“Castille, others fight to upgrade a hero’s medal”: This front page article appears today in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Ronald D. Castille is Chief Justice on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

“Business to defend court funds ruling; Congress mulls curb with a bill”: Today’s edition of The Washington Times contains an article that begins, “The head of the nation’s biggest business lobby says lawmakers who try to roll back the Supreme Court’s pro-business campaign finance ruling are in for a fight.”

“High Court: Justices to consider ‘funeral protests’ in free-speech case.” Robert Barnes has this article today in The Washington Post.

And ABCNews.com reports that “States Line Up Against Funeral Hecklers in Supreme Court Brief; Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church Picketed Iraq Marine’s Funeral; Court Must Decide if Protest Was Free Speech.”

“Senators Target Supreme Court’s ‘Exxon’ Ruling in Effort to Make Oil Companies Pay for Spills”: Marcia Coyle of The National Law Journal has this report.

“A Messy Loss For Climate Lawsuit Plaintiffs”: At the “On the Docket” blog at Forbes.com, Daniel Fisher has a post that begins, “The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has decided, in a convoluted and dissent-provoking way, not to decide a politically charged global-warming lawsuit against ExxonMobil, BP, AES, Dow Chemical and most of the rest of the American industrial establishment.”

My most recent earlier coverage appears in this post.

“Souter defends judicial activism; Says perspectives change with time”: This article appeared Friday in The Boston Globe.

Friday’s edition of The Harvard Crimson reported that “Souter Presents Judicial Philosophy in Commencement Speech.”

And the Harvard Gazette has posted online an article headlined “Plain language, complex meanings: In Commencement address, retired Justice Souter says Constitution can be a conflicting document.”

You can access the prepared text of Justice David H. Souter’s commencement address at this link.

“Supreme Court justice by appointment, big sister for life”: Friday’s edition of The Post-Standard of Syracuse, New York contained an article that begins, “Dr. Juan Sotomayor never allowed himself to believe. Sure, big-time journalists across the nation were predicting that his older sister, Sonia Sotomayor, might become a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. The possibility was so magnificent, so celestial, that Juan feared the crushing disappointment if it didn’t happen.”

“From Carswell to Kagan: Learning the hard way to vet court nominees; Be rigorous with background checks — and don’t forget the ‘sex, drugs and rock-and-roll’ questions.” David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

The Chicago Tribune reports today that “U. of C. law faculty didn’t back Kagan; No job offer when she sought return after Clinton duty.”

And The Boston Globe contains an editorial entitled “Kagan: No, a B-minus is not a cataclysm.”

“Torturing the Law: Jay Bybee models conservative judicial activism in the 9th Circuit.” Doug Kendall and Elizabeth Wydra have this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

Fifth Circuit’s en banc disposition of global warming-related case can only be described as curiouser and curiouser: The Fifth Circuit, with sixteen judges now in regular active service, voted to take the case en banc based on the majority vote of the nine judges who were not recused. After the vote to take the case en banc, a judge who had participated in the en banc vote decided to recuse, leaving eight judges recused and eight judges not recused. This, in the view of at least five of the eight non-recused judges, left the en banc court without a quorum to decide the matter. As for what happened next, you can access today’s order and the two dissents therefrom at this link.

My earlier coverage of this notable case can be accessed here, here, and here.

The original ruling from a three-judge Fifth Circuit panel can be accessed here, while the Fifth Circuit’s order granting rehearing en banc can be accessed here.

“Kagan Would End Gender Bar as Third Female Justice”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.

“States Enlist Ultrasound to Raise Bar for Abortions”: This front page article appears today in The New York Times.

“‘Pants Judge’ Pearson Loses Appeal in D.C. Circuit”: Mike Scarcella has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

I have posted at this link yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

“Expert says knife in Wone case may have been tampered with”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

“Solicitor General Revises Data on Federal Juvenile Sentences”: Tony Mauro has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

“Gun rights could pose problem for Kagan; The Supreme Court nominee’s stance isn’t clear, but the powerful NRA sees enough to be worried”: James Oliphant will have this article Friday in The Los Angeles Times.

And Friday’s edition of The Washington Post will report that “Kagan, as Harvard law school dean, pursued two courses on ‘don’t ask’ policy.”

“Yakima murder conviction overturned by state Supreme Court”: The Yakima Herald-Republic has a news update that begins, “The state Supreme Court released an opinion this morning overturning a 2007 Yakima County murder conviction on the grounds that holding the trial in the county’s jailhouse courtroom was prejudicial.”

And The Associated Press has a report headlined “Wash. court: Jail trial unfair to murder defendant.”

Today’s ruling of the Washington State Supreme Court consists of a majority opinion, two concurring opinions (here and here), and two dissenting opinions (here and here).

“Kagan gets boost from potential GOP allies”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Justice Scalia: Kagan’s lack of judicial experience no bar to Supreme Court.” Robert Barnes has this article today in The Washington Post.

The Associated Press has a report headlined “Former justice: Judicial experience not an issue.”

Politico.com has an article headlined “W.H. rolls out Kagan narrative” and an op-ed by Tevi Troy entitled “Don’t expect much from Kagan e-mails.”

And in today’s edition of USA Today, Tony Mauro has an op-ed entitled “For Kagan, craftiness and candor are key to hearings.”

“Judge: bloggers’ conduct ‘pretty sad.'” Josh Gerstein has this post at his “Under the Radar” blog at Politico.com.

The Associated Press is reporting: The Associated Press has an article headlined “Justice Souter may be retired, but he still works.”

And in other news, “O’Connor, in NY, gives schools poor civics marks.”

“The Kagan Kids: Why the younger generation doesn’t care about the debate over the latest Supreme Court nominee.” Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Bagram: a legal black hole? Prisoners held there are not allowed to seek writs of habeas corpus, a U.S. appeals court rules; It could lead to abuses.” This editorial appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Kagan sparks little debate as hearings approach”: The Associated Press has this report.

“Senators will have less background on Kagan to help make Supreme Court decision”: Robert Barnes has this article today in The Washington Post.

And in today’s edition of The New York Times, law professor John Yoo has an op-ed entitled “An Executive Without Much Privilege” that begins, “Presidential power has emerged as a potential topic of controversy in the nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.”

“Video at Wone trial shows detective pressing defendant Dylan Ward”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

“Bill Puts Scrutiny on Detainees’ Lawyers”: Charlie Savage has this article today in The New York Times.

“Conviction overturned on unconventional orders”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has this article reporting on a ruling that a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued yesterday.

“NFL sacked by Supreme Court”: Fred Barbash has this article today at Politico.com.

“Klobuchar raps WaPo story on Kagan style”: Josh Gerstein has this post at his “Under the Radar” blog at Politico.com.

“At Harvard, Kagan Aimed Sights Higher”: This article will appear Wednesday in The New York Times.

“As Marshall clerk, Kagan was wary of conservatives”: Mark Sherman and Jessica Gresko of The Associated Press have this report.

“Would-be Chicago firefighters ponder court ruling”: The Associated Press has this report.

“This case concerns the crime of neonaticide, which is the killing of a newborn child on the first day of life. This crime is practically unknown in the federal courts.” So begins a dissenting opinion that Senior Eighth Circuit Judge Myron H. Bright issued today. The offense was prosecuted as a federal crime because it occurred on an Indian Reservation.

“Judiciary chairman defends Kagan against GOP fire”: The Associated Press has this report.