“Abu Ghraib appeal centers on military confusion”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Leahy’s Bench Press: Senate Democrats try to pack the federal courts.” This editorial appeared yesterday in The Wall Street Journal.

Late yesterday, WSJ.com posted this response to the editorial from U.S. Senator Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT).

“Flores case is unlikely to end regardless of ruling”: The Des Moines Register today contains an article that begins, “Terry Harrington spent 25 years behind bars before the Iowa Supreme Court decided he had been wrongfully convicted. Free now, the Omaha man is waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide this fall whether he can sue the prosecutors who put him behind bars.”

“Court Weighing Eminent Domain; New York Case Pits State Against Land Owners Opposing a New NBA Arena”: This article appears today in The Wall Street Journal.

“Justices Seem Sympathetic to Defendant Given Bad Advice”: Adam Liptak has this article today in The New York Times.

Today in The Washington Post, Robert Barnes reports that “Justices Ponder Lawyers’ Obligations; Man Facing Deportation Says Attorney Misadvised Him on Consequences of Plea.”

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that “High court hears Kentucky case on lawyers’ duties.”

And The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that “Supreme Court asks tough questions in Kentucky immigration case.”

“3 back N.C. in water dispute; Charlotte, Duke Energy and a third group want to take part in Supreme Court case”: This article appears today in The Charlotte Observer.

And The Greenville News reports today that “High court justices seem to side with state at water war hearing; Duke Energy, Charlotte want their say.”

“Justices Weigh Rules on Recovering Seized Assets”: Jess Bravin has this article today in The Wall Street Journal. You can freely access the full text of the article via Google News.

And Chicago Public Radio reports that “Supreme Court to Look at Chicago Police Car Seizure Practices.”

“Williams barred from visiting former driver’s family”: Today’s edition of The Providence (R.I.) Journal contains an article that begins, “Frank J. Williams, the former chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, was barred on Tuesday from visiting or having any other contact with his 6-year-old goddaughter who is part of a messy divorce case.”

“Supreme Court agrees to hear Skilling appeal; Former Enron CEO challenges fraud law”: Joan Biskupic has this article today in USA Today.

And today in The Houston Chronicle, Mary Flood reports that “Supreme Court takes Jeff Skilling’s case.”

“US Supreme Court Justices Note Concern Over Class-Action Costs”: Dow Jones Newswires has this report on a statement respecting the denial of the petition for writ of certiorari in which three U.S. Supreme Court Justices joined today.

“A Day About Bad Lawyering at the High Court”: law.com’s Tony Mauro has this report.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a news update headlined “U.S. Supreme Court hears case about Cleveland State University killer.”

And The News-Enterprise of Elizabethtown, Kentucky has a news update headlined “Supreme Court hears appeal to local drug conviction; Defendant faces deportation if plea deal upheld.”

“Supreme Court to hear case on property seized in drug busts; The Supreme Court Wednesday looks at whether Chicago officials took too long to return property seized in drug busts to owners who turned out to be innocent”: Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor has this report.

“Ex-Justice Sandra Day O’Connor holds court in Cincinnati”: The Cincinnati Enquirer has a news update that begins, “Anyone who thought former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor would go quietly into retirement didn’t see her in action Tuesday in Cincinnati.”

“GQ on D.C. Clout: Who’s Mightier than Chief Justice Roberts?” Jess Bravin has this post at WSJ.com’s “Washington Wire” blog.

“NY court hears case against gay marriage benefits”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A Christian legal group seeking to stop New York agencies from recognizing same-sex marriages performed outside the state argued in the state’s highest court Tuesday that the practice amounts to a policy decision that requires approval by lawmakers.”

“10 Commandments case heads back to court”: The McCreary County (Ky.) Voice has a report that begins, “The 10-year battle over the posting of the 10 Commandments in the McCreary County Courthouse is retracing earlier steps made to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. The trip could just be a layover, as those closest to the case expect to take their argument back to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

“Supreme Court justices active in Carolinas water fight”: James Rosen of McClatchy Newspapers has this report.

And Gannett reports that “Justices hear Carolinas water war case.”

“Supreme Court to hear case about ‘sex slave’ Web site”: Bill Mears of CNN.com has this report.

In news from Canada: Law Times reports that “Appeals a ‘very hot’ legal topic; Trend spawns practice groups and new resources for lawyers.”

“Rivera-Soto not an issue in ’09 race”: The blog “Politicker NJ” has a post that begins, “Roberto Rivera-Soto has not been an issue in the 2009 gubernatorial campaign, even though the winner will have to decide whether to reappoint the controversial Associate Justice to a tenured term on the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2011.”

“Court to Hear Ex-Enron Chief Appeal”: Adam Liptak will have this article Wednesday in The New York Times.

In Wednesday’s edition of The Washington Post, Robert Barnes will have an article headlined “Supreme Court to Review Ex-Enron CEO’s Conviction.”

Wednesday’s edition of The Los Angeles Times will report that “Enron ex-CEO Skilling to get a Supreme Court hearing.”

And Wednesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal will report that “Supreme Court to Hear Appeal of Enron’s Skilling.”

“‘Honest services’ law in jeopardy?” Lyle Denniston has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”

“Court considers death sentence for Ohio neo-Nazi”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “The Supreme Court appears inclined to reinstate a death sentence for a neo-Nazi convicted of murdering three men in Ohio more than a quarter century ago.”

“Court to decide constitutionality of bad advice”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Supreme Court takes Jeff Skilling’s case”: The Houston Chronicle has this news update.

“Supreme Court to hear appeal by Enron’s Skilling”: James Vicini of Reuters has this report.

“Skilling Gets U.S. Supreme Court Review on Enron Conviction”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.

Warning, “The Onion” is a humor publication: Whenever I post appellate-related items from “The Onion,” I wrestle with whether I should indicate that the publication is an attempt at humor. I generally decide not to so indicate, because “How Appealing” readers either know that “The Onion” is a humor publication or the item I’m linking to will certainly give that away to anyone who reads it.

Last night at 10:52 p.m., I linked to a new article published at The Onion headlined “Sotomayor Misses Supreme Court Case After Failing To Get Out Of Jury Duty.”

This morning at 3:34 a.m., I received an email at this blog’s email account titled “Sotomayor stinks!” in which the author of the email writes:

I just read your article: “Sotomayor Misses Supreme Court Case After Failing to Get Out of Jury Duty.”

Those quotations by Sotomayor simply indicate she has no right to be a judge of any kind at all. She pre-judged the case and the defendant. Judges should have to do jury duty as an exercise in why they are judges, and focus on the lives of the and the defendants who are paying for lawyers to defend them. She shows no respect for the process or the system at all. She should try to fix it not criticize it as a “joke.” I am so disappointed in her — and her total lack of respect for jurors, judges, lawyers, defendants, and the system and the process that she is such a part of. I am appalled by her dishonesty and her bragging about it. If she really analyzed the process from the jury viewpoint together with her position as a judge, she would begin to understand how unfair the whole system is to the defendant who never gets a level playing field — everything is tilted against the defendant.

Perhaps judges should all have to spend one weekend in prison every year to have a greater understanding of what they are doing when they sentence defendants to prison for long periods of time, just as teachers need to sit on the other side of the desk periodically, and doctors need to be patients. The fact that she now realizes how bored jurors are and how hard it is for them to concentrate, perhaps she will begin to understand how actually innocent defendants do get convicted and sent to prison. The Barry Scheck Innocence Project woke us all up to that. She needs to remember how she was feeling, mirrored by jurors everywhere, and how their inattention brings down the process and system. All that will disappear from her mind when she is passing judgment on cases at the Supreme Court! Her true colors show in your article. She is a not a wise Latina; she’s a regular fool.

The Onion article that elicited this email can be accessed here.

Access online today’s Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court: The Court has posted today’s Order List at this link.

The Court today granted review in four cases, including Jeffrey K. Skilling v. United States, No. 08-1394.

At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Court to hear new Enron case.”

And in early news coverage, The Associated Press reports that “Supreme Court will hear appeal of Enron’s Skilling” and “High court will review ‘S&M Svengali’ case.”

“Law Prof Blog Rankings”: Law professor Paul L. Caron has this post today at his “TaxProf Blog.”

If I were a law professor, and if I’m correctly adding up the information found here, the “How Appealing” blog would rank 9th on the list of “page views” and 8th on the list of “visitors.”

Available online from law.com: Marcia Coyle reports that “Conservative, Liberal Groups Unite in Legal Fee Case at High Court.”

Tony Mauro has an article headlined “The Supreme Court, as Seen on Television: Justices grant rare, revealing interviews to C-SPAN.” My earlier posts linking to the video and the transcripts of the interviews and the other C-SPAN broadcasts can be accessed here, here, and here.

And an article headlined “Calling Defendant by ‘Murder’ Nickname Wins Him New Trial” reports on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued last Thursday.

“Abortion foes push for license plates; Battle often in court as states shun debate”: This article appears today in USA Today.

“Preventing Age Discrimination”: The New York Times today contains an editorial that begins, “The Supreme Court issued a poorly reasoned ruling in June that makes it much harder for older workers to prove illegal age discrimination. Fortunately, bills have been introduced in the Senate and House to undo the damage and put age discrimination cases on an equal footing with other employment-discrimination claims.”

“Crime and Banishment: A truck driver facing deportation because of bad legal advice deserves recourse from the Supreme Court.” This editorial appears today in The Washington Post.

“At legal crossroads: Parties in Mount Soledad case watching how Supreme Court handles Mojave cross.” Greg Moran has this article today in The San Diego Union-Tribune.