Bob Egelko is reporting: In yesterday’s edition of The San Francisco Chronicle, he had articles headlined “Judges don’t buy theory in S.F. tobacco-ban case” and “U.S. court hears vets’ appeal on mental health.”

“Justice Stevens Calling”: Tony Mauro has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

“Effective at noon on Friday, August 14, 2009, Hon. Alice M. Batchelder of Medina, Ohio, became Chief Judge of the Sixth Circuit, succeeding Hon. Danny J. Boggs, who had served in that capacity since October 1, 2003.” So states a notice posted today at the home page of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

A reader emails, “Note that Judge Batchelder’s 65th birthday is tomorrow.” Thus, by stepping down as Chief Judge today instead of serving his full seven-year term as the Sixth Circuit’s Chief Judge — which apparently would have expired sometime in 2010 — Judge Boggs has allowed Judge Batchelder to become the Sixth Circuit’s Chief Judge, a post she would have been statutorily ineligible to assume once she turned 65 years of age.

“With Sotomayor Confirmed, Focus Should Be on Nominations to Appeals Courts”: You can access this month’s installment of my “Upon Further Review” column, published in The Legal Intelligencer, by clicking here.

“Judges Who Would Be King: The judiciary is on an unprecedented power trip.” Lee A. Casey and David B. Rivkin Jr. have this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“This case reminds us again of the utility of communication to prevent injury, even in the pastoral setting of a golf course and in the context of a game in which etiquette is as integral as skill.” So begins an opinion that a three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania issued yesterday.

As the opinion explains, “On June 15, 2007, Zeidman, Larry Rashkow and Fisher were competing in a charity golf outing at Springfield Country Club when a duck hook hit by Fisher, acknowledged to drive the ball upwards of 300 yards, struck Zeidman in the face causing serious and permanent injuries.”

Update: Staying on the golf theme, today’s lone opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit involves a dispute over golf ball patents.

Second update: In coverage of that Federal Circuit ruling, Brent Kendall of Dow Jones Newswires reports that “US Appeals Court Orders New Trial In Golf Ball Patent Case.”