Supreme Court returns to consider cases of detainee rights, voter ID

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court is set to begin a term that could lead to enhanced rights for terrorism detainees, a ruling against part of a child pornography law and shorter prison terms for crack cocaine dealers.

Whatever happened to the court's march to the right?

The answer, it seems safe to say, is that little has changed on the bench, where Justice Anthony Kennedy remains the decisive vote between four conservatives and four liberals.

The difference with the term that begins Monday is the mix of cases that are before the justices. Instead of last term's defining cases -- abortion, race and campaign finance -- in which Kennedy's views aligned him with the conservatives, the big issues are those on which Kennedy has more often sided with the liberals.

The court has become more conservative since Sandra Day O'Connor retired in 2006 and was replaced by Justice Samuel Alito.

Looking ahead to this term's lineup of cases, "I can't identify a significant win for conservatives," said Thomas Goldstein, a Washington lawyer who writes about the court and argues before it.

The justices are set to tackle an array of big issues. They include the legal rights of Guantanamo detainees, the constitutionality of lethal injections for executions, photo identification cards for voters and investors' struggle to find accountability in cases of fraud.

The court could add a blockbuster case to its calendar if the justices opt to take a Second Amendment case from Washington, D.C., that would test limits on the right to own guns.

The third year of Chief Justice John Roberts' tenure follows a contentious term that laid bare ideological divisions in a large number of cases decided by one vote. The frustrations of liberal justices bubbled up in dissents read aloud in the courtroom. Among them was one read on the final day by Justice Stephen Breyer, who said of his conservative colleagues: "So few have so quickly changed so much."

While there could well be many more 5-4 decisions this term, a frequent participant in cases at the high court doubts that relations among the justices will be as frayed.

There is no indication that any justice intends to step down before the 2008 presidential election, although there is much speculation that the next president could have several vacancies to fill.

In addition to Roberts, two other justices are in their 50s. Six are 68 or older and the senior man among them, John Paul Stevens, is 87.

As long as the current lineup holds, Kennedy, 71, will continue to be the key vote.