* Mukasey is going to be okay. He's telling jokes and talking to the President. A GW doctor said ""The attorney general is conscious, conversant and alert." [CNN]

* Do you feel sorry for sex offenders? The California 4th district court does. They ruled that Jessica's law, a law that prohibits sex offenders from living within 2,000 feel of a school or park constitutes "banishment under another name." [San Francisco Chronicle]

* "A U.S.-triggered spate of global carmaker-bailout proposals may spark trade disputes over whether the Americans are unfairly trying to subsidize their industry or just making up for state aid foreign rivals already enjoy."[Bloomberg]

* Meanwhile, the EU's antittrust chief says the EU should resist an auto-industry bailout. [Bloomberg]

* On Thursday, a federal judge ordered the release of five Algerian prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. [Los Angeles Times]

* If you've been following Proposition 8, you may want to watch an upcoming gay marriage case that will be coming before the Iowa Supreme Court. [Iowa City Press Citizen]

Here's a quick follow-up to our prior coverage of the mysterious Under Armour briefs that somehow made their way into the hands, and onto the loins, of Guantanamo Bay detainees. From Reuters:

The U.S. military has ended an inquiry into who smuggled unauthorized underwear and a bathing suit to two prisoners at Guantanamo Bay without learning the source of the contraband skivvies, an attorney said on Wednesday.

The investigators concluded more vigilance was needed to prevent contraband from entering the camp that holds 330 suspected al Qaeda operatives, said Capt. Pat McCarthy, the military's chief lawyer for the detention operation at Guantanamo.

Is the inability to solve the Riddle of the Briefs a sad commentary on the state of military intelligence? Or is this perhaps a mystery that they didn't want to be solved?

Mystery underwear stymies Guantanamo investigators [Reuters]

Earlier: Guantanamo Bay Perk Watch: Under Armor Briefs!

Life for detainees at Guantanamo Bay, while difficult, isn't 100 percent grim. From yesterday's Washington Post:

Undergarments from Under Armour, the sports apparel line, offer "all-day performance, delivered in a lightweight compression fit," at least according to the company' s promotional material. While "unprecedented" in its ability to deliver comfort, Under Armour underwear is not standard issue for detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. So when two men in detention there were found to possess the contraband briefs, the Navy attorney contacted their attorneys. One of the detainees in question is Shaker Aamer, whose release the British government wrote to request from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in August.

But before turning to the larger question of whether Aamer will stay or go, there's the question of what he's wearing. And as the recent exchange between the Navy lawyer and Aamer's attorney Clive Stafford Smith illustrates, in the legal wrangling over detention, even details on intimates can lead to contentious debate...

You read excerpts from the hilarious correspondence, which showcase the dry British wit of Clive Stafford-Smith, over here.

But for those of you who like to look at original documents -- and we know that, since you're mostly lawyers, you love yourselves some primary docs -- we're pleased to present the complete correspondence (with original letterhead, signatures, etc.). Just click here (PDF). Enjoy!

Correspondence Between Staff Judge Advocate, U.S. Navy, and Clive A. Stafford-Smith [PDF]
An Incursion of Briefs at Guantanamo [Washington Post]

After yesterday, we thought they were all done for the Term. We thought wrong.

Some notable news from the Supreme Court today. Lyle Denniston of the invaluable SCOTUSblog reports:

In a startling turn of events in the legal combat over the war on terrorism, the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to reconsider the appeals in the Guantanamo Bay detainee cases. It vacated its April 2 order denying review of the two packets of cases. The Court then granted review, consolidated the cases, and said they would be heard in a one-hour argument in the new Term starting Oct. 1.

Such a switch by the Court -- from denial to rehearing and new argument and decision -- may not have occurred since 1947, in Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, legal sources said Friday.

So they've changed their mind about a cert grant for the first time in 60 years. What a neat little factoid!

But hey, being a Supreme Court justice means being able to change your mind. And never having to say you're sorry.

(For more on the likely import of this change of heart, see Orin Kerr.)

Court switches, will hear detainee cases [SCOTUSblog]
Supreme Court Agrees to Take Guantanamo Bay Cases [Volokh Conspiracy]

* SCOTUS considers whether to open new Gitmo appeals. [New York Times]

* Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Gates calls for Gitmo closure. [CNN]

* Spears and Federline have reached a divorce settlement, so no crazy litigation for now. [MSNBC]

* Sorority that allegedly kicked out unattractive members sues University for totally being not cool about it. [AP via Dispatch]

Have a good weekend, and Go Buckeyes!

* Unlike batting averages, Zagat numbers are not exactly accurate to begin with. And don't you wonder who fills out those surveys anyway? [New York Post]

* You defile it, you buy it. [Morning Call]

* While this does merit more than a Non-Sequitur, a show of hands of those who really care about Phil Spector or his rip-off of William Burroughs's "William Tell" defense. [Reuters via Yahoo! News]

* Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go... [Jurist]

* Southern Poverty Law Center's getting it done. [CNN]

* NLJ reports that Camp 6 at Gitmo shows little improvement for cleared prisoners. [Law.com]

* Bobby Brown has to stay downtown (until he throws down about nineteen thou'). [CNN]

* Barry Bonds won't cooperate in steroids investigation. [Sportsline]

* Anna Nicole Smith's mom appeals. [CNN]

We were wrong in speculating that the parties had decided to use Friday afternoon to quietly settle Charney v. Sullivan & Cromwell. As it turns out, S&C has actually opened up a new front in that war. How exciting!

But we were absolutely right in observing that "[w]hen a disgraced Washington political figure wants to resign, they wait until Friday after 3 PM." Look at what the cat dragged in, at 4:05 PM: Charles "Cully" Stimson, the Pentagon official who made controversial remarks about lawyers who represent terrorism suspects.

Stimson didn't last very long as deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs. But at least his tenure was longer than that of Jack Scheich as president of LeGal.

Defense Official Resigns Over Remarks [Associated Press via How Appealing]
Cully Stimson Resigns [WSJ Law Blog]

Earlier: For Breakfast at Cully Stimson's House: Pop Tarts Filled With Crow
Make the Gitmo Detainees Pay for Their Own Damn Photocopies

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. And sometimes a government official unwisely shooting his mouth off is just a government official unwisely shooting his mouth off.

When Charles D. Stimson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, criticized lawyers at top law firms for representing Guantánamo Bay detainees, we speculated that perhaps his statements were part of a Bush Administration effort to discourage such representation. It appears that we were wrong.

Today's Washington Post contains a letter of apology from Stimson. In the letter, he states that he "believe[s] firmly that a foundational principle of our legal system is that the system works best when both sides are represented by competent legal counsel."

After making his controversial remarks, Charles Stimson was roundly criticized by numerous law school deans. His abrupt about-face raises an amusing possibility: Could an open letter from law school deans -- typically as worthless and irrelevant a piece of paper as a parking ticket on a diplomat's windshield -- have had an actual impact in the real world?

The full text of Cully Stimson's apologetic letter, plus related links, after the jump.

* "Utah's highest court says don't diss the judiciary, or else it might diss-miss your case." [How Appealing]

* Major legal issues continue to arise at Gitmo. [Washington Post]

* Libby trial jury selection should take a few quick...months. [MSNBC]

* Should district judges appoint prosecutors? [New York Times via Concurring Opinions]

* North Carolina's Attorney General, Roy Cooper, answers Mike Nifong's cry for help. [New York Times]

* Over at the Justice Department, the bad-ass Shanetta Cutlar, Chief of the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division, takes no prisoners.

* Not even summer interns can escape her wrath.

* But hey, at least they get to go back to school. Full-time attorneys can escape only by leaving the Section -- provided that Shanetta doesn't get to them first.

* Speaking of job changes, meet your new White House counsel: Fred Fielding, of Wiley Rein & Fielding (who served as White House counsel under President Reagan).

* Next time you go out for pizza, leave the corporate lawyers at home.

* Pentagon official Charles Stimson doesn't like how Guantanamo Bay detainees are getting pro bono representation from some of the country's top law firms. Don't they have better things to be doing with their pro bono time?

* Michael Nifong manages a Houdini-like escape from the debacle known as the Duke lacrosse team rape case.

* Celebrity law professors Noah Feldman and Jeannie Suk, whom you have just dubbed Feldsuk, have a really nice house.

* But not as nice as the $7 million mansion of patent lawyer Donald Stout (aerial view at right).

* Federal judicial nominees: Out with the old, in with the new.

* Chief Judge Michael Boudin (1st Cir.): You like him, you really like him.

* Maybe it's because he's such a big feeder judge. Interestingly enough, though, he has only placed one clerk so far at the Supreme Court for October Term 2007.*

(But Chief Judge Boudin feeds mostly to Justice Breyer and Justice Souter. The former isn't finished hiring yet, and the latter hasn't even started.)

One of you thinks that this news warrants a Saturday post. And we see your point.*

The article in question is running on the front page of the New York Times, above the fold. So, from the NYT:

The senior Pentagon official in charge of military detainees suspected of terrorism said in an interview this week that he was dismayed that lawyers at many of the nation’s top firms were representing prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and that the firms’ corporate clients should consider ending their business ties.

The comments by Charles D. Stimson, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, produced an instant torrent of anger from lawyers, legal ethics specialists and bar association officials, who said Friday that his comments were repellent and displayed an ignorance of the duties of lawyers to represent people in legal trouble....

When asked in the radio interview who was paying for the legal representation, Mr. Stimson replied: “It’s not clear, is it? Some will maintain that they are doing it out of the goodness of their heart, that they’re doing it pro bono, and I suspect they are; others are receiving moneys from who knows where, and I’d be curious to have them explain that.”

Props to this Charles Stimson fellow. Even if his views may be completely misguided, we like anyone who stirs up a s**tstorm.

Discussion continues after the jump.

* President Bush said yesterday that 14 "high-value" terror suspects, who were previously held in secret by the CIA, had been transferred to Guantánamo Bay, for possible trials before military tribunals. Gitmo's not exactly the Four Seasons Nevis; but we suppose it's an improvement. [New York Times; Washington Post]

* Former Illinois Governor George Ryan was sentenced to 6½ years in prison on federal corruption charges. Interesting factoid: "Ryan was the third former governor in Illinois history to be convicted of wrongdoing, all since the 1970s." [Chicago Tribune]

* The court-appointed guardian of New York grande dame Brooke Astor's assets in looking into whether her son improperly obtained some $14 million from his mother while "managing" her finances. [New York Times]

* James Frey, disgraced author of "A Million Little Pieces," and Random House, his publisher, have reached a settlement with readers who filed lawsuits claiming they were defrauded. The terms of the settlement are a bit silly -- but then again, the lawsuit was too. [New York Times]