Opinion

Researchers hailed the Supreme Court ruling Wednesday that bans the patenting of human DNA, saying it would expand access to genetic testing for disease at lower cost to patients. In a unanimous decision, the justices said Myriad Genetics did not have exclusive rights to the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes that are linked to significantly greater risk for breast cancer and thus should not be the only company allowed to test for it. "Myriad did not create anything," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for his fellow justices.

The retirement next month of Chief Judge Robert M. Bell of the Maryland Court of Appeals is a critical event, the first transition in the leadership of Maryland's courts in nearly 20 years. A matter of central importance for the new chief judge must be the shocking state of the docket of the state's highest court, a problem that long predates Chief Judge Bell's stewardship. Article IV, Section 15 of the Maryland Constitution requires that "an opinion, in writing, shall be filed within three months after the argument or submission of the cause.

Coworkers who live in Baltimore long ago disabused me of the notion that being a journalist will get you out of jury duty. I remember one woman I used to work with serving on multiple juries. Still, when I get one of those calls from an opinion pollster, I've always been able to wriggle off the hook by telling him or her that I work for a media company. So it caught me off guard Monday evening when the caller told me that my employment didn't disqualify me from the poll she was taking.

Having signed all their draft picks except first-rounder Matt Elam , having shored up their biggest perceived weakness with the signing of linebacker Daryl Smith and with very little salary cap room to do much else, it's hard to imagine the Ravens being too active over the next five weeks before the start of training camp. However, something clearly has to be worked out with the status of Pro Bowl fullback Vonta Leach . As my colleague Aaron Wilson reported last week, the Ravens, who took Leach's potential successor, Kyle Juszczyk, in the fourth round of April's draft, are expected to craft a proposal to adjust his contract, which carries a $4.33 million salary cap hit for the coming season.

The college lacrosse season has rounded the clubhouse turn and teams are racing down the backstretch, a third of the way through the regular season. Trends are developing, surprises are emerging and myths need to be busted. Here are some of the myths and what I think about them: Myth: Lacrosse is the fastest sport on two feet. Opinion: It is, at times. But too often the game has become slowed down by stick technology that makes dislodging the ball impossible, over coaching, specialization and rules that allow teams to stall.

I find Sy Steinberg's letter to the editor ("Protesters rewarded for disruptive behavior," March 29) about the settlement given abortion protesters to be very disturbing. Mr. Steinberg writes that "the protesters are inciting the public, who are entitled to be free of a bunch of grotesque signs. " This statement implies that we, the public, have a right to be free of free speech. That is a very dangerous attitude and our right to free speech should be cherished whether or not we agree with the speaker.

Ravens cornerback Chris Carr saw a specialist in Texas this week to get another opinion on his injured left hamstring, an injury that forced him out of last Sunday's victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Carr has been dealing with hamstring soreness since early in training camp. "It's been frustrating because there's been a lot of work put into it. It's just been one of those nagging things, but I think it's going to be better pretty soon," Carr said. "That's what I'm looking for. I went to Texas and saw somebody, and got another way of looking at the injury.

Fact: Photo identification is a necessary element of life in America today. Opinion: Don't believe it? Try cashing an out-of-town check; visiting just about any office building in the country; getting on a commercial airplane; or, buying some types of non-prescription allergy medicines. Of course, Attorney General Eric Holder possesses a more selective view of photo identification. For him, having to produce such proof of identity at the polls is somehow discriminatory against minorities.

Fact: The empathy factor was a big winner for President Barack Obama. Opinion: It proved impossible for a wealthy CEO-type to compete in the "he cares about us" category. Mitt Romney's "47 percent" comment most certainly (further) strengthened this narrative. But it was the Obama campaign's relentless rhetoric against wealth and income disparity that carried the day with enough middle-class voters. Fact: Democratic candidates successfully exploited the gender gap when nobody was looking.

Friday's edition of The Sun included an article on the top defenseman for five of the six teams participating in Saturday's Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Four of the five aforementioned have been named All Americans and one was arguably compiling an equally worthy season before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury last year. Lacrosse is a sport where goals are desired by fans and TV networks and players on the offensive side of the field throw no-look passes and shoot from behind their heads or between their legs.

You at least have to give young outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw some credit in acknowledging that he's fighting weight issues and “it's not a good look” to come into the various minicamps for a second straight year out of shape. There are plenty of players that won't even do that, no matter how obvious it looks. Before participating in teammate Lardarius Webb's charity softball game yesterday, Upshaw told reporters, including my colleague Aaron Wilson , that he currently weighs 285 pounds, which is at least 15 pounds heavier than he played at last season.

Tear it down. Fix it up. Keep it here. Move it there. Many at Pimlico Race Course Saturday, from celebrated trainers to $2 bettors, offered thoughts of what to do with Old Hilltop, the methuselan home of the 138 t h Preakness Stakes. The Maryland Jockey Club, which owns the track, has agreed to renovate both Pimlico and Laurel Park with a share of the state's slots revenue - an estimated $112 million in matching funds, if the organization ponies up the equivalent.

Almost three weeks after NBA player Jason Collins became the first openly gay active male athlete in a major American sport -- and yes, all those qualifiers are necessary -- new polling data shows a majority of Americans wouldn't care if their favorite athlete was gay. In a comprehensive survey conducted by Reason-Rupe, only 12 percent of those polled said they would be less likely to support their favorite jock if he or she came out, while 77...

Orioles top prospect Dylan Bundy, shelved since March with right arm tightness, was scheduled to see renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews on Tuesday in Gulf Breeze, Fla., to get a second opinion on what's causing his ongoing discomfort. “We hope to find out that [Andrews] feels the same way that our people do [who] have looked at it,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “We're very supportive of it.” The organization has been deliberate with Bundy's recovery, but the move to seek a second opinion came a day after the right-hander felt lingering discomfort while throwing from 90 feet off flat ground at the team's spring training complex in Sarasota, Fla. It was the first time he had thrown that far since going on the seven-day minor league disabled list April 4. Bundy hasn't pitched from a mound since late March.

In New York, where he was to be honored at Thursday night's Straight for Equality Gala, Brendon Ayanbadejo suggested to a local newspaper reporter that one of the reasons that he was cut by the Ravens was his outspoken advocacy for same-sex marriage - a suggestion he later distanced himself from on Twitter. “My bark is louder than my bite,” Ayanbadejo told Newsday. “I make a lot of noise and garner a lot of attention for various things off the football field. When that starts happening, why do you have that player around?

As a reporter, you are taught to keep your opinions out of the stories you write. But the blogosphere has allowed certain freedoms that didn't exist before. As someone who has covered and followed University of Maryland athletics since coming to The Baltimore Sun more than 25 years ago, I have the unique perspective of not only comparing coaches but athletic directors as well. I think it's too soon to judge Kevin Anderson's tenure in College Park, but in talking with Anderson for a story that appeared on the Sun's website Wednesday night and in the newspaper on Thursday, my feelings for the job he has done over the past 18 months have certainly changed.

On weekday mornings, I'll post the most controversial, shocking and (of course) ridiculous stories for your reading pleasure. That way, when you walk into work, you'll be the master of witty conversation National  • Thank God you live in America: China arrests Christians for having Easter service . (AFP)  • Thank God you live in America, II: Syria's bloody weekend . (Financial Times)  • Taliban stages huge prison break . (AP)  • The heroism of regular people: Attempted plane hijacker  overpowered . (Reuters)