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Supreme court to open term with new chief justice

Posted on: Sunday, 2 October 2005, 08:29 CDT

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The John Roberts era at the Supreme Court begins on Monday, when the youngest U.S. chief justice in 200 years presides in a term that will include cases on contentious issues such as abortion, assisted suicide and financing of political campaigns.

As the 17th U.S. chief justice, the 50-year-old Roberts succeeds fellow conservative William Rehnquist, 80, who died a month ago, in a lifetime job that positions him to help shape the American way of life for decades.

After confirmation hearings in which Democrats complained that Roberts shed little light on his views on critical constitutional questions, the high court's decisions this term will be scrutinized more closely than usual to determine whether they foreshadow a shift in direction.

"This is a docket that already has an extraordinary number of potential blockbuster cases," Duke University law professor Erwin Chemerinsky said. "It will give us an early sense of who John Roberts is."

The high court is due to experience even more change after a rare 11-year period of stability. U.S. President George W. Bush is expected to announce soon his nominee to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a moderate conservative who often casts the swing vote on the divided court.

The U.S. Senate must approve the nomination, which could take months. O'Connor has agreed to stay until her successor, who could swing the court to the right, is confirmed.

The justices will hear arguments on Wednesday on whether the Bush administration can stop Oregon doctors from helping terminally ill patients commit suicide, despite a state law allowing such assistance.

In November, the court considers abortion-related cases.

One involves a 19-year-old federal racketeering lawsuit saying two anti-abortion groups engaged in a nationwide conspiracy to shut down health clinics. The other concerns a New Hampshire law requiring parental notice before a minor can get an abortion.

FRONT BURNER

The Bush administration also recently filed an appeal urging the Supreme Court to uphold as constitutional a federal law that bans a late-term abortion procedure.

"Abortion will definitely be on the front burner of the Supreme Court for the first time in many years," said Washington lawyer Tom Goldstein, who closely follows the court.

Roberts' views on campaign finance could also become clearer this term, he said. The court said on September 27 that it would decide a pair of cases involving state and federal campaign finance laws, including strict limits on political contributions and spending.

Chemerinsky and the other experts predicted there would not be much difference between Roberts and Rehnquist, who share the same conservative judicial philosophy.

The greater shift in the court's balance of power could come if O'Connor's replacement pushes the court further to the right, they said.

Steven Shapiro, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the new term would begin with a great sense of anticipation and uncertainty.

"The appointment of a new chief justice carries special significance because of the chief's unique role," he said. "Justice O'Connor's retirement creates a different void by removing a critical swing vote on a series of issues ranging from race to religion."

The court's most conservative members are Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Justice Anthony Kennedy, a moderate conservative, often joins O'Connor in casting deciding votes.

The most liberal members are Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.

Other high-profile cases to be decided this term include whether hallucinogenic tea can be imported into the country for use as a sacrament and whether federal funds can be denied to universities that keep military recruiters off their campuses to protest the Pentagon's policy against gays and lesbians.

The court also will decide whether defendants facing the death penalty have a constitutional right to offer evidence at their sentencing hearing that casts doubt on their guilt and a Tennessee death row inmate's appeal based on DNA evidence that was unavailable at the time of his murder conviction.

In a case not as important as some of the others on the docket, but one that undoubtedly will be widely publicized, the court will hear former topless dancer and Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith's who is involved in a long legal battle to collect millions from the estate of her elderly oil tycoon husband.

Source: REUTERS

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