They're considering Chris Isaak as a replacement for Simon Cowell! The alt-crooner has had two meetings with producers. If that's not weird, nothing is. Apparently the show is struggling to maneuver around X Factor, judges-wise. Who will end up where??

A "socially inept" Pennsylvania judge has been suspended from his job for calling repeatedly and "making uninvited visits" to the homes of five women. We'd expect that from a lawyer, cop, or other male professional. But not a judge. [AP]

U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman struck down the Obama administration's deepwater drilling moratorium in rather snippy, circular language today. Perhaps his cereal milk was a bit sour this morning? Or maybe he just owns some oil stocks.

A federal judge has lifted the Obama administration's six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling.

The judge in Rod Blagojevich's corruption trial has told him to stop tweeting in court.

A judge in Cuyahoga County, Ohio is suing the local paper, the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, for disclosing that certain comments on its website came from her email address. The paper says it had no choice. Does privacy trump news?

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, 89, is almost certainly going to retire at the end of the month. Bloomberg think they know who's lined up to replace him. Here's your guide to the rumored candidates.

The Texas Court of Appeals ruled that a condemned man's execution should go forward even though the judge in his case was sleeping with the prosecutor. And the judge in question has an unintentionally comical rebuke, for her detractors!

Manhattan federal judge Jed Rakoff has been nicknamed "Judge Dread" on Wall Street for his efforts to hold banks and financial execs accountable for their actions. (He's currently overseeing the case against Bank of America, which is accused of misleading investors regarding bonus payouts, and he's also presiding over the trial of Raj Rajaratnam, the hedgie charged with insider trading.) So how does Rakoff blow off steam when he isn't taking on big banks and crooked execs? He engages in a little ballroom dancing, that's what. [BusinessInsider]

An 18-year-old in Texas was sentenced to eight years in prison with no possibility of parole for three graffiti charges and weed possession. Eight years. In prison. Here's the sentencing judge, Marisela Saldaña. Looks awful Satan-like, no? [AnimalNY]

New York Judge James Peck—who oversaw the first part of the Bernie Madoff trial, and is handling the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy—smacked his wife "in self defense" last weekend. They were arguing about a ladder. [NYP]