“The Friendless 9th Circuit”: Tony Mauro has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

You can access today’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in Pacific Bell Telephone Co. v. linkLine Communications, Inc., No. 07-512, at this link.

“Wilkinson and Posner, Dissenting: Two conservative judges challenge Justice Scalia.” Adam J. White has this essay in the December 15, 2008 issue of The Weekly Standard.

“Nuts and Deadbolts: A blueprint for the closure of Guantanamo Bay.” Jack Goldsmith and Benjamin Wittes have this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“L.A. Times Publishes Article About Kozinski’s Joke E-Mail List”: Patterico has this post today at “Patterico’s Pontifications.”

And Ann Althouse has a post titled “The L.A. Times goes after 9th Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski again.”

You can access the article in question (originally published by The Los Angeles Times before its owner declared bankruptcy this afternoon) at this link.

“September 11 defendants ask to plead guilty”: Reuters provides this report.

And The Associated Press reports that “9/11 suspects ask to make ‘confessions’ at Gitmo.”

“Court won’t review Obama’s eligibility to serve”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “U.S. views sought on misspent federal funds.”

You can access today’s Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.

“Finding Fault: The standard must be high for holding federal officials personally culpable for how detainees are treated.” This editorial appears today in The Washington Post.

“Supreme Court likely to dismiss lawsuits over Obama’s citizenship; Lower courts have rejected claims that Barack Obama is not a natural-born citizen and thus cannot hold the office of president”: David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Laptop searches at border might get restricted”: The Associated Press provides this report.

“The Politics of the Federal Bench: GOP-Appointed Majorities Winning Ideological Battles at Appellate Level.” R. Jeffrey Smith has this front page article today in The Washington Post. Accompanying this article is a sidebar headlined “A Bench More White, Male and Conservative” and a graphic headlined “Courts of Last Resort.”

And Jerry Markon has a front page article headlined “Obama’s Appointments Are Expected To Reshape the U.S. Legal Landscape.”

“Tortured Justice”: The New York Times today contains an editorial that begins, “The nation’s courts continue to grapple with the abuses committed by President Bush’s administration in the name of fighting terrorism. The extent of the damage to American liberties, and how lasting it will be, will be told in part by the outcome of two cases that are to be heard by the federal courts.”

“Our Mutual Joy: Opponents of gay marriage often cite Scripture; But what the Bible teaches about love argues for the other side.” This cover story appears in the December 15, 2008 issue of Newsweek.

The magazine also contains an article headlined “Mrs. Kramer Vs. Mrs. Kramer: It’s an old story–parents split and fight for custody; But when both are women, and one says she is no longer gay, it gets complicated” about the Miller v. Jenkins custody battle.

“Special Kaye: Judge Judith Kaye steps down from New York’s Supreme Court.” Jeffrey Toobin has this “Talk of the Town” article in the December 15, 2008 issue of The New Yorker.

Of course, New York State’s “supreme” court is known as the Court of Appeals.

“Guantanamo Proceedings Subject System to More Scrutiny”: Today in The Wall Street Journal, Jess Bravin has an article that begins, “Military-commission proceedings resume Monday against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other accused al Qaeda conspirators, but the spotlight, once again, is likely to shine more on the offshore justice system the Bush administration has struggled to erect for their trials.”

Today in The Miami Herald, Carol Rosenberg has an article headlined “Closing detainee camp a minefield of critical steps; To find a formula to close the Guantanamo prison camps, the incoming Obama administration will have to work through a thicket of questions.”

And The Associated Press reports that “9/11 suspects face Gitmo court, victims’ families.”

“Why Columbia Should Welcome ROTC: Bad policy on gays is not a good reason for a ban.” Learned Foote — yes, that’s apparently his real name — has this op-ed today in The Wall Street Journal.

“The Abortion Wars Get Technical: Women have few rights at all when doctors can legally misinform them or deny service entirely.” Dahlia Lithwick has this essay in the December 15, 2008 issue of Newsweek.

“Federal judge e-mailed jokes to ‘gag list’; The 9th Circuit’s Alex Kozinski, already under fire for keeping sexually explicit material on a publicly accessible website, says he sent them to stay in touch with friends”: Scott Glover has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.