The new Supreme Court term, which begins today, won't include a review of TSA body scanners: Justices have refused to take on a man's appeal in a case against the machines, which was also dismissed by federal courts in Florida and Washington, the AP reports. Nor will justices take on a lawsuit, rejected by lower courts, by a family against the Wackenhut security firm, whose guards raped and killed the family's daughter in 1979. A criminal trial found six people guilty in the case; lower courts said the company couldn't be sued for a death so long ago.
Justices have also refused an anti-gay marriage group's appeal, on free speech grounds, against the release of its donor list. Maine law requires groups collecting or spending more than $5,000 in an election to reveal donors; the National Organization for Marriage gave $1.9 million to a PAC involved in the repeal of its gay marriage law. The court will, however, dive into the gay marriage issue itself; click for a look at other major civil rights concerns it will address. Among other cases justices have refused:
- A Nebraska anti-abortion group's appeal to fight for a blocked 2010 state abortion law requiring women seeking abortions to undergo health screenings.
- A family's lawsuit over a police officer's fatal shooting of a suicidal boy who threatened him with a knife.
- A debate over whether Minnesota judicial candidates should be able to endorse other elections' candidates; currently, the practice is banned.
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