The late Chief Justice William Rehnquist was one of the most prominent, influential, and controversial conservative intellectuals of our time. In his new book, Rehnquist: A Personal Portrait of the Distinguished Chief Justice of the United States (Simon & Schuster), Herman J. Obermayer, a former newspaper publisher, offers a warm and personal behind-the-scenes memoir of his long friendship with the man he calls “Bill.“

WASHINGTON—Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. spoke out in vain yesterday against a lower-court ruling he says will “grant drunk drivers ‘one free swerve’” that potentially could end someone’s life. Roberts wanted the Supreme Court to review the lower-court ruling, but he failed to persuade enough of his colleagues. The court declined to hear an appeal from Virginia officials who had their felony drunken-driving conviction of Joseph A. Moses Harris Jr. thrown out by the Virginia Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will hear a new case about the rights of Guantanamo detainees, this time involving prisoners who remain in custody even after the Pentagon determines they’re not a threat to the United States.

The Supreme Court will consider throwing out the convictions of former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling for his role in the collapse of the one-time energy giant. The court said yesterday that it will hear Skilling’s appeal of lower-court rulings that upheld all 19 of his 2006 convictions for conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors involving the 2001 collapse of Enron.

The Supreme Court has agreed to consider reinstating the sex trafficking and forced labor conviction of a man dubbed the “S&M Svengali.“

Jeff Skilling is appealing lower court rulings that upheld all 19 of his convictions of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors involving the 2001 collapse of the former energy giant.

Supreme Court justices on Tuesday indicated that a federal law aimed at graphic videos of dog fights and other acts of animal cruelty goes too far in limiting U.S. free speech rights.

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal to review a Florida law that requires public school students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance each day unless they have their parents’ written permission excusing them.

The Supreme Court is beginning its new term with a new justice—Sonia Sotomayor.

Here is a summary of action on top cases by the U.S. Supreme Court today:

The Supreme Court will decide how far police can go in questioning suspects who say they understand their Miranda rights but don’t immediately invoke them.

The Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to decide whether strict local and state gun control laws violate the U.S Constitution’s Second Amendment, ensuring another high-profile battle over the rights of gun owners.

WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court may be poised to wipe away limits on campaign spending by corporations and labor unions in time for next year’s congressional elections in a case that began as a dispute over a movie about Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The justices will return to the bench Wednesday—nearly a month early—to consider whether to overrule two earlier decisions that restrict how and when corporations and unions can take part in federal campaigns. Laws that impose similar limits in 24 states also are threatened.

A U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring the testimony of forensic examiners is raising concerns that evidence testing in criminal cases will be slowed. The Virginia Forensic Science Board was told yesterday that the number of subpoenas received for examiners more than tripled in the first full week following the justices’ June 25 decision compared with the last full week before.

Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation to the Supreme Court wrapped up a foregone conclusion. Conservative interest groups and senators played their appointed roles during the confirmation hearings, as did those on the other side of the aisle. But the outcome never was in serious doubt. Sotomayor replaces David Souter. The evidence from their respective records suggests she will not greatly change the high court’s ideological composition. That was one of the principal reasons opposition to her appointment was fairly tame. (The other, of course, was her twofer status as a female Hispanic.) If Antonin Scalia were hit by a bus and President Obama were to replace him with someone such as the Ninth Circuit’s Steven Reinhardt, perhaps the most liberal judge on the most liberal court in the land, debate would reach Borkian levels—and deserve to.