SUPREME COURT NOTEBOOK: Sotomayor won't sell New York apartment in this economy. Not even Supreme Court justices are immune from the economy. Justice Sonia Sotomayor plans to keep her apartment in New York for the time being, even as she gets a place in Washington.

Justice Sotomayor dances, sings, throws _ and now sits _ as Supreme Court begins its new term. Justice David Souter never danced the salsa in public. Justice John Paul Stevens doesn't sing in karaoke bars. And Chief Justice John Roberts hasn't thrown out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium.

6 members of Supreme Court attend annual Red Mass traditionally held day before term begins. An American cardinal on Sunday issued a plea for the rights of the unborn at a church service that included Vice President Joe Biden, six members of the Supreme Court and hundreds of members of the legal community.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court will again consider gun rights and decide an important case that could loosen restrictions on corporation spending in political campaigns in its new term beginning on Monday.

Hot-button issues including gun rights and counter-terrorism will be on the docket when the US Supreme Court, including newest member Sonia Sotomayor, begins a new term on Monday.

The Supreme Court, which now includes its first Hispanic justice Sonia Sotomayor, begins a new term on Monday that will focus on hot-button issues including gun rights and counter-terrorism.

Animal cruelty videos at center of Supreme Court case on free speech protections. Supreme Court justices, skeptical of a law aimed at graphic animal cruelty videos, touched Tuesday on dog fights, bull fights, cock fights, bow-and-arrow hunting, even a hypothetical television channel devoted to human sacrifice. Oh, yes, and freedom of speech.

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High court to decide if plea should be tossed because of incorrect legal advice on deportation. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday questioned whether defendants should expect their lawyers to correctly advise them on all the possible consequences of a guilty plea, including on important issues like deportation.

Supreme Court blocks release of names on Washington state anti-gay rights petition. The Supreme Court is temporarily blocking Washington state officials from releasing the names of people who signed a ballot measure on gay rights.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court said on Tuesday it would hear an appeal by Chinese Muslim prisoners held for years at Guantanamo Bay who argue that they should be released in the United States.

Supreme Court blocks release of names on Washington state anti-gay rights petition. The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily blocked Washington state officials from releasing the names of people who signed referendum petitions to bring expanded rights for gay couples up for a public vote in November.

The Supreme Court has blocked an order to release the names of Referendum 71 signers while it considers taking up the case. The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked a lower court order to release the names of signers to a ballot measure in Washington State while it considers taking up the case. The intervention is just the latest move in a long battle mounted by anti-gay foes to shield the names of people who signed a petition that puts a gay-inclusive domestic partnership law up to a vote. The order follows Justice Anthony L. Kennedy's temporary hold issued on Monday, the 'Seattle Times' reported. Protect Marriage Washington, the group responsible for collecting the nearly 138,000 signatures to put Referendum 71 on the November ballot, appealed to the Supreme Court after the 9th Circuit ordered the release of the names last week. Gay rights group WhoSigned.org wants to publish the names on the Internet. Under Washington State law, names of people who sign petitions become public record af

It was a bold decision to argue the case herself, as Attorney General Martha Coakley chose to represent Massachusetts personally before the US Supreme Court last year in a nationally watched case involving the right of criminal defendants to challenge crime lab reports in court. Coakley, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for US Senate, studied hard, prepared with Harvard Law School scholars, and practiced with Supreme Court specialists. But all that preparation did not prevent a bruising during her appearance last November, as the nine justices, legendary for their tough scrutiny, sharply questioned Coakley and challenged her command of the facts. Ultimately, in a 5-to-4 decision in June, the court ruled against the state. For Coakley, who has built her career as a prosecutor, an appearance before the nation's highest court would seem to be a defining moment of her professional life. But Coakley makes no mention of it in her Senate campaign biography. The issue before the court

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court said on Tuesday it would hear an appeal by Chinese Muslim prisoners held for years at Guantanamo Bay who argue that they should be released in the United States.

Supreme Court worries about chilling prosecutions if they allow prosecutors to be sued. The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed worried that allowing people to sue prosecutors who fabricate evidence to win convictions might chill other prosecutions ? even if those prosecutors are doing their jobs correctly and honestly.

In Monday case, Supreme Court weighs whether life in prison for juveniles is cruel and unusual. Joe Sullivan was sent away for life for raping an elderly woman and judged incorrigible though he was only 13 at the time of the attack.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared reluctant on Monday to make it unconstitutional for any juvenile who commits a crime other than murder to be sentenced to life in prison without possible release.

Supreme Court debates whether life in prison without parole is cruel and unusual for juveniles. A seemingly divided Supreme Court wrestled Monday with whether teenagers can be locked away forever for their crimes. The question arose in two cases involving Florida men who are serving life prison terms with no chance of parole for crimes they committed as teenagers. Their lawyers argue that the sentences for people so young are cruel and unusual, in violation of the Constitution, because young people have greater capacity to change.

Sonia Sotomayor becomes 111th Supreme Court justice; court's first Hispanic, third woman. Sonia Sotomayor became the Supreme Court's newest justice Saturday, pledging during a brief ceremony at the high court to defend the Constitution and administer impartial justice.