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| Supreme
Court Opens New Term With 48 Cases |
Posted:
10.14.03 | |
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The Supreme Court has begun a new session. In its 214th term since it was founded
in 1789, the judges will consider the words "under God" in the Pledge
of Allegiance, the rights of people who use wheelchairs and how politicians fund
their campaigns.
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There are 48 cases scheduled, and the court can hear more if
four or more of the nine Supreme Court justices agree that the
case is important enough for the highest court in the country.
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| Cases
the court will hear this term | |
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One case that is scheduled for opening arguments in December is Locke v. Davey,
which considers the state of Washington's refusal to allow a college  theology
major to receive a state-sponsored college scholarship. The case is similar
to a one argued two terms ago in which the court ruled in favor of a family who
wanted to use school vouchers -- paid for by the government -- to pay for a parochial
or private school. A second case challenges a part of the Americans With
Disabilities Act. The act requires states to give people with disabilities adequate
access to public services and programs. In the case, Tennessee v. Lane, which
is scheduled for January, the state of Tennessee will try to beat a lawsuit brought
against it by a disabled man, who was asked to get out of his wheelchair and crawl
up two flights of stairs in order to make a court appearance. On Tuesday,
the court also decided to hear a case from California that barred the recitation
of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools because it included the phrase "under
God." The California court said the phrase violated the constitutional
separation of church and state doctrine. The Supreme Court will now decided whether
to uphold that law or overturn it as the president and the Senate have called
for. The most high-profile
case this season will probably be the court's ruling on the constitutionality
of a 2002 campaign finance law, also known as the McCain-Feingold law after the
senators who sponsored it, Republican John McCain from Arizona and Democrat Russ
Feingold of Wisconsin. In the case, which officially opened last term but
will be ruled on this term, the court will focus on two aspects of the law: The
banning of certain contributions to national political parties, also called "soft
money" contributions; and the strict limits put on TV and radio ads paid
for by corporations or unions before an election. A date for a decision in this
case has not been announced. | |
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| Pending
cases | |
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In addition to the 48 cases the court will hear between now and January, the
nine justices must also choose whether to admit any of the more than 7,000 other
requests, known as "writs of certiorari," submitted to them each year.
This process of accepting a case is called a "writ of cert." The judges
have room for about 30 additional cases between February and the close of the
term in June 2004.  Whether
the court does decide to take a case could have a major impact on the case and
its participants. Because the Supreme Court is the ultimate appeals court, if
the justices decided not to hear it, the ruling of the lower court stands and
the losers have to accept the verdict.
In one example of the Court being
the final word, on Tuesday, the Court ruled in favor of state laws allowing the
use of medical marijuana for HIV and cancer patients. The court refused to consider
a request by White House officials to punish doctors who prescribed the drug.  Among
the pending cases are several based on the government's arrest and detention policies
after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In many of the cases, civil rights
organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), will argue
that policies adopted by the government, particularly the Justice Department,
violate the civil rights of detainees and Muslim Americans.
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| Opening
day tradition | |
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During the opening-day ceremony Oct. 6, hundreds of demonstrators gathered
outside the Supreme Court in Washington to protest past court decisions on abortion
and school prayer. --
Kristina Nwazota, Online NewsHour | |
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This [teen] is an immigrant from Mexico, and he works long hours at a local farm milking dairy cows, five hours per milking, twice a day.
