CAPITAL CULTURE: Unlike other justices, Sotomayor becomes a celebrity outside the courtroom. Apparently, no one told Sonia Sotomayor that Supreme Court justices are supposed to be circumspect, emerging from their marble palace mainly to dispense legal wisdom to law schools, judges' conferences and lawyers' meetings.

Senate confirms controversial Obama nominee for Chicago appeals court. The Senate on Thursday confirmed U.S. District Judge David Hamilton for the Chicago-based federal appeals court, approving a nominee targeted by conservatives as a liberal activist.

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.

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.

Supreme Court begins with argument over prisoner's old request for lawyer in sex abuse case. The Supreme Court began its new term Monday with Justice Sonia Sotomayor on the bench as the court tried to hash out how long a suspect's request for a lawyer should be considered valid by police and the courts.

Supreme Court opens with case on prisoner's request for a lawyer; Sotomayor jumps right in. The Supreme Court began its new term Monday by indicating a willingness to limit how long a suspect's request for a lawyer should remain valid, and new Justice Sonia Sotomayor wasted little time in letting her voice be heard by questioning the lawyers.

September's botched execution of a US inmate, whose veins could not take a lethal injection, has led Ohio to call a moratorium that may prompt a wholesale reexamination of the execution method.

September's botched execution of a US inmate, whose veins could not take a lethal injection, has led Ohio to call a moratorium that may prompt a wholesale reexamination of the execution method.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices revealed sharp differences on Wednesday in considering a legal challenge to a large Christian cross intended to serve as a war memorial in a remote part of the California desert.

Cancer-hit US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was briefly hospitalized after she had a bad reaction to some medication just as she was to fly abroad, officials said Thursday.

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.

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

Supreme Court won't review reputed Klansman's conviction in Civil Rights Era cold case. The Supreme Court on Monday left in place a judge's ruling that allowed prosecutors to charge a reputed Ku Klux Klansman with kidnapping more than 40 years after two black men were abducted and killed in rural Mississippi.

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.

The Supreme Court Monday denied a bid to stay Tuesday's execution of a sniper whose deadly shooting spree terrorized the US capital region in 2002.

"The application for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to the chief justice and by him referred to the court is denied," the ruling obtained by AFP said.

The Supreme Court Monday denied a bid to stay Tuesday's execution of a sniper whose deadly shooting spree terrorized the US capital region in 2002.

Washington sniper John Allen Muhammad, who killed 10 people in a 2002 shooting spree around the US capital, was due to be put to death Tuesday after the nation's top court denied a stay of execution.

Washington sniper John Allen Muhammad, who killed 10 people in a 2002 shooting spree around the US capital, was due to be put to death Tuesday after the nation's top court denied a stay of execution.