“The death penalty: valid yet targeted; No serious constitutional argument can be made against the death penalty; The endless campaigns to ban it cost taxpayers millions to defend.” David B. Rivkin Jr. and Andrew Grossman have this op-ed today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Defense details Komisarjevsky’s troubled youth as death penalty phase begins”: The New Haven Register contains this article today.

And today’s edition of The Hartford Courant contains an article headlined “Komisarjevsky Defense: ‘Doomed From Birth’; Attorney Says Secretive, God-Fearing Family Relied On Prayer To Treat Mentally Troubled Boy.”

“Push for ‘Personhood’ Amendment Represents New Tack in Abortion Fight”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

“Mount Soledad cross won’t go anywhere pending appeal”: Greg Moran of The San Diego Union-Tribune has this news update.

“UK supreme court sits on cusp of tradition and modernity; Two years after its founding, five supreme court justices explain how they reach judgments of national significance”: The Guardian (UK) has this report.

“9th Circuit: Corporations Can Be Sued For Human Rights Violations Abroad.” Mike Sacks of The Huffington Post has this report.

“Feds Embrace Lying in Response to Public-Record Requests”: At Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog, David Kravets has a post that begins, “The Justice Department is proposing new Freedom of Information Act rules allowing the government to inform the public that records do not exist even if they do.”

“Obama healthcare law issues before U.S. high court”: James Vicini of Reuters has this report.

“In Rio Tinto, 9th Circuit judges debate Morrison’s ATS impact”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this report.

My earlier coverage of today’s en banc Ninth Circuit ruling appears at this link.

Woes of so-called “penis-pump judge” continue to mount: The Associated Press has a report headlined “Court: Convicted Okla. judge to forfeit retirement” that begins, “A former Oklahoma judge convicted of exposing himself by using a sexual device while presiding over trials is not eligible to receive the retirement benefits from his 23-year career on the bench, the state’s highest court ruled Tuesday.”

And The Oklahoman has a news update headlined “Former Oklahoma judge Donald D. Thompson will lose most of pension, state Supreme Court rules.”

“Super-Soft Money: How Justice Kennedy paved the way for ‘SuperPACS’ and the return of soft money.” Law professor Richard L. Hasen has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“Feds ask appeals court to reject Loughner’s appeal”: The Associated Press has this report on the Brief for Appellee that federal prosecutors filed yesterday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

“Sky-High Spy: With GPS Probing, the Zone of Privacy Is Getting Even Smaller.” Mark Walsh will have this article in the November 2011 issue of the ABA Journal magazine.

“US court revives human rights case vs Rio Tinto”: Reuters has a report that begins, “A U.S. federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit accusing Rio Tinto Plc of human rights violations related to Papua New Guinea, where it once ran one of the world’s largest copper and gold mines.”

You can access today’s en banc ruling of an eleven-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link. Seven of the judges on the en banc panel issued opinions.

Update: In other coverage, Bloomberg News reports that “Rio Tinto Genocide Claims Reinstated by U.S. Appeals Court.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Court OKs genocide lawsuit against mining company.”

Access online the Memorial Service for the Hon. Terence T. Evans recorded Sept. 23, 2011: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has posted this video online at its web site.

“Prop. 8 recordings to stay sealed for now”: Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.

And Reuters reports that “Ninth circuit to take up gay marriage trial tapes.”

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Ninth Circuit order appears at this link.

“L.A.-based law firm gives more than $3.2 million in services to help appeals judge’s defense; Jay Bybee, who is on the 9th Circuit bench, has fought allegations of ethics violations for providing legal justification for waterboarding; Much of the money for his defense comes from Latham & Watkins”: Carol J. Williams has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

“Judge Not: Why won’t progressives fight for federal judges?” Law professor Sonja West has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

“In Maples Case, Associates Get the Blame”: Tom Huddleston Jr. has this post tonight at “The Am Law Daily.”

“Our ‘Broken System’ of Criminal Justice”: In the November 10, 2011 issue of The New York Review of Books, retired Justice John Paul Stevens has this review of William J. Stuntz’s new book, “The Collapse of American Criminal Justice.”

“Jurors Deciding Komisarjevsky’s Sentence May Hear About Earlier Crimes; Testimony in Cheshire killer’s penalty phase starts Tuesday”: The Hartford Courant has this news update.

And The New Haven Register has a news update headlined “Judge rules Komisarjevsky statements about 2002 burglaries admissible in penalty phase of Cheshire trial.”

“Appeals court in NY orders new trial for scientist”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A new trial has been ordered for an Ivy League-educated scientist convicted of violating the Iran trade embargo.”

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

“Court halts release of Prop. 8 video recordings”: Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times has a blog post that begins, “A federal appeals court Monday put a temporary hold on a decision to make public the video recordings of the Proposition 8 trial and decided to rule on the matter expeditiously.”

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

“Office space: Judge Richard Posner — Longtime member of U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit gives a tour of his office.” Kristin Samuelson has this article today in The Chicago Tribune.

“Secret reports: With security spotty, many had access to anthrax.” McClatchy Newspapers and ProPublica have this report today.

“‘Inherently Improper’ Searches and Seizures: The Sixth Circuit’s Puzzling New Decision in United States v. Sease.” Orin Kerr has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“A big gift for Bybee: Latham & Watkins gives judge $3.2 million worth of legal aid.” David Ingram has this article in today’s issue of The National Law Journal.

And Ingram also has a related article headlined “Hundreds of trips: who’s paying? Majority of federal appellate judges traveled in 2010 — on sponsors’ dimes.” Lastly, a related chart is headlined “Frequent flyers: Which judges took the most trips?”

“U.S. Supreme Court to weigh bad legal advice”: The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania contains this article today.

“Hickenlooper to choose new Supreme Court justice”: This article appeared yesterday in The Denver Post.

“High court homes in on health care”: Politico.com has this report.

“Case to test California’s meat law; The U.S. Supreme Court will decide if California’s law banning ‘downer’ livestock is the right way to protect the meat supply”: This article appears today in The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, California.

“Under the U.S. Supreme Court: Is God coming back to public schools?” Michael Kirkland of UPI has this report.

“Republicans Turn Judicial Power Into a Campaign Issue”: Adam Liptak and Michael D. Shear will have this article Monday in The New York Times.

And Mark Sherman of The Associated Press reports that “GOP candidates would cut federal judges’ power.”

“Aging ‘Privacy’ Law Leaves Cloud E-Mail Open to Cops”: David Kravets has this post at Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog.

“At Equal Justice Works Conference, Veteran Lawyers Expound on Value of Public Service”: At “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Matthew Huisman has a post that begins, “Federal appeals court Judge David Tatel and U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. shared their pro bono experiences and inspirations that led them to take up public service jobs during a panel discussion Friday morning.”