Noah Feldman, Columnist

Supreme Court Aims for a Boring Term

With a short-handed bench, the justices try to avoid controversial cases.

October 2, 2016 at 10:00 PM UTC

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A professor of law at Harvard University, he is author, most recently, of “To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and the Jewish People."

There's room for one more justice.
Photographer: Alex Wong/Getty Images

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The last Supreme Court term was strange by accident. Justice Antonin Scalia’s death in February left the court with only eight members, and several 4-4 decisions left major issues unresolved. Anticipated decisions on religious liberty, union dues and presidential power over deportation will have to wait for the court to return to nine justices. The big-ticket cases that were decided, on abortion and affirmative action, were products of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s move to the left.

The Supreme Court term that starts Monday will be strange by design. The Senate’s refusal to vote or even to hold a hearing on President Barack Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland means the court enters the term shorthanded.