Supreme Court in holding pattern

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

The Supreme Court is set to begin its new term as it ended the last one, down one justice and ideologically deadlocked on a range of issues.

The absence of a ninth justice since Antonin Scalia’s death in February has hamstrung the court in several cases and forced the justices to look for less contentious issues on which they are less likely to divide by 4-4 votes.

It could be several months, at least, before the nation’s highest court is again operating at full strength.

“It’s a very interesting time at the court. That doesn’t necessarily translate into interesting cases. In fact, it may translate into the opposite,” said Paul Clement, the Bush administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer and a frequent advocate in front of the court.

By law, the court convenes on the first Monday in October. But the key date this year is the second Tuesday in November, Election Day on Nov. 8.

How the presidential election turns out will go a long way toward determining the judicial outlook of the ninth justice, the direction of the court and the outcome of several cases already being heard and others that probably will be at the court soon.

A victory by Republican Donald Trump means the seat of Scalia, who died in February, would almost certainly be filled with a like-minded conservative. And if any of three justices in their late 70s or early 80s were to leave the court during a Trump presidency, conservative control could be cemented for a generation.

A win by Democrat Hillary Clinton probably would result in the confirmation of Judge Merrick Garland, whose nomination by President Barack Obama has been blocked by Senate Republicans, or perhaps a more liberal choice.