“State can go after patients’ VA benefits”: In today’s edition of The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has this article reporting on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued yesterday.

“Appeals court upholds Kan. pharmacist’s conviction”: The Associated Press has this report on a ruling that a partially divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued yesterday.

“‘Repressed memory’ at issue in defrocked priest’s appeal”: Today in The Boston Globe, Jonathan Saltzman has an article that begins, “Defrocked priest Paul R. Shanley, one of the key figures in Boston’s clergy sex abuse scandal, plans to challenge his rape and indecent assault convictions before the state’s highest court today when his lawyer argues that the victim’s ‘repressed memory” was junk science.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Convicted ex-priest challenges repressed memories.”

“Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference: Videos.” Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit provided online access via this link of videos recorded at the court’s most recent judicial conference, which occurred in July 2009.

Among the videos of interest are those titled “Where Have All the Reporters Gone?” and “Conversation with The Solicitor General Elena Kagan.” Windows Media Player is required to launch these videos.

“S.F. ban on tobacco in drugstores survives”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “San Francisco can enforce its ban on tobacco sales in drugstores, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, rejecting a free-speech argument by tobacco giant Philip Morris.”

You can access yesterday’s non-precedential ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

“Prospective jurors don’t want any part of Junior Gotti’s upcoming trial”: This article appears today in The New York Daily News.

“Madoff’s Sentencing Judge to Be Appellate Court Choice”: Today’s edition of The New York Times contains an article that begins, “Denny Chin, a federal district judge in Manhattan who has been involved in a number of prominent decisions, including the sentencing of Bernard L. Madoff to 150 years in prison for his huge Ponzi scheme, is expected to be nominated by the White House for a prestigious appellate judgeship in New York, according to the office of Senator Charles E. Schumer.”

The Wall Street Journal reports today that “Madoff Judge to Be Named to U.S. Appeals Court.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Madoff judge to be nominated to appeals court.”

“Sentences for Possession of Child Porn May Be Too High, Judges Say”: law.com has this report.

According to the article, “7th Circuit Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook, who testified with a separate group of appellate judges, agreed that the child pornography possession area might be ripe for review. He said it gives him pause when he sifts through a stack of sentences that includes a bank robber getting a 10-month sentence and a person convicted of downloading child pornography receiving a 480-month sentence.”

“Unprecedented: Watching the Supreme Court make its campaign finance jurisprudence disappear.” Dahlia Lithwick has this Supreme Court dispatch online at Slate.

“Sonia Sotomayor jumps in to question lawyers”: Pete Yost of The Associated Press has this report.

“Without GOP Support, Leahy Pushes for More Judges”: David Ingram has this post today at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

“Guantanamo photos of accused 9/11 mastermind posted on Web”: Carol Rosenberg of The Miami Herald has this news update.

And The Associated Press reports that “Photos released of terrorist mastermind at Gitmo.”

“Justices Are Pressed for Broad Ruling in Campaign Case”: Adam Liptak will have this article Thursday in The New York Times.

Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has a news update headlined “Court Conservatives Concerned About Campaign Spending Limits.”

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has a news update headlined “Supreme Court weighs lifting ban on corporate funding of candidates; The court, joined by new Justice Sonia Sotomayor, hears a special argument on whether companies should have the same free-speech rights as individuals.”

Joan Biskupic of USA Today has a news update headlined “Court hears pre-term case on Clinton film.”

Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Top Court Questions Corporate Election Spending Curbs.”

James Vicini of Reuters reports that “Supreme Court questions company campaign spending limits.”

Mark Sherman and Pete Yost of The Associated Press report that “Supreme Court receptive to freer election spending.”

At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Two precedents in jeopardy.”

And at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Tony Mauro has posts titled “Supreme Court Majority Critical of Campaign Law Precedents” and “Photos from the Supreme Court Plaza.”

You can access the transcript of today’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument at this link. And, via C-SPAN, you can access the audio of today’s oral argument at this link.

“The Supreme Court wrestled on Wednesday with whether to allow corporations and labor unions to pay for political campaigns and end a century of legislative efforts to curb such spending.” So begins this report from Mark Sherman and Pete Yost of The Associated Press.

The audio of this morning’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument is now being streamed live over C-SPAN3.

“Appeals court rules judge coerced verdict”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “The judge in a Sacramento sexual assault trial improperly tipped the scales toward guilt by telling a deadlocked jury to focus on evidence that turned out to support the prosecution’s case, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling by a partially divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

“Court OKs barring religious tunes at graduation”: 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: Holocaust survivor can sue for painting.” The Associated Press has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued yesterday.

“The Newest Justice Takes Her Seat”: Adam Liptak has this article today in The New York Times.

Today in The Washington Post, Robert Barnes reports that “The Newest Justice Formally Takes Her Seat; Obama and Biden On Hand to Wish Sotomayor Well.”

And in USA Today, Joan Biskupic reports that “Sotomayor takes oath, seat on bench.”

“‘Hillary: The Movie’ gets new airing at high court.” Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report.

James Vicini of Reuters reports that “U.S. court considers corporate spending on elections.”

Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor has articles headlined “‘Hillary’ case: the legal stakes — Three Supreme Court justices have already announced their willingness to overturn a pair of key precedents” and “Supreme Court: campaign finance overhaul in ‘Hillary’ case? At stake in a case it will re-hear Wednesday is whether corporations and unions should enjoy the same rights to political speech as individuals.”

Today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition” contained an audio segment entitled “High Court Weighs Upending Campaign-Money Rules” featuring Nina Totenberg.

And yesterday in USA Today, Joan Biskupic had an article headlined “Court hears pre-term case on Clinton film; Sotomayor’s first session is on corporate cash in politics.”

“Arizona court: Drug laws trump religious use of marijuana.” Howard Fischer of The Arizona Daily Star has a news update that begins, “The state’s interest in banning marijuana outweighs the religious beliefs of an individual that he is entitled to use the drug anywhere, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled today.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Ariz. court rejects religious defense for pot use.”

You can access today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Arizona at this link.

“Court upholds ban on hymn at Wash. graduation”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “Barring an instrumental performance of a Christian hymn at a high school graduation did not violate students’ First Amendment rights and was within the school superintendent’s discretion, a divided federal appeals panel ruled Tuesday.”

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

“Appeals court upholds lobbying disclosure law”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a 2007 law that requires trade associations to disclose their members who contribute to lobbying activities.”

Bloomberg News reports that “Manufacturers group loses appeal.”

The Hill reports that “Appeals court rejects disclosure suit.”

CQ Politics reports that “Court Says To Cough Up Contributors’ Names.”

WSJ.com’s “Washington Wire” blog has a post titled “Appeals Court Tells NAM to Name Names.”

And “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times” has a post titled “Appeals Court Rejects Challenge to Lobbying Disclosures.”

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

“To the U.S. Supreme Court and back: Massey/Harman case back in W.Va.” The Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette has this news update.

And The Associated Press reports that “Case reversed by US justices back at WVa court.”

“Sotomayor Takes Judicial Oath in Court Chambers”: Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has this news update.

“Justice Sotomayor: The Unjust Hearings.” Ronald Dworkin has this article in the September 24, 2009 issue of The New York Review of Books.

“Sotomayor takes her place on high court bench”: The Associated Press has this report.

And at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Tony Mauro has a post titled “Sotomayor Takes Her Seat on Supreme Court.”

“Judging’s A Lot More Than Balls And Strikes”: Today in The Hartford Courant, Senior Second Circuit Judge Jon O. Newman has an op-ed that begins, “As Justice Sonia Sotomayor prepares to join Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. to hear her first Supreme Court argument Wednesday, this is an appropriate time to point out that in their confirmation hearings both of them offered incomplete and, as a result, somewhat misleading descriptions when asked about a judge’s role.”

“The Chance for a Free Speech Do-Over: Will the Supreme Court finally overturn McCain-Feingold and enforce the First Amendment?” Theodore B. Olson has this op-ed today in The Wall Street Journal.

And today in The Los Angeles Times, Doug Kendall has an op-ed entitled “Elections for sale? If the Supreme Court lifts restrictions on corporate campaign contributions, watch out.”

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument of this case on Wednesday, September 9, 2009.

“Obama has school speech, Sotomayor event Tuesday”: The Associated Press has this report.

The “Sotomayor event” refers to this afternoon’s “Justice Sonia Sotomayor Investiture Ceremony,” which is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. eastern time. The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a “Note to Press Regarding Investiture Photographs.”

“Reversal of Precedents at Issue; Campaign Case Touches on Justices’ Stance on Earlier Rulings”: Robert Barnes will have this article Tuesday in The Washington Post.

And in today’s newspaper, columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. has an op-ed entitled “A Test Case for Roberts.”

“Sotomayor to participate in first Supreme Court case Wednesday”: Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers has this report.

“Hillary: The Law Changer; Unusual pre-term rehearing may reshape campaign finance laws.” David G. Savage has this article in the September 2009 issue of The ABA Journal magazine.

“Safeguarding History: Why the records of Supreme Court justices should be governed by rules — not individuals.” This editorial appears today in The Washington Post.

“Gun Owners’ Next Victory in D.C.” Robert A. Levy has this op-ed today in The Washington Post.

Pittsburgh Pirates 6, St. Louis Cardinals 5: Our six-day baseball-related road trip concluded in Pittsburgh this afternoon on a very exciting note, as the hometown Pirates ralled for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the National League central division-leading Cardinals and snap a nine-game losing streak. In addition, during Cardinals batting practice, I had the pleasure of catching a home run ball on the fly in section 143 in right field, above the out-of-town scoreboard. PNC Park is a wonderful place to watch a baseball game, and our seats were behind home plate in section 115. During the game, two people seated nearby in our row also snagged baseballs that had been fouled back into the crowd.

You can access the box score of the game at this link, while articles about the game can be accessed here, here, here, here, and here.

Tomorrow, we head home to the Philadelphia area, stopping on the way to visit the Gettysburg National Military Park in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.