President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden walk with Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland at the White House on March 16, 2016. AP
If the Senate continues to deny Garland a hearing this year, even if Hillary Clinton is elected president, the Supreme Court could go through the entire term with just eight members.
Nonetheless the court is open for business, facing an array of challenging issues.
A Lutheran church in Missouri is fighting a decision by the state that omitted its preschool from a program to resurface playgrounds with rubber from scrap tires. The Missouri constitution bars giving money, directly or indirectly, to churches.
"When you have a neutral, generally available public benefit, religious people should be allowed to participate to the same degree as everyone else," says Erik Stanley of Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian-oriented legal group representing the church.
The court will decide if what happens in a jury room can be ever be questioned. A Colorado man is seeking a new trial because a juror expressed racial bias during deliberations.
For well over a century, the Supreme Court has said that allowing such challenges could inhibit frankness in the jury room. But two years ago, the court said extreme cases of juror bias could deprive a defendant of a fair trial.
Related:
Supreme Court to Hear The Slants' Trademark Case That Could Affect NFL Team
Asian-Americans musicians from Portland urge the Supreme Court to declare that the government cannot block a trademark for their dance-rock band, The Slants. A federal law bars granting trademarks for terms considered offensive, but a lower court found that provision unconstitutional. A decision will affect the legal battle waged by the NFL's Washington Redskins after its trademark was revoked on similar grounds.
The court has yet to decide whether to hear appeals in some other cases that have generated headlines.
Related:
Federal Judge Blocks Federal Action on Transgender Students' Bathroom Access
A rural Virginia school board is asking the Supreme Court to take up its challenge to a ruling that it must allow students to use bathrooms matching their gender identity. It would be a surprise if the justices agreed to hear the case, because they generally prefer to see how emerging issues play out in the lower courts before stepping in.
Another pending appeal comes from a Colorado baker who refused to prepare a custom cake for a gay couple's wedding. He argues that the state cannot compel him to express his support for same-sex marriage, but lower courts said a reasonable observer would assume the message on the cake was the couple's, not the baker's.
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