Court in session

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court -- famously averse to publicity -- are probably just as happy that the lineup of cases they will consider this term seems unlikely to stir widespread public controversy.

The justices open their new term Monday with no cases on the docket that deal with abortion, race, gun rights, the constitutionality of major government offices or programs, or other issues likely to sharply divide the nation.

"It's a little light on blockbuster cases," former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh told The Associated Press. "But one never knows ... when those will crop up."

The one case otherwise most likely to draw media attention -- involving celebrities' use of profanity on live television -- will be argued on Nov. 4, when public attention will presumably be focused elsewhere.

Leading a somewhat arcane calendar will be cases involving a battle between the Navy and environmentalists over assertions that sonar used in training exercises can harm marine mammals, and a lawsuit against former Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller by a Pakistani man who claims he was mistreated after being rounded up following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The court also will decide an array of criminal cases, several seeking to expand police power to search and arrest people without warrants.

"There are several cases that could end up having great significance in litigation" says Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the new law school at the University of California, Irvine. "These cases could make a huge difference, but they are not of the magnitude of the Guantanamo cases or Heller" -- last term's gun rights case out of Washington, D.C.

As is often the case in an election year when elderly justices remain on the court, the most dramatic announcements out of the Supreme Court building could well be retirements.

Justice John Paul Stevens will turn 89 in December. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 75. Although three other justices are in their 70s, Justices Stevens and Ginsburg are seen as the most likely to retire soon -- especially if Barack Obama is elected.

Because both Justice Stevens and Justice Ginsburg lean toward promoting larger, more powerful government in defiance of constitutional restraints, it's widely held they would be happier to retire under a Democratic president, who could then be expected to appoint statist activists to replace them.

Should John McCain win the election, on the other hand, the leftist justices might be tempted to hang on for four more years, rather than allow a Republican to replace them with judges more anxious to corral the other branches of government back within constitutional bounds.