“Obama And Terror Law: More Of The Same? Early Decisions By Obama Justice Dept. Seem To Follow Precedent Of Bush’s Terror Policy.” CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen has this new installment of his “CourtWatch” column.

“High Court returns after break; Ginsburg expected”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Legal Experts Propose Limiting Justices’ Powers, Terms”: Robert Barnes will have this article Monday in The Washington Post.

“Bunning: Justice Ginsberg likely will be dead in 9 months.” The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky has this news update.

The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “Big asbestos case in Libby, Mont., goes to trial” and “Hawaii is latest civil unions battleground.”

In the current issue of The Harvard Law Record: The publication contains articles headlined “Kagan sails through confirmation hearing; Senators praise Dean’s public service, credentials; probe Obama administration policies on detainees, terror“; “HLS veterans defend Kagan from ‘anti-military’ charges; Praise Obama administration choices, but describe difficult road ahead on military justice questions“; and “Starr Struck: Clinton’s old investigator speaks on SCOTUS, Prop 8.”

“WSJ cuts lead Law Blog reporter”: Mark Obbie had this post yesterday at his “LawBeat” blog.

“Jury selection in Kent trial starts Monday; Federal judge’s sex crimes case being watched nationwide”: Mary Flood of The Houston Chronicle has a news update that begins, “History will be made if a jury is selected as scheduled on Monday in the felony trial of U.S. District Judge Sam Kent, the first federal judge to be accused of federal sex crimes. The case is fascinating to area lawyers and those who practice the maritime law Kent has overseen for 17 years in Galveston. It will be watched by federal judges and legal scholars around the nation. If Kent is convicted, it could mean the U.S. Congress will have to take an interest, too.”

“From Captive To Suicide Bomber: Accused of Being Little More Than a Low-Level Taliban Fighter, Abdallah al-Ajmi Was Held by the U.S. for Nearly Four Years; After His Release, He Blew Up an Iraqi Army Outpost; Did Guantanamo Propel Him to Do It?” This front page article appears today in The Washington Post.

And Monday in The Christian Science Monitor, Warren Richey will have an article headlined “The case of the Guantanamo detainee who wanted to see the sun: Yasin Ismail’s case highlights the difficulty of verifying conditions of confinement.” The newspaper will also contain an article headlined “Canadian churches take up cause of five Guantanamo detainees; The churches have applied to help the men — who cannot be safely returned home — resettle as refugees in Canada.”

“High Court to Hear DNA Testing Case; Justices to Debate Whether Convicts Should Be Guaranteed Access to Latest Techniques”: Robert Barnes has this article today in The Washington Post.

“Obama Upholds Detainee Policy in Afghanistan”: Charlie Savage has this article today in The New York Times.

“Judge’s ethics case may hinge on phone calls; Recollections differ about Keller’s two exchanges on day of execution”: Today in The Austin American-Statesman, Chuck Lindell has an article that begins, “Sharon Keller picked up the phone at her Austin home two times on the day death row inmate Michael Richard would be executed. What she said could determine whether Keller continues as presiding judge of the state’s highest criminal court.”

And today in The Houston Chronicle, columnist Rick Casey has an op-ed entitled “A bizarre way to judge our judges.”

“Federal judge’s trial on sex charges to begin”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “When U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent enters a courtroom on Monday, he’ll be making history, but not the good kind. Kent will join the handful of U.S. federal judges who have been a defendant, and he is the first charged with a sex crime. The judge, 59, is accused of fondling two female court employees as he tried to force them into sex acts. Jury selection in his trial is set to begin Monday. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.”

“Showdown could leave our courts in chaos; As Gov. Pawlenty looks to cut budgets, the chief justice he appointed is playing hardball over the justice system’s future”: The Minneapolis Star Tribune today contains an article that begins, “Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson bundled into his car on a recent bitter Sunday, set his satellite radio to a favorite old-time radio serial about a crusading insurance investigator, Johnny Dollar, and headed for Moorhead. There, he would embark on his own crusade to save Minnesota’s justice system as he knows it. Just seven months into the job, Magnuson is facing off against the man who appointed him, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, over budget cuts. The clash could be titanic.”

“3 years later, state executions still on hold”: Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.

And yesterday’s issue of The Stockton Record contained an article headlined “3 years later, Morales waits; Stay of execution for convicted Stockton man has turned into a marathon experience unlikely to end anytime soon.”

“Court ruling makes it easier to sue merchants; Consumers no longer required to ask retailer for a refund first”: Today’s edition of The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger contains an article that begins, “Consumer advocates are hailing a Supreme Court ruling that allows individuals who believe they have been cheated by a merchant to file a lawsuit under the state Consumer Fraud Act without first requesting a refund or giving the merchant an opportunity to make amends.”

You can access last Thursday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of New Jersey at this link.

Last week’s ruling from New Jersey’s highest court appears to provide good news for a pro se attorney whose New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act claim involving a product promising to enlarge penis size was rejected late last month by New Jersey’s intermediate appellate court. My earlier coverage of that ruling appears at this link.

“Appeals court to hear faith case; Ky. funding of Baptist kids’ home challenged”: The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky today contains an article that begins, “A federal appeals court next month will hear arguments in a case involving a Kentucky Baptist children’s program and the role of government funding for faith-based institutions. A district court judge in Louisville last year dismissed the case in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court case that narrowed taxpayers’ rights to sue over allegations of state-sponsored religion.”

“Why Marbury v. Madison Still Matters: More than 200 years after the high court ruled, the decision in that landmark case continues to resonate.” Cliff Sloan and David McKean will have this article in the March 2, 2009 issue of Newsweek.

“Supreme Court case focuses on issue of judges’ bias”: David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this article today in The Baltimore Sun.

The Sunday Gazette-Mail of Charleston, West Virginia reports today that “Ala. AG requested to argue for Massey; U.S. Supreme Court denies motion; set to hear case in March.”

And The Detroit Free Press reports that “Michigan parties weigh in on Caperton v. Massey.” In addition, columnist Ron Dzwonkowski has an op-ed entitled “When cash, courts and politics mix: Supreme Court should order stricter rules on when judges should step out of cases.”

“A newspaper in Wonderland will culminate in Jabberwocky”: Today in The Morning Call of Allentown, Pennsylvania, columnist Paul Carpenter has an op-ed that begins, “The bewildering Wonderland of symbiosis linking certain parts of our judicial system, as Alice might put it, gets interestinger and interestinger.”

“Supreme Court hears immigrant’s ID theft case”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report.

“Review Finds Detainees’ Treatment Legal; Pentagon Report on Guantanamo Urges More Interaction for Some, Official Says”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

The New York Times reports today that “Guantanamo Meets Geneva Rules, Pentagon Study Finds.”

The Los Angeles Times reports that “Guantanamo meets Geneva Convention standards, Pentagon study finds; The report to be presented to President Obama recommends some changes at the U.S. military prison but concludes that detainees are treated humanely; Rights groups criticize the findings.”

And The Associated Press has an article headlined “Official: Pentagon report defends Guantanamo.”

“Ruling against age limit on game sales upheld”: Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.

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

“Court to reconsider S.F. strip-search ruling”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “A federal appeals court agreed today to reconsider its ruling that San Francisco violated the rights of thousands of jail inmates who were strip-searched without any evidence that they were carrying weapons or contraband.”

You can access yesterday’s order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granting rehearing en banc at this link.

“Obama administration tries to kill e-mail case”: Pete Yost of The Associated Press has a report that begins, “The Obama administration, siding with former President George W. Bush, is trying to kill a lawsuit that seeks to recover what could be millions of missing White House e-mails.”

“Top court limits insurance for drive-by victim; Justices rule uninsured motorist coverage can’t pay medical costs”: The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger yesterday contained an article that begins, “A woman injured in a drive-by shooting in 2005 cannot have her medical expenses paid for by the uninsured motorist coverage of her automobile insurance policy, the state Supreme Court ruled yesterday. Though the court, in its 4-3 ruling written by Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto, said the woman’s injuries qualified as an ‘accident,’ the majority concluded the shooting was not caused by ‘the ownership, maintenance, operation or use of an uninsured motor vehicle.'”

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

“Lingle urged to drop appeal”: Today’s edition of The Honolulu Advertiser contains an article that begins, “Office of Hawaiian Affairs officials yesterday made a last-ditch effort to persuade Gov. Linda Lingle to set aside a U.S. Supreme Court challenge over ceded lands, warning that it could have grave consequences to Hawaiians-only policies if the state is successful.”

“Feds: Block lawyers from classified document.” Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “The Obama administration filed an emergency request with a federal appeals court Friday to stop a judge in San Francisco from allowing lawyers challenging the government’s wiretapping program to see a classified surveillance document. The document is the central evidence in the last remaining lawsuit over the legality of former President George W. Bush’s 2001 order for the National Security Administration to intercept phone calls and e-mails between Americans and suspected terrorists in other nations.”

And at the “Legal Beat” blog of CQ Politics, Keith Perine has a post titled “Justice Department Again Defends Bush on State Secrets.”

“Tough Cases Await U.S. Supreme Court Justices; Critical cases affect business, employees and environment, among other issues”: Marcia Coyle will have this article Monday in The National Law Journal.

“Publishers of sex photos need to keep records of age, federal court rules”: The Cleveland Plain Dealer today contains an article that begins, “A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a ruling that publishers of sexually explicit photographs must keep age and identity records of those pictured and make the records available for inspection by the government. The ruling stems from a case originally filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland 14 years ago by a local company that publishes magazines aimed at ‘swingers’ – adults who seek multiple sex partners.”

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Sixth Circuit en banc ruling appears at this link.

“Attack of the Libel Tourists: Weak laws abroad threaten First Amendment freedoms here; Congress could step in to help.” This editorial appears today in The Washington Post.

“Will Obama back ‘truth commission’ to probe Bush practices?” Margaret Talev and Marisa Taylor of McClatchy Newspapers have this report.

And The Providence (R.I.) Journal reports today that “Whitehouse in favor of ‘truth’ panel.”

“Lawmakers Seek to Return Right to Sue Device Makers”: This article appears today in The New York Times. And you can view a related graphic by clicking here.

“Obama’s legal changes may be fewer than expected”: Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers has this report.

Today in The Christian Science Monitor, Warren Richey has an article headlined “Guantanamo detention: How harsh is it? President Obama must decide whether to embrace or change Bush’s detention policies.”

In related news, at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Joe Palazzolo has a post titled “Obama Stays the Course on Bagram.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “U.S.: No habeas rights at Bagram.”

“Feds Propose Storing Internet User Data for 2 Years”: David Kravets has this post at Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog.