The October 2008 Term of the United States Supreme Court began on October 6,2008. By the time the Term adjourned on June 29, 2009, the Court had changed or clarified the law in several important areas. (As we shall see, technically there was another argument in September 2009 as part of this Term.) The Court also seemed to foreshadow larger changes ahead, and saw Justice David Souter announce at the end of April that he would be stepping down from the Court.
This article will review the major decisions of the Court during the Term. It will also analyze the Term and consider the future of the Court with Justice Sonia Sotomayor replacing Justice Souter.
Steven R. Smith, From Expert Witnesses to ‘Fleeting Expletives’: The Supreme Court 2008-2009, REGISTER REPORT (2009) available at http://www.e-psychologist.org/index.iml?mdl=exam/show_article.mdl&Material_ID=102.