Last week, in the case of J.D.B. v. North Carolina, the Supreme Court issued a closely decided ruling that law enforcement and judges need to take the age of suspects into consideration when deciding whether they should be informed of their Miranda rights during police interrogation.

On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled 8-to-0 that John Ashcroft cannot be held personally liable for alleged abuse of material-witness detention powers. (Justice Kagan recused herself because of her involvement in the case as U.S. Solicitor General.)

Earlier this week, the legal challenge to last year’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act moved one step closer to the Supreme Court. A three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments for two lawsuits against the landmark health care reform bill — one brought by the State of Virginia and the other by Liberty University, a small religious-affiliated school located in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Rules of evidence and what police must say and do during the arrest process have been an area of concern for the U.S. Supreme Court more or less since the founding of the Nation. The words “you have the right to remain silent” have been a staple of police TV dramas and movies ever since the Supreme Court formulated specific language to be used in custodial arrest procedures in the Miranda v. Arizona (1966).

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Westboro Baptist Church’s picketing of a slain U.S. soldier’s funeral is protected speech under the First Amendment. In an 8-to-1 decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court upheld the decision of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that threw out a $10.9 million judgment against Westboro Baptist resulting from a defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress lawsuit filed by the soldier’s father, Albert Snyder.

Westboro Baptist Church, which has made a name for itself with its controversial high-profile protests of military funerals and a subsequent lawsuit that has reached the U.S. Supreme Court, is once again making headlines. This time, the small Kansas-based church led by Fred W. Phelps, Sr., has threatened to protest the funerals of victims of Tucson, Arizona, gunman Jared Loughner. A last-minute compromise, however, has avoided demonstrations during the first two of the six funerals. Instead, representatives for Westboro church will be given time on two radio talk shows, one based in Phoenix and one nationally syndicated.

Violent video games, funeral protests, illegal immigration, and DNA testing are among the high-profile issues on the docket as the Supreme Court opens its 2010-2011 term today. Each case will have its turn in the limelight, but the real news is that, for first time ever, there will be three female justices seated on the High Court.