The year 2011 at the U.S. Supreme Court was the calm before — and after — the storm.
The Court was no longer fodder for the State of the Union address, as it was in 2010. Few of the cases it decided in 2011 had the incendiary impact of the Citizens United decision of 2010 — or of the high-profile cases it will decide in 2012. The Court has agreed to hear cases on the Affordable Care Act, redistricting in Texas, Arizona’s tough immigration law, broadcast indecency and environmental regulation, among others. For a Court that views itself as apolitical and above the fray, 2012 will place the justices in the headlines plunk in the middle of a presidential campaign.
