“Court says employers can’t limit a departing worker’s job future”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has a news update that begins, “California employers can’t limit their employees’ right to work for a competitor or solicit former clients after they leave the company, the state Supreme Court ruled today.”

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

“Court clears way for another immigrant’s execution”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “For the second time this week, the U.S. Supreme Court has denied an appeal from an illegal immigrant facing execution in Texas. Lawyers for killer Heliberto Chi went to the court Thursday claiming he should have been told he could get legal aid from the Honduran consulate.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Execution of Honduran allowed.”

“Gitmo jury gives bin Laden driver light sentence”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A military jury gave Osama bin Laden’s driver a stunningly lenient sentence on Thursday, making him eligible for release in just five months despite the prosecutors’ request for a sentence tough enough to frighten terrorists around the globe. Salim Hamdan’s sentence of 5 1/2 years, including five years and a month already served at Guantanamo Bay, fell far short of the 30 years to life that prosecutors wanted. It now goes for mandatory review to a Pentagon official who can shorten the sentence but not extend it.”

Reuters reports that “Bin Laden’s driver gets 5 1/2 years in prison.”

And Carol Rosenberg of The Miami Herald has a news update headlined “Gitmo jury sentences driver to 66 months.”

“Court Rejects Attempt to Amend Indictments After Plea Entry”: This article appears today in the Metropolitan News-Enterprise.

The article reports on an interesting mandamus ruling that Chief Judge Alex Kozinski issued yesterday on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The Associated Press is reporting: An article reports that “Bin Laden driver to seek leniency from Gitmo jury.”

And in other news, “Court rejects suit opposing religion in vets care.” My earlier coverage of Tuesday’s Seventh Circuit ruling appears at this link.

“Kamehameha Schools again being sued over admissions bias; Meanwhile, school sues previous plaintiffs over disclosure of settlement”: This article appears today in The Honolulu Advertiser.

Today’s edition of The Honolulu Star-Bulletin contains articles headlined “4 challenge racial preference; An attorney for the plaintiffs believes this case could wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court” and “Big Island lawsuit focuses on settlement’s disclosure.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Hawaiian school’s admission fight back in court.”

“Senate Standstill to Let Obama or McCain Tip Balance on Courts”: James Rowley of Bloomberg News has a report that begins, “An election-year standstill in Senate confirmation of George W. Bush’s judicial nominees will give the next president a chance to tip the ideological balance of U.S. appeals courts that decide such issues as job discrimination, national security and pollution-cleanup disputes. The Democratic-controlled Senate has stopped filling vacancies on appeals courts, which in many respects have greater impact than the Supreme Court. The high court decides about 70 cases each year, while the 13 appellate courts issue thousands of rulings.”

You can view a list of current federal judicial vacancies by clicking here, while a list of future vacancies can be viewed at this link.

The list of future vacancies reveals three additional federal appellate court vacancies that will be occurring in the months ahead. Seventh Circuit Judge Kenneth F. Ripple plans to take senior status on September 1, 2008. D.C. Circuit Judge A. Raymond Randolph plans to take senior status on November 1, 2008. And Eleventh Circuit Judge R. Lanier Anderson plans to take senior status on January 31, 2009.