Orin Kerr writing at The Volokh Conspiracy: "I think the ideology of law clerks roughly matches that of the Justices because the Justices are trying to solve the principal-agent problem . . . Supreme Court Justices solve the principal/agent problem by tending to hire law clerks who generally agree with their bosses’ views of the law. That agreement gives the Justices more confidence that their law clerks will be faithful agents without the Justices having to engage in costly monitoring of law clerk performance."

"Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will speak about keeping courts free of politics as part of an effort to support three Iowa justices threatened with removal because they supported a decision that legalized gay marriage in the state."

Notre Dame News: "The keynote speaker is former federal judge Michael W. McConnell, the Richard and Frances Mallery Professor of Law at Stanford University and leading expert on constitutional law. McConnell also directs Stanford’s Constitutional Law Center."

Columbus Dispatch: "Both [Paul E. Pfeifer, author of more than 1/3 of all dissents, and Maureen O'Connor, most often in the majority] are on the ballot in November, along with Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger and Chief Justice Eric Brown . . . The dissent numbers provide the only statistical view of how often individual justices stray from the majority, but they don't tell the whole story. They don't indicate where a justice in the minority on a case persuaded one or more colleagues to join him or her, turning a dissent into the majority position. O'Connor, who is challenging Brown for chief justice, says her lack of dissents shows she's in the mainstream of legal opinion."

FindLaw (AP): "The delaying tactics have proved so successful, despite the Democrats' substantial Senate majority, that fewer than half of Obama's nominees have been confirmed and 102 out of 854 judgeships are vacant."

“They referred to my clerks last year as TTT — third-tier trash,” he told students at the University of Florida in February. “That’s the attitude that you’re up against.”

Public Opinion, Cultural Change, and Constitutional Adjudication Calvin Massey, 61 Hastings L.J. 1437 (2010) "When do courts pay attention to public opinion in deciding constitutional issues? When should courts do so? This Article provides a limited answer to those questions. Courts often pay attention to public opinion when deciding constitutional issues, especially when the issue is one that involves a challenge to a long-standing cultural norm. That pattern is present, for example, in each of Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education. The Court changed its view of equal protection because public opinion about racial segregation changed. Today, the long-standing cultural understanding of marriage is challenged by those who claim that its perpetuation violates the equal protection and due process guarantees. While nobody can predict with any certainty what the judicial resolution of this issue may be, it should not be surprising if that resolution reflects public opinion on the matter. Public opinion data on issues of special concern to the homosexual community suggests that each of the legislative and judicial responses at the state level reflects public opinion or, if anything, lags a bit behind. But the courts catch up, and it is appropriate for courts to consider public opinion when weighing constitutional challenges to deeply embedded and long-accepted cultural practices."

The Volokh Conspiracy: "On August 19th, Justice Kennedy gave an address that included an interesting passing remark about the role of blogs . . . Justice Kennedy adds: 'I've found, what my clerks do now, when they have interesting cases — They read blogs.'"

Law.com: "Asylum seekers' rate of success in the nation's immigration courts is the highest it has been in 25 years and one significant factor is increased legal representation, new research has found. In fiscal year 1986, immigration judges denied almost nine out of 10 asylum requests. In the first nine months of fiscal 2010, only half of the requests were rejected -- a record low, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a nonpartisan research organization at Syracuse University."

The Blog of LegalTimes: "The federal courts are grappling with the consequences of a little-noticed new law that bars the payment of federal salaries to non-U.S. citizens. The law could affect more than two dozen currently hired judicial law clerks who hail from nations including Canada and Australia."

Star Advertiser: "Gov. Linda Lingle's appointment of Associate Justice Mark Recktenwald as chief justice sailed through Senate confirmation yesterday, but she won't get to name his replacement on the five-member Hawaii Supreme Court."

Ann Woolner writing at Bloomberg: "Known for English-language Internet sermons urging jihad on Americans, [Anwar al-Awlaki] has crossed the line from propagandist to become a leading al-Qaeda operative, authorities say . . . President Barack Obama’s administration earlier this year authorized his killing . . . Does an American abroad, who isn’t on a battlefield fighting fellow Americans, have the same protection as he does at home not to be killed by the government? Under what circumstances would such a killing be legal? Who gets to draw up the rules? Those are the questions posed by a lawsuit filed this week by two civil liberties group on behalf of the cleric’s father against Obama and other administration officials." | ACLU Press Release; Complaint in Al-Aulaqi v. Obama, No. 10cv10-1469

WorldNetDaily: "A career officer in the U.S. Army acting as a judge in the prosecution of Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin today ruled that the military is no place for Barak Obama's presidential eligibility to be evaluated. Army Col. Denise R. Lind today ruled in a hearing regarding the evidence to be allowed in the scheduled October court-martial of Lakin that he will be denied access to any of Obama's records as well as any testimony from those who may have access to the records. With her decision, Lind mirrored a number of federal judges who have ruled on civil lawsuits over Obama's eligibility. They have without exception denied the plaintiffs' access to any requested documentation regarding the president's eligibility."

The Garden City Telegram (AP): "Kansas moved ahead toward selecting a new state Supreme Court justice on Wednesday, while facing a federal lawsuit alleging that voters' rights are being violated because lawyers unfairly dominate the process. Nine lower-court judges and four attorneys hoping to fill the high court vacancy met a noon deadline for submitting applications to the Supreme Court Nominating Commission." | Dool v. Burke, No. 10-1286-MLB-KMH (D. Kan.) [complaint]

WVRecord.com: "Elementary school playgrounds in Cabell County are losing their swing sets in part because of lawsuits over injuries. Cabell County school safety manager Tim Stewart said the removal process began two weeks ago at Meadows Elementary and may not be completed until Christmas break . . . Stewart said a lot of parents are accusing him of being un-American, but he says the cost of maintaining a safe surface is too expensive . . ."

One News Now: An organization in Iowa is hard at work to get new faces on that state's highest court. An effort is under way to seat some new justices on the Iowa State Supreme Court, some 18 months after the court ruled in favor of same-sex "marriage." Bob Vander Plaats -- who came up short in early June in his bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in The Hawkeye State -- is one of the organizers of Iowa for Freedom.

And prominently placed on virtually every page of the site is a quote credited to a man who facilitated a greater role for socialists and communists at the U.N., and the global "workers rights movement."

"Rasmussen, which discovered that 62 percent of the voters favor electing judges during a national telephone survey of 1,000 likely voters on Aug. 26 and 27, explained the finding by tying it to the fact that 53 percent believe judges have their own political agendas."

Thetowntalk.com: "LC officials announced Wednesday that the Judge Paul Pressler School of Law will locate in the 10-plus-story United Mercantile Building in downtown Shreveport, which was counted as a $3.1 million in-kind donation by LC officials. It is located at 509 Market St. The law school is projected to open in August 2012." | Related article Shreveport Times

NY State Bar Association: "As we approach 'Constitution and Citizenship Day' – created by an act of Congress in 2004 and celebrated each year on September 17th – The New York State Bar Association, its Law, Youth and Citizenship (LYC) Committee and other partners, have created a website (www.nysba.org/ConstitutionDay) packed with a wealth of resources to help educators, civic groups and parents create meaningful and engaging activities and lesson plans to commemorate this important day."