Supremes finish term, issue rulings

The U.S. Supreme court handed down rulings today, including one which they got right. They ruled 5-4 that religious displays such as the ten commandments cannot be displayed inside courthouses, but allowed that certain displays, such as friezes are allowed on courthouse grounds.

They also ruled unanimously against file-sharing software makers and held that they can be liable for users of their programs using it to download copywrited materials such as songs and movies. The ruling sends the issue back down to the lower court which had earlier ruled in favor of file-sharing company Grokster.

In another key ruling which will result in continuing high prices for consumers accessing the net, they held that cable companies are not required to share their lines with other internet service providers.

More here in the Sun-Times.

Renquist may be resigning at any moment, which will lead to a massive political struggle over who will become the next chief justice as well as who will be named to fill the vacancy.