The Supreme Court begins its new term Monday with a fortified conservative majority and a docket filled with some of the moment’s most contentious issues: voting rights, religious liberty, protection from discrimination and privacy in an increasingly monitored society.

The court was shorthanded for more than a year after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016 and responded by largely avoiding controversial topics and compromising to reach narrow, consensus decisions.

…

“I’m going to be watching early on to see how the court reintroduces itself back to the country in the midst of the current political spitballing otherwise enveloping Washington,” said Jeffrey L. Fisher, a Stanford law professor who frequently argues cases before the Supreme Court. “Will the court present itself as the grown-ups in the room, or will it, in a sense, join the ideological battle?”

…

“I think there are a lot of people who are trying to get cases to the court because they think this is a court that is more favorable to their positions than would be there if they let the issues percolate longer,” said Pamela S. Karlan, co-director of the Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic.

…

But a confrontation between Trump and the court feels inevitable to Stanford’s Fisher.

“Perhaps at first only in a tweet but perhaps also ultimately in some kind of refusal to abide by a court decision,” he said. “Such a moment would bring a dramatic constitutional showdown of the sort not seen at the federal level for almost 200 years, or even at the state level since desegregation battles of the mid-20th century.”

Read More