McClatchy: Supreme Court starts term narrowly divided

[babylonsister]

Supreme Court starts term narrowly divided
By Michael Doyle | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Sunday, September 30, 2007


WASHINGTON — Big business and foreign prisoners have high hopes for the Supreme Court term that starts Monday.

Business wants protection from lawsuits. Prisoners want freedom. The court is in the middle, divided along lines that defy simple partisan calculations and led by a chief who's still finding his way.

Wild cards may yet shape the 2007-08 term. The 43 cases accepted for argument so far are only about half the total that the court is likely to consider before the term ends next June. Some potential high-profile controversies, such as Washington's gun ban and Louisiana's death penalty for child rapists, could ripen later this year.

"There will be a lot more coming," predicted Lisa Brown, the executive director of the American Constitutional Society.

Still, Chief Justice John G. Roberts starts his second full year on the job certain of some things.

He knows that two cases already stand out. One involves corporate liability. One involves Guantanamo Bay prisoners. Both have attracted big guns.

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/20017.html