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Court opens new session with terrorism, campaign finance on agenda
By William Mears (Washington Bureau)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Campaign finance, affirmative action, states' rights and the ongoing legal war against terrorism will be among the important issues before the Supreme Court as the justices gather Monday to open the 2002-2003 term. The court also will examine whether states went too far in passing child-protection laws, the freedom to burn a cross and whether California's "three-strikes-you're-out" sentencing law is unconstitutionally harsh. When the nine justices gather Monday morning, they will find not only a wide-ranging and potentially contentious set of cases to review, they will find renewed public attention on the judicial system at large. As Americans wonder how the U.S. legal system will cope with the ongoing war on terrorism, the high court could very quickly step into the fray: by agreeing to hear appeals by citizens and non-citizens facing terrorism-related charges; appeals by those detained in civil and military custody in near secrecy by the U.S. government since September 11; to address the issue of military tribunals; and the constitutionality of a broad range of laws designed to give law enforcement more investigative tools in the fight against terror. A number of legal scholars see a judicial crossroads looming, where courts could be asked to entrust more power to the government to investigate suspicious activity in the name of protecting its citizenry, especially in "wartime." Chief Justice William Rehnquist has long spoken on this issue. In his 1998 book, "All the Laws But One," he examined the role of courts and presidents in war over suspending civil liberties. "There is no reason to think that future wartime presidents will act differently from Lincoln, Wilson, or [Franklin] Roosevelt, or that future Justices of the Supreme Court will decide questions differently from their predecessors," Rehnquist wrote. "It is neither desirable nor is it remotely likely that civil liberty will occupy as favored a position in wartime as it does in peacetime. But it is both desirable and likely that more careful attention will be paid by the courts to the basis for the government's claims of necessity as a basis for curtailing civil liberty." Campaign finance, cross burning, affirmative actionAmong the significant cases before the court this term, dozens of groups and individuals are challenging the campaign finance overhaul on free speech and other grounds. The case should reach the high court by spring. On affirmative action, white students denied admission to the University of Michigan and its law school have asked the high court to declare the school's race-conscious admissions policy unconstitutional. The Michigan policy, like those of scores of schools nationwide, was intended to comply with the high court's last, ambiguous statement on affirmative action in higher education a generation ago. The cross-burning case evokes a mostly bygone era in the South. Virginia and other states tried to outlaw the practice, but the laws have run into trouble on free-speech grounds. Two cases ask whether registries of convicted sex offenders, some posted on the Internet, are unfair to criminals who already have served sentences or who may have committed crimes such as exposing oneself in public. Every state has some form of a child-protection law -- commonly known as Megan's law, named for a New Jersey child killed by a sex criminal who moved in across the street. The laws are supposed to make it easier for neighbors and parents to keep tabs on potential predators, but civil liberties defenders complain the laws can make targets of people who have paid their debts to society. Elsewhere, an abortion case pits abortion clinics against protesters who blocked doors and threatened or intimidated patients. The term also includes cases affecting business, including a colorful fight over whether lingerie merchant Victoria's Secret was damaged by the opening of a sex toy shop called Victor's Little Secret. Speculation about retirements on the high court is intense this year; the same justices have been together for eight years, the longest period since the mid-19th century. All but one of the justices are past age 60; Justice John Paul Stevens is 83. Copyright 2002 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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