http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/index.jsp Updated daily en-us 05/18/2013 Copyright 2009. Incisive Media US Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. http://www.law.com/service/terms_conditions.shtml http://www.law.com/img/dc/alert/legaltimes_rss.gif http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/index.jsp When the city of New Haven, Conn., in 2003 tossed out a promotion test for firefighters after learning that no African-Americans had passed, was it striking a blow for or against civil rights? The Supreme Court heard vigorous debate on that question Tuesday in the case of Ricci v. DeStefano, with Justice Anthony Kennedy likely holding the key vote in deciding the answer. http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/PubArticleDC.jsp?id=1202430116322&rss=rss_dc 1202430116322 The Supreme Court struggled Tuesday to find the right balance between student privacy and public school safety in the case of an Arizona middle-school girl who was strip-searched on suspicion of having an ibuprofen pill. http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/PubArticleDC.jsp?id=1202430070502&rss=rss_dc 1202430070502 Legal career counselors and agency officials say there's been a surge in lawyer applicants for government jobs, thanks to the crashing private sector economy, and the swelling talent pool is making the cumbersome process even tougher. http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/PubArticleDC.jsp?id=1202429951013&rss=rss_dc 1202429951013 There are two vacant slots on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, but as far as many Washington lawyers are concerned one is already spoken for. Lawyers at several D.C. firms, along with the Hispanic Bar Association of D.C., have launched an aggressive campaign to get D.C. Court of Appeals Judge Vanessa Ruiz onto the circuit. http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/PubArticleDC.jsp?id=1202429951120&rss=rss_dc 1202429951120 An intense two-week period begins April 20 for the Supreme Court, for the Solicitor General's Office, and especially for Austin, Texas, lawyer Gregory Coleman.Coleman, a former Texas solicitor general and Clarence Thomas clerk who is building a significant Supreme Court practice from Austin, will appear for the conservative side in the highest-profile cases of the next two weeks, on affirmative action and voting rights. http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/PubArticleDC.jsp?id=1202429951170&rss=rss_dc 1202429951170 http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/PubArticleDC.jsp?id=1202429951771&rss=rss_dc 1202429951771 A 1st Circuit decision threatens to choke off the free flow of drug data. The court wrongly upheld a state law banning certain commercial uses of prescription histories of individual doctors. The Supreme Court should step in. http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/PubArticleDC.jsp?id=1202429951710&rss=rss_dc 1202429951710 Eric Holder Jr. is clearly not eager to prosecute CIA agents for recent misdeeds. But as attorney general he has a responsibility to honor U.S. treaty obligations. He needs to convene a grand jury to look at torture. http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/PubArticleDC.jsp?id=1202429951678&rss=rss_dc 1202429951678 Before anyone turns Somali pirates into criminal defendants, we need to remember how the United States has historically dealt with piracy. It wasn't with an abundance of complicated legal proceedings. http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/PubArticleDC.jsp?id=1202429951740&rss=rss_dc 1202429951740 The rewards of the Patent Prosecution Highway program will go to those who manage the risks wisely. Watch out for issues of inequitable conduct. http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/PubArticleDC.jsp?id=1202429951529&rss=rss_dc 1202429951529 The Patent Office's appeals board is weighing in with its early views on the Federal Circuit's new machine-or-transformation test. http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/PubArticleDC.jsp?id=1202429951494&rss=rss_dc 1202429951494