Wall Street Journal.

And The Washington Post today contains an article headlined “Having Toppled D.C. Ban, Man Registers Revolver.”