It's the first Monday in October, which means the Supreme Court will open its session today with some important cases on the docket. Cases touching on civil rights, free speech, presidential power, redistricting, and privacy rights will be heard as well as a case involving mandatory union fees and possibly other First Amendment matters. The Hill: It will be Justice Neil Gorsuch's first full term on the bench. He joined the court in April after a bitter, partisan battle over the vacancy left by the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Court watchers also say this term could be Justice Anthony Kennedy's last. Long the court's pivotal swing voter, Kennedy was rumored to have been considering retirement last spring.  "There's only one prediction that's entirely safe about the upcoming term," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said recently while speaking at Georgetown Law School, "and that is it will be momentous." ...(Read Full Post)