WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court opens its term Monday with a young new leader, a veteran justice eager to retire and a calendar packed with contentious issues such as abortion, assisted suicide and capital punishment.
For the first time in 33 years, William Rehnquist will not be on the court. The 80-year-old chief justice died Sept. 3. Every day since, the flags in front of the court have flown at half-staff.
The Rehnquist court becomes the Roberts court following a brief tradition-rich ceremony for John Roberts, who learned about the inner workings of the place a quarter-century ago while clerking for Rehnquist.
Roberts, 50, will take a ceremonial oath as President Bush and the eight justices look on, then he will pose for pictures on the steps of the court building.
The job presents immediate challenges.
For one, there are unanswered questions about Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s departure. She announced July 1 that she would be stepping down; Roberts was to replace her.
Bush shifted Roberts into the chief justice opening after Rehnquist’s death. The president has not named a successor to O’Connor and was spending part of this weekend at Camp David considering that choice.
O’Connor, 75, delayed her retirement after a personal appeal from the president.
Once her replacement is named, the confirmation could take as little as two months. Or it could last many more if the nomination is contested by Senate Democrats.
O’Connor, a moderate who often casts the critical fifth vote on the nine-member court, will hear cases and vote during closed-door sessions after oral arguments. Rulings take months to prepare, and if she leaves the court before they are done, the votes would not count.
“The court will be in an extremely unsettled and uncertain situation until Justice O’Connor’s successor is confirmed and seated,” Supreme Court historian David Garrow said. “No one – including the justices themselves – will know for sure whether the nine justices who hear a case will be the same nine who will decide it.”
It will not take long for the court to delve into important social issues.
On Wednesday, the court hears a challenge to Oregon’s one-of-a-kind law that allows doctors to help terminally ill patients die more quickly.
In November, justices will review a state abortion law. In December comes an appeal that involves gay rights, as part of a protest against the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
“This will be a real watershed year,” said University of Connecticut law professor Paul Schiff Berman.
| Some of the cases that will be heard by the Supreme Court in the term that begins Monday:
Abortion: A review of a parental notification law from New Hampshire that gives justices a chance to make it harder to bring legal challenges against abortion restrictions. Abortion protests: An appeal involving a claim that an anti-abortion group’s protests violated federal racketeering and extortion laws. Anna Nicole Smith: An appeal from the one-time stripper and Playboy model revives her chances at a piece of the fortune left by her 90-year-old late husband. Assisted suicide: A test of a unique state law allowing doctors to help terminally ill patients die more quickly. Campaign finance: Reviews of federal and state limits on campaign spending. Colleges-military: A case that asks if the government can withhold federal funds from colleges that bar military recruiters in protest of the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays. Death penalty: The most significant of five death penalty cases asks when people should get an additional chance to prove their innocence based on new evidence such as DNA. Disabled inmates: A federal powers case that will decide if states and counties can be sued for not accommodating disabled prisoners. Religious tea: A case that asks if federal drug laws trump church members’ constitutional rights to use hallucinogenic tea in services. Student loans: An appeal that will decide if the federal government can seize a person’s Social Security payments to pay off old student loan debts. Tax breaks: A constitutional test of tax incentives to lure companies to build manufacturing plants and other projects. |
There are five death penalty cases and two appeals challenging spending limits on political candidates and advocacy groups.
In a test of states rights, justices will consider if states and counties can be sued for not accommodating disabled prisoners, and a religion case will decide the constitutional rights of people who want to use hallucinogenic tea as part of their worship.
The court’s workload “touches on all these hot-button issues. It will be a good weather vane for where the court is going,” said Martin Flaherty, a professor at Fordham Law School.
Roberts is expected to vote similarly to Rehnquist, although it is unclear whether he will go as far as Rehnquist in supporting a reversal of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that established a woman’s right to abortion.
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