O'BRIEN: Religion will certainly come up. It's one of the most divisive issues at the court right now. So they're going to be asking about his views of separation of church and state. But I also wouldn't be surprised if some questions came up about his own devotion to the church and whether that might influence his judgment. He has spoken out on this in the past, recommending devout Christians for jobs in the White House many years ago and making the case that these people are very qualified and capable of separating their work from their religious belief, and I think that will be his approach.

ABERNETHY: And, quickly, what are the most important cases relating to religion that will be coming up for this court?

O'BRIEN: Well, there is a very important case coming up on the second day of the term involving a medical-religious issue, so to speak -- physician-assisted dying -- whether doctors, in this case in the state of Oregon, may assist the terminally ill, prescribing lethal drugs that can end their lives. Also, there's an important abortion rights case involving juveniles seeking abortion and the requirement in New Hampshire that they get parental notification. Another case -- very important -- involves a religious group in New Mexico who wants to import a hallucinogenic drug that's a controlled substance that's not allowed in the United States, but they want to use it to practice their religion. The lower court said the government cannot stop them.

ABERNETHY: Tim, let me change the subject just a minute. Many of us have been looking at the rescue efforts in New Orleans and recently have seen rescue workers going into homes and taking people out, taking residents out by force. Is that constitutional?

O'BRIEN: It is when the governor declares martial law and authorizes, specifically, National Guard troops to do that. That has not happened here. At least the governor says that's not going to be the role of the National Guard. So the National Guard really can't do it, not at this point. Now there's some confusion as to whether local authorities can. In some circumstances, where a life is clearly in jeopardy, they can. But there's some ambiguity about whether some people there have exceeded their authority.

ABERNETHY: Tim O'Brien, many thanks.