“Kansans to vote on gun ownership amendment”: This article appears today in The Wichita Eagle.

“McHugh rumored to be in line to replace Albright”: Friday’s edition of The Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail contained an article that begins, “Some say Gov. Joe Manchin won’t have to look far to find a suitable replacement for former West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Joseph Albright.”

“Tennessee could have no appellate judge elections in 2010 or 2014”: The Memphis Commercial Appeal provides a report that begins, “There would be no Tennessee elections in 2010 or 2014 for appellate judges — including Tennessee Supreme Court justices — if the legislature doesn’t enact some means for judicial election to replace the current selection system that is set to expire June 30, according to an advisory opinion by the state attorney general released Friday.”

The Tennessee Attorney General’s opinion bears the title “Effect of Expiration of Judicial Selection Commission and Judicial Evaluation Commission.”

“Reinstated, Chief Justice Bears Hopes of Pakistan”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

“State Supreme Court challenger counting on undecided voters”: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contains this article today.

“Judge dismisses attempt to remove ‘one state under God’ from Texas pledge”: This article appeared yesterday in The Dallas Morning News.

And The Associated Press reports that “Judge rules Texas pledge may reference God.”

You can access Thursday’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas at this link.

“Detainee’s Harsh Treatment Foiled No Plots; Waterboarding, Rough Interrogation of Abu Zubaida Produced False Leads, Officials Say”: Sunday’s edition of The Washington Post will contain this front page article.

“Spanish Court Weighs Inquiry on Torture for 6 Bush-Era Officials”: This article will appear Sunday in The New York Times.

Update: And Sunday’s edition of The Los Angeles Times will report that “Spanish judge considers trying U.S. officials over Guantanamo; A complaint has been filed against former Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales and other Bush administration figures, citing harsh interrogation tactics at the prison.”

“Jury finds abortion doctor not guilty on 19 charges”: The Kansas City Star contains this article today.

The Los Angeles Times reports today that “Doctor acquitted by Kansas jury in late-term abortion trial; Prosecutors had argued that the second opinions in 19 of his procedures weren’t given by an independent physician; Next up is an administrative challenge from a state health board.”

And The New York Times reports today that “Jurors Acquit Kansas Doctor in a Late-Term Abortion Case.”

Meanwhile, in other abortion-related news from Kansas, The Wichita Eagle reports today that “Kathleen Sebelius signs Kansas right to know abortion bill.”

And The Kansas City Star reports that “Sebelius signs abortion law on fetal sonograms.”

“Does Antonin Scalia hate gays? Rep. Barney Frank may have gone too far in calling the Supreme Court justice a ‘homophobe,’ but the jurist’s opinions on homosexuals should raise some concerns.” This editorial appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

“House Judiciary gets files on U.S. Attorneys”: Josh Gerstein has this post at his “Under the Radar” blog at Politico.com.

“10th Circuit Denies $300k Charitable Deduction Claimed by Timothy McVeigh’s Lawyer for Donation of Work Papers to University of Texas”: This detailed post appears today at “TaxProf Blog.”

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

“A Showdown on Voting Rights: In Texas Case, a Divide Over How Far Minorities Have Come.” Jess Bravin has this article today in The Wall Street Journal.

“Ruling means deportation for Oakland dad”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “A Mexican who entered the United States illegally in 1988 and now is a hard-working family man in Oakland must be deported because he paid a smuggler $1,000 to bring his bride across the border, a federal appeals court has ruled.”

You can access Thursday’s en banc ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

“E-Mail Theft Case Sparks First-of-a-Kind Ruling; Actual damages must be proven for award under Stored Communications Act”: Marcia Coyle of The National Law Journal has this report.

You can access the recent ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit at this link.

“Judges’ Kickbacks Thrived Despite Red Flags”: This front page article appears today in The New York Times.

Today’s edition of The Citizens Voice of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania contains articles headlined “Without objections” and “Ciavarella tells ’20/20′ he didn’t plead guilty to ‘kids for cash.’”

The Associated Press reports that “Pa. youth court corruption creates legal headache.”

And law.com reports that “Juvenile Records to Be Expunged in Response to Judicial Kickback Case.”

“Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols sues over his diet”: Today’s edition of The Oklahoman contains an article that begins, “Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols is complaining about his diet again — this time in a handwritten federal lawsuit seeking more than $2 million.”

“No Vacancy: Reading the tea leaves of the Supreme Court’s retirement prospects.” Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

Update: Dahlia’s essay also will appear in the April 6, 2009 issue of Newsweek, under the headline “Watching For Supreme Surprises: Institutional penchants for privacy and drama mean there is rarely warning of big news.”

“Jury finds Kan. doctor not guilty in abortion case”: The Associated Press has this report.

Tenth Circuit agrees that the IRS properly denied a charitable contribution deduction to attorney Stephen Jones for donating to a university the discovery material that he acquired while serving as lead attorney for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh: You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit at this link.

“Court upholds Md. funeral home law”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “Maryland’s restrictions on funeral home ownership serve a worthy goal of protecting the public and do not excessively impair interstate commerce, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a Baltimore judge’s ruling that the Maryland Morticians and Funeral Directors Act violates the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.”

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

“Justice Rivera-Soto will not face sanctions for violating court order”: The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger has a news update that begins, “New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner today said Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto will not be sanctioned for publicly using the name of Hunterdon County investigator who uttered a racial slur while discussing former NBA star Jayson Williams, even after he was told about a court order not to identify the man.”

And The Associated Press reports that “No sanctions for NJ judge in Jayson Williams case.”

“SG Kagan Recuses in Supreme Court Brief”: Tony Mauro has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

“Dismissal of lawsuit over Sudan strikes upheld”: The Associated Press has this report.

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

“Reid: Roberts ‘didn’t tell us the truth.'” Politico.com has a report that begins, “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Friday that John Roberts misled the Senate during his confirmation hearings by pretending to be a moderate — and that the United States is now ‘stuck’ with him as chief justice.”

And at the “Legal Beat” blog of CQ Politics, Keith Perine has a post titled “Reid Won’t Go Nuclear Against GOP Judicial Filibusters.”

“Appeals court upholds ruling allowing ‘Choose Life’ on Missouri license plates”: This article appears today in The Kansas City Star.

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

“Plea for freer commercial speech”: At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post that begins, “Two companies that gather wide-ranging data on health care, including several billion reports each year on drugs that doctors are prescribing for patients, asked the Supreme Court on Friday to give the highest level of constitutional protection to assembling and selling commercial data.”

You can access the petition for writ of certiorari by clicking here.

“In 1998, the President of the United States ordered a missile strike against a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan that he believed was connected to the terrorist activities of Osama bin Laden.” So begins an opinion that the majority on a partially divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued today.

The opening paragraph of the majority opinion continues: “The owners of the plant sued the United States, challenging several allegedly defamatory statements made by senior executive branch officials justifying the strike as well as the government’s failure to compensate them for the destruction of the plant. The district court dismissed plaintiffs’ complaint, and we affirm on the ground that it presents a nonjusticiable political question.”

“In appeals court, S.F. defends strip searches”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “With millions of dollars in damages potentially at stake, attorneys for San Francisco defended the city’s former policy of strip-searching new jail inmates Thursday, arguing that the need to curb jailhouse smuggling of weapons or drugs justified the practice.”

You can access the audio of yesterday’s en banc oral argument before an eleven-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit via this link (9.69MB Windows Media audio file).

A little over one month ago, I had this post about the Ninth Circuit’s order granting rehearing en banc. The August 2008 opinion of a divided three-judge Ninth Circuit panel in the case, in which each of the three judges wrote an opinion, can be accessed here.

“State Supreme Court awards another $40,000 to former justice”: Today’s edition of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contains an article that begins, “The state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that property owners whose land was burned in a forest fire were eligible for additional damages – a decision that will double from nearly $40,000 to almost $80,000 the award for a farm partly owned by a former Supreme Court justice.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Wis. court doubles damages for 2003 forest fire.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin at this link.

“Court tells Mack to pay divorce settlement”: In today’s edition of The Reno Gazette-Journal, Martha Bellisle has an article that begins, “The Nevada Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling Thursday ordering Darren Mack, convicted of killing his estranged wife and shooting their divorce judge, to pay her estate almost $1 million under an agreement they had made verbally.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Nevada at this link.

“Clean Slates for Youths Sentenced Fraudulently”: Today in The New York Times, John Schwartz has an article that begins, “The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on Thursday ordered the slate cleaned for hundreds of youths who had been sentenced by a corrupt judge.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer today reports that “Judge may overturn hundreds of cases in Luzerne scandal.”

And The Citizens Voice of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania contains an article headlined “State court: Clear juvenile records.”

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Pennsylvania Supreme Court order appears at this link.

“Court grants AP’s appeal over Maynard’s e-mails”: The West Virginia Record has a report that begins, “The West Virginia Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously granted a petition filed by The Associated Press, which is seeking eight e-mails between former Justice Elliott ‘Spike’ Maynard and Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship.”

And The Associated Press reports that “WVa Supreme Court agrees to hear e-mail FOIA case.”

“High court denies Massey brief filing in Harman case”: This article appeared yesterday in The Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette.

“Judge Sees ‘Serious’ Issues in Cellphone Photos Case”: The New York Times today contains an article that begins, “A federal judge said at a hearing on Thursday that ‘serious constitutional issues’ were raised in a lawsuit filed by three teenage girls and their mothers against a county district attorney who threatened to arrest the students on pornography charges after seminude photographs of them appeared on other students’ cellphones.”

And The Scranton (Pa.) Times;Tribune reports today that “Girls in ‘sexting’ scandal defy Wyoming County DA.”