Reuters: U.S. Supreme Court faces major challenges when it returns without Ginsburg

Reuters: U.S. Supreme Court faces major challenges when it returns without Ginsburg

Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections for Common Cause, a voting rights group, said Roberts would likely seek a compromise in such a situation because he is “concerned with his legacy and trying to find a middle ground.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death will be felt at the Supreme Court in the coming weeks as it starts a new term with a 5-3 conservative majority while preparing for a major case on the Obamacare healthcare law and possible emergency election-related disputes.

The court officially returns on Oct. 5 from summer break with a two-week session of oral arguments held by teleconference, although it handles last-ditch appeals whenever they arise.

With the normally nine-justice court operating one member down following last week’s death of the 87-year-old Ginsburg, a liberal icon, there is the possibility of 4-4 splits, but also, as has been shown in the past, potentially more desire for compromise among the justices.

With just three liberal justices left, there is little chance that the five-justice conservative wing of the court can be thwarted, even if Chief Justice John Roberts, who has sided with the liberals in big cases recently, was to do so again. …

There is a strong chance the court will have to weigh in on election-related litigation, potentially even having a major say over which candidate ultimately wins.

Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections for Common Cause, a voting rights group, said Roberts would likely seek a compromise in such a situation because he is “concerned with his legacy and trying to find a middle ground.”