The first term of the Roberts Court will end in a matter of weeks, and there are still some 35 cases to be decided. By my count, and based upon recent practice, that means we can expect more decisions to start dribbling out if the Supreme Court, culminating with a torrent of decisions in the final to weeks of June.

What is still out there to decide?

Still to be decided are cases involving President Bush's power to order military trials for suspected foreign terrorists held at the Navy prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and an appeal that will decide when death row inmates should get a new chance to prove their innocence with DNA and other evidence.

In addition, the justices are delving into politics. At issue in one case is whether the court should throw out all or part of a Texas congressional map promoted by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. A free-speech case asks whether states can limit how much money is spent in political campaigns.

My gueses are as follows.

1) Tribunals for terrorists -- yes.

2) DNA evidence -- sometimes.

3) Texas remap -- acceptable.

4) Campaign spending limits -- permitted, unless they decide to oveturn recent precedents on campaign finance "reforms".

And as far as resignations/retirements go, I wouldn't expect any to be announced this year, unless there is a serious health issue that has been kept under wraps. Justices tend not to leave when there might be problems getting the new nominee confirmed before the start of the new Supreme Court term in October -- and there is no way that any justice would get confirmed in this contentious election year.

Posted by: Greg at 09:57 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 288 words, total size 2 kb.