“This appeal presents the question whether the crime of mail fraud * * * requires proof that the scheme be capable of deceiving a reasonably prudent person or whether schemes aimed at the gullible or improvident are also prohibited.” So begins Circuit Judge William H. Pryor, Jr.‘s majority opinion, which the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued today.

In news coverage of the ruling, The AP reports that “2 lose appeal in Florida insurance scam.”

“Senate confirms Holder as first black AG”: The Associated Press provides this report.

The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “WVa justice bows out of Massey cases amid scrutiny” and “Holder debate turns partisan.”

“Kagan Joins Supreme Court Bar”: Tony Mauro has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

“Holder set for Senate confirmation as AG”: The Associated Press provides this report.

“John Yoo, War Criminal? The chances that the notorious UC Berkeley law professor will be investigated for war crimes appear to have increased in recent weeks.” The current issue of East Bay Express contains this article.

“Ruling did not vindicate Bush’s wiretapping: A FISA court decision upheld an act of Congress that put limits on the former president’s surveillance program.” This editorial appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Judge Kent gets negative info sealed”: Mary Flood of The Houston Chronicle has this post at her “Legal Trade” blog (via “LawBeat“).

“Appeals court rules that owners can shoot their dogs, cats; It’s second time in a year that Carbon woman has received a favorable ruling”: Yesterday’s edition of The Morning Call of Allentown, Pennsylvania contained an article that begins, “A Pennsylvania law regulating animal cruelty is so confusing and ambiguous that owners cannot be prosecuted for shooting and killing their dogs or cats, a state appeals court ruled Friday. The Superior Court overturned the conviction of a Carbon County woman on conspiracy to commit cruelty to animals in the 2006 shooting of her 6-year-old pit bull-chow mix, Bouta.”

You can access last Friday’s ruling of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania at this link.

“Justice Dept. Under Obama Is Preparing for Doctrinal Shift in Policies of Bush Years”: Neil A. Lewis has this article today in The New York Times.

“Student’s Free Speech Case May Lead To Legislation”: Yesterday’s edition of The Hartford Courant contained an article that begins, “In his ruling on a pioneering Internet free speech case last month, U.S. District Judge Mark R. Kravitz offered something of a plea to higher courts: Revisit the boundaries of free speech for students.”

You can access the ruling at this link.

Shannon P. Duffy of The Legal Intelligencer is reporting: An article reports that “3rd Circuit Revives Fraud Suit Against Pfizer; Appeals court finds that district court judge imposed too strict a test in dismissing suit on statute-of-limitation grounds.” You can access last Friday’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit at this link.

And in other news, “O’Connor: Puerto Rico Conviction Basis for Gun Possession Charge.” You can access last Thursday’s ruling at this link.

“The Supreme Court’s Grant of Review in Redding v. Safford — a Fourth Amendment Case Involving a Search of a Middle-School Student for Drugs: A Chance for the Court to Show Reasonableness Review Has Teeth.” Vikram David Amar has this essay online at FindLaw.