Ruling to the Right? The Supreme Court's new term begins today, and justices will confront a host of sensitive issues: voting rights and the death penalty, among others. This term could measure just how far to the right the Roberts Court is, Legal Times' Tony Mauro reports in today's issue, with some observers predicting that the lineup of upcoming cases will produce less conservative rulings. The court's decisions this term will be set against the backdrop of the hotly contested presidential election. The Wall Street Journal says the court's tilt will once again be largely up to swing Justice Anthony Kennedy.
New Standards? States are changing criminal justice procedures to grant inmates more access to DNA evidence, address questions about witness identifications, change the way evidence is handled and modernize other procedures, hoping the changes will result in better convictions and fewer challenges, The New York Times reports. The changes are also meant to cut down on wrongful convictions.
A Military Victory Yale Law School will allow military recruiters to attend a job fair after an appeals court ruled against the school's efforts to restrict recruiters due to the Pentagon's policy against allowing gays to openly serve in the military, The New York Times reports. The federal government had threatened to withhold $350 million in grants to the university if Yale Law didn't back down.
Domestic Battles Congress, frustrated by an inability to reach consensus on Iraq war policy, is turning its attention to domestic policy issues such as taxes and health care, The Washington Post reports. Those issues - including the expansion of an insurance program for children and government spending - are expected to provoke confrontations between the Democratic majority in Congress and President Bush, who has threatened to wield his veto more aggressively.
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