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A4 U.S. NEWS
Monday 2 october 2017

Supreme Court opens pivotal term with Trump nominee in place

By MARK SHERMAN Last year, “they didn’t take Gorsuch quickly showed Gorsuch’s presence on the against workers’ rights,”
Associated Press a lot of major cases be- he would be an ally of the bench leaves liberals with said Claire Prestel, a law-
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dis- cause they didn’t want to court’s most conservative a fair amount of trepida- yer for the Service Employ-
putes over a wedding tion, especially in cases ees International Union.
cake for a same-sex cou- involving the rights of work- In the term’s marquee
ple and partisan electoral ers.The very first case of cases about redistrict-
maps top the Supreme the term, set for arguments ing and wedding cakes,
Court’s agenda in the first Monday, could affect tens 81-year-old Justice An-
full term of the Trump presi- of millions of workers who thony Kennedy, closest to
dency. Conservatives will have signed clauses as the court’s center, remains
look for a boost from the part of their employment the pivotal vote.In an era
newest justice, Neil Gor- contracts that not only of sharp political division,
such, in a year that Justice prevent them from tak- it may be now or never for
Ruth Bader Ginsburg has ing employment disputes the court to rein in exces-
said will be momentous. to federal court, but also sively partisan redistricting.
President Donald Trump’s require them to arbitrate If the justices do set limits,
travel ban appears likely to complaints individually, their decision could affect
disappear from the court’s rather than in groups.“I’m elections nationwide.The
docket, at least for now. very fearful, given the new high court has weighed in
But plenty of high-profile Supreme Court, of what several times on gerryman-
cases remain.The justices will happen,” said Sher- dering over the past 30
will hear important cases Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, speaks with rilyn Ifill, president and years, without agreeing on
that touch on gay rights U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts as they leave St. director-counsel of the a standard that would al-
and religious freedoms, the Mathews Cathedral after the Red Mass in Washington on Sun- NAACP Legal Defense and low courts to measure and
polarized American elec- day, Oct. 1, 2017. The Supreme Court’s new term starts Monday, Educational Fund.Just on oversee a process that
torate, the government’s Oct. 2. Thursday, the justices add- elected lawmakers handle
ability to track people (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) ed a case that has the po- in most states.But a lower
without search warrants, be deadlocked 4-to-4,” justices, Clarence Thomas tential to financially cripple court was convinced that
employees’ rights to band said Eric Kasper, director and Samuel Alito, most re- Democratic-leaning labor Democratic voters’ chal-
together over workplace of the Center for Constitu- cently joining them in ob- unions that represent gov- lenge in Wisconsin to the
disputes and states’ rights tional Studies at the Univer- jecting to the court’s deci- ernment workers.Taken Republican-led redistrict-
to allow betting on profes- sity of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. sion to block an execution together, the those cases ing following the 2010 cen-
sional and college sporting “This year, that problem in Georgia.While justices “have a real chance of sus offered a sensible way
events. doesn’t present itself.” can change over time, being a one-two punch to proceed. q