The Senate has confirmed White House lawyer Donald Verrilli Jr. to succeed Justice Elena Kagan as U.S. solicitor general.

With the 72-16 vote, Verrilli will fill a post that has been vacant since the Senate voted Kagan to her Supreme Court seat last August. The solicitor general represents the executive branch of government before the Supreme Court.

President Barack Obama named Verrilli as Kagan's successor last January. A month ago, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nominee by a 17-1 vote.

Verilli has most recently served as a deputy counsel to Obama. He previously worked at the Justice Department as an associate deputy attorney general.

The New Jersey Supreme Court says people posting in online message boards don't have the same protections for sources as mainstream journalists.

The court ruled Tuesday that New Jersey's shield law for journalists does not apply to such message boards.

The case involved a New Jersey-based software company named Too Much Media. It sued a Washington state blogger for defamation and wanted her to reveal sources she cited on message board posts.

Shellee Hale claimed customer information was compromised and that she should be protected from revealing her sources.

New Jersey's highest court says online message boards are little more than forums for discussion and don't fit the definition of news media as described by the law.

Graphic images of dead people flashed across courtroom televisions as the victims' families looked on, weeping and consoling one another. Some had to leave to collect themselves.

For the first time since the nine victims were killed in 2005 and 2006, the man accused of the crimes is on trial for murder. The prosecution and defense delivered their dramatic opening statements Monday in the trial against Mark Goudeau, who is accused of being the so-called Baseline Killer.

Goudeau, 46, is also accused of dozens of other crimes, including rape and child molestation. His trial is expected to last nine months, with testimony resuming Tuesday.

Goudeau has pleaded not guilty. If convicted of murder, he could face the death penalty.

Prosecutor Suzanne Cohen told jurors that Goudeau was driven by a hunger to rape, and the victims who didn't cooperate were shot point-blank in the head.

"Beware of the predator that comes to you wrapped in sheep's clothing because he is a ravenous wolf," Cohen said. "Mark Goudeau is that ravenous wolf, and you shall know him by his deeds."

Cohen said "the only thing that matched his hunger to rape was his determination to not get caught and not be sitting in this chair."

"Those innocents did nothing wrong but cross his path while he was hunting," she said.

In his opening statement, defense attorney Randall Craig said there was a serious lack of DNA evidence in the case, and he questioned the integrity of the investigation.

The Tucson shooting rampage suspect's lawyer says she's unable to provide discovery requested by prosecutors until her client is declared competent to stand trial.

In a Monday filing, defense attorney Judy Clark says the court's finding that Jared Lee Loughner is incompetent to stand trial makes it clear that she "cannot have rational or meaningful communication" with him.

She says she also cannot consult with him about any possible defenses or evidence that may be presented at trial until he is declared competent.

Judge Larry Burns ruled last month that Loughner is mentally unfit to assist his lawyers or understand the charges he faces.

Loughner has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the Jan. 8 Tucson mass shooting that killed six and injured 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

The former International Monetary Fund head charged with trying to rape a Manhattan hotel maid formally said he was innocent of the charges Monday in his first court appearance in the case in two weeks.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn pleaded not guilty in a strong voice at the brief proceeding, standing between his defense team as his wife, journalist Anne Sinclair, watched.

State Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus went through the formality of telling Strauss-Kahn he needed to appear in court and had a right to be present at his trial, to which the economist said "yes."

The French diplomat appeared in court for the first time since he was released on $6 million in cash bail and bond last month. He has been under house arrest that includes 24-hour monitors and armed guards, first in a downtown Manhattan apartment and now in a deluxe, $50,000-a-month Tribeca town house.

About 50 hotel workers bused in by their union gathered outside the courthouse to jeer Strauss-Kahn, many wearing their work uniforms. They shouted "shame on you" as he arrived, and again as he left in a black sport-utility vehicle.