Top court delivering many 5-4 splits

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ended its annual term last week just where it began: evenly divided between a conservative and liberal bloc of four justices, with the deciding votes cast by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.

And this year, unlike last, the outcomes of cases seemed evenly split as well. Both liberal and conservative sides won major victories countered by stinging defeats.

The nearly even split also carries an election-year message for voters about the power of the presidency to set the future direction of the high court.

Republican John McCain has pledged to choose new justices who are like President Bush's two appointees: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.

By contrast, Democrat Barack Obama has pointed with favor at Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David H. Souter. The latter is a Republican and an appointee of the senior President Bush, although he votes regularly with the court's liberal bloc.

This year, as usual, the major rulings came at the term's end, and Kennedy, the 71-year old Reagan appointee, played the deciding role.

He spoke for the liberal bloc in two big cases. One rejected the Bush administration's policy of total military control over detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and said these prisoners have a right to plead for their freedom before a federal judge.

The second limited the death penalty to crimes involving murder. A 5-4 ruling rejected a move in Louisiana and five other states to extend capital punishment to people convicted of raping a child.

But the conservative bloc also prevailed in three important decisions, thanks to Kennedy's vote. For the first time, the court ruled that the Second Amendment protects rights of individual gun owners, not just a state's right to organize a militia. This 5-4 decision probably will be the opening salvo in long legal war between advocates of gun rights and gun control.

The court again showed its skepticism toward laws that limit money in politics. A 5-4 ruling struck down the so-called "millionaires amendment" that allowed the opponents of rich candidates to accept larger donations. The court said this violated the free-speech rights of the millionaires because it penalized them for their lavish spending.