“Please pray that the Supreme Court will serve our country without a trace of deceit. Intercede that no private interpretation in any legislation will stand and that our freedoms will remain intact. Pray that God would give the justices on the Supreme Court His wisdom to grasp the ramifications of their decisions. Ask for unity in our country and for unprecedented discernment on state and federal matters.

The 2011-12 term of the U.S. Supreme Court started on Monday, October 3. Many items are being slated for review by this historic U.S. Supreme Court.

1)    GPS: Whether police need a warrant from a judge to attach a GPS device to a car to track its movements for extended periods. United States v. Jones. Antoine Jones was a Washington, D.C., nightclub owner and suspected drug dealer. So as part of their investigation, officers attached a Global Positioning Satellite tracing device on a Jeep driven by Jones.
2)    Strip Search: Whether jails can strip-search all newly booked inmates without evidence that they are concealing contraband.
3)    Profanity: Whether the Federal Communications Commission’s rules on indecency which prohibit radio and television stations from broadcasting patently offensive words and depictions of sexual activities, are unconstitutionally vague.

The case, FCC v. Fox Television, will examine whether the FCC’s indecency enforcement procedures violate the First and Fifth Amendments. At issue is the government’s attempt to police the public airwaves to prevent not only obscene material but also indecent communications offensive to a family-oriented audience.

4)    Church and State: In an important case involving the First Amendment’s separation of church and state, the justices will consider whether a former teacher at a Lutheran elementary school can sue the church-run school for alleged disability discrimination and retaliation. The case is Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC and Cheryl Perich.
School officials argue that the lawsuit is barred under the “ministerial exception,” a legal doctrine which blocks employment-related lawsuits against religious organizations filed by employees who perform important religious functions.

5)    Disputed Status of Jerusalem: Because Jerusalem is a major source of disagreement in Middle East peace talks, the U.S. government has tried to remain neutral on the Jerusalem issue. As a result, children born in Jerusalem to U.S. Citizens are listed on birth documents as having been born in Jerusalem. No country is noted on the State Department documents. Pro-Israeli members of Congress who disagree with this posture, sponsored and passed a law directing the State Department to record the place of birth as Jerusalem, Israel.

Besides these issues, there are several other topics for review.

Obamacare – States and a business group opposed to the Obamacare overhaul asked the Supreme Court for a speedy ruling that puts an end to the law aimed at extending insurance coverage to more than 30 million people…The ACA requires every American to purchase a government-approved level of health insurance or pay a penalty.

This Supreme Court is in a position to leave a giant footprint on public policy in the coming  year.”