This morning the Supreme Court is hearing argument in Beard v. Banks, which presents the following question: “May a prison deny inmates newspapers and magazines as punishment for disciplinary violations?”

We might be wearing pajamas rather than black robes, but the answer to us seems obvious: it depends on the publication being withheld. Denying inmates access to the Washington TImes isn’t punishment, but an act of mercy.

We also expect the answer to vary from justice to justice. Preventing Justice Thomas from reading Hustler would constitute punishment; doing the same for Justice Souter would not. Maybe Souter could be cut off from accessing Details?

(Actually, we take that back. Although there are reasons to suspect that Justice Souter enjoys Details, he doesn’t seem stylish enough to fall within the magazine’s core demographic; maybe he could be denied Runner’s World? Chief Justice Roberts is probably the Details reader on the Court.)

Supreme Court Calendar [WP]

As Linda Greenhouse reports in today’s Times, Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Souter got a little snippy with each other, in their dueling opinions in Georgia v. Randolph. Justice Souter, writing for the majority, found that the Fourth Amendment was violated when police accepted a wife’s consent to search the premises, since the husband objected. Chief Justice Roberts wrote a vigorous dissent. MORE »

From the AP report on yesterday’s oral argument in the Texas redistricting case: MORE »

Before the U.S. Supreme Court today, in a shocking turn of events, Anna Nicole Smith took the advice of our crazy sister and fired her retained counsel in the middle of oral argument. She then proceeded to argue her own appeal before the justices. MORE »

• Washington Whispers: Trent Lott found his refrigerator three blocks from his house and inside were two sentimental bottles of champagne. . . D.C. television viewers are sick of Barack Obama. . . George H.W. Bush’s presidential library plans to add mock press briefing room. . . Robert Bork jokes, “How do you pronounce Souter in Spanish? Gonzales.”. . . News-addicted actor Joe Pantoliano likes “the girls” on MSNBC, especially Natalie Morales. . . [USN&WR]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Brian Lamb marries someone named Victoria. Spokeswoman: “They were married in a small, private ceremony in the Washington area and Brian was in the office all week”. . . Hillary supporters hope “Inside the Bubble,” a new documentary about the Kerry-Edwards campaign, will end his chances in ‘08. Kerry flack David Wade: “The 20 poor souls subjected to this movie will be reaching for caffeine and begging for old Lamar Alexander tapes on C-SPAN2. Michael Moore has nothing to fear. I think the working title was ‘The Snore Room.’” [NYDN]

MORE »

We know, we know, we have absolute faith that some aspect of the John Roberts confirmation hearings is exciting. That aspect is probably happening underneath the desk. (Has everyone been keeping their eyes on where Biden’s hands are? He really likes himself, you know. Then again, Biden does most of his masturbating on camera.) MORE »

• Inside Politics: Bush: “Karl’s got my complete confidence. He’s a valuable member of my team.”. . . Reid compares Roberts to Souter. . . Vilsack will visit New Hampshire on Labor Day. [WT]
• Names & Faces: Dean steps in on engagement of two DNCers. [WP]

• Britney Spears’ tech guy applies Hit-Me-One-More-Time app to defeating Roberts, but “I’m not sure how closely Britney has been following this issue.” [NYer] MORE »