US Supreme Court 2010 style

Here is a good article for introducing the court, with some questions for discussion.

The most diverse Supreme Court in American history takes its seat for a new term today, setting the scene for an unprecedented partisan divide between Republicans and Democrats.The new panel, which will consider some of the most contested issues of the day, includes three women, one African-American, one Hispanic, six Roman Catholics and three Jews; a far cry from its white, male Protestant origins that continued well into the late 20th century.
For the first time, the ideological leanings of the justices match those of the presidents who appointed them, raising fears of a split that could threaten the court’s cherished status as being above the factional politics of the day.
The political ideologies of individual justices have long been said to govern their rulings on some of the most contentious matters; one of the reasons for the intense questioning new judges face before they are confirmed by Congress. However, with the departure of two solidly liberal, but Republicanappointed, justices since President Obama took office — and their replacement by his own picks, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor — the court’s conservative and liberal factions are neatly arrayed over a distinct partisan divide.
The result may have consequences for the public perception of the court as the fair and final arbiter in America’s most bitter legislative disputes. Its composition, with five Republicans to four Democrats, raises the spectre of new clashes with the President, who has already provoked dismay in legal circles with his public criticisms of the court.
On its immediate agenda are some divisive issues, including the right to protest at military funerals, illegal immigration, federal support for faith-based schools and restrictions on violent video games. In future even more contentious battles will make their way to the court, with the right to same-sex marriage moving through the legal system and challenges to Mr Obama’s healthcare reforms and financial regulations expected to reach there before long.
Of the nine justices, only one reliably crosses the ideological divide: Anthony Kennedy, a Reagan appointee who has sided with liberals on issues of social freedom, such as the punishment of juveniles and gay rights.
Ms Kagan, the court’s newest member, is still untested but, as Mr Obama’s pick, she is likely to prove reliably liberal. His other choice, Ms Sotomayor, brings the number of women on the panel to three; an unprecedented level of female representation.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who was the second woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court, has said that she hopes the presence of three women on the panel will help to shape perceptions about women’s participation in the country’s governance. “When the schoolchildren file in and out of the court and they look up and they see three women, then that will seem natural and proper — just how it is,” she told The Washington Post.
The fact that all are Democratic appointees serves only to underscore the court’s divisions, with the healthcare and finance cases looking set to bring the court into confrontation with the White House, which has repeatedly characterised the court as a foe.
Mr Obama attacked the Supreme Court in this year’s State of the Nation address for a ruling allowing unlimited political spending by corporations and unions. In a recent Rolling Stone interview, he blamed the ruling for his party’s troubles in the upcoming elections, saying that Democratic candidates were under attack from “groups the Roberts court [referring to Chief Justice John Roberts] says can spend with impunity without disclosing where their money’s coming from.”
Independent voices

Justices on the US Supreme Court are independent because they hold their positions for life, but their appointments are partisan. The court is split between conservatives and liberals, leaving Anthony Kennedy the key voter in many cases

Swing vote
Anthony Kennedy is a conservative Republican
Conservatives
Chief Justice John G. Roberts has pushed to end systemic remedies for racial discrimination
Samuel Alito may be the most conservative member of the court
Antonin Scalia a judicial conservative and once said of America’s record on torture that “smacking someone in the face could be justified if there was an imminent threat”
Clarence Thomas has not asked a question during oral arguments since 2006
Liberals
Ruth Bader Ginsberg has become more strident in dissenting opinions since the appointment of Alito
Stephen Bryer has been critical of opponents on the bench who believe that the meaning of the Constitution does not evolve
Sonia Sotomayor was called a liberal activist during her confirmation and earned a reputation as an outspoken jurist while serving on the US District Court
Elena Kagan, the newest member, never served as a judge before her appointment in August and is considered to be a moderate
Source: Times research

Taken from the Times 04/10/10

Questions
1) Who are the 9 justices, and what are their political leanings?
2.) What is significant about the outlook of the court and the president?
3.) Will the new court be likely to clash with Obama?
4.) What types of cases are coming up soon?
5.) In what ways is Kennedy a swinger?
6.) Should judges wield as nuch power as the US Supreme Court?