“Justice Kagan stays alert with a little bench humor”: Bill Mears of CNN.com has this report.

“Supreme Court: Children are different when it comes to Miranda warning against self-incrimination.” Robert Barnes will have this article Friday in The Washington Post.

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has a news update headlined “Supreme Court says age matters in police questioning; On a 5-4 vote, the justices rule that police who remove a student from class for questioning usually must warn him or her of the right to remain silent.”

Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal has a news update headlined “High Court Expands Juveniles’ Miranda Rights.”

Joan Biskupic of USA Today has a news update headlined “Supreme Court: Age must be weighed in interrogations.”

The Charlotte Observer has a news update headlined “High court rules against N.C. in juvenile Miranda rights.”

Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor has an article headlined “Supreme Court: When police question children, their age matters; In the case of a 7th-grader who confessed to break-ins, the Supreme Court ruled that police need to consider a child’s age when deciding when to issue Miranda warnings.”

At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Children’s age and Miranda: The Court, splitting 5-4, rules that police must take a youthful suspect’s age into account in deciding whether they must give ‘Miranda warnings.’”

And online at Slate, Dahlia Lithwick has a jurisprudence essay entitled “Read Me a Story, and My Rights: Sonia Sotomayor shows Samuel Alito the value of judicial empathy.”

“Supreme Court OK’s challenge in poisoning case”: The Intelligencer of Doylestown, Pennsylvania has a news update that begins, “A vengeful Lansdale wife who was charged under a law usually reserved for terrorists when she tried to poison her husband’s lover, will be permitted to challenge her conviction, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “States’ rights ruling, a big deal or not? The Court seems to open wide the right of individual citizens to sue to protect the rights of state governments under the Tenth Amendment; But the decision may not actually make the opening so wide.”

“U.S. Appeals Decision Overturning Ban on Corporate Donations to Candidates”: Bloomberg News has this report.

And The Associated Press reports that “Feds appeal judge’s ruling on campaign finance law.”

Programming note: This afternoon, I’ll be out of the office for a bit to attend an event in south Philadelphia. Additional posts will appear here later today.

Update: Cliff Lee pitched a two-hit shutout and drove in the game-winning RBI on his second hit of the game to lead the Phillies to a 3-0 victory over the Marlins. You can access the box score at this link and recaps from MLB.com here and here.

Access online today’s rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court in argued cases: The Court issued five rulings in argued cases today.

1. Justice Elena Kagan delivered the opinion of the Court in Smith v. Bayer Corp., No. 09-1205. The decision is nearly unanimous, in that Justice Clarence Thomas did not join two portions of the opinion. You can access the oral argument via this link.

2. Justice Kagan delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court in Tapia v. United States, No. 10-5400. Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a concurring opinion, in which Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. joined. You can access the oral argument via this link.

3. Justice Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the Court in J.D.B. v. North Carolina, No. 09-11121. Justice Alito issued a dissenting opinion, in which the Chief Justice and Justices Antonin Scalia and Thomas joined. You can access the oral argument via this link.

4. Justice Alito delivered the opinion of the Court in Davis v. United States, No. 09-11328. Justice Stephen G. Breyer issued a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined. You can access the oral argument via this link.

5. And Justice Kennedy delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court in Bond v. United States, No. 09-1227. Justice Ginsburg issued a concurring opinion, in which Justice Breyer joined. You can access the oral argument via this link.

In early news coverage, The Associated Press has reports headlined “Court says age must be considered in interrogation“; “Court: Woman can challenge use of terrorism law“; “High court upholds Ala. man’s conviction“; “Court lets class action against Bayer proceed“; and “Court says judges can’t give extra time for rehab.”

“Federal court to hear arguments over Bruno retrial; Arguments Friday come after high court’s ruling in honest services case”: This article appears today in The Times Union of Albany, New York.

“Barry Bonds seeks to overturn federal conviction”: Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.

And The Recorder reports that “Bonds’ Appellate Team Seeks Dismissal, Says Slugger Convicted of Being Wordy.”

“N.H. high court: AG need not join care lawsuit.” Today’s edition of The Nashua Telegraph contains an article that begins, “New Hampshire’s highest court gave Attorney General Michael Delaney a slam dunk victory Wednesday, saying he can’t be forced to join a lawsuit against the federal healthcare law.”

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

“Ohio case on courtroom Ten Commandments reaches U.S. Supreme Court”: The Columbus Dispatch contains this article today.

“Gun law misses Pa. Supreme Court”: This article appears today in The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

“Activists by Invitation”: Linda Greenhouse has this post at the “Opinionator” blog of The New York Times.

“Piercing Cats Is Cruelty, Judges Rule”: John Schwartz has this article today in The New York Times.

The Morning Call of Allentown, Pennsylvania reported yesterday that “‘Gothic’ pierced kittens violate Pennsylvania’s cruelty law, court rules; Appeals court upholds conviction of woman who planned to sell ‘gothic cats’ on eBay.”

The Citizens’ Voice of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania reported earlier this week that “Court upholds conviction of gothic-kitten groomer.”

And the blog “Siouxsie Law” has this post.

My earlier coverage of Monday’s Pa. Superior Court ruling appears at this link.

“Can Justice Be Bought?” Today’s edition of The New York Times contains an editorial that begins, “Two years ago, the Supreme Court tried to bolster public trust in the nation’s justice system by disqualifying a state judge in West Virginia from a case that involved a coal company executive who had spent more than $3 million to help get the judge elected.”

“In ‘Doo-Wop’ Case, 3rd Circuit to Consider ‘Prevailing Party’ Fees Issue”: Shannon P. Duffy of The Legal Intelligencer had this article in September 2010 about the Third Circuit‘s grant of rehearing en banc in that case.

Yesterday, the en banc Third Circuit issued this ruling in the matter.