High court opens session, turns away hundreds of appeals

WASHINGTON -- On the first day of the Supreme Court's new term, justices turned down appeal after appeal, disappointing more than a thousand people, including Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols and exonerated Olympic Park bombing suspect Richard Jewell.

Among the castoffs was an emergency request from New Jersey Republicans, who wanted to prevent Democrats from replacing incumbent Robert Torricelli on the Nov. 5 ballot for Senate. The high court's refusal to get involved means the Democrats can put former Sen. Frank Lautenberg on the ballot.

The court also turned away assisted suicide advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who is serving a jail term for his role in helping a man die.

The nine justices did not comment in refusing to consider those appeals, nor most of the approximately 2,000 others rejected Monday.

Following tradition, the court reopened for business on the first Monday in October, following a three-month summer break.

Accepted 45 cases

In the term that will run through next June, the court will consider legal fights over cross burning, the rights of abortion protesters, repeat criminals and sex offenders, and even trademark protection for lingerie maker Victoria's Secret.

The court already has accepted 45 cases for the term, and will continue to add cases in the coming months. Overall, the court receives about 8,000 appeals annually and hears about 80.

Some of the biggest headlines could come from cases now waiting in the wings, among them tests of government power to combat terrorism, affirmative action in college admissions and the new law rewriting campaign funding.

Monday's appeal marked Terry Nichols' fifth failed attempt to win high court review of his five-year-old federal court conviction. Nichols is serving a life sentence for conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of eight federal agents.

Nichols' lawyers were again arguing that his trial was tainted by the government's failure to turn over thousands of documents.

Jewell's libel case

Former security guard Richard Jewell argued that he was libeled by a newspaper that reported he was a suspect in the 1996 bombing at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta. Georgia courts sided with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Jewell found the knapsack that held a bomb that exploded on July 27, 1996, killing one woman and injuring 111 people. He went from hero to suspect, but was later cleared by the Justice Department.

Kevorkian claimed his prosecution for the 1998 death of Thomas Youk was unconstitutional. Kevorkian called it a "mercy killing," but a jury in Michigan convicted him of second-degree murder.